(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. Nineteen sixty-eight was a presidential election year in the United States. It was also one of the saddest and most difficult years in modern American history. The nation was divided by often violent disputes about civil rights and the war in Vietnam. President Lyndon Johnson had helped win major civil rights legislation. Yet he had also greatly expanded American involvement in the war in Vietnam. By early nineteen sixty-eight, it was almost impossible for him to leave the White House without facing anti-war protesters. Johnson wanted to seek another four-year term as president. But his popularity kept dropping as the war continued. He understood that he no longer had the support of a majority of the people. In March, he announced that he would not be a candidate. "I shall not seek, and I will not accept the nomination of my party for another term as your President."
One reason Johnson decided not to seek re-election was a senator from Minnesota: Eugene McCarthy. "I intend to enter the Democratic primaries in four states: Wisconsin, Oregon, California, and Nebraska. The decision with reference to Massachusetts and also New Hampshire will be made within the next two or three weeks." McCarthy competed against Johnson in several primary elections. Primaries are held before the political parties hold their presidential nominating conventions. Thousands of college students helped the McCarthy campaign in New Hampshire, the state that traditionally holds the nation's first primary. They told voters that their candidate would try to end the war. "My decision to challenge the President's position and the administration's position has been strengthened by recent announcements out of the administration. The evident intention to escalate and to intensify the war in Vietnam, and on the other hand, the absence of any positive indication or suggestion for a compromise or for a negotiated political settlement." Johnson won the New Hampshire primary, but McCarthy received almost forty-two percent of the vote. After McCarthy's success, Senator Robert Kennedy of New York decided to enter the campaign. He was a brother of President John Kennedy, who had been murdered in nineteen sixty-three. Robert Kennedy had served in his brother's administration as attorney general, the nation's highest law enforcement officer.
Many people were pleased when Robert Kennedy announced his decision. They liked his message. He said: "I run to seek new policies -- policies to end the bloodshed in Vietnam and in our cities, policies to close the gaps that now exist between black and white, between rich and poor, between young and old, in this country and around the rest of the world." On April fourth, nineteen sixty-eight, civil rights leader Martin Luther King Junior was shot to death in Memphis, Tennessee. Robert Kennedy informed a largely black audience in Indianapolis, Indiana, of King's death and appealed for calm. "What we need in the United States is not division. What we need in the United States is not hatred. What we need in the United States is not violence and lawlessness, but is love and wisdom. And compassion toward one another. And a feeling of justice toward those who still suffer within our country, whether they be white or whether they be black." No words, however, could calm the anger in many black communities. Martin Luther King had peacefully led the civil rights movement. His assassination led to violence in more than one hundred cities across America. Hundreds of people were killed or injured. National Guard troops were used to help police end the riots.
After the riots, another candidate decided to join the campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination. The new candidate was Vice President Hubert Humphrey. The primary season continued. Eugene McCarthy and Robert Kennedy tried to show voters how different they were. Many voters, however, saw little difference between their positions on major issues. Both men opposed the war in Vietnam. Both supported social reforms and civil rights. Kennedy defeated McCarthy in the primaries in Indiana and Nebraska. McCarthy defeated Kennedy in Oregon. The next big primary was in California. Kennedy said he would withdraw from the campaign if he did not win the primary in that important state. Robert Kennedy won the California primary. "My thanks to all of you. And now, it's on to Chicago and let's win there." He might have gone on to win his party's nomination for president. And perhaps he might have even won the presidency, just like his brother John. But Americans would never know. "Senator Kennedy has been shot. Is that possible? Senator Kennedy has been shot, possibly shot in the head. I am right here, and Rafer Johnson has a hold of a man who apparently has fired the shot. He still has the gun. The gun is pointed at me..."
Robert Kennedy was shot at the Los Angeles hotel where he had just given his victory speech after the California primary. He died a few hours later. The man who shot him worked at the hotel. Sirhan Sirhan was a Palestinian refugee. He said he blamed Robert Kennedy for the problems of the Palestinians. America's two major political parties held their nominating conventions in the summer of nineteen sixty-eight. The Republicans met first. They gathered in Miami Beach, Florida. And it was soon clear which candidate had the most support. Richard Nixon had been the Republican nominee in nineteen sixty. He lost to John Kennedy. Eight years later, Nixon was a strong candidate to win the nomination again. The other candidates were Ronald Reagan, the governor of California, and Nelson Rockefeller, the governor of New York. On the first ballot, Nixon received more than twice as many votes as Rockefeller. Reagan was far behind. Most of the delegates then gave their support to Nixon, and he accepted the nomination. Spiro Agnew, the governor of Maryland, became the nominee for vice president.
