(单词翻译:单击)
听力文本
Welcome to THE MAKING OF A NATION – American history in VOA Special English. Americans experimented with many new customs and social traditions during the nineteen twenties. There were new dances, new kinds of clothes and some of the most imaginative art and writing ever produced in the United States. But in most ways, the nineteen twenties were a conservative time in American life. Voters elected three conservative Republican presidents: Warren Harding, Calvin Coolidge and Herbert Hoover. And they supported many conservative social and political policies. This week in our series, Kay Gallant and Harry Monroe continue the story of American conservatism during the nineteen twenties.
One such policy concerned immigration. Most Americans in the nineteen twenties had at least some ties through blood or marriage to the first Americans who came from Britain. Many people with these kinds of historic ties considered themselves to be real Americans, true Americans. Americans traditionally had welcomed newcomers from such western European countries as Britain, France, or Germany. But most of the people arriving in New York City and other harbors in the nineteen twenties were from the central, eastern and southern areas of Europe. Some Americans became afraid of these millions of people arriving at their shores. They worried that the immigrant newcomers might steal their jobs. Or they feared the political beliefs of the immigrants. Pressure to control immigration increased following the world war. Congress passed a bill that set a limit on how many people would be allowed to enter from each foreign country. And, the Congress and President Calvin Coolidge agreed to an even stronger immigration law in nineteen twenty-four.
Under the new law, limits on the number of immigrants from each foreign country depended on the number of Americans who had families in that country. For example, the law allowed many immigrants to enter from Britain or France, because many American citizens had families in those countries. But fewer people could come from Italy or Russia, because fewer Americans had family members in those countries. The laws were very difficult to enforce. But they did succeed in limiting the number of immigrants from certain countries. A second sign of the conservative feelings in the nineteen twenties was the nation's effort to ban the sale of alcoholic drinks, or liquor. This policy was known as Prohibition, because it prohibited -- or banned -- alcoholic drinks. Many of the strongest supporters of Prohibition were conservative Americans living in rural areas. Many of them believed that liquor was evil, the product of the devil. A number of towns and states passed laws banning alcohol sales during the first years of the twentieth century. And in nineteen nineteen, the nation passed the eighteenth amendment to the federal constitution. This amendment, and the Volstead Act, made it unlawful to make, sell or transport liquor.
Prohibition laws failed terribly from the start. There was only a small force of police to enforce the new laws. And millions of Americans still wanted to drink liquor. It was not possible for the police to watch every American who wanted to buy a drink secretly or make liquor in his own home. Not surprisingly, thousands of Americans soon saw a chance to make profits from the new laws. They began to import liquor illegally to sell for high prices. Criminals began to bring liquor across the long, unprotected border with Canada or on fast boats from the Caribbean islands. At the same time, private manufacturers in both cities and rural areas began to produce liquor. And shop owners in cities across the country sold liquor with little interference from local police. By the middle of the nineteen twenties, it was clear to most Americans that Prohibition laws were a failure. But the laws were not changed until the election of President Franklin Roosevelt in nineteen thirty-two. A third sign of conservatism in the nineteen twenties was the effort by some Americans to ban schoolbooks on modern science. Most of the Americans who supported these efforts were conservative rural Americans who believed in the traditional ideas of the Protestant Christian church. Many of them were fearful of the many changes that had taken place in American society.
Science became an enemy to many of these traditional, religious Americans. Science seemed to challenge the most basic ideas taught in the Bible. The conflict burst into a major public debate in nineteen twenty-five in a trial over Charles Darwin's idea of evolution. British scientist Charles Darwin published his books "The Origin of the Species" and "The Descent of Man" in the nineteenth century. The books explained Darwin's idea that humans developed over millions of years from apes and other animals. Most Europeans and educated people accepted Darwin's theory by the end of the nineteenth century. But the book had little effect in rural parts of the United States until the nineteen twenties. William Jennings Bryan led the attack on Darwin's ideas. Bryan was a rural Democrat who ran twice for president. He lost both times. But Bryan remained popular among many traditional Americans. Bryan told his followers that the theory of evolution was evil, because it challenged the traditional idea that God created the world in six days. He accused scientists of violating God's words in the Bible.
