(单词翻译:单击)
听力文本
Welcome to THE MAKING OF A NATION – American history in VOA Special English. I'm Bob Doughty with Steve Ember. This week in our series, we continue the story of the administration of Herbert Hoover. And we talk about the election of nineteen thirty-two. President Herbert Hoover worked hard to rescue the American economy following the crash of the stock market. It happened in October of nineteen twenty-nine. Within a month, Hoover called the nation's business leaders to the White House. "Don't lower wages," the president told them. Hoover called on the bankers at the Federal Reserve to make it easier for businesses to borrow money. He tried to provide funds to help farmers get fair prices for their crops. He pushed Congress to lower personal taxes. And above all, the president urged Americans not to lose hope in their economy or in themselves.
But the economy was in ruins, falling faster with each passing day of the crisis that grew into the Great Depression. The value of stocks had collapsed. Millions of workers lost their jobs. The level of industrial production in the country was less than half of what it had been before the stock market crash. Hoover's efforts were not enough to stop the growing crisis. In ever greater numbers, people called on the president to increase federal spending and provide jobs for people out of work. But the president was a conservative Republican. He did not think it was the responsibility of the federal government to provide relief for poor Americans. And he thought it was wrong to increase spending above the amount of money that the government received in taxes. The situation seemed out of control. The nation's government and business leaders appeared to have no idea how to save the dollar and put people back to work. Hoover was willing to take steps like spending government money to help farmers buy seeds and fertilizer. But he was not willing to give wheat to unemployed workers who were hungry.
He created an emergency committee to study the unemployment problem. But he would not launch government programs to create jobs. Hoover called on Americans to help their friends in need. But he resisted calls to spend federal funds for major relief programs to help the millions of Americans facing disaster. Leaders of the Democratic Party made the most of the situation. They accused the president of not caring about the common man. They said Hoover was willing to spend money to feed starving cattle for businessmen, but not willing to feed poor children. Hoover tried to show the nation that he was dealing with the crisis. He worked with Congress to try to save the banks and to keep the dollar tied to the value of gold. He tried hard to balance the federal budget. And he told Americans that it was not the responsibility of the national government to solve all their problems. Late in nineteen thirty-one, President Hoover appointed a new committee on unemployment. He named Walter Gifford to head this committee. Gifford was chief of a big company, American Telephone and Telegraph.
But Gifford did Hoover more harm than good. When he appeared before Congress, Gifford was unable to defend Hoover's position that relief was the responsibility of local governments and private giving. He admitted that he did not know how many people were out of work. He did not know how many of them needed help. Or how much help they needed. Or how much money local governments could raise. The situation grew worse. Some Americans began to completely lose faith in their government. They looked to groups with extreme political ideas to provide answers. Some Americans joined the Communist Party. Others helped elect state leaders with extreme political ideas. And in growing numbers, people began to turn to hatred and violence. However, most Americans remained loyal to traditional values even as conditions grew steadily worse. They looked ahead to nineteen thirty-two, when they would have a chance to vote for a new president.
Leaders of the Democratic Party felt they had an excellent chance to capture the White House in the election. And their hopes increased when the Republicans re-nominated President Hoover and Vice President Charles Curtis in the summer of nineteen thirty-two. For this reason, competition was fierce for the Democratic presidential nomination. The top candidate was Franklin Delano Roosevelt, the governor of New York state. Roosevelt had been re-elected to that office by a large majority just two years earlier. He came from a rich and famous family, but he was seen as a friend of the common man. Roosevelt was conservative in his economic thinking. But he was a progressive in his opinion that government should be active in helping people. Roosevelt had suffered from polio and could not walk. He used a wheelchair, although it was rarely shown in news pictures. Franklin Delano Roosevelt's two main opponents were Al Smith and John Garner. Smith had been the governor of New York before Roosevelt. Garner, a Texan, was the speaker of the House of Representatives.
Together, they hoped to block Roosevelt's nomination. And they succeeded the first three times that delegates voted at the Democratic nominating convention in Chicago. Roosevelt's chief political adviser, James Farley, worked hard to find Roosevelt the votes he needed at the convention. Finally, Farley found a solution. He made a deal with supporters of John Garner. Roosevelt would make Garner the vice presidential nominee if Garner's forces voted to make Roosevelt the presidential nominee. Garner agreed. And on the next vote, the Democratic delegates nominated Franklin Roosevelt to be their presidential candidate. Al Smith was so angry about the deal that he left Chicago without congratulating Roosevelt. Roosevelt wanted to show the nation that he was the kind of man to take action -- that he had more imagination than Hoover. So he broke tradition and flew to Chicago. It was the first time a candidate had ever appeared at a convention to accept a nomination. And Roosevelt told the cheering crowd that together they would defeat Hoover.
