(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. The United States entered the Second World War in December of forty-one. Europe had already been at war since nineteen thirty-nine. But the United States did not enter World War Two until Japanese forces attacked the American naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. The attack was a surprise. But American military and political leaders had believed that the United States, sooner or later, would be pulled into the fighting. And they began to prepare for war. President Franklin Roosevelt had been assistant secretary of the Navy under President Woodrow Wilson during World War One. He remembered how American troops were not ready for that war. Now that he was president, Roosevelt wanted to be sure that the United States would be ready when it had to fight. Throughout nineteen forty-one, Roosevelt urged American industries to produce more weapons and other military supplies. He established new government agencies to work with industry to increase arms production.
Some business leaders resisted Roosevelt's efforts. They felt there was no need to produce more arms while the United States was still at peace. But many others cooperated. And by the time Japan attacked Pearl Harbor, the American economy was producing millions of guns and other weapons. Still, this was not enough to fight a war. After the Japanese attack, Roosevelt increased his demands on American industry. He called for sixty thousand warplanes, forty-five thousand tanks and twenty-thousand anti-aircraft guns. And he wanted all these within one year. A month after the Pearl Harbor raid, Roosevelt organized a special committee to direct military production. He created another group to help companies find men and women for defense work. And he established a new office where the nation's best scientists and engineers could work together to design new weapons. These new government organizations faced several problems. Sometimes factories produced too much of one product and not enough of another. Sometimes tools broke. And some business owners refused to accept government orders. But the weapons were produced, and American troops soon had the guns and supplies they needed.
The federal government had to quickly expand its own workforce to meet war needs. Federal spending increased from six billion dollars in nineteen forty to eighty-nine billion in nineteen forty-four. That was fifteen times as much spending in just five years. Roosevelt had to take strong steps to get the money for all this spending. He put limits on wages. He increased income taxes to as much as ninety-four percent on portions of incomes over two hundred thousand dollars. And he asked the American people to lend money to the federal government. The people answered by purchasing almost one hundred billion dollars in war bonds. The great increase in public spending raised the threat of high inflation. Roosevelt created a special office with the power to control prices. Many Americans agreed with the idea of price controls. But every business wanted somebody else's prices controlled, not their own. Federal officials had to work hard to keep prices and supplies under control. They restricted how much meat, fuel and other goods people could buy.
The price control program generally worked. Its success kept the American economy strong to support the troops fighting in Europe and Asia. One reason these strong economic steps worked was because most of the American people fully supported the war effort. Rosie the Riveter came to represent American women who worked in factories during World War II. This government poster was designed to get women involved in the war effort. You can look at photographs of people from those times and see in their faces how strongly they felt. In one picture from the state of North Carolina, a group of men are standing in front of old rubber tires. They are planning to give the tires to the Army to be fixed and used for military vehicles. Another photo shows a woman visiting a hospital. She is singing to a soldier to lift his spirits. Still another photo shows a man who owns a small food store. He is placing signs on meat and cans of food to tell people how much they are allowed to buy. You can also get an idea about the feelings of the times by the names of some of the popular songs during World War Two.
In addition to "Rosie the Riveter," there were songs like "Praise the Lord and Pass the Ammunition." One of the most hopeful songs was this one, recorded by Britain's Vera Lynn. Not all Americans supported the war. A small number refused to fight because of religious or moral beliefs. They were known as conscientious objectors. And some Americans supported Adolf Hitler and other fascists. But almost everyone else wanted to win the war quickly and return to a normal life. Many Japanese-Americans served with honor in the United States armed forces. But many Americans were suspicious of anyone whose family had come from Japan. They refused to trust even Japanese-American families who had lived in the United States for more than a century. Many banks refused to lend money to Japanese-Americans. Many stores would not sell to them. The federal government relocated thousands of Japanese-Americans in California and other states into internment camps. They were released only after the war ended. It was many years before the government officially apologized for mistreating Japanese-Americans. But World War Two did lead to progress for another group that was often the target of discrimination: black Americans.
Black leaders spoke out. They said it was unfair to fight a war for freedom in Europe while black Americans did not have all the same freedoms as white citizens. "Negros want the same things that white citizens possess – all their rights, and no force under the sun can stem and block and stop this civil rights revolution which is now underway." In nineteen forty-one, a leader in the black community, A. Philip Randolph, threatened to lead a giant march on Washington for civil rights for blacks. President Roosevelt reacted by issuing an order that made it a crime to deny blacks a chance for jobs in defense industries. He also ordered the armed forces to change some of their rules that discriminated against black service members. Blacks made progress in the military and defense industries. But most other industries still refused to give them an equal chance. Major progress on civil rights would not come until the nineteen fifties and sixties. Life was busy during the war years. There were many changes in the economy, business, music, race relations and other areas. But in many ways, life continued as it always does. Americans did what they could during the hard years of World War Two to keep life on the home front as normal as possible. But almost everyone understood that the first job was to support the troops overseas and win the war. This strength of purpose at home gave American soldiers the support they needed. And it also helped President Roosevelt as he negotiated with other world leaders. Diplomacy and foreign relations became much more complex during the war. That will be our story next week.
重点解析
1.prepare for 准备；为……作准备
Make sure you have ample time to prepare for the new day ahead.
要保证你有足够的时间为即将开始的新的一天做好准备。
2.call for 要求；号召
Officials used loud hailers to call for calm.
官员们用扩音器呼吁大家保持冷静。
3.under control 处于控制之下；在控制中
The river was brought under control.
这条河给制服了。
4.allow to 允许；允许某人做某事
Add a little of the warmed milk and allow to froth a little.
