(单词翻译:单击)
听力文本
Welcome to THE MAKING OF A NATION -- American history in VOA Special English. The stock market crash of nineteen twenty-nine began a long and difficult period for the United States. President Herbert Hoover struggled to find solutions as the nation sank into the worst economic crisis in its history. But the Great Depression was not the only problem demanding answers from Hoover. The president also had to deal with a number of foreign policy issues. I'm Mario Ritter with Chris Cruise. This week in our series, we look at how the Great Depression affected relations between the United States and other countries.
There were revolutions in South America. Japan launched a campaign of aggression in northeastern China. And the economic situation in America created serious problems in relations with Europe. Hoover succeeded in some areas of his foreign policy. But he failed to solve America's economic troubles. And, like most Americans, he failed to recognize the importance of political changes taking place in Japan and Germany. Herbert Hoover's foreign policy was marked by his desire to make friends and avoid war. Like most Americans, the new president had been shocked by World War One. Hoover had seen the results of that terrible war with his own eyes. He led the international effort to feed the many European victims of the fighting. The new president was also a Quaker, a member of the Religious Society of Friends. Quakers oppose war.
Hoover shared the wish of most Americans that the world would never again fight a major war. To him, the bloody bodies at Verdun, the Marne and the other battlefields of World War One showed the need to seek peace through negotiations. Hoover worked toward this goal even before he entered the White House. Following his election, he had several months before becoming president. Hoover used this time to travel to Latin America for ten weeks. He wanted to show Latin American nations that they could trust the United States to honor their rights as independent nations. Hoover kept his word. The year after he took office, his administration announced that it would recognize the governments of all Latin American countries, including governments that the United States did not like. Hoover told the American people that he would not follow the Latin American policies of President Theodore Roosevelt.
Teddy Roosevelt decided in nineteen four that the United States had a right to intervene in Latin America if it disagreed with the actions of governments there. Hoover said this was wrong. He told the country that it was more important to use friendship than to use force. Hoover withdrew American forces from Nicaragua. He also arranged to withdraw them from Haiti. And he showed restraint as some fifty revolutions shook the nations of Latin America. Some revolutionary governments opposed the United States. They refused to pay debts to American companies, or they claimed ownership of foreign property. But Hoover refused to advance American interests by force. He wanted to prove that the United States could treat Latin American nations as equals. That policy was quite successful. Relations between the United States and Latin American countries generally improved under Herbert Hoover's leadership.
The situation in Europe was much more difficult and much more serious for the United States. The problem was simple -- money. The Great Depression did not stop at America's borders. It moved to Britain, Europe and beyond. And it brought extremely hard economic conditions. In Germany, the value of the national currency collapsed. Inflation forced people to buy goods with hundreds, thousands, even millions of German marks. They lost faith in the system. And they looked for some new leader to provide solutions. The economic crisis also put great pressure on the international circle of debt that had been created after the war. Suddenly, American bankers could no longer make loans to Germany. This meant that Germany could not pay back war debts to France and the other Allied nations in "the war to end all wars." And without this money, the Allied nations could not repay money that they owed American banks. The circle of debt fell apart. The situation grew worse and worse throughout the early months of nineteen thirty. Hoover finally had to announce that all nations could delay their debt payments to the United States for one year.
Hoover's action did what he wanted it to. It put a temporary stop to the international debt crisis. But it caused great damage to private banks. People lost faith in the banking system. Throughout Europe, people withdrew their money from banks. As a result, the European banks could not repay more than a billion dollars that they had borrowed from private American banks. This was not the only problem. Nations throughout Europe were also forced to take their currencies off the gold standard. This meant their money no longer could be exchanged for gold. The economic situation grew worse. And, as it did, serious political tensions began to threaten peace in Asia and Europe. The threat in Asia became clear first. Japan had defeated Russia in a war in nineteen five. This victory gave Japan control over the economy of the southern part of what was then called Manchuria, in northeastern China. As years passed, Japan began to feel threatened by two forces. First, Chinese leader Chiang Kai-shek was trying to organize all of China under the control of his Nationalist forces. Second, Russia was extending the Chinese Eastern Railway to the Russian port city of Vladivostok.
