(单词翻译:单击)
听力文本
Welcome to THE MAKING OF A NATION – American history in VOA Special English. This week in our series, Larry West and Tony Riggs continue the story of President Woodrow Wilson. In nineteen seventeen, Europe was at war. It was the conflict known as World War One. After three years of fighting, Europe's lands were filled with the sights and sounds of death. But still, the armies of the Allies and the Central Powers continued to fight. The United States had tried to keep out of the European conflict. It declared its neutrality. In the end, however, neutrality was impossible. Germany was facing starvation because of a British naval blockade. To break the blockade, German submarines attacked any ship that sailed to Europe. That included ships from neutral nations like the United States. The German submarines sank several American ships. Many innocent people were killed. German submarine attacks finally forced the United States into the war. It joined the Allies: Britain, France, and Russia.
Like most Americans, President Wilson did not want war. But he had no choice. Sadly, he asked Congress for a declaration of war. Congress approved the declaration on April sixth, nineteen seventeen. It was not long before American soldiers reached the European continent. They marched in a parade through the streets of Paris. The people of France gave them a wild welcome. They cheered the young Americans. They threw flowers at the soldiers and kissed them. The Americans marched to the burial place of the Marquis de Lafayette. Lafayette was the French military leader who had come to America's aid during its war of independence from Britain. The United States wanted to repay France for its help more than a hundred years earlier. An American Army officer made a speech at the tomb. He said: "Lafayette, we are here!" And so the Americans were there. They were ready to fight in the bloodiest war the world had ever known. Week by week, more American troops arrived. By October, nineteen seventeen, the American army in Europe totaled one hundred thousand men. The leader of that army was General John J. Pershing. Pershing's forces were not sent directly into battle. Instead, they spent time training, building bases, and preparing supplies. Then a small group was sent to the border between Switzerland and Germany. The Americans fought a short but bitter battle there against German forces.
The Germans knew the American soldiers had not fought before. They tried to frighten the Americans by waving their knives and guns in a fierce attack. The Americans surprised the Germans. They stood and fought back successfully. Full American participation in the fighting did not come for several months. It came only after another event took place. That event changed the war and the history of the Twentieth Century. It was the Bolshevik Revolution in Russia. Its leader was Vladimir Lenin. The Russian Revolution began in the spring of nineteen seventeen. The people of that country were tired of fighting Germany. And they were tired of their ruler, Czar Nicholas. The Czar was overthrown. A temporary government was established. It was headed by Alexander Kerenski. President Woodrow Wilson sent a team of American officials to Russia to help Kerenski's new government. The officials urged Russia to remain in the war. Under Kerenski, Russia did keep fighting. But it continued to suffer terrible losses. Many Russians demanded an end to the war.
Lenin saw this opposition as a way to gain control of the government. So he went to the city of Petrograd. There, he led the opposition to the war and to Kerenski. Night after night, he spoke to big crowds. "What do you get from war." He shouted. "Only wounds, hunger and death!" Lenin promised peace under Bolshevik Communism. Within a few months, he won control of the Petrograd Soviet. That was an organization of workers and soldiers. Another Bolshevik Communist, Leon Trotsky, controlled the Soviet in Moscow. Kerenski's government continued to do badly in the war. More and more Russian soldiers lost hope. Many fled the army. Others stayed. But they refused to fight. The end came in November, nineteen seventeen. Soldiers in Petrograd turned against Kerenski. Lenin ordered them to rebel. And he took control of the government within forty-eight hours. Russia was now a Communist nation. As promised, Lenin called for peace. So Russia signed its own peace treaty with Germany. The treaty forced Russia to pay a high price for its part in the war. It had to give up a third of its farmland, half of its industry, and ninety percent of its coal mines. It also lost a third of its population. Still, it did not have real peace with Germany.
The treaty between Russia and Germany had a powerful influence on the military situation in the rest of Europe. Now, Germany no longer had to fight an enemy on two fronts. Its eastern border was quiet suddenly. It could aim all its forces against Britain, France, and the other Allies on its western border. Germany had suffered terrible losses during four years of war. Many of its soldiers had been killed. And many of its civilians had come close to starving, because of the British naval blockade. Yet Germany's leaders still hoped to win. They decided to launch a major attack. They knew they had to act quickly, before the United States could send more troops to help the Allies. German military leaders decided to break through the long battle line that divided most of central Europe. They planned to strike first at the north end of the line. British troops held that area. The Germans would push the British off the continent and back across the English Channel. Then they would turn all their strength on France. When France was defeated, Germany would be victorious. The campaign opened in March, nineteen eighteen. German forces attacked British soldiers near Amiens, France. The Germans had six thousand pieces of artillery. The British troops fought hard, but could not stop the Germans. They were pushed back fifty kilometers. The attack stopped for about a week.
