(单词翻译:单击)
听力文本
PEOPLE IN AMERICA, a program in Special English by the Voice of America.
Two of the most famous outlaws of the old American west were brothers. I'm Tony Riggs. Today, Maurice Joyce and I tell about Frank and Jesse James. We begin their story on a cold day in February, eighteen sixty-six.
Liberty, Missouri. Two o'clock in the afternoon.
Twelve men on horses ride slowly into town. Their hats are low on their faces. They stop in front of the Clay County Savings Bank. Two of the men get off their horses and enter the bank. The bank manager asks if he can help them. The two men pull out guns from under their heavy coats. They demand money.
In less than two minutes, they return to the street. Now the gang is in a great hurry. All twelve men begin shooting.
Several people are wounded. A young college student is killed.
What happened on that day was the first bank robbery, during business hours, in peacetime, in the United States.
History books say the two men who went into the bank were Frank James and his younger brother Jesse. But this was never proved. Frank and Jesse James told lawmen they were home that day. Several of their friends confirmed the story.
True or not, during the next sixteen years, the James brothers did become two of the most famous outlaws in America.
History experts say they robbed at least twelve banks, perhaps many more. They stopped seven trains, taking money from passengers and the United States Postal Service. They robbed as many as seven stagecoaches, the horse-pulled vehicles used back then as public transportation.
They traveled from their home in Clay County, Missouri, to Minnesota in the north and to Texas in the west. Hundreds of lawmen hunted them. But the James Brothers were never caught.
Who were Frank and Jesse James? Why were they so famous?
Frank and Jesse were the sons of Robert James, a religious minister who owned a farm in Clay County, Missouri. People who knew the family said the James boys were polite and friendly. At least until the time of America's Civil War.
Many people in Missouri believed in the cause of the southern, or Confederate, states during the Civil War. However, Missouri was on the border between the North and the South. Almost as many people there supported the Union as the Confederacy. Terrible fighting took place in Missouri and in other border states.
Guerrilla groups from both sides were responsible for the fighting.
History experts say much of the violence in the American West was a result of the situation after the Civil War. Many former Confederate soldiers returned home, but did not put down their guns. They continued to fight what they saw as symbols of northern oppression. These included banks and railroads.
Many local people agreed with the former soldiers and supported them.
A lack of government control in the West also led to increased violence after the war. Records show that violent crime increased at that time by as much as fifty percent.
Frank and Jesse James are perhaps the most famous examples of the soldier-turned-outlaw.
During the Civil War, the James family suffered attacks by Union guerrillas. As a way of fighting back, Frank and Jesse became Confederate guerrillas. They rode with two of the most violent guerrilla groups. After the war, they continued their violent ways.
The James brothers were extremely successful. Their gang rode for sixteen years. Hundreds of government lawmen tried to catch them. Agents of the private Pinkerton National Detective Agency tried, too. But no one did. Most lawmen did not even know what the two brothers looked like.
Jesse James enjoyed being famous. He often wrote letters to newspapers denying that he was guilty of any crime.
Once, he ate dinner with a well-known Pinkerton detective who was searching for him. The detective got a big surprise later when he opened a letter from Jesse James. Jesse said how much he enjoyed their dinner together. He also wished him good luck.
Stories like this were printed in newspapers all over the country. They helped make the James brothers famous. People liked the stories. Those who had been robbed did not. Soon, large amounts of money were offered for the capture of Frank and Jesse James. The state of Missouri offered as much as ten thousand dollars or the brothers, dead or alive.
It was easy for the James brothers to hide in their home area. Yet most often they hid in large cities. Many years later, Frank James told reporters that it was easy to hide in a city, because everyone there looked like everybody else.
When one place became too dangerous, the James brothers moved to another. That was one reason they decided to go to Minnesota. There they planned to rob the bank in the town of Northfield.
Frank and Jesse rode to Northfield with six friends. Three of the friends were brothers: Cole, Jim and Bob Younger. Like the James brothers, the Youngers were former Confederate guerrillas, now outlaws.
From the beginning, their attempted robbery of the bank in Northfield was a failure. First, when Jesse demanded money from bank workers, they said the safe could not be opened.
Next, the gang decided to get out of town fast. But the people of Northfield knew something was wrong. Many had gone to their homes or offices for their guns. Then the shooting began.
Two members of the gang were killed in town. Another was killed later. And Cole, Jim and Bob Younger were captured. Only two men escaped -- Frank and Jesse James. Frank was wounded, but he stayed on his horse. Lawmen chased him and his brother for more than a week before they lost their trail.