Japan's army took control of the government in Tokyo in late nineteen thirty-one. The army was fearful of the growing threat to Japan's control of Manchuria. So it moved Japanese troops immediately into several Manchurian cities. And it claimed political control of the whole area. President Hoover and most Americans strongly opposed Japan's aggression. But they were not willing to take any action that might lead to another world war. Japan's military leaders knew that the people of Europe and America had no desire to fight to protect China. And so the Japanese army marched on. It invaded the huge city of Shanghai, killing thousands of civilians. Western leaders condemned the action. American Secretary of State Henry Stimson said the United States would not recognize Japanese control in these areas of China. But, again, Hoover refused to consider any economic actions against the Japanese. And he strongly opposed taking any military action. The League of Nations also refused to recognize Japan's takeover. It called Japan the aggressor in Manchuria. Japan reacted simply. It withdrew from the League of Nations.
Most Americans were not happy about Japan's aggression. But they were not willing to fight force with force. This was less true, however, for Secretary of State Stimson. Stimson was a follower of the old ideas of President Theodore Roosevelt. He believed a nation could only have a strong foreign policy by being strong and using its military power in times of crisis. But Stimson's voice was in the minority. Most Americans did not believe Japan really threatened the security of the United States. And they were not ready to risk their lives to help people in China. Opinions changed only after Japanese planes attacked the American naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, in December of nineteen forty-one. The same story was true in Europe. But France was worried about the rising power of the Nazis in Germany and the Fascists in Italy and Spain. France proposed the creation of an international army. Hoover opposed that idea. He called for all nations to reduce their weapons. He believed that negotiation, not force, was the way to solve the problem. But the new leaders in Germany and Japan would listen much more closely to the boot steps of marching troops than to the high words of peace.
重点解析
1.struggle to 奋力；斗争
People struggle to get the best piece of land.
人们竞相争夺最好的土地。
2.arrange to 准备；为某事作安排
I will arrange to do as you wish.
