(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 Steve Ember. History is usually a process of slow change. However, certain events also can change the course of history. Napoleon's defeat at Waterloo was such an event. So was the first airplane flight by the Wright brothers. Or the meeting between the Spanish explorer Cortez and the Aztec king Montezuma. All these events were moments that changed history. And so it was, too, with the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on December seventh, nineteen forty-one."We interrupt this program to bring you a special news bulletin. The Japanese have attacked Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, by air, President Roosevelt has just announced. The attack also was made on all naval and military facilities on the principal island of Oahu. "We take you now to Washington. The details are not available. They will be in a few minutes. The White house is now giving out a statement. The attack was apparently made on all naval and military activities on the principal island of Oahu.
"The president's brief statement was read to reporters by Stephen Early, the president's secretary. A Japanese attack upon Pearl Harbor naturally would mean war. Such an attack would naturally bring a counterattack. And hostilities of this kind would naturally mean that the president would ask Congress for a declaration of war." The surprise attack on America's large naval base in Hawaii was a great military success for Japan. However, the attack on Pearl Harbor had more than a military meaning. The attack would force Americans to enter World War Two. More importantly, it would also make them better recognize their position as one of the most powerful nations in the world. In future weeks, we will discuss the military and political events of World War Two. But today, we look back at the years before the United States entered that war. The period between the end of World War One and the attack on Pearl Harbor lasted only twenty-three years, from nineteen eighteen to nineteen forty-one. But those years were filled with important changes in American politics, culture and traditions. We start our review of these years with politics.
In nineteen twenty, Americans elected Republican Warren Harding to the presidency. The voters were tired of the progressive policies of Democratic president Woodrow Wilson. They were especially tired of Wilson's desire for the United States to play an active role in the new League of Nations. Harding was a conservative Republican. And so were the two presidents who followed him, Calvin Coolidge and Herbert Hoover. All three of these presidents generally followed conservative economic policies. And they did not take an active part in world affairs. Americans turned away from Republican rule in the election of nineteen thirty-two. They elected the Democratic presidential candidate, Franklin Delano Roosevelt. And they continued to re-elect him. In this way, the conservative Republican policies of the nineteen twenties changed to the more progressive policies of Roosevelt in the nineteen thirties. This change happened mainly because of economic troubles. The nineteen twenties were a time of growth and business strength.
President Calvin Coolidge said during his term that the "chief business of the American people is business." This generally was the same belief of the other Republican presidents during the period, Warren Harding and Herbert Hoover. There was a good reason for this. The economy expanded greatly during the nineteen twenties. Many Americans made a great deal of money on the stock market. And wages for workers increased as well. However, economic growth ended suddenly with the stock market crash of October nineteen twenty-nine. In that month, the stocks for many leading companies fell sharply. And they continued to fall in the months that followed. Many Americans lost great amounts of money. And the public at large lost faith in the economy. Soon, the economy was in ruins, and businesses were closing their doors. President Hoover tried to solve the crisis. But he was not willing to take the strong actions that were needed to end it. As time passed, many Americans began to blame Hoover for the terrible economic depression. Democrat Franklin Roosevelt was elected mainly because he promised to try new solutions to end the Great Depression. "This great Nation will endure as it has endured, will revive and will prosper. So, first of all, let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself — nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into advance."
Soon after he was elected, Roosevelt launched a number of imaginative economic policies to solve the crisis. "Our greatest primary task is to put people to work. This is no unsolvable problem if we face it wisely and courageously. It can be accomplished in part by direct recruiting by the Government itself, treating the task as we would treat the emergency of a war, but at the same time, through this employment, accomplishing greatly needed projects to stimulate and reorganize the use of our great natural resources. "Hand in hand with that, we must frankly recognize the overbalance of population in our industrial centers. And by engaging, on a national scale, in a redistribution, endeavor to provide a better use of the land for those best fitted for the land. Yes, the task can be helped by definite efforts to raise the values of agricultural products, and with this, the power to purchase the output of our cities. "It can be helped by preventing realistically the tragedy of the growing loss through foreclosure of our small homes and our farms. It can be helped by insistence that the federal, the state, and the local governments act forthwith on the demands that their costs be drastically reduced." Roosevelt's policies helped to reduce the amount of human suffering. But the Great Depression finally ended only with America's entry into World War Two. Roosevelt's victory in nineteen thirty-two also helped change the balance of power in American politics. Roosevelt brought new kinds of Americans to positions of power: Labor union leaders. Roman Catholics. Jews. Blacks. Americans from families that had come from places such as Italy, Ireland and Russia. These Americans repaid Roosevelt by giving the Democratic Party their votes.
