(单词翻译:单击)
听力文本
Welcome to THE MAKING OF A NATION -- American history in VOA Special English. The presidential election of nineteen twenty-eight gave American voters a clear political choice. The Democratic Party nominated Al Smith. He was the popular governor of the state of New York. The Republican Party chose Herbert Hoover. He was an engineer and businessman who served as secretary of commerce for presidents Warren Harding and Calvin Coolidge. This week in our series, Rich Kleinfeldt and Harry Monroe tell us about the presidential election of nineteen twenty-eight.
Governor Alfred Smith of New York had campaigned for the Democratic presidential nomination in nineteen twenty-four. But he was defeated at the party convention by a compromise candidate, John Davis. Four years later, however, Smith could not be stopped. He had a strong record as governor of the nation's most heavily-populated state. He campaigned for the presidency on a policy of building new electric power stations under public control. Smith knew that many conservative Americans might be worried by his new ideas and his belief in strong government. So he chose as his campaign manager a Republican industrial leader who had worked with General Motors, DuPont and other major companies. Smith hoped this would prove his faith in the American private business system. Al Smith was a strong political leader and an effective governor. But he frightened many Americans, especially conservative citizens living in rural areas.
They lived on farms or in small towns. Al Smith was from the city. And not just from any city, but New York City, a place that seemed big and dirty and filled with foreign people and strange traditions. Al Smith's parents came from Ireland. He grew up in New York and worked as a salesman at the Fulton Fish Market. Smith was an honest man. But many rural Americans simply did not trust people from big cities. Al Smith seemed to them to represent everything that was new, different, and dangerous about American life. But being from New York City was not Al Smith's only problem. He also opposed the new national laws that made it illegal to buy or produce alcoholic drinks. And he had political ties to the New York political machine. But worst of all, in the eyes of many Americans, Al Smith was a Roman Catholic. From George Washington through Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, and up to Calvin Coolidge, every American president had been male, white, and a Protestant Christian. Of course, there was no law requiring a candidate to be Protestant. But millions of traditional Americans just were not ready to give their vote to a Roman Catholic.
Opponents of the Smith campaign generally did not speak openly about his religion. But many of them were afraid that Smith would take his orders from the Vatican in Rome, instead of working with the Congress in Washington. Al Smith fought back. He told the country, "I am unable to understand how anything I was taught to believe as a Catholic could possibly be in conflict with what is good citizenship. My faith," he said, "is built upon the laws of God. There can be no conflict between them. " But many Protestant Americans thought there was a conflict. And they looked to the Republican Party to supply a strong candidate to oppose Smith and the Democrats. The Republicans did just that. They nominated former secretary of commerce Herbert Hoover, one of the country's most popular men. Hoover was well-known to Americans. People trusted him. And they liked the way he had gained great personal success from poor beginnings. In fact, Hoover's life story would have pleased Abraham Lincoln, another American who rose from a poor family to fame.
Hoover was born in the farm state of Iowa in eighteen seventy-four. His father was a poor metal worker who kept moving his family from state to state. Herbert Hoover's father died when the boy was just six years old. His mother died four years later. Young Herbert had to move to the western state of Oregon to live with his mother's brother. Herbert's uncle was luckier in life than Herbert's parents. He had made money in the land business. And he helped the boy gain admission to Stanford University in California. At the university, Herbert showed great skill in mathematics. And he decided to go into business as a geologist studying the science of the earth. After college, Herbert Hoover got a job as a mine worker. During the next several years, Hoover spent most of his time working as an engineer in foreign countries. And he succeeded beyond his greatest dreams. By the time he was forty years old, he had earned more than one million dollars.
After World War One, he organized the effort to provide food for starving people in Europe. He did an excellent job, winning praise from people in Europe and the United States alike. Next, Hoover joined the administration of President Warren Harding, serving as the secretary of commerce. Again, he did a very good job. Hoover left the cabinet in nineteen twenty-five. But two years later, he organized efforts to provide relief for victims of a flood in the southern state of Mississippi. And again, Americans all around the country took note of this quiet, serious man who did such effective work in so many different kinds of situations. Some Americans, however, did not like Hoover, including some people who usually supported Republicans. For example, many professional Republican politicians did not trust him, because he had spent most of his life in business, not politics. Some stock market traders thought Hoover might change the rules on the New York Stock Exchange. And many farmers believed Hoover had no new ideas about how to solve their growing economic problems.
