(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 years just after the Civil War, America was led by Andrew Johnson. The Democrat rose from vice president to president when Abraham Lincoln was assassinated in April of eighteen sixty-five. Andrew Johnson soon found himself in a bitter struggle with Congress. In eighteen sixty-eight, radical members of the Republican Party held a trial in the Senate. They tried to remove the president from office. But they could not prove their charges, and their effort failed by one vote. When the trial was over, Johnson had less than a year left in office. He retired to his home in Tennessee. By then Americans had elected a new president. This week in our series, Larry West and Shep O'Neal tell the story of the election of eighteen sixty-eight.
There was no question about the Republican choice for president. Party leaders wanted General Ulysses Grant. Grant had been head of the Union army during the last part of the Civil War. Under his leadership, the Union had won. And now, he was the best-liked man in the country. Wherever Grant went, former soldiers waited to shake the hand of the man who had led them to victory against the Confederacy. The Democratic Party had a much more difficult time choosing a candidate for president in eighteen sixty-eight. Forty-seven men wanted the nomination. After several votes during its convention, the party failed to choose one above the others. Finally, party leaders looked for a compromise candidate. They chose Horatio Seymour, a former governor of New York state. He won the nomination on the twenty-second ballot. Seymour, at first, said he could not accept the honor. He said he did not want to be president. But finally, after much urging from other party leaders, he agreed to run against Grant. The presidential campaign was a strange one. Neither Grant nor Seymour campaigned very hard. Grant told his advisers he would take no part in the election campaign. Seymour spent much of the time working on his farm.
The real campaigning was done by party supporters. Republicans urged Union men to "vote as you shot" for Ulysses Grant -- the man who won the Civil War. They warned that Horatio Seymour and the Democrats were all secret rebels in their hearts. Seymour's supporters spent most of their time answering Republican charges. They struck back by accusing Grant of being a liar. They said he was controlled by extremists. They said he would rule from the White House like a dictator. The Democratic attacks failed. Grant got more popular votes and electoral votes than Seymour. He won the election. It was a great victory for the military hero. Yet it also was the start of an administration that would suffer many problems. Ulysses Grant would prove to be much less successful in politics than in war. As Andrew Johnson prepared to leave the White House a few months after Grant's election, he would look back on some successes during his time as president. True, he had lost the political fight to control the re-building, or reconstruction, of the defeated southern states. But he had won the equally important fight to keep the presidency independent from Congress. Johnson also could look back on some successes in foreign relations. During his administration, he got Napoleon the third of France to withdraw French forces from Mexico. And he got more territory for the United States. In the spring of eighteen sixty-seven, the Russian minister in Washington made a surprise offer. He said his country was willing to sell some of its territory in North America. Secretary of State William Seward quickly prepared a treaty accepting the offer.
Russia wanted ten million dollars for the land. Seward said the United States would pay only seven million dollars. Russia accepted, and the treaty was signed. The United States flag was raised over Alaska. Many Americans protested the purchase of Alaska. They thought seven million dollars was too much to pay for a worthless piece of frozen land. They said the deal was foolish. They called it "Seward's Folly." In time, of course, these critics were proved wrong. Alaska's wealth in oil, natural gas, trees, fish and animal skins makes its purchase one of the greatest deals any country ever made for territory. On March fourth, eighteen sixty-nine, Ulysses Grant traveled to Washington for his inauguration as the eighteenth president of the United States. Out-going president Andrew Johnson refused to take part in the ceremony. Before Grant arrived, Johnson left the White House. As he walked out, he told a friend, "I think I can already smell the fresh mountain air of my home in Tennessee." Americans had high hopes for their new president. They saw Grant as a strong and silent soldier -- a great leader who had won a long and bitter war. But there was another side to Grant which most people did not see. During the Civil War, the general had been a great hero. For many years before that, however, he had been considered a failure.
