VOA建国史话(翻译+字幕+讲解)二战后几年中,美国人生活慢慢恢复正常
日期:2020-05-26 14:47

(单词翻译:单击)

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听力文本

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Welcome to THE MAKING OF A NATION – American history in VOA Special English. I'm Steve Ember. World War Two finally ended in August of nineteen forty-five. Life in the United States began to return to normal. Soldiers began to come home and find jobs. Factories stopped producing war materials and began to produce goods for peacetime. At the same time, other changes began to take place in society. Many Americans were no longer satisfied with their old ways of life. They wanted something new and better. And many were now earning enough money to find that better life. Millions of Americans moved out of cities and small towns. They bought newly built homes in suburban communities outside busy cities. Today, we look at the growth of suburbs and other changes in the American population in the years after World War Two. "And we'll have the living room right in here, and the kitchen right here so we can see the children playing in the yard." "Yeah, the children ... Children? Say, how many are you planning on? Not more than six, I hope. Maybe I better add a few more rooms back here." A couple in a marketing film for the home building industry.

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The United States counts its population every ten years. The first census took place in seventeen ninety. At that time, the country had about four million people. One hundred years later, in eighteen ninety, the population was sixty-three million. By nineteen fifty, there were more than one hundred fifty million people living in the United States. In the early years of America, the average mother had eight to ten children. Living conditions were hard. Many children died at an early age. Families needed a lot of help on the farm. So it was good to have many children. But over the years birth rates fell. Families began to have fewer and fewer children. By nineteen hundred, the average woman had only three or four children. In nineteen thirty-six, during the Great Depression, the average American mother gave birth to only two children. Things changed after World War Two. Suddenly, it seemed like every family started having babies. Parents were hopeful about the future. There were lots of jobs. People felt the need for a family and security after the long, difficult years of the war. From nineteen fifty to nineteen sixty, the number of children between the ages of five and fourteen increased by more than ten million.

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The increase in births after the war produced what became known as the baby boom generation. An estimated seventy-eight million Americans were born between nineteen forty-six and nineteen sixty-four. Many of the new parents moved to homes in the new suburbs built outside the urban environment of cities. Usually a developer would buy land, maybe from a farmer, then clear it, level it and build houses on it. Young families would buy the houses with money that they borrowed from local banks. Life was different in the suburbs – calmer, less crowded than life in the big city. There were all sorts of group activities. There were Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts. Parent-Teacher Associations at school. Outdoor cooking where families gathered in someone's backyard to eat hamburgers hot off the grill. Historian William Manchester described life in the suburbs in this way: The new suburbs were free, open, and honestly friendly to anyone except black people, whose time had not yet come. Manchester wrote, families moving in found that their new friends were happy to help them get started. Children in the suburbs exchanged toys and clothing almost as though they were group property. When little Bobby outgrew his clothes, his mother gave them to little Billy across the street. People felt safe enough to leave their doors unlocked.

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Parents did everything they could to make life good for their children. Between nineteen fifty and nineteen sixty, the number of boys playing on Little League baseball teams increased from less than one million to almost six million. The number of Girl Scouts increased by two million. Bicycle sales doubled. And it wasn't just two-wheeled transportation that experienced a post war boost. US new car production was stopped during World War Two, to allow those factories to produce airplanes, tanks, and other military vehicles for the war effort. With the prosperity of peacetime, many Americans visited auto dealerships for the first time in years, to replace that tired family car with something more up to date -- even luxurious. For many years, popular singer Dinah Shore invited optimistic post-war Americans to take to the highway and see their country in a Chevrolet. Post war prosperity also led Americans to replace outdated home appliances, buy a new refrigerator, or a television set. "Come closer, sweetheart. Say, I don't think that's fair, because we can't get closer." "Oh, but you could, if you had one of the new Westinghouse television sets with the exclusive Electronic Magnifier that gives you a big close-up image whenever you want it. All you do is turn the Electronic Magnifier knob, and there -- you get the heart of the picture. And see? I'm close enough to say, ‘Hello, good looking!'"

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Actress Betty Furness was commercial spokeswoman for Westinghouse. "And every Sunday night, General Electric brings you the finest motion picture stars on TV -- the great names in comedy ... mystery ... romance. Every week, a star, all summer long, on the General Electric Theater." Over at competitor General Electric, actor Ronald Reagan -- later the fortieth president of the United States -- and often referred to as the Great Communicator, was for many years an effective commercial spokesman every week on the GE Theater. Parents also tried to improve their children's education. In nineteen sixty, parents bought almost three times as many educational books as they did ten years before. Parents also bought millions of dollars' worth of pianos, violins and other musical instruments for their children. It was true that the average number of children per family was increasing. But the total population of the United States did not increase as much during this period as one might have expected. The reason for this was that fewer immigrants were coming to the United States. In fact, the number of immigrants had been dropping for many years. In nineteen ten, eleven immigrants were coming to America for every thousand Americans already living here. By nineteen fifty, less than two immigrants were coming for every thousand Americans.

