(单词翻译:单击)
听力文本
Welcome to the MAKING OF A NATION –American history in VOA Special English. In the early eighteen thirties, theterritory of Texas belonged to Mexico. But many Americans had moved to Texasbecause they could buy a lot of land with little money. The government ofMexico expected the settlers to speak Spanish, to become Roman Catholic and toaccept Mexican traditions. The settlers did not want to. For the most part,there was little that President Andrew Jackson could do. The United States hada treaty of friendship with Mexico. The government in Washington had a duty toremain neutral, even as the situation in Texas became increasingly tense. GwenOuten and Steve Ember tell the story in this week's program in our series.
Americans in Texas held a convention inApril eighteen thirty-three. They prepared a list of appeals to the leader ofMexico, General Santa Ana. The Texas settlers asked Santa Ana to end a tax ongoods imported into the territory. They asked him to lift a ban on new settlersfrom the United States. And they asked that Texas be organized as a separatestate of Mexico. One of the Americans, Stephen Austin, carried the appeals toMexico City. He spent six months negotiating with the Mexican government. GeneralSanta Ana promised to honor all the requests except one. He would not makeTexas a separate state, although he said that might be possible someday. StephenAustin was satisfied. He left the Mexican capital to return to Texas. On hisway home, to his surprise, Austin was arrested. He was arrested because of aletter he wrote earlier, when his negotiations with Mexican officials seemed tobe failing. He had said it might be best if the people declared Texas aseparate state. Austin was put in prison in Mexico City for a year and a half. Austinurged the people of Texas to remain loyal to Mexico. But talk of rebellionalready had begun. The settlers already were calling themselves"Texans." Minor hostilities broke out between Texans and localMexican officials. The Mexican army threatened action. When Austin returnedfrom prison, he was chosen to negotiate with the commander of Mexican forces.The commander refused to negotiate. It appeared that war would come. The Texansbegan to organize their own army.
In November eighteen thirty-five,representatives from all parts of Texas held a convention to discuss thesituation. They had no plans to take Texas out of the Mexican Republic. Infact, a proposal to do that was defeated by a large vote. However, the Texanstook action to protect themselves against Santa Ana, who had declared himselfdictator. They organized a temporary state government. They organized a statearmy. And they made plans for another convention to begin on March first. Beforethe Texans could meet again, Santa Ana led an army of seven thousand men acrossthe Rio Grande River into Texas. The first soldiers reached San Antonio onFebruary twenty-third. The Texas forces withdrew to an old Spanish missionchurch called the Alamo. On March first, the second Texas convention opened.This time, the representatives voted to declare Texas a free, independent andsovereign republic. They wrote a constitution based on the constitution of theUnited States. They created a government. David Burnet was named president. AndSam Houston was to continue as commander of Texas forces. On the second day ofthe convention, a letter came from the Alamo in San Antonio. The letter wasaddressed to the people of Texas and all Americans. The commander of Texas forcesat the Alamo wrote: "I have been under an artillery attack for twenty-fourhours and have not lost a man. The enemy has demanded our surrender. Otherwise,he said, he will kill every one of us. I have answered his demand with a cannonshot. Our flag still waves proudly from the walls. I shall never surrender orretreat. I call on you -- in the name of liberty, of patriotism, and everythingdear to the American character -- to come to our aid with all speed. If myappeal is not answered, I will fight as long as possible, and die like asoldier who never forgets what he owes his own honor and that of hiscountry." The letter from the Alamo closed with the words: "Victoryor Death."
Representatives at the convention wanted toleave immediately to go to the aid of the Texans in San Antonio. But SamHouston told them it was their duty to remain and create a government forTexas. Houston would go there himself with a small force. The help came toolate for the one hundred eighty-eight men at the Alamo. Santa Ana's forcescaptured the Spanish mission on March sixth. When the battle ended, not a Texanwas left alive. Sam Houston ordered all Texas forces to withdraw northeast --away from the Mexican army. One group of Texans did not move fast enough. SantaAna trapped them. He said the Texans would not be harmed if they surrendered. Theydid. One week later, they were marched to a field and shot. Only a few escapedto tell the story. Santa Ana then moved against Sam Houston. He was sure his largearmy could defeat the remaining Texas force. President Andrew Jackson and SamHouston were close friends. When told of Houston's retreat, the presidentpointed to a map of Texas. He said: "If Sam Houston is worth anything, hewill make his stand here. Jackson pointed to the mouth of the San JacintoRiver.
The battle of San Jacinto began at fouro'clock in the afternoon. There were about eight-hundred Texans. There were twotimes that many Mexicans. The Mexicans did not expect the retreating Texans toturn and fight. But they did. Shouting "Remember the Alamo!" theTexans ran at the Mexican soldiers. Eighteen minutes later, the battle wasover. Santa Ana's army was destroyed. About half of the Mexicans were killed orwounded. The other half were captured. Only two Texans were killed.Twenty-three, including Sam Houston, were wounded. The Texans found Santa Anathe next day, wearing the clothes of a simple Mexican soldier. Santa Ana beggedfor mercy. Houston told him: "You might have shown some at theAlamo." Many of the Texans wanted to shoot the Mexican general. ButHouston said he was worth more alive than dead. On May fourteenth, eighteenthirty-six, Texas President Burnet and General Santa Ana signed a treaty. Thetreaty made Texas independent.