As a young man, Grant entered West Point, the nation's school for army officers. He did poorly in his studies. He did not like responsibility. Somehow he completed his studies and became an army officer. He fought in America's war against Mexico. After the war, Grant got into trouble. He drank too much whiskey, too often. The army forced him to resign. For the next eight years, he tried one thing after another. He failed at each one. He tried farming, for example, and failed. He tried selling land, and failed at that, too. At last, Grant appealed to his father for a job in a store. He held this low-paying job until the Civil War started. Then he finally got back into the army. He got his chance to succeed. Still, the years of poverty and failure affected Ulysses Grant. They made him lack trust in his own judgment and abilities. This feeling showed itself when Grant reached the White House. The new president had little knowledge of politics or government. And he refused to ask for advice from experts. To do so, he felt, would show a lack of intelligence. For advice, he depended on close friends. These were the men with whom he had served during the Civil War.
Grant had never been able to make much money. He liked and had great respect for men who had. He became friends with some of these wealthy men. He accepted gifts from them. This weakness for money and power became clear when he announced his choices for his cabinet. Grant named a rich businessman to be treasury secretary. The Senate rejected him. Grant named another rich businessman for Navy Secretary. This nomination was approved, even though the man had never been on a ship. Grant named several other rich people and old military friends to the cabinet. Many lacked political experience. Some critics attacked the appointments. One critic said: "Never was an administration begun with more hope and less ability." The best adviser Grant named was John Rawlins as Secretary of War. Rawlins was a good judge of men. And he was wiser than most of Grant's other friends. He alone, of all those around the president, would argue with Grant when he believed him to be wrong. Rawlins, however, was in poor health. His condition grew worse during the summer of eighteen sixty-nine. Early in autumn, he died. Rawlins' death hurt President Grant deeply. But the lack of honest, wise advice in the White House would hurt the country even more. That will be our story next week, in the next program of THE MAKING OF A NATION.
重点解析
1.try to 设法；试图
Don't try to deceive me.
你别诳我。
