(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 late eighteen hundreds, white Americans expanded their settlements in the western part of the country. They claimed land traditionally used by American Indians. The Indians were hunters, and they struggled to keep control of their hunting lands. The federal government supported the settlers' clhoaims. It fought, and won, several wars with Indian tribes. It forced the Indians to live on government-controlled reservations. This week in our series, Larry West and Steve Ember tell about the people who settled on the old Indian lands after the wars. After the Indians were defeated, thousands of settlers hurried west. Some hoped to find new, rich farmland. The soil they left behind was thin and overworked. Their crops were poor. Some simply hoped to buy any kind of farmland. They did not have enough money to buy farmland in the east. Others came from other countries and hoped to build new lives in the United States.
All the settlers found it easy to get land in the West. In eighteen sixty-two, Congress had passed the Homestead Act. This law gave every citizen, and every foreigner who asked for citizenship, the right to claim government land. The law said each man could have sixty-five hectares. If he built a home on the land, and farmed it for five years, it would be his. He paid just ten dollars to record the deal. Claiming land on the Great Plains was easy. Building a farm there and working it was not so easy. The wide flat grasslands seemed strange to men who had lived among the hills and forests of the east. Here there were few hills or trees. Without trees, settlers had no wood to build houses. Some built houses partly underground. Others built houses from blocks of earth cut out of the grassland. These houses were dark and dirty. They leaked and became muddy when it rained. There were no fences on the Great Plains. So it was hard to keep animals away from crops. Settlers in the American west also had a problem faced by many people in the world today. They had little fuel for heating and cooking. With few trees to cut for fuel, they collected whatever they could find. Small woody plants. Dried grass. Cattle and buffalo wastes. Water was hard to find, too. And although the land seemed rich, it was difficult to prepare for planting. The grass roots were thick and strong. They did not break apart easily. The weather also was a problem. Sometimes months would pass without rain, and the crops would die. Winters were bitterly cold. Most of the settlers, however, were strong people. They did not expect an easy life. And as time passed, they found solutions to most of the problems of farming on the Great Plains. Railroads were built across the west. They brought wood for homes. Wood and coal for fuel.
Technology solved many of the problems. New equipment was invented for digging deep wells. Better pumps were built to raise the water to the surface. Some of the pumps used windmills for power. The fence problem was solved in eighteen seventy-four. That was the year "barbed wire" was invented. The sharp metal barbs tore the skin of the men who stretched it along fence tops. But they prevented cattle from pushing over the fences and destroying crops. New farm equipment was invented. This included a plow that could break up the grassland of the plains. And farmers learned techniques for farming indry weather. Most of the problems on the plains could be solved. But solving them cost money. A farmer could get wood to build his house. But he had to buy the wood and pay the railroad to bring it west. To farm the plains, he needed barbed wire for fences, and plows and other new equipment. All these things cost money. So a plains farmer had to grow crops that were in big demand. He usually put all his efforts into producing just one or two crops. The farmers of the plains did well at first. There was enough rain. Huge crops of wheat and corn were produced. Much of the grain was sold in Europe and farmers got good prices.
The farmers, however, were not satisfied. They were angry about several things. One was the high cost of sending their crops to market. The only way to transport their grain was by railroad. And railroad prices were very high for farm products--higher than for anything else. The railroads also owned the big buildings where grain was stored. Farmers had to pay to keep their grain there until it was sold. They said storage costs were too high. The farmers were angry about the high cost of borrowing money, too. They opposed the import taxes -- tariffs -- they had to pay on foreign products. Some of the tariffs were as high as sixty percent. Congress had set the levels high to protect American industry from foreign competition. But farmers said they were the victims of this policy, because it increased their costs. Farmers as individuals could do nothing to change the situation. But if they united in a group, they thought, perhaps they could influence government policy. Farmers began to unite in local social and cultural groups called "granges." As more and more farmers joined granges, the groups began to act on economic problems.
