(单词翻译:单击)
听力文本
Welcome to THE MAKING OF A NATION – American history in VOA Special English. Vice President Calvin Coolidge became president in nineteen twenty-three following the death of President Warren Harding. Coolidge quickly gained the trust of most Americans by investigating the crimes of Harding's top officials. The conservative economic policies of the new president also won wide support. Coolidge had one year to prove his abilities to the American people before the election of nineteen twenty-four. This week in our series, Kay Gallant and Harry Monroe tell us about that election.
Coolidge was a quiet man who believed in limited government policies. But his silence hid a fighting political spirit. Coolidge had worked for many years to gain the White House. He would not give it up without a struggle. Coolidge moved quickly after becoming president to gain control of the Republican Party. He named his own advisers to important jobs. And he replaced a number of officials with people whose loyalty he could trust. Most Republicans liked Coolidge. They felt his popular policies would make him a strong candidate in the presidential election. For this reason, Coolidge faced only one serious opponent for the Republican presidential nomination in nineteen twenty-four. Coolidge's opponent was the great automobile manufacturer, Henry Ford of Michigan. Ford had been a candidate for Congress in nineteen eighteen. He lost that election. But after the election, some people in his company began to call for Ford to be the Republican presidential nominee in nineteen twenty-four.
Ford was one of history's greatest inventors and manufacturers. But he had limited skills in politics. Ford was poorly educated. He had extreme opinions about a number of groups. He hated labor unions, the stock market, dancing, smoking, and drinking alcohol. But most of all, Ford hated Jews. He produced a number of publications accusing the Jewish people of organizing international plots. At first, Ford appeared to be a strong opponent to Coolidge. But soon, he realized that Coolidge was too strong politically. His economic policies were popular among the people. And the nation was at peace. The party could not deny Coolidge's nomination. Ford himself put an end to his chances by telling the nation that it was "perfectly safe with Coolidge." Calvin Coolidge won the presidential nomination easily at the nineteen twenty-four Republican convention in Cleveland, Ohio. The Republican delegates chose Charles Dawes of Illinois to run with him as the vice presidential candidate.
The Democratic Party was much more divided. Many of the groups that traditionally supported Democratic candidates now were fighting against each other. For example, many farmers did not agree on policies with people living in cities. The educated did not agree with uneducated people. And many Protestant workers felt divided from Roman Catholic and Jewish workers. These differences made it hard for the Democratic Party to choose a national candidate. There was little spirit of compromise. Two main candidates campaigned for the Democratic nomination. The first was former Treasury Secretary William McAdoo. McAdoo had the support of many Democrats because of his strong administration of the railroads during the world war. Democratic voters in Southern and Western states liked him because of his conservative racial policies and his opposition to alcohol. The second main candidate was Alfred Smith, the governor of New York. Smith was a Roman Catholic. He was very popular with people in the Eastern cities, Roman Catholics, and supporters of legal alcohol. But many rural delegates to the convention did not trust him.
The Democratic Party convention met in New York City. It quickly became a battle between the more liberal delegates from the cities and the more conservative delegates from rural areas. It was July. The heat was intense. Speaker after speaker appealed to the delegates for votes. One day passed. Then another. For nine days, the nation listened on the radio as the delegates argued about the nomination. The delegates voted ninety-five times without success. Finally, McAdoo and Smith agreed to withdraw from the race. Even then, the delegates had to vote eight more times before they finally agreed on compromise candidates. The Democratic delegates finally chose John Davis to be their presidential nominee. Davis was a lawyer for a major bank. He had served briefly under President Wilson as ambassador to Britain. The delegates also chose Charles Bryan to be the vice presidential candidate. Bryan was the younger brother of the famous Democrat and populist leader, William Jennings Bryan.
There also was a third party in the nineteen twenty-four election. Many of the old progressive supporters of Theodore Roosevelt and Woodrow Wilson opposed the choices of the Republicans and Democrats. They thought the country needed another candidate to keep alive the spirit of reform. Progressive candidates had done well in the congressional election of nineteen twenty-two. But following the election, communists had gained influence in one of the major progressive parties. Most progressives did not want to join with communists. So, they formed a new progressive party. The new party named Senator Robert LaFollette of Wisconsin to be its presidential candidate. LaFollette campaigned for increased taxes on the rich and public ownership of water power. He called for an end to child labor and limits on the power of the courts to interfere in labor disputes. And LaFollette warned the nation about the dangers of single, large companies gaining control of important industries. Coolidge won the nineteen twenty-four election easily. He won the electoral votes of thirty-five states to just twelve for Davis of the Democrats. LaFollette won only Wisconsin, his home state. Coolidge also won more popular votes than the other two candidates together.