The main issue in the campaign of nineteen thirty-two was the economy. President Hoover defended his policies. Roosevelt and the Democrats attacked the administration for not taking enough action. Roosevelt knew that most Americans were unhappy with the Hoover administration. So his plan during the campaign was to let Hoover defeat himself. He avoided saying anything that might make groups of voters think he was too extreme. But Roosevelt did make clear that he would move the federal government into action to help people suffering from the economic crisis. He said he was for a balanced federal budget. But he also said the government must be willing to spend extra money to prevent people from starving. Americans liked what they heard from Franklin Roosevelt. He seemed strong. He enjoyed life. And Roosevelt seemed willing to try new ideas, to experiment with government. Hoover attacked Roosevelt bitterly during the campaign. He warned that Roosevelt and the Democrats would destroy the American system.
But Americans were tired of Hoover. They thought he was too serious, too afraid of change, too friendly with business leaders instead of the working man. Most of all, they blamed Hoover for the hard times of the Depression. On election day, Americans voted in huge numbers for Franklin Roosevelt and the Democrats. Roosevelt won forty-two of the forty-eight states at that time. The Democrats also gained a large majority in both houses of Congress. The election ended twelve years of Republican rule in the White House. It also marked the passing of a long conservative period in American political life. Franklin Delano Roosevelt would become one of the strongest and most progressive presidents in the nation's history. He would serve longer than any other president, changing the face of America's political and economic systems. In our next program, we take a look at the beginning of his administration.
重点解析
1.above all 最主要的；最重要的是
Social services departments must accept, above all, the role of the parents.
社会服务部门必须认可的，首先是父母的角色。
2.call on 请求；号召
I call on everyone to renounce the use of violence and armed struggle.
我呼吁每个人都放弃使用暴力和武装斗争。
3.deal with 对付；应付
In dealing with suicidal youngsters, our aims should be clear .
在对待有自杀倾向的青少年时，我们的目标应当很明确。
4.take action 行动起来；采取措施
We had to take action to protect the proprietary technology.