Farmers organized cooperatives to buy equipment and supplies in large amounts directly from factories. The cost of goods was lower when bought in large amounts. The granges also began to organize for political action. Local granges became part of the national grange movement. Grange supporters won control of state legislatures in a number of middle western states. They passed laws to limit the cost of railroad transportation and crop storage. Railroads refused to obey these laws. They fought the measures in the courts. They did not win. Finally, they appealed to the United States Supreme Court. The railroads said the laws were not constitutional, because they interfered with the right of Congress to control trade between the states. The railroads said states could not control transportation costs. To do so would reduce profits for the railroad. And that would be the same as taking property from the railroad without legal approval. The Supreme Court rejected this argument. In a decision in eighteen seventy-six, the Supreme Court said states had a legal right to control costs of railroad transportation. It said owners of property in which the public has an interest must accept public control for the common good. The farmers seemed to have won. But the powerful railroad companies continued to struggle against controls. They reduced some transportation costs, but only after long court fights. The granges tried to get Congress to pass laws giving the federal government power to control the railroads. Congress refused to act. Many farmers lost hope that the granges could force the railroads to make any real cuts in their costs. They began to leave the organization. Others left because the economy had improved. They no longer felt a need to protest. Within a few years, the national grange had lost most of its members. Some local groups continued to meet. But they took no part in politics. New protests groups would be formed in a few years when farmers once again faced hard times. But for now -- in the late eighteen seventies -- times were good. Most people were satisfied. We will continue this story next week.
重点解析
1.struggle to 斗争；抗争
Despite their earnest efforts, they still struggle to win support.
尽管已尽心竭力，他们仍然无法赢得支持。
2.break apart 打散；分解
This piane feeis Iike it's gonna break apart.
看上去这飞机要粉身碎骨了。
3.break up 拆散；打碎