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Where immigrants were coming from also changed. In the past, most came from northern and western Europe. But now, growing numbers of people came to the United States from southern and eastern Europe and from Latin America and Asia. Other changes in the United States population were also taking place. In the nineteen fifties, most Americans still lived in the eastern, central and southern parts of the country. But growing numbers moved west. The population of the western states increased by almost forty percent during the nineteen fifties. Remember we said the United States population gets counted every ten years? One reason is because populations are used to decide how many members each state will have in the House of Representatives. Population changes can mean changes in the political influence of individual states in Congress. Another population change after World War Two was in life expectancy. An American born in the early nineteen hundreds could only expect to live about forty-seven years. By the nineteen fifties, however, most Americans could expect to live well past their sixtieth birthday. Life expectancy continued to increase with improvements in living conditions and medical care. The United States was a changing country, a nation on the move after World War Two. Next week on our program, we look at political events that shaped the post-war period.

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重点解析

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1.begin to 开始;启动

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When you have got a handle on your anxiety you can begin to control it.

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一旦了解了自己焦虑的原因,你就开始能控制它了Q54]n5pzLY#yzUlA~u(

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2.a lot of 大量;很多

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I have lost a lot of weight.

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我体重减了不少Gr!=]U^T(wK

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3.refer to as 把……称作;称为

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This is an example of what I refer to as an idiomatic pattern.

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这就是我所说的惯用模式的实例ANwXSWdjB|S[R+r

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4.expect to 预期;希望

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You cannot expect to like all the people you will work with.

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不要指望你会喜欢所有和你共事的人ogK^Hr!z3M9].T

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参考译文

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欢迎收听VOA慢速英语之建国史话节目,我是史蒂夫·恩伯zm#d=Gqf;n*(-!。第二次世界大战终于在1945年8月结束,美国人的生活开始恢复正常s6w_]+kSsmlB。士兵们返家寻找工作,工厂停止生产战争物资,开始为和平时期制造货物kaKUxt*t)eI。与此同时,社会开始发生其他变化CwVxd]ZinSah+@Kg43t。许多美国人不再满足于过去的生活方式,想要全新的、更好的东西c-;Ko^+d1C1C(。许多人现在挣的钱足够找到更好的生活)2OOk]nu9gcTwfV~D。数以百万计的美国人搬出城市和小城镇,他们在繁华城市以外的郊区购买新房UBy,mscm%dYS)NUDi=v。今天,我们来看看二战后郊区的发展和美国人口的其他变化pEVCd9S((cXJNbH。“客厅在这儿,厨房在这儿,这样我们就能看到孩子们在院子里玩耍DUco*[;XEShXNMi+8-w。”“是的,孩子......孩子?你们打算要几个孩子?我希望不超过六个,也许我最好在后面再加几个房间360]h&A%,,UC。”这是为家庭建筑业拍摄的营销片中出现的一对夫妇&!FXYjiwA=14e+a0q

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美国每十年统计一次人口,第一次人口普查是在1790年进行的cvF4MsEwqC7#b+。当时,美国大约有400万人口QQo[)Vq%Wt,QD9|)。100年后的1890年,人口是6300万run+W@q3kx^v。到1950年,有超过一亿五千万人生活在美国v3;U_&wjR9NQY。在美国的早期生活中,一般的母亲有8到10个孩子YU|,3qm|35。生活条件艰苦,许多孩子很小就夭折了6pU[V2mY,;Q^u。农场上需要很多人手来帮忙,所以孩子多真不错DCD0hK(_G*-&a[)fd-E。但这些年出生率下降了,家中的孩子数量越来越少^g(8-*6KTzBd_-maFb3。到1900年,平均每个女性只生三、四个孩子,;(9(Xo2R@。1936年,在大萧条时期,美国母亲平均只生两个孩子C,YK+MQEm6=z,[W9v*b。二战后情况发生了变化&9k=|,j,P3(82M。突然之间,似乎每个家庭都开始生孩子-foyBut[sjMBOAM2m。父母对未来充满希望,有很多工作可做mhRkAQ)DE;E8Qym-*。在经历了漫长而艰难的战争岁月之后,人们感到需要家庭和安全感ogNRAg96QU7_vta4N。从1950年到1960年,5岁到14岁的儿童数量增加了一千万TD5dBJl8,H3^kq3(

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战后出生人数的增加,产生了所谓的婴儿潮一代C57IV!POd,YgMp[6u5G+。估计有7800万美国人在1946年到1964年间出生O]&QX7;Z==i13。许多新父母把家安置在了城市之外的新郊区V%wp;u5e|u53Y9JSxd。通常,开发商会从农民手中购买土地,然后清理、平整并在上面建房k%nq!3mXlmZ2;Jxn。年轻的家庭会用从当地银行借来的款项买房子@rVZVZ!A(q0lETF。郊区的生活不同于大城市的生活——那里更安宁,不那么拥挤,有各种各样的集体活动|&6.0@kvImt8U。有男童子军和女童子军,学校有家长教师协会OC,qhU6.b+pkf#+V8。户外烹饪活动中,几家人聚在某人的后院吃烤架上的汉堡Id[R|b3EywM93hL2H@V。历史学家威廉· 曼彻斯特这样描述郊区的生活:除了黑人,新郊区对任何人都是自由、开放,人与人之间真诚友好,而黑人的时代还未到来!*G88W]2x,_=c#N0。曼彻斯特写道,搬过来的家庭发现他们的新朋友乐于帮助他们开始新生活QNs3gA5x27=%@IMP6TW!。郊区的孩子们交换玩具和衣服,就好像这些都是集体财产一样YfJQbWzY^uuzWwPd。当小鲍比穿不下他的衣服时,他的妈妈会把它们送给街对面的小比利4fI,1qGM=MmSt&w。人们感到足够安全,可以不锁门w3U9Cz+&%tJh,XT2