我会按照你的希望去做。
3.no longer 不再；再也不
She no longer feared that they should misunderstand her.
她不再害怕他们会误解她了。
4.fall apart 崩溃；破碎
I've got to rest before I fall apart.
我得休息了，不然就要崩溃了。
参考译文
欢迎收听VOA慢速英语之建国史话节目。1929年的股市崩盘开启了美国漫长而艰难的一段时期。在美国陷入历史上最严重的经济危机之际，赫伯特·胡佛总统努力寻找解决方案。但是大萧条并非胡佛唯一需要处理的问题，总统还必须解决一些外交政策问题。我是马里奥·里特，我和克里斯·克鲁斯一道，在本周的系列节目中，我们将探讨大萧条对美国和其他国家之间关系的影响。
南美洲爆发了革命，日本在中国东北发动侵略运动。美国的经济形势为其与欧洲的关系带来了严重的问题。胡佛在外交政策的某些方面取得了成功，但他未能解决美国的经济问题。而且，和大多数美国人一样，他没能认识到日本和德国政治变革的重要性。赫伯特·胡佛的外交政策以他想结交朋友，以及避免战争为特点。和大多数美国人一样，新任总统对第一次世界大战感到震惊。胡佛亲眼目睹了那场可怕战争的结果。他带领国际社会，一起努力为战争中的许多欧洲受害者提供食物。新总统也是贵格会教徒，教友派的成员，而贵格会教徒反对战争。
胡佛和大多数美国人一样，希望世界不再出现大规模的战争。对他而言，凡尔登、马恩和第一次世界大战中其他战场上的血腥尸体表明，有必要通过谈判寻求和平。胡佛甚至在入主白宫之前就朝着这个目标努力。在他当选后，要等几个月才能成为总统。胡佛利用这段时间去拉丁美洲旅行了十周。他想向拉美国家表明，他们可以相信美国能够尊重他们作为独立国家的权利。胡佛信守诺言。在他就职的第二年，他的政府宣布将承认所有拉丁美洲国家的政府，包括那些美国不太喜欢的政府。胡佛告诉美国人民，他不会遵循西奥多·罗斯福总统的拉美政策。
泰迪·罗斯福在1944年决定，如果拉丁美洲不同意其范围内各个政府的行动，美国有权对拉丁美洲实施干预。胡佛表示，这样做是错误的。他告诉美国人民，通过友谊比使用武力更重要。胡佛从尼加拉瓜撤军，他还安排将军队撤出海地。他表现得很克制，因为在拉丁美洲大约爆发了50次革命运动，而这动摇了拉丁美洲各国。一些发动革命的政府反对美国，他们拒绝向美国公司还债，或声称拥有外国财产。但胡佛拒绝以武力推进美国的利益，他想证明美国可以平等对待拉美国家。这项政策相当成功。在赫伯特·胡佛的领导下，美国和拉丁美洲国家的关系得到了普遍改善。
对美国来说，欧洲的局势要困难得多，也更为严重。问题很简单，就是钱。大萧条并没有止步于美国的边界。它转移到了英国、欧洲和其他地方，还带来了极其艰难的经济条件。在德国，货币价值暴跌。通货膨胀迫使人们购买价值成百上千、甚至几百万德国马克的商品。他们对这个制度失去了信心，寻找新的领导者来提供解决方案。经济危机也给战后形成的国际债务圈带来巨大压力。突然之间，美国银行家们无法再向德国提供贷款。这就意味着在“结束一切战争的战争”中，德国无法偿还对法国和其他盟国的战争债务。没有这笔钱，盟国也无法偿还欠美国银行的款项。债台高筑。整个1930年的头几个月里，情况越来越糟。胡佛最后不得不宣布，所有国家都可以推迟一年偿还对美国的债务。
胡佛采取的行动达到了他的预期，它暂时制止了国际债务危机。但它对私人银行造成了巨大的损失，人们对银行系统失去了信心。在整个欧洲，人们把钱款从银行中取走。因此，欧洲银行无法偿还他们从美国私人银行那里借来的10多亿美元。这不是唯一的问题，欧洲各国也被迫取消金本位制，这意味着他们的钱不能再兑换成黄金。经济形势恶化了。与此同时，严重的政治紧张局势开始威胁到亚洲和欧洲的和平。对亚洲的威胁首先变得很明显。日本在1905年的一场战争中打败了俄国，这场胜利使日本控制了中国东北部当时被称为满洲的南部地区的经济。随着时间的推移，日本开始感受到两股势力的威胁。首先，中国领导人蒋介石试图在其民族主义势力的控制下，组织整个中国。其次，俄国正在将中国东部铁路延伸至俄国港口城市符拉迪沃斯托克。
1931年底，日军控制了东京的政府。日本对满洲的控制越来越受到威胁，这让日军感到担忧。所以，它立即把军队移至几个满洲城市，并声称对整个地区实行政治控制。胡佛总统和大多数美国人强烈反对日本的侵略，但他们不愿意采取任何可能导致另一场世界大战的行动。日本军方领导人知道，欧美人民没有为保护中国而战的意愿。于是，日军继续前进，入侵了上海这座大城市，屠杀了成千上万名平民。西方领导人谴责这一行动，美国国务卿亨利·史汀生表示，美国不会承认日本对中国这些地区的控制。但是，胡佛再次拒绝考虑对日本采取任何经济行动，他强烈反对采取任何军事行动。国际联盟也拒绝承认日本的接管，它称日本为满洲侵略者。日本对此作出的反应很简单，它退出了国际联盟。
大多数美国人对日本侵略并不高兴，但他们不愿意采用武力作战。不过，对国务卿史汀生来说，这可一点都不正确。史汀森是西奥多·罗斯福总统旧思想的追随者，他认为，一个国家只有在危机时刻强大起来，动用自己的军事力量，才能拥有强大的外交政策。但是，史汀生的声音是少数。大多数美国人认为日本并没有真正威胁到美国的安全，他们还没有准备好冒着生命危险去帮助中国人民。直到1941年12月，日本飞机袭击了位于夏威夷珍珠港的美国海军基地后，人们的看法才发生变化。在欧洲，情况也是如此。但是，法国担心德国纳粹势力和意大利、西班牙法西斯势力的崛起。法国提议建立一支国际军队。胡佛反对这个想法，他呼吁所有国家减少武器。他认为解决问题的方法是谈判，而不是武力。但德国和日本的新领导人更愿意听到军队前进的脚步声，而不是有关和平的高谈阔论。
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