The American people voted for Coolidge partly to thank him for bringing back honesty and trust to the White House following the crimes of the Harding administration. But the main reason was that they liked his conservative economic policies and his support of business. LaFollette's Progressive Party died following the nineteen twenty-four election. Most of his supporters later joined the Democrats. But the reform spirit of their movement remained alive through the next four years. They were difficult years for Progressives. Conservatives in Congress passed laws reducing taxes for corporations and richer Americans. Progressives fought for reforms in national agriculture policies. Most farmers did not share in the general economic growth of the nineteen twenties. Instead, their costs increased while the price of their products fell. Many farmers lost their farms. Farmers and progressives wanted the federal government to create a system to control prices and the total supply of food produced. They said the government should buy and keep any extra food that farmers produced. And they called for officials to help them export food.
Coolidge and most Republicans rejected these ideas. They said it was not the business of a free government to fix farm prices. And they feared the high costs of creating a major new government department and developing export markets. Coolidge vetoed three major farm reform bills following his election. The debate over farm policy was, in many ways, like the debate over taxes or public controls on power companies. There was a basic difference of opinion about the proper actions of government. More conservative Americans believed the purpose of government was to support private business, not to control it. But more liberal Americans believed that government needed to do more to make sure that citizens of all kinds could share the nation's wealth more equally. Coolidge and the Republicans were in control in the nineteen twenties. For this reason, the nation generally stayed on a conservative path. The Democrats and Progressives would have to wait until later to put many of their more liberal ideas into action.
重点解析
1.believe in 信任；相信
I don't believe in ghosts.
我不相信有鬼。
2.a number of 大量的；许多的
We have lived here quite a number of years.
我们在这儿住了好些年了。
3.most of all 最重要的是；尤其是
Most of all she learned to be self-reliant.
最重要的是，她学会了自力更生。
4.appeal to 呼吁；吸引
Her more measured response will appeal to voters.