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父母尽其所能让孩子过上好日子h._HGEC9~bCNH21KW93。从1950年到1960年间,在少年棒球联盟打球的男孩人数从不足100万增加到近600万,女童子军的人数增加了200万,自行车销售量翻了一番3);vzeuc(v6。不仅是两轮运输经历了战后的发展v;N]C71jhC。美国的新车生产在第二次世界大战期间停止,以使这些工厂生产飞机、坦克和其他军用车辆用于战争YE*ph=su,iruRGY#ua)。随着和平时期的繁荣,许多美国人多年来第一次造访汽车经销商,用更现代化、甚至更豪华的物品取代那些旧式的家用汽车F&4xpaxIr[v7ui。多年来,流行歌手迪娜· 肖尔邀请战后乐观的美国人来到高速公路,乘坐雪佛兰游览他们的国家MeY|d|oIN%mxfw。战后的繁荣也让美国人更换那些过时的家用电器,购买新冰箱或电视机Q_0Upy%X|cNsj。“过来,亲爱的,我觉得这不公平,因为我们无法看得更近了LPK~tH+p^B_QYq^bNB4W。”“哦,但你可以的,如果你拥有一台新的西屋电气的电视机,它有一个专用的电子放大镜,可以随时呈现特写的大图像ta|789TArR2。只要转动电子放大镜的旋钮,就能看到画面的中心i!pZVPKcHg](33BD7ePz。看到了吗?我离得很近,可以说:‘你好,漂亮!’

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女演员贝蒂·弗内斯是西屋电气的商业发言人LFwUe&2^(,5Qo。“每个周日晚上,通用电气都会为你呈现最优秀的电影明星——喜剧、悬疑剧、爱情剧中那些名人r+uEBKvpMy!7E=W+ko。每周一位明星,整个夏天都在通用电气剧院R,ND1zs,D,mmpf。”在竞争对手通用电气公司,后来成为美国第40任总统的演员罗纳德· 里根,经常被称为伟大的沟通者,多年来每周都在通用电气剧院担任商业发言人,其宣传效果十分显著%Rhg|%OY]9TN3-]BL。家长们也努力提高孩子的教育水平,1960年,父母购买的教育书籍几乎是10年前的3倍56[Dx(|wbjWr[G,8W=_。他们还为孩子购买价值数百万美元的钢琴、小提琴和其他乐器T#AtxCno+(e,+。的确,每个家庭的平均子女人数正在增加Cr-yX6SzxJ。但在这期间,美国总人口的增长速度不及人们所预料的那样wQSrJ.2szuZ_S5&Hj%Bo。原因是来美国的移民越来越少@iVFou=V+]8JK。事实上,移民的数量多年来一直在下降0JBB.&h_ElY3EI。在1910年,每1000名美国人中就有11位移民#^l2G!q[X2#O0te。到1950年,每1000名美国人中只有不到2位移民CY1-Y*bQrxuu]+*V

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移民的来源也发生了变化9Xl[4bN6=hfpwZ@bZX。过去,大多数移民来自北欧和西欧N(F=m[pd#c)HkM@bP-Y。但现在,越来越多的人从南欧和东欧,以及拉丁美洲和亚洲来到美国[|[gtP.EvXt,L)+(Z。美国人口也在发生其他改变2Jv]7QD)!0%G。在20世纪50年代,大多数美国人仍然居住在美国的东部、中部和南部,但越来越多的人迁往西部VCV_^r_qWPUVhJP6p(。在20世纪50年代,西部各州的人口增长了近40%(k,=[C^SLP。还记得我们说过,美国人口每十年统计一次吗?一个原因是,人口用来决定各州在众议院中的议员数量wrR8kDzc#c!。人口变化可能意味着国会中各州政治影响力的变化*,4D4ssagM0cDL;。二战后的另一个人口变化是预期寿命dNqJ-;RfA7r。一个出生于19世纪初的美国人,只能活47年i9X78~Jb9_mp。然而,到了20世纪50年代,大多数美国人有望度过60岁生日vB,;z0a3AT;xqc*。随着生活条件和医疗保健的改善,预期寿命继续增加D8PM%WTLm%Ue7.。美国是一个不断变化的国家,在二战后不断前行CBRz[!J+hj[PJ3C;G。我们在下期节目中,将关注影响战后时期的政治事件N9vp@|LMR~TQzc98

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译文为可可英语翻译,未经授权请勿转载!

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