Civil war could come if the country breaks up.
如果国家分裂就会爆发内战。
4.continue to 继续；持续到
We hope to continue to have her close support and friendship.
我们希望她能继续大力支持，并能与她维持亲密友谊。
参考译文
欢迎收听VOA慢速英语之建国史话节目。在1800年后期，美国白人扩大了他们在西部地区的定居点。他们索要了一直由美国印第安人使用的土地。印第安人是猎人，他们努力掌控着自己的猎场。联邦政府支持定居者的部落，它与印第安部落进行了几次战斗，并取得了胜利。它迫使印第安人住到了政府掌控的保留地上。在本周的系列节目中，拉里·韦斯特和史蒂夫·恩伯将讲述战后定居在古老印第安土地上的人们。印地安人被打败后，成千上万的定居者匆忙向西部迁移。有些人希望找到肥沃的新农田，被他们留下的土壤极为贫瘠，庄稼欠收。有些人只是希望购买农田，什么样的都可以。他们没有足够的钱在东部购买农田。其他人来自其他国家，希望在美国建立新的生活。
所有的定居者都发现在西部很容易获得土地。1862年，国会通过了《宅基地法》。这项法律赋予每一位公民和每一位想获得公民身份的外国人索要政府土地的权利。法律规定每人可拥有65公顷土地。如果他在这片土地上建了一座房子，并且耕种了五年，土地就归他所有。他只花10美元来记录这笔交易。在大平原上获得土地不是什么难事，但在那里建农场并在那工作却并不容易。对于住在东部山林中的人来说，宽阔平坦的草原似乎很陌生。这里几乎没有山和树木。没有树，定居者就没有盖房子用的木头。有些房子建在了半地下，其他人则用从草地上挖出来的土块盖房子。这些房子又黑又脏，还漏水，下雨时变得泥泞不堪。大平原上没有栅栏，所以很难让动物远离庄稼。问题，他们几乎没有取暖和做饭的燃料。由于几乎没有树木可以采伐作燃料，他们收集了所能找到的任何东西。小木本植物、干草、牛和水牛的粪便。也很难找到水。虽然土地看起来很肥沃，但很难种植庄稼。草根粗壮，不容易分开。天气也是个问题。有时几个月不下雨，庄稼就会枯死，冬天还非常冷。然而，大多数定居者都很强壮。他们并不期望过上安逸的生活。随着时间的推移，他们找到了解决大平原上大部分农业问题的办法。在西部修建了铁路，可以把木头运回家，木材和煤能够用作燃料。
技术解决了许多问题。人们开发出新设备来挖深井，建造了更好的水泵让水升到地面上，有些水泵可以用风车发电。篱笆问题在1874年解决了，在那一年，人们发明了“带刺的铁丝网”。锋利的金属倒钩划破了那些拉拽篱笆顶端人的皮肤。但是，它们阻止了牛越过栅栏去毁坏庄稼。人们制造出新农具，包括一个可以翻弄平原草地的犁。农民们学会了在恶劣天气下耕作的技术。平原上的大部分问题都得到了解决，但解决这些问题都需要花钱。农民可以用木头盖房子，但必须购买木材，并支付铁路运费才能把它带到西部。为了耕种平原，需要用带刺的铁丝网做篱笆、还需要犁和其他新设备。所有这些东西都要花钱。所以，一个居住在平原上的农民必须种植需求量大的作物，通常只会全力以赴种一两种庄稼。平原上的农民起初干得很好，雨量充足，生产出大量的小麦和玉米。大部分粮食在欧洲出售，售价很高。
然而，农民们并不满意。他们对几件事感到很生气，其中一件是他们将农作物运往市场的成本很高。他们的粮食只能通过铁路运输，而且铁路价格对农产品来说非常高，高于其他任何产品。铁路公司还拥有储存粮食的大型建筑物，农民们在把产品卖出之前，不得不花钱把粮食存在这些建筑物中，他们说存储成本过高。农民们也对借贷成本太高感到愤怒。他们反对进口关税，进口关税是他们必须为外国产品支付的税款。有些关税高达60%。国会为保护美国工业免受外国竞争而设定了很高的税额标准。但是，农民说他们是这项政策的受害者，因为这会增加他们的成本。农民作为独立的个体，无力改变这种状况。但他们认为，如果团结在一起，也许能影响政府的政策。农民开始团结当地社群和文化团体，取名为“农庄”。随着越来越多的农民加入农庄，这些团体开始采取行动来影响经济问题。
农民组织合作社直接从工厂大量购买设备和用品。大量购买时，商品的成本较低。农庄也开始组织政治行动，地方农庄成为国家农庄运动的一部分。农庄的支持者赢得了中西部一些州立法机关的掌控权，他们通过了限制铁路运输和农作物储存成本的法律。铁路公司拒绝遵守这些法律，他们在法庭上反对这些措施，但他们没能获胜。最后，他们向美国最高法院提请上诉。铁路公司表示，这些法律不符合宪法，因为它们干扰了国会控制各州之间贸易的权利。各州无法控制运输成本，这样做会减少铁路公司的利润。这和未经法律批准，从铁路上截取铁路公司的财产是一样的。最高法院驳回了这一论点。最高法院在1876年的一项裁决中表示，各州拥有控制铁路运输成本的合法权利。它说，拥有具有公众利益的财产时，拥有者必须接受公众对公共利益的控制。农民们似乎赢了，但实力强大的铁路公司仍在与控制权作斗争。他们降低了一些交通费用，但那是经过了长时间的法庭斗争。农庄试图让国会通过法律，赋予联邦政府控制铁路的权力。国会拒绝采取行动。许多农民感到希望破灭，他们曾认为农庄可以迫使铁路公司真正削减成本。他们开始离开该组织。其他人离开是因为经济开始好转，他们觉得不需要再抗议了。几年内，国家农庄失去了大部分成员。一些地方团体继续会面，但他们都没有参与政治活动。新的抗议组织将在几年后，农民再面临困难时期时成立。但现在正值18世纪70年代末，情况还不错，大多数人都感到很满意。下周我们将继续这个故事。
译文为可可英语翻译，未经授权请勿转载！