加一点温牛奶，并让它起点儿沫。
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。美国1941年12月进入第二次世界大战，欧洲自1939年以来就一直处于战争状态。但直到日军袭击了位于夏威夷珍珠港的美国海军基地，美国才进入第二次世界大战。这次袭击是个意外，但美国军事和政治领导人曾认为，美国迟早会被卷入战斗，他们开始为战争作准备。富兰克林·罗斯福总统在第一次世界大战期间，曾任伍德罗·威尔逊总统领导下的海军助理部长。他记得美军没有准备好迎接那场战争。现在他是总统了，罗斯福想确保美国在必须战斗时做好准备。整个1941年，罗斯福敦促美国工业生产更多的武器和其他军事用品，他成立了新的政府机构，与工业界合作增加武器生产。
一些商界领袖抵制罗斯福的努力，他们认为，在美国还处于和平状态时，没有必要生产更多武器。但是其他很多人都参与合作。当日本攻打珍珠港时，美国经济正在生产数以百万计的枪支和其他武器。不过，这还不足以打一场战争。日本进攻后，罗斯福增加了对美国工业的要求。他要求配备6万架战机、4.5万辆坦克和2万门高射炮，他想在一年内完成所有这些物资的建造。珍珠港袭击发生一个月后，罗斯福组织了一个特别委员会来指导军事生产。他创建了另一个小组，帮助公司寻找从事国防工作的人才。他还建立了一个新的办公室，可以让美国最优秀的科学家和工程师一起设计新型武器。这些新的政府组织面临着几个问题。有时工厂生产的某种产品过多，而其它种产品则不足。有时，工具出现故障。一些企业主拒绝接受政府的命令。但是这些武器是生产出来的，美国军队很快就拥有了需要的枪支和补给。
在宾夕法尼亚州费城的法兰克福兵工厂，女人们正在组装枪支零件。联邦政府不得不迅速扩大自己的劳动力以满足战争需要，联邦支出从1940年的60亿美元增加到1944年的890亿美元。在短短的五年里，这是花销的15倍。罗斯福不得不采取强有力的措施为所有开支筹集资金。他限制工资，把收入超过20万美元部分的所得税提高到94%，还要求美国人民借钱给联邦政府，公众则购买近1000亿美元的战争债券作为相应。公共开支的大幅度提高增加了高通胀的威胁，罗斯福设立了一个有权控制物价的特别办公室。许多美国人同意控制物价的想法。但每家企业都希望得到控制的是别家的售价，而不是自己的。联邦官员必须努力工作以控制物价和供应，他们限制人们购买的肉类、燃料和其他商品的数量。
价格控制程序通常很有效，它的成功保持了美国经济的强大，以支持在亚欧作战的军队。这些强有力的经济措施之所以奏效，是因为大多数美国人民全力支持战争。铆钉女工萝西代表二战期间在工厂工作的美国女性，这张政府海报是为让妇女参与战争而设计的。你可以看看那个时代人们的照片，从面部表情看出他们强烈的感受。在北卡罗来纳州的一张照片中，一群男人站在旧橡胶轮胎前。他们计划把轮胎交给军队修理后，用于军用车辆。另一张照片显示一名女性正在医院就诊，她给一名士兵唱歌，鼓舞他的士气。还有一张照片是一个小食品店老板的照片，他在肉和罐头食品上贴上标志，告诉人们可以购买的数量。你还可以通过二战期间一些流行歌曲的名字了解那个时代人们的感受。
除了《铆钉女工萝西》外，还有《感谢上帝给我送来弹药》等歌曲，其中最充满希望的是这首，由英国人维拉·林恩录制。并非所有美国人都支持这场战争，少数人因为宗教或道德信仰而拒绝参战，他们被称为出于道义而拒服兵役者。一些美国人支持希特勒和其他法西斯分子，但几乎所有人都想尽快赢得战争，恢复正常生活。许多日裔美国人光荣地在美国军队服役，但许多美国人对任何来自日本的人都持怀疑态度，他们甚至拒绝相信在美国生活了一个多世纪的日裔美国家庭。许多银行拒绝向日裔美国人贷款，许多商店不愿意卖东西给他们。联邦政府将加州和其他州的数千名日裔美国人重新安置到拘留营。他们是在战争结束后才被释放，多年后，政府才正式为虐待日裔美国人道歉。但第二次世界大战确实为另一个经常成为歧视目标的群体带来了进步：美国黑人。
黑人领袖直言不讳。他们说，在欧洲为自由而战，而美国黑人并未享有与白人公民一样的自由，这是不公平的。“黑人想要拥有与白人公民一样的东西——他们所有的权利，任何在阳光下的力量都无法阻止这场正在进行的民权革命。”1941年，黑人社区的领袖A. 菲立普·蓝道夫威胁要在华盛顿领导一场大规模的黑人民权游行。罗斯福总统对此作出了反应，颁布了一项令，规定剥夺黑人在国防工业就业的机会是犯罪行为，还命令武装部队改变一些歧视黑人服役人员的规定。黑人的状况在军事和国防工业方面取得了进步，但在大多数其他行业仍然拒绝给他们同等的机会。民权方面获得的重大进展要到20世纪50、60年代才能实现。战争年代生活非常忙碌，在经济、商业、音乐、种族关系等方面都发生了许多变化。但在许多方面，生活一如既往地继续着。在第二次世界大战的艰难岁月里，美国人尽其所能让国内生活尽可能正常。但几乎所有人都明白，首要任务是支持海外部队，赢得战争。美国国内的这种决心给予美国士兵所需要的支持，也有助于罗斯福总统与其他世界领导人进行谈判。战争期间外交和外交关系变得更加复杂，这将是我们下期要讲述的故事。
译文为可可英语翻译，未经授权请勿转载！