Then the Germans struck again. This time, their target was Ypres, Belgium. The second attack was so successful it seemed the Germans might push the British all the way back to the sea. The British commander, Field Marshal Douglas Haig, ordered his men not to withdraw. Haig said: "There is no other course open to us, but to fight it out." The British fought hard and stopped the attack. Losses on both sides were extremely high. Yet the Germans continued with their plan. Their next attack was northeast of Paris in May. This time, they broke the Allied line easily and rushed toward Paris. The German Army chief, General Erich Ludendorff, tried to capture the French capital without waiting to strengthen his forces. He got close enough to shell the city. The French government prepared to flee. Allied military leaders rushed more troops to the area. The new force included two big groups of American marines. The heaviest fighting was outside Paris at a place called Belleau Wood. The American Marines were advised to prepare for a possible withdrawal. One Marine said: "Withdraw? We just got here!" The Marines resisted as the Germans attacked Allied lines in Belleau Wood again and again. Then they attacked the German lines. The Battle for Belleau Wood lasted three weeks. It was the most serious German offensive of the war. The Germans lost. We will continue our story of World War One next week.
重点解析
1.known as 被称为；被认为是
She is known as a great beauty.
她是出了名的大美女。
2.long before 很早以前；老早以前
Long before I ever went there, Africa was alive in my imagination.
早在我真正踏足之前很久，非洲就已在我的脑海中活灵活现了。
3.try to 设法；试图
One child shrinks away from me when I try to talk to him.
当我试图和一个孩子说话时，他避开了我。
4.refuse to 拒绝；不肯
Those who refuse to repent, he said, will be punished.
那些拒不悔改的人，他说，将会受到惩罚。
参考译文
欢迎收听VOA慢速英语之建国史话节目。在本周的节目中，拉里·韦斯特和托尼·里格斯将继续讲述伍德罗·威尔逊总统的故事。1917年，欧洲处于战争之中，这场冲突被称为第一次世界大战。经过三年的战斗，欧洲的土地上到处都是死亡的景象和声音。但盟军和中央大国的军队仍在继续战斗。美国曾试图避开欧洲的冲突，它宣布保持中立。但最终，维持中立是不可能做到的。由于英国海军的封锁，德国正面临饥荒。为了打破封锁，德国潜艇袭击了所有开往欧洲的船只，其中包括美国等中立国家的船只。德国潜艇击沉了几艘美国船只，许多无辜的人遇难。德国潜艇的攻击最终迫使美国参战，美国加入了盟国：英国、法国和俄国。