Eighteenthirty-six was a presidential election year in the United States. AndrewJackson had served for eight years. He did not want another term. He supportedhis vice president, Martin Van Buren. Jackson's opposition to the demands formore states' rights, and his attack on the Bank of the United States, hadcreated problems for his Democratic Party. Texas also was a problem. Slaverywas legal in the new Republic of Texas. Most northerners in the United Statesopposed slavery anywhere. Jackson felt that if he recognized Texas, theDemocrats would lose votes in the presidential election. So Jackson decided notto act on Texas until after the election. Opposition to the Democrats came froma coalition political party. Members of the party called themselves Whigs.Three Whigs ran for president in eighteen thirty-six against Martin Van Buren. TheWhigs did not expect any of their candidates to win. But they hoped to getenough votes to prevent Van Buren from gaining a majority. Then the House ofRepresentatives would have to decide the election. And a Whig might have abetter chance. The plan failed. Van Buren won. Andrew Jackson had only a fewmonths left as president. It seemed that much of his time was occupied with onequestion. That was the request by the Republic of Texas to become a state ofthe union. Jackson wanted to make Texas a state. But more important was theunion itself. The issue of slavery in Texas was critical. Jackson said:"To give statehood to Texas now, or to recognize its independence, wouldincrease the bitterness between the north and south. Nothing is worth thisprice." Then Jackson thought of a way in which statehood for Texas couldbring the nation together, instead of splitting it apart. That will be ourstory next week.
重点解析
1.based on 基于；以…为基础
The study was based on data from 2,100 women.
这项研究基于从2100名女性那里收集来的资料。
2.be addressed to 寄往
Applications should be addressed to: The business affairs editor.
申请表应寄给；商务编辑。
3.split apart 分开；裂成碎片
He proposed that the two continents might have been one, then split apart.
他提出，这两个大陆曾经可能是一整块，然后分开了。
4.instead of 代替；作为…的替换
Take a shower instead of a bath.
洗淋浴吧，别用浴缸了。
参考译文
欢迎收听VOA慢速英语之建国史话节目。19世纪30年代早期，德克萨斯州的领土属于墨西哥。但是许多美国人搬到德克萨斯州居住，因为他们可以花很少的钱大量购买土地。墨西哥政府希望这些定居者改说西班牙语，改信罗马天主教徒，接受墨西哥的传统，但定居者们并不想这么做。在大多数情况下，总统安德鲁·杰克逊几乎无能为力。美国与墨西哥签订过友好条约，即使德克萨斯州的局势变得越来越紧张，华盛顿政府也有责任保持中立态度。格温·欧顿和史蒂夫·恩伯在本周的系列节目中为我们讲述这段故事。