Bryan and his supporters called on local school officials to ban the teaching of evolution. Some state legislatures in the more conservative southeastern part of the country passed laws making it a crime to teach evolution theory. In nineteen twenty-five, a young science teacher in the southern state of Tennessee challenged the state's new teaching law. The teacher -- John Scopes -- taught Darwin's evolution ideas. Officials arrested scopes and put him on trial. Some of the nation's greatest lawyers rushed to Tennessee to defend the young teacher. They believed the state had violated his right to free speech. And they thought Tennessee's law against teaching evolution was foolish in a modern, scientific society. America's most famous lawyer, Clarence Darrow, became the leader of Scopes' defense team. Bryan and other religious conservatives also rushed to the trial. They supported the right of the state of Tennessee to ban the teaching of evolution. The trial was held in the small town of Dayton, Tennessee. Hundreds of people came to watch: religious conservatives, free speech supporters, newsmen and others.
The high point of the trial came when Bryan himself sat before the court. Lawyer Clarence Darrow asked Bryan question after question about the bible and about science. How did Bryan know the Bible is true. Did God really create the earth in a single day. Is a day in the Bible twenty-four hours. Or can it mean a million years. Bryan answered the questions. But he showed a great lack of knowledge about modern science. The judge found Scopes guilty of breaking the law. But in the battle of ideas, science defeated conservatism. And a higher court later ruled that Scopes was not guilty. The Scopes evolution trial captured the imagination of Americans. The issue was not really whether one young teacher was innocent or guilty of breaking a law. The real question was the struggle for America's spirit between the forces of modern ideas and those of traditional rural conservatism. The trial represented this larger conflict. American society was changing in many important ways during the early part of the twentieth century. It was not yet the world superpower that it would become after World War Two. But neither was it a traditional rural society of conservative farmers and clergy. The nineteen twenties were a period of growth, of change and of struggle between the old and new values.
重点解析
1.at least 起码；至少
This jury is expected to be sequestered for at least two months.
预计这个陪审团将至少被隔离两个月。
2.depend on 依赖；取决于