像大多数美国人一样，威尔逊总统不希望参与战争。但他别无选择。可悲的是，他要求国会宣战。国会于1917年4月6日批准了该声明。不久，美国士兵到达欧洲大陆。他们列队游行穿过巴黎的街道，法国人民热烈欢迎他们，他们为美国的年轻人欢呼，向士兵们投掷鲜花并亲吻他们。美国人游行到拉斐特侯爵的墓地。拉斐特是法国的军事领袖，他在美国脱离英国的独立战争期间曾给与美国支援。美国想报答法国一百多年前的援助。一位美国军官在墓前发表了演讲，他说：“拉斐特，我们来了！”美国人也来到这里，他们准备参加世界上最血腥的战争。时间一周周的过去，更多的美军抵达。到1917年10月，美国在欧洲的军队共计有十万人，这支军队的领导人是约翰.J.潘兴将军。潘兴的部队没有直接投入战斗。相反，他们花时间进行训练、建立基地、准备补给。随后，一小队士兵被派往瑞士和德国的边境。美国人在那里与德国军队进行了一场短暂而激烈的战斗。
德军知道美国士兵以前没有打过仗。他们挥舞刀枪进行猛烈的攻击，试图吓唬美国人。美国人使德国人感到吃惊，他们有效地进行保卫，成功地进行了反击。几个月来，美国没有充分参与战斗。当另一件事发生之后，美国参战了。这件事改变了战争的局面，也改变了二十世纪的历史。那就是俄国的布尔什维克革命，其领导人是弗拉基米尔·列宁。俄国革命始于1917年春，俄国人民厌倦了与德国作战。他们厌倦了其统治者，沙皇尼古拉斯。沙皇被推翻了，成立了临时政府，由亚历山大·克伦斯基领导。伍德罗·威尔逊总统派一队美国官员到俄国去帮助克伦斯基的新政府，官员们敦促俄国继续参战。在克伦斯基的统治下，俄国确实在继续战斗。但它仍遭受着可怕的损失。许多俄国人要求结束战争。
列宁把这种反对视为取得政府控制权的一种方式，所以，他去了彼得格勒市。在那里，他领导反对战争和克伦斯基的一方。他夜以继日地对大群民众讲话。“你们从战争中得到了什么。”他喊道。“只有伤口、饥饿和死亡！”列宁承诺在布尔什维克共产主义统治下实现和平。几个月内，他成功控制了彼得格勒苏维埃，那是一个由工人和士兵组成的组织。另一位布尔什维克共产主义者利昂·托洛茨基，在莫斯科控制了苏维埃政权。克伦斯基的政府在战争中继续表现不佳，越来越多的俄国士兵失去了希望。许多人逃离了军队。其他人留了下来，但他们拒绝战斗。1917年11月，战争结束。彼得格勒的士兵转向攻打克伦斯基。列宁命令他们进行反抗，他在48小时内控制了政府。俄国现在成为了一个共产主义国家。正如所承诺的那样，列宁呼吁和平。因此，俄国与德国签署了自己的和平条约。该条约迫使俄国为战争付出高昂代价。俄国不得不放弃三分之一的农田，一半的工业和90%的煤矿。它还失去了三分之一的人口。尽管如此，俄国与德国并没有真正达成和平。
俄德两国签署的条约，对欧洲其他地区的军事局势产生了强大的影响。现在，德国不再需要在两条战线上与敌人作战。其东部边界突然安静下来，可以将所有的力量对抗英国、法国和其西部边境的其他盟国。争中损失惨重，许多士兵丧生。由于英国海军的封锁，许多平民几乎饿死。然而，德国领导人仍然希望获胜。他们决定发动一次重大的袭击。他们知道，在美国派遣更多部队支援盟国之前，他们必须迅速采取行动。德国军方领导人决定突破分隔中欧大部分地区的长期战线，他们计划先攻击战线北端。英国军队占领了该地区，德国人会把英国人赶出欧洲大陆，再赶回英吉利海峡。随后，他们会把所有的力量都指向法国。当法国被击败时，德国将获胜。战事于1918年3月开始，德国军队袭击了法国亚眠市附近的英军。德军拥有6000门大炮。英军英勇奋战，但却无法阻止德军。他们被迫后撤50公里，进攻停止了大约一周。
后来，德军再次出击。这次，他们的目标是比利时的伊普尔。第二次袭击非常成功，德军似乎可以把英军一路赶进大海，英军战地指挥官道格拉斯·黑格元帅命令手下不要撤退。黑格说：“对我们来说，别无它路可走，只能奋战到底。”英国人奋力抗战，阻止住进攻。双方损失都非常大。然而，德军继续执行他们的计划。他们下一次要在五月份袭击巴黎东北部。在这次进攻中，他们轻易地突破了盟军的防线，冲向巴黎。德国陆军总司令埃里希·卢登多夫将军在未等待援军到来时，试图占领法国首都。他近距离接近巴黎，足以炮轰这座城市。法国政府准备逃离。盟军领导人向该地区增兵，这支新锐部队包括两支规模巨大的美国海军陆战队。最激烈的战斗发生在巴黎郊外名叫贝洛伍德的地方。美国海军陆战队接到劝告其为可能进行的撤退做准备的建议。一名海军陆战队员说：“撤退？我们才刚到这里！”德军一次次攻击贝洛伍德的盟军防线时，海军陆战队进行抵抗。随后，他们攻击了德军防线。贝洛伍德战役持续了三周，这是战争期间德军进攻最激烈的一次战役。德军落败。下周我们将继续讲述第一次世界大战的故事。
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