The nineteen twenties and thirties also brought basic changes in how Americans dealt with many of their social and economic problems. The nineteen twenties generally were a period of economic growth with little government intervention in the day-to-day lives of the people. But the terrible conditions of the Great Depression during the nineteen thirties forced Roosevelt and the federal government to experiment with new policies. The government began to take an active role in offering relief to the poor. It started programs to give food and money to poor people. And it created jobs for workers. The government grew in other ways. It created major programs for farmers. It set regulations for the stock market. It built dams, roads and airports. American government looked much different at the end of this period between the world wars than it did at the beginning. Government had become larger and more important. It dealt with many more issues in people's lives than it ever had before. Social protest increased during the nineteen twenties and thirties. Some black Americans began to speak out more actively about unfair laws and customs. Blacks in great numbers moved from the southern part of the country to northern and central cities. The nineteen twenties and thirties also were a time of change for women. Women began to wear less conservative kinds of clothes. Washing machines and other inventions allowed them to spend less time doing housework. Women could smoke or drink in public, at least in large cities. And many women held jobs. Of course, the women's movement was not new. Long years of work by such women's leaders as Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony had helped women win the constitutional right to vote in nineteen twenty.
The nineteen twenties and thirties also were important periods in the arts. George Gershwin wrote his "Rhapsody in Blue" originally for piano and jazz band. It later went on to become a symphony concert favorite. Writers such as Ernest Hemingway, William Faulkner, Eugene O'Neill and others made this what many called the "Golden Age" of American writing. Frank Lloyd Wright and other architects designed great buildings. Film actors like Clark Gable, and radio entertainers like Jack Benny did more than make Americans laugh or cry. They also helped unite the country. Millions of Americans could watch or listen to the same show at the same time. Politics. The economy. Social traditions. Art. All these changed for Americans during the nineteen twenties and thirties. And many of these changes also had effects in countries beyond America's borders. However, the change that had the most meaning for the rest of the world was the change produced by the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. America's modern history as a great superpower begins with its reaction to that attack. It was a sudden event in the flow of history. It was a day on which a young land suddenly became fully grown. Our story continues next week.
重点解析
1.give out 发表；发出
He wouldn't give out any information.