This, then, was the choice Americans faced in nineteen twenty-eight. On the one hand, Al Smith. A Democrat. A Roman Catholic. A politician from the city. A man wanting some social change. And on the other hand, Herbert Hoover. A Republican. A businessman who had proven the dream that even a poor boy could become great in America. A man who seemed to succeed with every effort he touched. The main issue in the campaign was not economics or religion, but the new national laws banning alcoholic drinks. Hoover was for the laws; Smith against them. The two candidates also argued about how to provide aid to struggling farmers, and how to increase electricity and water supplies. Herbert Hoover won the election of nineteen twenty eight. It was one of the greatest victories in presidential history. Hoover won fifty-eight percent of the votes. Smith got just forty percent. And Hoover captured four hundred forty-four electoral votes to Smith's eighty-seven.
And so it was that the engineer and businessman Herbert Hoover entered the White House in nineteen twenty-nine. There was some trouble the day he moved in. Outgoing President Coolidge was a man who watched every dollar he owned. And he accused some White House workers of stealing his shoes on the day of the inauguration. But -- finally -- safe, conservative, business-like Herbert Hoover was leading the country. The nation's stock market reacted by pushing stock prices to record high levels. Everyone expected that economic growth would continue and expand. But the happy times were just a dream. Within one year, the stock market collapsed. Millions of people lost their jobs. The nation fell into the worst economic crisis it had ever faced. Herbert Hoover was not personally responsible for the crisis. In many ways, it was his own bad luck to be elected just before the disaster struck. But it was his job to guide the nation through its troubled waters. And he would prove to be the wrong person to give such leadership. His four years in office would be one of the most difficult periods in the nation's history. We will look at President Hoover's administration in our next program.
重点解析
1.campaign for 竞选；为……而进行活动
In the mid-nineteenth century, Dorothea Dix began to campaign for humane treatment of the mentally ill.
在19世纪中叶，多罗西娅·迪克斯开始发起为精神病患者争取人道待遇的运动。
2.be filled with 充满；装满
May your life be filled with love, happiness and inspiration.
祝愿你的生活充满爱、幸福和灵感。
3.in conflict with 和……冲突；同……相冲突
Employees already are in conflict with management over job cuts .