The Democratic convention was very different from the Republican one. The Democrats were the party in power. Protests against the war in Vietnam were aimed at them. Thousands of anti-war protesters gathered in Chicago where the Democratic convention took place. The city's mayor, Richard Daley, ordered the police to deal with them severely. Many of the young protesters were beaten. The Federal Government later ordered an investigation. The report said the riots in Chicago were a result of the actions of the police themselves. Inside the convention building, the delegates voted for their nominee. They did not choose the candidate who had done so well in the early primaries, Eugene McCarthy. Instead, they chose the more traditional candidate, Hubert Humphrey. "Surely, we have now learned the lesson that violence breeds counter-violence, and it cannot be condoned, whatever the source." The vice presidential candidate was Edmund Muskie, a senator from Maine. In the general election campaign, Nixon and Humphrey both supported American involvement in Vietnam. But both of them also talked about finding ways to end the conflict. And they talked about finding ways to end the social unrest in the United States. Many voters saw little difference between the two candidates.
A third candidate in the race was the governor of Alabama, George Wallace. As governor, Wallace opposed federal efforts to end racial separation in the South. He attempted to block the court-ordered registration of two black students at the University of Alabama in nineteen sixty-three. At that time, the university accepted only white students. The two were later admitted under federal protection. Wallace campaigned as the candidate of the American Independent Party. He denounced the federal courts as well as communism and what he called the "eastern establishment" in the United States. Many conservative, working-class Americans agreed with him and supported his campaign. About six weeks before Election Day, public opinion surveys showed that Nixon and Humphrey were very close. Nixon's major problem was his past. He had made enemies during his early political life. Humphrey's major problem was his current job as vice president to an increasingly unpopular president. About a month before the election, Humphrey said the United States would halt bombing in North Vietnam. But President Johnson did not give the order until four days before the election. Humphrey later said the delay had damaged his campaign beyondrepair. On Election Day, Richard Nixon won, but not by much in the popular vote. George Wallace won five states and finished a distant third. Nixon would become president. It was a job he had wanted for a long time. "I saw many signs in this campaign; some of them were not friendly, some were very friendly. But the one that touched me the most was one that I saw in Deshler, Ohio, at the end of a long day of whistle-stopping. A teenager held up a sign, 'Bring us together'. And that will be the great objective of this administration at the outset, to bring the American people together."