In the years that followed, the James brothers tried again to form another gang. They were never very successful.
In eighteen eighty-two, Jesse James was living in Saint Joseph, Missouri, with his wife and children. People knew him as Mister Howard. One day, another outlaw, Bob Ford, shot him in the back of the head. He killed Jesse James for the money that had been offered for his capture. Bob Ford never collected the money. He was tried for murder, instead.
Several months later, Frank James surrendered to the governor of Missouri. He was charged with several crimes and tried two times. Both juries refused to find him guilty.
Cole, Jim and Bob Younger spent many years in prison for their part in the Northfield, Minnesota, raid. After Cole was released from prison, he and Frank James earned money by speaking to groups. They told about their days as outlaws and the evils of crime.
Frank James lived to be seventy-two years old. He died in the same room in which he was born, on the James family farm in Clay County, Missouri. Today, that farmhouse is a museum that tells the story of the two most famous outlaws of the American West.
重点解析
1.get off动身；从…下来
If your city has a subway or bus system, skip your stop and get off at the one after (or before) and then walk from there.
如果你在的地方有地铁或公交车，你可以故意坐过站，在前一个或后一个站台下车，然后走回去。
2.pull out离开；拔出
The end of summer gives investors a great excuse to pull out their crystal balls and try to predict what the next year holds in store.
这个夏天的结束给了投资者一个很好的借口离开他们的水晶球，并且试图预言下一年将要发生什么。
3.be responsible for对…负责；是…的原因
Our client wanted to be responsible for testing the application.
我们的客户想要负责测试这个应用程序。
4.a lack of缺少
The report blames rising coastal populations and a lack of adequate infrastructure and waste handling facilities for the increase in pollution.
报告把污染增加的原因归咎于沿海人口的增加以及缺乏足够的基础设施和污水处理厂。
5.get out of逃避；避免
Take advantage of the nice weather and get out of those stuffy cars.Walk or cycle to places instead.
充分利用难得的好天气，避免外出乘坐不通风的汽车，尽量用散步或者骑自行车来代替。
6.search for寻找；搜索
In your search for serenity, what have you found that works for you?
您在寻找宁静的过程中，发现了什么是对您有效的呢？
参考译文
这里是VOA慢速英语栏目《美国人物志》。
美国西部两个最著名的罪犯是一对兄弟。我是托尼·里格斯。今天，莫里斯·乔伊斯和我为您讲述弗兰克和杰西·詹姆斯的故事。我们从1866年2月的寒冷的一天开始讲他们的故事。
时间是下午两点，地点是密苏里州的自由市。
12个人骑着马慢慢地进了城。他们的帽子低戴在脸上。他们在克莱县储蓄银行门前停了下来。两个人下了马走进银行。银行经理询问是否可以帮助他们。那两个人从厚重的大衣下掏出枪来。他们想要钱。
不到两分钟，他们就回到了街上。现在这个团伙非常匆忙。所有的12个人都开始射击。
有几个人受伤了。一个年轻的学生被杀害了。
那天发生的就是第一例银行抢劫事件，该事件发生在营业时间，发生在和平时期的美国。
历史书上说，进入银行抢劫的两个人是弗兰克·詹姆斯和他的弟弟杰西。但是这从没得到证实。弗兰克和杰西·詹姆斯告诉警察，他们那天在家。他们的几个朋友证实了这个消息。不管这个是真是假，在接下来的16年里，詹姆斯兄弟成为了美国最有名的两个罪犯。
历史专家说，他们抢劫了至少12家银行，也许更多。他们曾拦截七列火车，从乘客和美国邮政总局那抢了钱。他们抢劫了多达7辆公共马车，这些马车在当时是公共交通工具。
他们从密苏里州克莱县的家出发，前往北部的明尼苏达州和西部的德克萨斯州。数百名警察追捕他们。但詹姆斯兄弟从未被捕。
弗兰克和杰西·詹姆斯是谁?他们为什么这么有名?