The risk and severity of sunburn depend on the body's natural skin colou.
晒伤的风险和严重程度取决于人体的自然肤色。
3.come from 来自；出身
Where did you come from?
你打哪儿来？
4.lack of 缺少；不足
This has contributed to the lack of confidence in the police.
这导致了大家对警方缺乏信任。
参考译文
欢迎收听VOA慢速英语之建国史话节目。20世纪20年代，美国人尝试了许多新的习俗和社会传统。有新式舞蹈，新款服装，以及美国有史以来产生的一些最富想象力的艺术作品和文学著作。但在大多数情况下，20世纪20年代是美国生活中的一个保守时期。选民选出了三位保守派共和党总统：沃伦·哈丁、卡尔文·柯立芝和赫伯特·胡佛。他们支持许多保守的社会和政治政策。在本周的系列节目中，凯·格兰特和哈里·门罗将继续讲述20世纪20年代美国保守主义的故事。
其中一项政策涉及移民。20世纪20年代的大多数美国人，至少通过血缘或婚姻与第一批来自英国的美国人有一些联系。许多有这种历史联结的人认为自己是真正的美国人。美国人一直欢迎来自英国、法国或德国等西欧国家的新来者。但是在20世纪20年代，到达纽约市和其他港口的大多数人来自欧洲中部、东部和南部地区。一些美国人开始对这数以百万计到达海岸的人感到害怕，他们担心新移民可能会抢走他们的工作，或是他们害怕移民的政治信仰。二战后，控制移民的压力增大。国会通过了一项法案，规定允许每个国家的入境人数。此外，国会和总统卡尔文·库利奇在1924年同意了一项更强有力的移民法。
根据新法律，对来自外国的移民人数的限制取决于在那个国家拥有家庭的美国人的数量。例如，法律允许许多移民从英国或法国入境，因为许多美国公民在这些国家拥有家庭。但是来自意大利或俄罗斯的人可能会减少，因为在这些国家拥有家人的美国人更少。该项法律执行起来很困难，但确实成功地限制了来自某些国家的移民数量。20世纪20年代保守情绪的第二个迹象，是国家努力禁止销售酒精饮品或烈性酒。这项政策被称为《禁酒令》，因为它禁止酒精饮品。《禁酒令》最强烈的反对者是生活在农村地区的保守派美国人。他们中许多人认为酒是邪恶的，是魔鬼的产物。20世纪头几年，一些城镇和州通过了禁止销售酒类的法律。在1919年，美国通过了联邦宪法第十八修正案。这项名为《沃尔斯特德法案》的修正案，将制造、销售或运输烈酒定为非法。
禁酒令从一开始就非常失败。只有少部分警察执行新的法律，数以百万计的美国人仍然想喝酒。警察不可能监视每个想偷偷买酒或在家里酿酒的美国人。成千上万的美国人很快就看到了从新法律中获利的机会，这也不足为奇。他们开始非法进口烈酒，然后高价出售。犯罪分子开始把酒带过与加拿大无保护的漫长边境，或者从加勒比海群岛乘坐快艇。与此同时，城市和农村的私营制造商也开始生产烈酒。而全国各城市的店主出售烈酒时，当地警察很少干预。到20世纪20年代中期，对大多数美国人来说，《禁酒令》显然是失败的。但直到1932年富兰克林·罗斯福总统的当选时，这项法律才改变。20世纪20年代保守主义的第三个标志是，一些美国人竭力禁止教授现代科学的教科书。大多数表示支持的美国人是保守的村民，他们相信基督教新教的传统。他们中的许多人害怕美国社会发生的许多变化。
科学成了许多传统又虔诚的美国人的敌人。科学似乎在挑战圣经中最基本的理念。这场冲突在1925年对查尔斯·达尔文的进化论思想进行了审判，并引发一场重大的公开辩论。英国科学家查尔斯·达尔文在19世纪出版了他的著作《物种起源》和《人类后裔》。这些书解释了达尔文的观点，即人类历经数百万年，从猿和其他动物那里发展而来。 到19世纪末，大多数欧洲人和受过教育的人接受达尔文的理论。但直到20世纪20年代，这本书在美国农村地区的影响还很小。威廉·詹宁斯·布赖恩领导了对达尔文思想的抨击。布赖恩是一位乡村民主党人，曾两次竞选总统，两次都落选了。但是，布莱恩在许多传统的美国人中仍然很受欢迎。布莱恩告诉他的追随者，进化论是邪恶的，因为它挑战了传统观念，即上帝在六天内创造了世界。他指责科学家违背了圣经中上帝所说的话语。
布赖恩和他的支持者呼吁当地学校官员禁止教授进化论。美国东南部一些较为保守的州立法机构通过了法律，将教授进化论定为犯罪。1925年，田纳西州南部一位教授科学的年轻教师对该州的新教学法提出了挑战。这位名为约翰·斯科普斯的教师，教授达尔文的进化论思想。官员逮捕了斯考普斯，并对他进行审判。美国一些最杰出的律师赶到田纳西州，为这位年轻教师辩护。他们认为，该州侵犯了他的言论自由权。他们认为在现代科学社会里，田纳西州反对教授进化论的法律很愚蠢。美国最著名的律师克拉伦斯·达罗成为斯科普斯辩护小组的组长。布赖恩和其他宗教保守派人士也赶赴审判现场。他们支持田纳西州禁止教授进化论的权利。审判在田纳西州的小镇代顿举行。数百人前来观看，包括宗教保守派、言论自由支持者、新闻记者等。
庭审的高潮是布赖恩本人出庭受审。律师克拉伦斯·达罗就圣经和科学问题一个接一个地向布赖恩发问。布莱恩怎么知道圣经是真的；上帝真的在一天之内创造了地球吗；圣经中的一天是24小时吗，可能是一百万年吗。布赖恩回答了这些问题，但他表现出对现代科学知之甚少。法官判定斯考普斯违法。但在这场思想的斗争中，科学战胜了保守主义。更高一级的法院后来裁定斯考普斯无罪。斯考普斯进化论审判案吸引了美国人的想象力。问题实际上并非一位年轻老师是无辜的，还是犯法了。真正的问题是现代思想力量与传统农村保守主义力量之间在为美国精神而战。审判代表了这个更重要的冲突。20世纪初，美国社会发生了许多重要的变化。第二次世界大战后，它还不是世界超级大国。但它也不再是一个由保守的农民和神职人员组成的传统农村社会。20世纪20年代是一个成长、变革，新旧价值观念斗争的时期。
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