她那更为慎重的答复会受到选民的欢迎。
参考译文
欢迎收听VOA慢速英语之建国史话节目。沃伦·哈丁总统去世后，副总统加尔文·柯立芝于1923年成为总统。柯立芝通过调查哈丁高级官员的罪行，迅速赢得了大多数美国人的信任。新总统的保守经济政策也赢得了广泛支持。在1924年大选前，柯立芝有一年时间向美国人民证明他的能力。在本周的系列节目中，凯·格兰特和哈里·门罗将向我们讲述这次选举的故事。
柯立芝是个安静的人，他相信有限的政府政策。但他的沉默隐藏了一种战斗的政治精神。柯立芝努力了数年才赢得白宫的工作，他不会白白地放弃。柯立芝成为总统后迅速采取行动，以获得对共和党的控制权。他任命自己的顾问担任重要职务，还用他可以信任的人取代了一些官员。大多数共和党人喜欢柯立芝，他们认为他受民众欢迎的政策，将使他成为总统选举中的有力候选人。因此，柯立芝在1924年面对的共和党总统候选人中只有一个真正意义上的对手。柯立芝的对手是来自密歇根州的杰出的汽车制造商亨利·福特。福特在1918年曾是国会候选人，他在那次选举中失败了。但在选举之后，他公司中的一些人开始呼吁福特在1924年成为共和党总统候选人。
福特是历史上最伟大的发明家和制造商之一。但是，他在政治方面的技能有限。福特的教育水平很低，他对一些团体持极端意见。他憎恨工会、股票市场、跳舞、抽烟和喝酒。但最重要的是，福特厌恶犹太人。他出版了一些出版物，指责犹太人组织国际阴谋。起初，福特似乎是柯立芝的强劲对手。但很快，他意识到柯立芝在政治上过于强势。他的经济政策深受人民欢迎。国家处于和平态势，党派不能否认柯立芝的提名。福特自己也通过告知国民“和柯立芝在一道是绝对安全的”，以此终结了他的竞选机会。卡尔文·柯立芝在俄亥俄州克利夫兰市举行的1924年共和党全国代表大会上，轻松赢得总统提名。共和党代表选择伊利诺伊州的查尔斯·道斯作为副总统候选人与他一起竞选。
民主党的分歧要大得多。许多传统上支持民主党候选人的团体，现在正在互相争斗。例如，许多农民在政策上与城市居民意见不一致。受过教育的人不同意没受过教育的人的观点。许多新教工人感到与信奉罗马天主教和犹太教的工人存在分歧。这些分歧使得民主党很难选出全国性的候选人，几乎没有和解的精神。两位主要候选人竞选民主党候选人。第一位是前财政部长威廉·麦卡杜。由于麦卡杜在世界大战期间对铁路进行过强有力的管理，他得到了许多民主党人的支持。南部和西部各州的民主党选民喜欢他，因为他保守的种族政策，以及他对酒品的反对。第二位主要候选人是纽约州州长阿尔弗雷德·史密斯。史密斯是罗马天主教徒，他受到东部城市那些罗马天主教徒和支持酒品合法者的欢迎。但是，许多参加大会的农村代表并不信任他。
民主党大会在纽约举行，它很快就成了来自城市的自由派代表和来自农村的保守派代表之间的斗争。那是七月，天气很热。演讲者们一个接一个地呼吁代表们投票。一天过去了，又是一天。九天来，当代表们就提名问题争论不休时，全国人民都在收听着广播。代表们投票95次，但都没有成功。最后，麦卡杜和史密斯同意退出竞选。即便如此，在最终就妥协候选人达成一致之前，代表们还得再进行八次投票。民主党代表最后选择约翰·戴维斯作为他们的总统候选人。戴维斯是一家大银行的律师，他曾在威尔逊总统手下担任驻英国大使，任职时间很短。代表们还推选查尔斯·布赖恩作为副总统候选人。布赖恩是著名的民主党和民粹主义领袖威廉·詹宁斯·布赖恩的弟弟。
在1924年的选举中，也出现了一支第三党派。西奥多·罗斯福和伍德罗·威尔逊许多旧有的进步支持者反对共和党和民主党的选择，他们认为国家需要另一位候选人来保持改革的精神。进步派候选人在1922年的国会选举中表现出色。但是在选举之后，共产党在一个主要的进步党中获得了影响力。大多数进步人士不想加入共产党。于是，他们成立了一个新的进步党。新党派提名威斯康星州参议员罗伯特·拉福莱特成为总统候选人。拉福莱特发起运动，要求对富人和水力发电公有权增加税收。他呼吁终止童工现象，并限制法院干预劳资纠纷的权力。拉福莱特警告全国，由单一的大公司控制重要产业的危险性。柯立芝轻而易举地赢得了1924年的选举。他赢得了35个州的选举选票，民主党人戴维斯的得票率仅为12票。拉福莱特只赢了他的家乡威斯康星州的选票。柯立芝也赢得了比其他两位候选人更多的普选。
美国人民投柯立芝一票，部分是为了感谢他在处理哈定政府的罪行后，重新将诚实和信任带回白宫。但主要还是因为他们喜欢他保守的经济政策和他对商业的支持。拉福莱特的进步党在1924年的选举后终结，他的大多数支持者随后加入了民主党。但在接下来的四年里，他们倡导运动的改革精神依然鲜活。对进步派人士来说，这是艰难的岁月。国会中的保守派通过了减少公司和美国富人税收的法律。进步派分子为国家农业政策的改革而斗争。大多数农民并未分享到20世纪20年代总体经济增长带来的收益。相反，他们的成本增加，而产品价格却下降了。许多农民失去了他们的农场。农民和进步派人士希望，联邦政府建立一个控制价格和粮食总供应的体系。他们说，政府应该购买并保留农民生产的额外食物，并呼吁政府官员帮助他们出口食品。
柯立芝和大多数共和党人拒绝这些想法。他们说，固定农产品价格不是自由政府的职责。他们还担心，建立一个新的政府部门并发展出口市场成本高昂。柯立芝在当选后否决了三项主要的农业改革法案。关于农业政策的辩论，在许多方面类似有关税收或公有电力控制公司的辩论。关于政府的适当行动，存在着基本的意见分歧。更保守的美国人认为，政府的目的是支持私营企业，而不是控制它。但更自由的美国人则认为，政府需要做更多的工作，以确保各类公民能够更平等地分享国家的财富。柯立芝和共和党在20世纪20年代控制了局面。出于这个原因，美国普遍延续保守的道路。民主党和进步党必须再等些时间，才能把他们许多更自由的想法付诸行动。
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