重点解析
1.no longer 已不；再也
She no longer feared that they should misunderstand her.
她不再害怕他们会误解她了。
2.thousands of 几千；成千上万
Thousands of people attended the funeral.
数千人参加了葬礼。
3.the rest of 其余的；剩下的
I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm hungry.
我不知道你们怎么样，但我是饿了。
4.far behind 落后；把……远远地甩到后边
If winter comes, can spring be far behind?
冬天来了，春天还会远吗？
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。1968年是美国总统大选年，这也是美国现代史上最悲伤、最艰难的一年。这个国家因经常发生的关于公民权利和越南战争的暴力争端而分裂。林登·约翰逊总统帮助赢得了重要的民权立法。然而，他也大大扩大了美国在越南战争中的参与。到1968年初，他几乎不可能离开白宫而不面对反战示威者。约翰逊想再连任总统职位。但随着战争的继续，他的声望不断下降，他明白他不再得到大多数人的支持。今年3月，他宣布不再成为候选人。“我不会寻求连任，也不会接受我党提名连任总统的职务。”
约翰逊决定不寻求连任的一个原因，是因为明尼苏达州的参议员尤金·麦卡锡。“我打算参加四个州的民主党初选：威斯康星州、俄勒冈州、加利福尼亚州和内布拉斯加州。关于马萨诸塞州和新罕布什尔州的决定，将在未来两三周内作出。”麦卡锡在几次初选中与约翰逊竞争，初选在各政党举行总统提名大会之前举行。数千名大学生在新罕布什尔州帮助麦卡锡竞选，该州传统上举行全国第一次初选。他们告诉选民，他们的候选人将努力结束战争。“我挑战总统和政府立场的决定，由于政府最近发布的声明而得到加强。明显的意图是不断升级和加剧越南战争。另一方面，没有任何积极迹象或建议做出妥协或谈判以通过政治手段解决。”约翰逊在新罕布什尔州初选中获胜，但麦卡锡获得了近42%的选票。麦卡锡成功后，纽约参议员罗伯特·肯尼迪决定参加竞选。他是约翰肯尼迪总统的兄弟，后者在1963年遭到谋杀。罗伯特· 肯尼迪曾在他兄弟的政府中担任司法部长，这是美国最高的执法官员。
罗伯特·肯尼迪宣布他的决定时，许多人都很高兴。他们喜欢他传达出的信息。他说：“我竞选总统是为了寻求新的政策——结束越南和我们国家城市中流血冲突的政策，缩小黑人和白人之间、贫富之间、年轻人和老年人之间、这个国家和世界其他地区之间差距的政策。”1968年4月4日，民权领袖马丁·路德·金在田纳西州孟菲斯遭遇枪杀。罗伯特·肯尼迪向印第安纳州印第安纳波利斯的黑人听众通报了金的死讯，并呼吁大家保持冷静。“我们在美国需要的不是分裂，不是仇恨，不是暴力和无法无天，我们需要的是爱和智慧，以及对彼此的同情。对那些仍在我国受苦受难的人，无论他们是白人还是黑人，都要有正义感。”然而，任何言语都无法平息许多黑人社区的愤怒。马丁·路德·金和平地领导了民权运动。他的遇刺导致美国100多个城市发生暴力事件，数百人死伤，国民警卫队部队出动帮助警察结束骚乱。
骚乱发生后，另一名候选人决定加入民主党总统候选人的竞选活动，这名新候选人是副总统休伯特·汉弗莱。初选赛季继续，尤金·麦卡锡和罗伯特·肯尼迪试图向选民展示他们的不同之处。然而，许多选民认为他们在重大问题上的立场差别不大，两人都反对越战，都支持社会改革和公民权利。肯尼迪在印第安纳州和内布拉斯加州的初选中击败了麦卡锡，麦卡锡则在俄勒冈州击败了肯尼迪。下一个重要的初选是在加利福尼亚州。肯尼迪说，如果他不能在那个重要的州赢得初选，他将退出竞选。罗伯特·肯尼迪赢得了加州初选。“谢谢你们。现在，我们要去芝加哥，让我们在那里获胜。”他可能会赢得本党的总统候选人提名，也许他甚至可以像他的兄弟约翰一样赢得总统大选。但美国人永远不会知道。“肯尼迪参议员中枪了，这有可能吗？肯尼迪参议员中枪，可能是头部中枪。我就在这里，拉夫·约翰逊抓住了一个显然开过枪的人，他还有枪，枪指着我……”
罗伯特·肯尼迪获得加州的初选胜利后，在洛杉矶酒店发表演讲时遭遇枪击。几个小时后，他就去世了。开枪的人在酒店工作。希伦‧希伦是一名巴勒斯坦难民，他说他把巴勒斯坦人的问题归咎于罗伯特·肯尼迪。美国两大政党在1968年夏天举行了提名大会，共和党人先召开会议，他们聚集在佛罗里达州的迈阿密海滩，哪个候选人的支持率最高很快就清晰了。理查德·尼克松在1960年被共和党提名，他输给了约翰·肯尼迪。八年后，尼克松成为再次赢得提名的有力候选人。其他候选人是加州州长罗纳德·里根和纽约州州长纳尔逊·洛克菲勒。在第一轮投票中，尼克松获得的选票是洛克菲勒的两倍多。里根远远落后于他，大多数代表都支持尼克松，尼克松接受了提名。马里兰州州长斯皮罗· 阿格纽成为副总统候选人。
民主党大会与共和党大会大不相同，民主党是执政党，反对越南战争的抗议活动是针对他们。数千名反战示威者聚集在芝加哥，举行民主党全国代表大会。该市市长理查德·戴利下令警方严惩他们，许多年轻抗议者遭到殴打。联邦政府后来下令进行调查。报道说，芝加哥的骚乱是警察自己行动的结果。在会议大楼内，代表们投票支持他们的候选人。他们没有选择在早期初选中表现出色的候选人尤金·麦卡锡。相反，他们选择了更传统的候选人休伯特· 汉弗莱。“当然，我们现在已经吸取了暴力滋生反暴力的教训，无论其源头如何，都不能姑息。”副总统候选人是来自缅因州参议员埃德蒙·马斯基。在大选中，尼克松和汉弗莱都支持美国介入越南事务。但是，他们两人也谈到了如何结束冲突。他们还谈到如何结束美国的社会动荡。许多选民认为这两位候选人没有什么区别。
第三位候选人是阿拉巴马州州长乔治·华莱士。华莱士作为州长，反对联邦政府结束南方种族隔离的努力。他试图阻止法院在1963年下令，在阿拉巴马大学登记两名黑人学生。那时，这所大学只录取白人学生，两人后来在联邦保护下被收押。华莱士竞选美国独立党候选人，他谴责联邦法院以及共产主义和他所说的美国的“东方机构”。许多保守的工人阶级美国人同意他的观点，支持他的竞选活动。在选举日前大约六周，民意调查显示尼克松和汉弗莱关系非常密切。尼克松的主要问题是他的过往经历。他在早期的政治生活中曾树敌，汉弗莱的主要问题是他目前的工作是副总统，而现在的总统越来越不受欢迎。大选前大约一个月，汉弗莱说，美国将停止对北越的轰炸。但约翰逊总统直到大选前四天才下达命令。汉弗莱后来说，这种拖延对他的竞选造成了无法弥补的损害。在选举日，理查德·尼克松获胜，但在民意测验中得票不多。乔治·华莱士赢得五个州的投票，位列第三名。尼克松将成为总统，这是他很久以来想做的工作。“在这次竞选中，我看到了许多迹象；其中有些不太友好，而有些则非常友好。但最让我感动的，是我在俄亥俄州的德什勒看到的事情。在竞选活动停止后，一个十几岁的孩子举着一个牌子，上面写着“让我们团结起来”。这将是本届政府从开始时就抱持的伟大目标，那就是让美国人民团结起来。”
译文为可可英语翻译，未经授权请勿转载！