我们必须采取措施保护专利技术。
参考译文
欢迎收听VOA慢速英语之建国史话节目。我是鲍勃·多尔蒂，和我一起主持节目的是史蒂夫·恩伯。在本周的系列节目中，我们将继续讲述赫伯特·胡佛政府的故事，我们讨论1932年的选举。1929年10月出现股市崩盘后，赫伯特·胡佛总统努力挽救美国经济。不到一个月的时间里，胡佛就把美国商界领袖请到白宫。“不要降低工资，”总统告诉他们。胡佛呼吁美联储的银行家们让企业能够更容易地借钱，他试图提供资金帮助农民获得公平的农作物价格，敦促国会降低个人所得税。最重要的是，总统敦促美国人不要对本国经济或他们自己失去希望。
但美国经济已成为一片废墟，经济危机渐渐发展成为大萧条，衰退速度在日趋加速。股票价格暴跌，数百万工人失业，国内工业生产水平还不到股市崩盘前的一半。胡佛的努力还不足以阻止日益严重的危机，越来越多的人呼吁总统增加联邦开支，为失业者提供就业机会。但总统是保守的共和党人，他不认为联邦政府有责任为美国穷人提供救济。他认为，把支出增加到超过政府税收收入的水平是错误的。局势似乎失控了，美国政府和商界领袖似乎没有办法能够节省开支，并让人们重新工作。胡佛愿意采取措施，比如政府出资帮助农民购买种子和肥料。但他不愿意把小麦分给饥饿的失业工人。
他成立了紧急委员会来研究失业问题，但他不会启动政府创造就业的计划。胡佛呼吁美国人帮助有需要的朋友。但是，他拒绝了将联邦资金用于重大救援项目，以帮助数百万面临灾难的美国人的倡议。民主党领导人充分利用这种情况，他们指责总统不关心普通民众。他们说，胡佛愿意花钱为商人喂饱饥饿的牛，但不愿意喂饱贫穷的孩子。胡佛试图向全国人民表明，他正在处理这场危机。他与国会合作，试图拯救银行，并使美元与黄金价值挂钩。他努力平衡联邦预算，还告诉美国人，解决他们所有的问题不是国家政府的责任。1931年底，胡佛总统委派了一个新的失业问题委员会，任命沃尔特· 吉福德为委员会主席。吉福德是一家美国电话电报大公司的总裁。
但吉福德对胡佛的负面影响超过了其所带来的好处。当他出现在国会面前时，吉福德无法捍卫胡佛的立场，即救济是地方政府和私人捐赠的责任。他承认，他不知道有多少人失业，不知道他们中有多少人需要帮助，或者他们需要多少帮助，或者地方政府能筹集多少资金。情况变得更糟了，一些美国人开始完全对他们的政府失去信心，他们寻找具有极端政治思想的团体，以便能为他们提供答案。一些美国人加入了共产党，其他人则帮助选举出具有极端政治理念的国家领导人，越来越多的人开始转向仇恨和暴力。然而，大多数美国人仍然忠于传统价值观，即使情况还在持续恶化。他们展望1932年，那时他们将有机会投票选举新总统。
民主党领导人认为，他们有一个极好的机会在选举中入主白宫。当共和党人在1932年夏天再次提名胡佛总统和副总统查尔斯·柯蒂斯时，他们的希望增加了。因此，民主党总统提名的竞争非常激烈。头号候选人是纽约州州长富兰克林·德拉诺·罗斯福。就在两年前，罗斯福以多数票连任。他出身名门望族，却被视为普通民众的朋友。罗斯福的经济思想是保守的，但他是一位进步人士，他认为政府应该积极帮助人民。罗斯福患过小儿麻痹症，不能走路。他使用轮椅，不过很少会在新闻图片上看到。富兰克林·德拉诺·罗斯福的两个主要对手是阿尔·史密斯和约翰·加纳，史密斯在罗斯福当选之前是纽约州长。加纳是德州人，是众议院议长。
他们希望一起阻止罗斯福的提名，在芝加哥举行的民主党提名大会上，他们在最初三次成功地赢得了代表们的投票。罗斯福的首席政治顾问詹姆斯·法利努力为罗斯福在大会上找寻他所需要的选票。最后，法利找到了解决办法。他和约翰·加纳的支持者达成了协议，如果加纳的势力决定投票让罗斯福成为总统候选人，罗斯福将让加纳成为副总统候选人。加纳同意了。在下一轮投票中，民主党代表提名富兰克林·罗斯福为总统候选人。阿尔·史密斯对这一操作非常生气，他离开芝加哥时没有向罗斯福表示祝贺。罗斯福想向全国人民表明，他是那种行动派，比胡佛更有想象力，所以他打破传统，飞往芝加哥。这是第一次候选人出现在大会上接受提名，罗斯福对欢呼的人群说，他们将一起击败胡佛。
1932年竞选的主要议题是经济。胡佛总统为他的政策辩护，罗斯福和民主党则抨击政府没有采取足够的行动。罗斯福知道，大多数美国人对胡佛政府不满。所以，他在竞选期间的计划是让胡佛打败自己。他避免说任何可能使选民群体认为他过于极端的言论。但罗斯福明确表示，他将推动联邦政府采取行动，帮助遭受经济危机的人们。他说，他支持平衡的联邦预算。但他也表示，政府必须愿意花费更多的款项来防止人们挨饿。美国人喜欢富兰克林· 罗斯福所描述的情景，他看起来很强壮，懂得享受生活。罗斯福似乎愿意尝试新的想法，与政府一道进行试验。胡佛在竞选期间猛烈攻击罗斯福，他警告说，罗斯福和民主党将摧毁美国的制度。
但美国人已经厌倦了胡佛，他们认为他太过严肃，害怕改变，对商界领袖而不是工人太过友好。最重要的是，他们把经济萧条的艰难时期归咎于胡佛。在选举当天，美国人为富兰克林·罗斯福和民主党投出大量选票。罗斯福当时赢得了48个州中的42个，民主党在国会两院也获得了绝大多数席位。这次选举结束了共和党在白宫12年的统治，这也标志着美国政治生活中一个漫长又保守的时期过去了。富兰克林·德拉诺·罗斯福将成为美国历史上最强大、最进步的总统之一，他比任何其他总统任期都更长，改变了美国的政治和经济体系面貌。在下期节目中，我们来探讨他的政府开端时期的故事。
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