弗兰克和杰西是罗伯特·詹姆斯的儿子，罗伯特·詹姆斯是一位宗教牧师，在密苏里州克莱县拥有一个农场。认识这家人的人说，詹姆斯家的孩子们很有礼貌，也很友好。至少在美国内战之前是这样。
在内战期间，密苏里州的许多人都相信南方联盟能取得胜利。但是，密苏里州位于美国南北交界处。那里支持联邦的人几乎和支持邦联的人一样多。密苏里州和其他的边界的州都发生了激烈的战斗。
参加战斗的是来自南北两边的游击队。
历史专家称，美国西部的许多暴力事件都是内战后局势造成的。许多前邦联士兵返回家园，但没有放下他们的枪。他们继续与他们所认为的北方压迫的象征进行斗争。其中包括银行和铁路。
许多当地的人们都赞同并支持前士兵的做法。
战后西部缺乏政府管理也导致暴力事件的增多。记录显示，那时的暴力罪行增加了有50%。
弗兰克和杰西兄弟或许是士兵变成罪犯的最著名的例子。
在内战期间，詹姆斯家遭受了联邦游击队的攻击。为了反击，弗兰克和杰西加入了邦联游击队。他们加入了两个最暴力的两个邦联游击队伍。战后，他们继续着自己的暴行。
詹姆斯兄弟取得了极大的成功。他们的团伙猖獗了16年。上百个政府警官想抓住他们。私立的平克顿国家侦探社的探员也尝试过。但是没人能抓住他们。大多数警察甚至都不知道这两个兄弟长什么样子。
杰西·詹姆斯享受成名的感觉。他经常给报社写信，否认自己犯下过任何罪行。
有一次，他与一位著名的平克顿侦探共进晚餐，这位侦探正在搜寻他的下落。后来这名侦探收到了杰西·詹姆斯的一封信，他感到非常惊讶。杰西表示他非常享受那次的晚餐。杰西也祝这位侦探幸运。
全国各地的报纸都刊印了类似的故事。他们帮助詹姆斯兄弟成名。人们喜欢看故事。但被抢劫的人就不喜欢看了。很快，有人悬赏了很多钱来捉拿詹姆斯兄弟。密苏里州悬赏一万美元来捉拿这对兄弟，不管他们是死是活。
詹姆斯兄弟很容易躲在家里。但是他们经常躲在大城市里。多年以后，弗兰克·詹姆斯告诉记者，躲在城市里是更容易的，因为那里的每个人都长得很像。
当一个地方太危险的时候，詹姆斯兄弟就移到另外一个地方。这就是他们决定去明尼苏达州的原因。在那里，他们打算去抢劫诺思菲尔德的银行。
弗兰克和杰西兄弟和六个朋友骑马去了诺思菲尔德。他们当中的三个人是兄弟：科尔，吉姆和鲍勃·扬格。跟詹姆斯兄弟一样，杨格兄弟以前也是南方联盟的游击队员，现在成了罪犯。
一开始，他们抢劫诺斯菲尔德的银行失败了。起初，杰西让银行工作人员拿钱，他们说保险箱打不开了。
然后，他们团伙决定尽快逃出这个城镇。但是诺斯菲尔德人知道出事了。很多人去家里或办公室里取他们的枪。然后枪战开始了。团伙的两个成员在城镇里死掉了。后来另外一个也死了。科尔，吉姆和鲍勃·扬格兄弟被抓住了。
只有两个人逃跑了--弗兰克和杰西兄弟。弗兰克受伤了，但是他没从马上掉下来。警察追了两兄弟一周的时间，后来不见了他们的行踪。
在接下来的几年里，詹姆斯兄弟尝试过组建另一个团伙。但是没有取得很大的成功。
1882年，杰西·詹姆斯和他的妻子孩子住在密苏里州的圣约瑟夫。人们称他为霍华德先生。有一天，另外一名罪犯鲍勃·福特朝他的后脑勺开了一枪。为了拿到赏金，他杀了杰西·詹姆斯。鲍勃·福特从未拿到那笔钱。他反而因谋杀罪而受审。
几个月后，弗兰克向密苏里州州长自首。他被控多项罪名，并接受了两次审判。两个陪审团都拒绝判他有罪。
科尔，吉姆和鲍勃·扬格兄弟因参与了明尼苏达州诺斯菲尔德的抢劫，在狱中服刑多年。科尔出狱后，他和弗兰克·詹姆斯通过向公众演讲赚钱。他们讲述了他们作为亡命之徒和邪恶罪犯的日子。
弗兰克詹姆斯活了72岁。在密苏里州克莱县詹姆斯家族农场，他死在了他出生的那个房间里。今天，那个农舍成为了一个博物馆，讲述了美国西部的两个最著名的罪犯的故事。
译文为可可英语翻译，未经授权请勿转载！