2.look for 寻找；探索
Look for software that's flexible enough for a range of abilities.
寻找功能多、适用性强的软件。
3.refuse to 不肯；拒却
I absolutely refuse to get married.
我决不结婚。
4.force sb to do 强迫某人干；逼某人做某事
Force him to leave his house by burning it.
放火烧他的房子迫使其离去。
参考译文
欢迎收听VOA慢速英语之建国史话节目。在内战后的几年里，美国由安德鲁·约翰逊领导。1865年4月，亚伯拉罕·林肯遇刺，这位民主党人从副总统晋升为总统。安德鲁·约翰逊很快发现自己正与国会进行着激烈的斗争。在1868年，共和党的激进成员在参议院进行了审判。他们试图罢免总统，但是他们无法证明自己的指控，他们的努力以一票之差告终。审判结束后，约翰逊的任期还不到一年，他回到了田纳西州的家中。那时，美国人已经选出了一位新总统。本周，拉里·韦斯特和谢普·奥尼尔讲述了1868年大选的故事。
毫无疑问，共和党选择总统。党的领导人想选举尤利西斯·格兰特将军。格兰特在内战的最后一段时期担任联邦军队的首长，在他的领导下，联邦获胜。现在，他是这个国家最受欢迎的人。无论格兰特走到哪里，前士兵们都等着和带领他们战胜联盟国的人握手。在1868年，民主党在挑选总统候选人方面遇到了更多的困难。47个人想获得提名，在大会上经过几次投票后，该党没有选择出一个胜出者。最后，党的领导人寻找一名折衷的候选人。他们选出前纽约州州长霍雷肖·西摩。他在第二十二次投票中赢得提名。起初，西摩说他不能接受这个荣誉。他说，自己不想当总统。但最后，在其他党领导人的力劝下，他同意与竞选格兰特角逐。总统竞选是个奇怪的活动，格兰特和西摩的竞选活动都不是很激烈。格兰特告诉他的顾问，他不会参加竞选活动。西摩大部分时间都在他的农场工作。
真正的竞选活动是由党的支持者进行，共和党人敦促联邦成员“一边出击一边投票”，支持赢得内战的尤利西斯·格兰特。他们警告说，霍雷肖·西摩和民主党都是他们心中的秘密叛军。西摩的支持者大部分时间都在回答共和党的指控。他们反驳说格兰特是个骗子，说他被极端分子控制，他将像独裁者一样在白宫进行统治。民主党的攻击失败了，格兰特得到了比西摩更受欢迎的一般投票和选举人选票。他赢得了选举。这是军事英雄的伟大胜利。然而，这也是一个会遇到许多问题的政府的开端。尤利西斯·格兰特在政治方面的成功远远不如作战中取得的成功。当安德鲁·约翰逊准备在格兰特当选后几个月离开白宫时，他会回顾他担任总统期间取得的一些成就。事实上，他在控制被击败的南方各州重建的政治斗争中失败了。但他赢得了同样重要的斗争，使总统独立于国会。约翰逊还可以回顾一下在外交关系方面取得的一些成就。在他执政期间，他让法国拿破仑三世从墨西哥撤军，为美国获得更多的领土。1867年春天，俄国驻华盛顿部长出其不意地提出了一项提议。他说，俄国愿意出售其在北美的部分领土，国务卿威廉·西沃德很快就准备了一份接受这个提议的条约。
俄国想要1千万美元的土地。西沃德说，美国只支付7百万美元。俄国接受并签署了这项条约，美国旗帜在阿拉斯加升起。许多美国人抗议阿拉斯加的屠杀。他们认为，7百万美元对一片冰冻的土地来说太贵了。他们说这样的交易太愚蠢了，称之为“西沃德的荒唐事”。当然，这些批评家有时是错的。阿拉斯加的石油、天然气、树木、鱼类和动物皮毛等财富使其成为任何国家有史以来最佳的交易之一。1869年3月4日，尤利西斯·格兰特作为美国第十八任总统前往华盛顿，参加就职典礼。即将卸任的总统安德鲁·约翰逊拒绝参加仪式。在格兰特来之前，约翰逊离开了白宫。当他走出去时，他对一个朋友说，“我觉得，我已经可以闻到田纳西州家乡新鲜的山间空气了。”美国人对他们的新总统寄予厚望。他们把格兰特看作一个坚强而沉默的士兵，一个赢得了漫长而痛苦战争的伟大领袖。但还有另一方面，大多数人看不见。在内战期间，这位将军是一位伟大的英雄。然而，在那之前的许多年里，他一直被认为是个失败者。
格兰特年轻时进入美国军官学校西点军校，他学习成绩不好。他学习很差，不喜欢承担责任感。不知怎么地，他还完成了学业，成为了一名军官。他参加了美国对抗墨西哥的战争。队强迫他辞职。在接下来的八年里，他不断地尝试做各种事情，但每一种都失败了。例如，他尝试过务农，没有成功。他试图卖掉土地，但也失败了。最后，格兰特请求他父亲让他在一家商店工作。内战爆发之前，他一直从事着这份低薪的工作。最后，他终于回到了军队，获得了成功的机会。然而，多年的贫穷和失败对尤利西斯·格兰特造成了影响，使他对自己的判断力和能力缺乏信任。当格兰特到达白宫时，这种感觉就彰显出来。这位新总统对政治或政府都知之甚少，他拒绝向专家征求意见，他觉得这样做会显得缺乏智慧。为了征求意见，他依靠亲密的朋友，这些人是他在内战期间共事的人。
格兰特从没能赚到很多钱，他喜欢且非常尊重那些有钱人，他和这些人成为朋友，接受他们的礼物。当他宣布选举内阁时，这种对金钱和权力的软弱就彰显无遗。格兰特任命一位富商为财政部长，参议院拒绝了他的提议。格兰特任命了另一位富商为海军部长，这项提名获得批准，尽管这位富商从未上过船。格兰特还任命了其他几位有钱人和懂军事的年长的朋友加入内阁，许多人都缺乏政治经验。一些批评人士抨击了这些任命。一位批评家说：“从来没有一个政府在一开始时，会拥有更多的希望和更少的能力。”格兰特任命的最佳顾问是约翰·罗林斯，他担任作战部长。罗林斯对人很有鉴赏力。他比格兰特的大多数其他朋友都聪明。在总统周围的人中，只有他一个人在确信格兰特犯错时会和他争论。然而，罗林斯的健康状况不佳。他的病情在1869年夏天恶化。初秋，他去世了。罗林斯的死深深地伤害到格兰特总统。但白宫中缺乏诚实、明智的建议，将对国家造成更大的伤害。这将是我们下周在下一期建国史话中要讲述的故事。
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