德克萨斯州的美国人在1833年4月举行了一次会议，他们向墨西哥领导人圣达那将军准备了一份述求书。德克萨斯州的定居者要求圣达那停止对进口到该地区的货物征税，他们要求他解除对美国新定居者的禁令。他们要求将德克萨斯州组建为墨西哥的一个独立州。其中有一个叫史蒂芬·奥斯汀的美国人，他把述求书带到了墨西哥城。他花了六个月时间与墨西哥政府谈判。圣达那将军答应接受提出的述求，但有一条除外。他不会将德克萨斯州设立成为一个独立的州，尽管他表示未来可能得以实现。史蒂芬·奥斯汀感到很满意，他离开墨西哥首都返回德克萨斯。奥斯汀没想到的是，在回家的路上，他却被捕了。他被捕是因为早些时候写的一封信，当时他与墨西哥官员的谈判似乎要以失败告终。他曾说过，最好是宣布德克萨斯州为一个独立州。奥斯汀在墨西哥城的监狱中度过了一年半的时间。奥斯汀敦促德克萨斯州的民众效忠墨西哥，但是关于叛乱的讨论已经开始，定居者们已经称自己为“德州人”。德克萨斯人和墨西哥当地官员之间爆发了小规模冲突，墨西哥军队威胁要采取行动。当奥斯汀从监狱释放后，被选中与墨西哥军队的指挥官谈判。指挥官拒绝谈判，似乎一场战争就要爆发。德克萨斯人开始组建自己的军队。
1835年11月，德克萨斯州各地代表召开了一次会议，讨论当前的局势。他们不打算把德克萨斯州从墨西哥共和国分离出去。事实上，一项有关此事宜的提议已经被一次大型投票否决了。然而，德克萨斯人采取行动保护自己，对抗已宣布独裁的圣达那。他们组建了临时州政府，组织了一支国家军队，还计划在3月1日召开另一次会议。在德克萨斯人再次集会之前，圣达那率领7000人的军队越过格兰德河进入德克萨斯州。第一批士兵于2月23日抵达圣安东尼奥，德克萨斯军队撤到一个叫阿拉莫的古旧西班牙教会。3月1日，第二次德克萨斯州大会开幕。这次，代表们投票宣布德克萨斯州是拥有主权的自由、独立的共和国。他们根据美国宪法书写了一部宪法，建立了政府，大卫·伯内特被任命为总统，萨姆·休斯顿将继续担任德克萨斯军队的指挥官。在大会召开的第二天，人们收到一封来自圣安东尼奥阿拉莫的信。这封信是写给德克萨斯州人民和所有美国人的。德克萨斯州阿拉莫部队指挥官写道：“我遭受了24小时的炮火攻击，没有一位将士丧生。敌人要我们投降，否则就把我们都杀光。我用大炮回应了他们，我们的旗帜仍然骄傲地在城墙上飘扬，我决不投降，也决不撤退。我呼吁你们，以自由、爱国主义为名，以美国人民所珍视的一切为名，火速为我们提供支援。如果你们没有回应我的号召，我会尽全力抗争，像永不忘记自己的荣耀，永不忘记国家荣誉的勇士一样牺牲。”在信中，威廉·特拉维斯附上的最后一句话是“不胜利，即死亡。”
参加大会的代表们想即刻出发，去帮助圣安东尼奥的德克萨斯人。但萨姆·休斯顿告诉他们，他们有责任留下来，为德克萨斯州建立一个政府。休斯顿会带一小支军队前往援助。对于在阿拉莫坚守的188名将士来说，援军来得太迟了。圣达那的部队于3月6日占领了西班牙教会。战斗结束时，德克萨斯军无人生还。萨姆·休斯顿命令所有德克萨斯军队从东北部撤退，远离墨西哥军队。一组德克萨斯人未能及时撤离，被圣达那军捉获。圣达那说，如果德克萨斯人投降，就不会伤害他们。德克萨斯人照做了。一周后，他们被带到一片空地上开枪射杀，少数几个逃跑的幸存者讲述了事情的经过。随后，圣达那对萨姆·休斯顿的军队进军。他确信自己的大军能战胜德克萨斯军的残余势力。总统安德鲁·杰克逊和萨姆·休斯顿是密友。当杰克逊得知休斯顿的军队撤退时，他指着德克萨斯州的地图说：“如果萨姆·休斯顿有本事，他就一定会坚守在这个地方。”杰克逊指的地方是圣哈辛托河口。
圣哈辛托一战于下午四点打响，德克萨斯部队约有800人，是墨西哥兵力的一半。墨西哥军队没想到撤退的德克萨斯人会发动反攻。得克萨斯人喊着“记住阿拉莫！”，冲向墨西哥部队。战斗只持续了18分钟就结束了。圣达那的部队溃不成军。一半伤亡，另一半被俘。而德克萨斯的部队中，只有两人被杀，还有包括萨姆·休斯顿在内的23人受伤。第二天，德克萨斯人抓住了身着墨西哥士兵服的圣达那。圣达那乞求饶恕，休斯顿告诉他：“你在阿拉莫的时候本该仁慈一些。”许多德克萨斯州人主张枪毙圣达那，但休斯顿说，他活着比死更值钱。
1836年5月14日，德克萨斯州总统伯内特和圣达那将军签署协议，宣布德克萨斯独立。1836年是美国总统大选年。安德鲁•杰克逊已任职八年。他不想再干了，而是支持副总统马丁•范布伦的总统竞选。杰克逊反对增加各州权利，以及他对美国银行的攻击，都给民主党带来了麻烦。现在又多了一个德克萨斯事件。在新独立的德克萨斯，奴隶制是合法的。美国大多数北方人反对奴隶制。杰克逊认为，如果他承认德克萨斯，民主党将在总统选举中失去选票，所以杰克逊决定在大选之后再采取行动。民主党的反对力量来自一个自称辉格党的政党联盟，三名辉格党人在1836年竞选总统，挑战马丁•范布伦。辉格党知道自己胜选的希望微乎其微，但他们希望通过争夺选票，阻止范布伦获得多数票，最后由众议院定夺。但是，辉格党的计划破产，范布伦赢得了选举。总统安德鲁•杰克逊的任期只剩下几个月，他大部分时间都在考虑一件事，那就是德克萨斯共和国提出的加入美国的请求。杰克逊想让德克萨斯成为美国的一个州，但更重要的是联邦本身。德克萨斯州的奴隶制问题至关重要。杰克逊说：“吸收德克萨斯州成为美国的一个州，或承认它的独立，都将会增加南方和北方之间的分歧。代价太大了。”后来，杰克逊想到一个办法，通过使德克萨斯加入美国促进国家统一，而不是分裂国家。这是我们下周要讲述的故事。
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