雇员已经就裁员一事与管理层发生了争执。
4.prove to be 证实；证明是
But that may prove to be a problem.
然而，这可能会成为问题。
参考译文
欢迎收听VOA慢速英语建国史话—美国历史。1928年的总统选举给了美国选民一个明确的政治选择，民主党提名者艾尔·史密斯，他是纽约州深受人们欢迎的州长。共和党则选择了赫伯特·胡佛，他是一名工程师兼商人，曾担任沃伦·哈丁总统和卡尔文·柯立芝总统的商务部长。在本周的系列节目中，里奇·克莱因费尔特和哈里·门罗将向我们讲述1928年的总统选举。
纽约州州长阿尔弗雷德·史密斯曾在1924年竞选民主党总统候选人，但他在党代会上被妥协候选人约翰·戴维斯击败。然而，四年后，没有人能阻挡史密斯。他在这个人口最稠密的州，保持着担任州长的良好记录。他竞选总统时提出了一项在公众控制下建造新电站的政策。史密斯知道，许多保守的美国人可能会对他的新观念，以及他对强大政府的信念表示担忧。因此，他选择了一位曾与通用汽车、杜邦和其他大公司合作过的共和党工业领袖作为竞选经理。史密斯希望这能证明他对美国私营企业体系的信心。史密斯是一位强有力的政治领袖，也是一位卓有成效的州长。但是，他吓坏了许多美国人，尤其是生活在农村地区的保守派民众。
他们居住在农场或小城镇。艾尔·史密斯是个城里人，而且他不是来自其他城市，而是来自纽约。在纽约是个肮脏的大都市，那里充满了外国人和怪异的传统风俗。艾尔·史密斯的父母来自爱尔兰。他在纽约长大，在富尔顿鱼市当推销员。史密斯是个诚实的人。但是，许多美国农村人根本不信任大城市里的人。在他们看来，艾尔·史密斯代表了美国生活中一切崭新、不同又危险的东西。但是，来自纽约并非史密斯唯一的问题。他还反对规定购买或生产酒类饮料为非法行为的新国家法律。他与纽约政府有着政治联系。但最糟糕的是，在许多美国人眼中，艾尔·史密斯是罗马天主教徒。从乔治·华盛顿到托马斯·杰斐逊、亚伯拉罕·林肯，再到卡尔文·柯立芝，每一位美国总统都是男性、白人、新教基督徒。当然，没有法律规定候选人必须是新教徒。但是数以百万计的传统美国人还没有准备好给罗马天主教徒投票。
反对史密斯竞选的人一般不会公开谈论他的宗教信仰，但他们中的许多人担心，史密斯会接受罗马梵蒂冈的指令，而不是与华盛顿的国会合作。艾尔·史密斯进行了反击。他告诉美国民众，“我无法理解，我受教成为一名天主教徒，这怎么和成为一位优秀的公民之间存在冲突。我的信仰是建立在造物主之律上的，他们之间不可能有冲突。”但许多新教美国人认为这是一场冲突，他们希望共和党能提供一名强有力的候选人，来反对史密斯和民主党。共和党人就是这样做的，他们提名了前商务部长赫伯特·胡佛，他是美国最受欢迎的人物之一。胡佛在美国民众中很有名望，人们信任他。他们喜欢他出身贫贱，却获得了巨大的个人成功。事实上，胡佛的生平故事让另一位从贫困家庭中崛起的美国人亚伯拉罕·林肯感到高兴。
胡佛1874年出生在爱荷华州的农场，他的父亲是一位贫穷的金属工人，不断地带着家人从一个州搬到另一个州。赫伯特·胡佛的父亲在他六岁时去世了，他的母亲四年后也去世了。年轻的赫伯特不得不搬到俄勒冈州西部，和母亲的兄弟住在一起。赫伯特的叔叔比赫伯特的父母更幸运，他从土地生意上赚了钱，并帮助这个男孩进入加州斯坦福大学读书。在大学里，赫伯特表现出了高超的数学才能。他决定成为一名研究地球科学的地质学家。大学毕业后，赫伯特·胡佛得到了一份在矿山做矿工的工作。在接下来的几年里，胡佛大部分时间都在国外当工程师。他成功地超越了自己的伟大梦想。在40岁时，他已经挣了一百多万美元。
第一次世界大战后，他组织了为欧洲饥民提供食物的活动。他的表现非常出色，赢得了欧洲和美国人民的赞扬。接下来，胡佛加入到沃伦·哈丁总统的政府，担任商务部长。这一次，他又工作得非常优秀。胡佛在1925年离开内阁。但两年后，他组织力量为密西西比州南部的洪水灾民提供救济。美国各地民众又一次注意到这位安静又严肃的人，他在许多不同的情况下都做出了如此有效的工作。然而，一些美国人不喜欢胡佛，包括一些通常支持共和党的人。例如，许多职业共和党政客不信任他，因为他一生中大部分时间都是在经商，而不是在政界。一些股市交易员认为，胡佛可能会改变纽约证交所的规则。许多农民认为，胡佛对于如何解决他们日益增长的经济问题没有新的想法。
这就是1928年美国人面临的选择。一方是艾尔·史密斯，民主党人，罗马天主教徒，来自城市的政客，想要进行一些社会变革。另一方是赫伯特·胡佛，共和党人，一位证实了即使穷孩子也能实现美国飞黄腾达之梦的商人，一个似乎竭尽所能获取成功的人。这场运动的主要议题不是经济或宗教，而是禁止饮酒的新国家法律。胡佛赞成这些法律，史密斯则表示反对。两位候选人还就如何向陷入困境的农民提供援助，以及如何增加水电供应等问题进行了辩论。赫伯特·胡佛赢得了1928年的选举，这是美国总统竞选史上最伟大的一次胜利。胡佛赢得了58%的选票，史密斯只获得40%。胡佛赢得444张选举人票，史密斯为87票。
1929年，工程师兼商人赫伯特·胡佛入驻白宫。他搬进白宫那天，遇到了一些麻烦事。即将卸任的柯立芝总统是一位盯紧着自己拥有的每一分钱财的人。他还指责一些白宫工作人员在就职典礼当天偷了他的鞋子。但最终，谨慎、保守，像赫伯特·胡佛这样的商人开始领导美国。美国股市的反应是将股价推高至创纪录的高位，所有人都预期经济增长将继续，并不断扩大。但是，快乐的时光只是一场梦。一年之内，股市暴跌，数百万人失业。美国陷入有史以来最严重的经济危机。赫伯特·胡佛本人对这场危机并不负有责任，就很多方面而言，在灾难来临之前当选是他自己的不幸。但是，他的工作是带领国家渡过困境。后来发生的事情证实，他是担任这一领导职务的错误人选。他任职的四年将是美国历史上最艰难的时期之一，我们将在下期节目中探究胡佛总统的政府。
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