他不愿透露任何消息。
2.look at 注视；考虑
Dr. Reichert has shown us a new way to look at those behavior problems.
赖克特医生向我们展示了一种看待那些行为问题的新方法。
3.hand in hand 联合；携手
For us, research and teaching go hand in hand.
对我们而言，研究和教学是齐头并进的。
4.a period of 一段时期；期间
After a period of imprisonment she renounced terrorism.
在被囚禁一段时间之后，她宣布放弃恐怖主义。
参考译文
欢迎收听VOA慢速英语之建国史话节目，我是史蒂夫·恩伯。历史通常是一个缓慢变化的过程。然而，某些事件也会改变历史进程。拿破仑在滑铁卢的失败就是这样一件事情，莱特兄弟的第一次飞行也是这样，或是西班牙探险家科尔特斯和阿兹特克国王蒙特祖马的会面。所有这些事件都是改变历史的时刻。1941年12月7日，日本对珍珠港的袭击也同样如此。“我们中断节目，而要为你们带来一则特别的新闻简报：罗斯福总统刚刚宣布，日军已经空袭了夏威夷珍珠港。此外，瓦胡主岛上的所有海军和军事设施上也遭到袭击。“现在来看华盛顿的消息，目前还没有有关此事件的详细信息，几分钟后应该就会收到。白宫现在发表声明，这次袭击显然是针对瓦胡主岛的所有海军和军事活动。“总统秘书斯蒂芬·厄尔向记者宣读了总统的简短声明。日本对珍珠港的进攻，理所当然地意味着战争。这样的攻击自然会带来反击，而这种敌对行动意味着总统将要求国会宣战。”
对美国夏威夷的大型海军基地的突然袭击，对日军来说是一次巨大的军事成功。然而，对珍珠港的袭击不仅仅具有军事意义。这次袭击将迫使美国卷入第二次世界大战。更重要的是，这也将使他们更好地认识到，自己作为一个世界上最强大国家的地位。今后几周，我们将讨论第二次世界大战的军事和政治事件。但今天，我们要回顾美国参战前几年的故事。从第一次世界大战结束到珍珠港袭击之间，即从1918年到1941年只有23年。但在那些年间，美国的政治、文化和传统都发生了重大变化。我们从政治方面，对这些年进行回顾。
在1920年，美国人选出共和党人沃伦·哈丁出任总统。选民们厌倦了民主党总统伍德·罗威尔逊的进步政策，他们尤其厌倦威尔逊提出的希望美国在新的国际联盟中发挥积极作用的愿望。哈丁是一位保守的共和党人，紧随其后的两位总统卡尔文·柯立芝和赫伯特·胡佛也是如此。这三位总统一半都遵循保守的经济政策，他们没有积极参与国际事务。在1932年的选举中，美国人放弃了共和党的统治。他们选出民主党总统候选人富兰克林·德拉诺·罗斯福，继续推选他。这样，20世纪20年代保守的共和党政策，就转变为30年代罗斯福更为进步的政策。这种变化主要源于经济困难。20世纪20年代是一个有关增长和商业实力的时代。
卡尔文·柯立芝总统在任期内曾说过，“美国人民的主要事务是商业”，这与当时其他共和党总统沃伦·哈丁和赫伯特·胡佛的看法大体相同。这是有充分理由的，20世纪20年代经济大幅度增长。许多美国人在股票市场上赚了很多钱，工人的工资也增加了。然而，随着1929年10月股市暴跌，经济增长突然结束。当月，多家龙头企业股价大幅下跌。在接下来的几个月里，它们继续下跌。许多美国人损失了大量钱款，公众对经济失去了信心。很快，经济陷入崩溃，企业纷纷关门。胡佛总统试图解决这场危机，但他不愿意采取必要的强硬行动来结束这一局面。随着时间的推移，许多美国人开始指责胡佛造成了可怕的经济萧条。民主党人富兰克林·罗斯福当选，主要是因为他承诺尝试采用结束大萧条的新解决方案。“这个伟大的国家将一如既往的复兴和繁荣。因此，首先，让我坚定地相信，我们唯一需要恐惧的是恐惧本身——无名的、毫无道理的、毫无根据的恐惧，它致使我们将退却转化为前进所需的努力陷于瘫痪。”
罗斯福当选后不久，就推出了一些富有想象力的经济政策来解决这场危机。“我们最大的首要任务是让人们工作。如果我们明智而勇敢地面对这一问题，它就不是无法解决的问题。可以通过政府自己直接征兵来完成，像对待战争紧急情况一样对待该任务。但同时，通过这种雇佣，实现急需的项目，以刺激并重组我们对巨大的自然资源的使用。“同时，我们必须坦率地认识到工业中心的人口失衡。通过在全国范围内进行再分配，努力让最适合使用土地的人更好地利用土地。是的，这项任务可以通过提高农产品价值来帮助完成，并且有了这种努力，我们城市的产出购买力也就增强了。“这有助于防止因我们的小房子和农场丧失抵押品赎回权，而造成日益严重的损失。坚持要求联邦政府、州政府和地方政府立即采取行动，大幅度降低其成本，可以有所帮助。”罗斯福的政策有助于减少人类的痛苦，但大萧条最终只随着美国参加第二次世界大战而结束。罗斯福在1932年的胜利，也有助于改变美国政治中的力量平衡。罗斯福把新一代美国人带到了权力的位置：工会领袖。罗马天主教徒、犹太人、黑人，来自意大利、爱尔兰和俄罗斯等地家庭的美国人。这些美国人通过给民主党投票来回报罗斯福。
20世纪20，30年代，美国人处理社会和经济问题的方式也发生了根本性的变化。20世纪20年代通常是一个经济增长时期，政府很少干预人民的日常生活。但是1930年代大萧条时期的可怕环境，迫使罗斯福和联邦政府尝试新的政策。政府开始在救济穷人方面发挥积极作用，启动了向穷人提供食物和金钱的计划，并为工人创造就业机会。政府以其他方式发展，为农民创造了重大项目，为股票市场制定规则，建造水坝、道路和机场。美国政府在世界大战结束后的这段时期，看起来与战争开始时大不相同。政府规模越来越大，也越来越重要，处理人们生活中的问题比以往任何时候都多。社会抗议在20世纪20、30年代增加，一些美国黑人开始更积极地谈论不公平的法律和习俗。大批黑人从美国南部迁往北部和中部城市。20世纪20、30年代也是女性变革的时期。女性的穿着不再保守，洗衣机和其他发明使她们花费在做家务上的时间更少了。女性可以在公共场所吸烟或喝酒，至少在大城市是这样。很多女性都有工作。当然，女性运动不是新出现的。伊丽莎白·凯迪·斯坦顿和苏珊·B.安东尼等女性领袖多年来一直努力，帮助女性在1920年赢得了宪法赋予的选举权。
20世纪20、30年代也是艺术发展的重要时期。乔治·格什温写出他的“蓝色狂想曲”，这首曲子最初是为钢琴和爵士乐队所写，后来经改编，成为交响乐音乐会的最爱。欧内斯特·海明威、威廉·福克纳、尤金·奥尼尔等作家，创造出许多人称之为美国写作“黄金时代”的著作。弗兰克·劳埃德·赖特和其他建筑师设计出伟大的建筑。像克拉克·盖博这样的电影演员，杰克·本尼这样的广播艺人，所做的可不仅是让美国人大笑或大哭。他们还帮助国家团结起来，数百万美国人可以同时观看或收听同一个节目。政治、经济、社会传统、艺术，所有这些在20世纪20、30年代的美国人身上都发生了变化。其中许多变化也对美国境外的国家产生了影响。然而，对世界其他地区发生的最有意义的改变，是日本对珍珠港的袭击。美国作为一个超级大国的现代史，始于它对该袭击事件的反应，这是历史长河中的一件突发事件。在这一天，一片年轻的土地瞬间变得富饶。这将是我们下期要讲述的故事。
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