(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. This week in our series, we look at the presidential election of nineteen eighty-eight. Ronald Reagan was finishing his second term. He was America's fortieth president and one of the most popular. During his eight years in office, many Americans did well financially. Many felt more secure about the future of the nation and the world. The possibility of nuclear war with the Soviet Union did not seem as great a threat as it had in the past. The Constitution limits presidents to two terms. So, in nineteen eighty-eight, the country prepared to elect a new chief executive. There were three main candidates for the Republican Party nomination. They were George Herbert Walker Bush, Bob Dole and Pat Robertson. Bush had just served eight years as Reagan's vice president. Dole was the top Republican in the Senate. Robertson was a conservative Christian who had his own television program.
Ronald Reagan's popularity helped George Bush gain the Republican nomination. Neither Dole nor Robertson won enough votes in the primary election season to be a threat. Bush was nominated on the first vote at the party convention. The delegates accepted his choice for vice president, Senator Dan Quayle of Indiana. Eight candidates competed for the nomination of the Democratic Party. One of the candidates was Jesse Jackson, a black minister and political activist. He won about twenty-five percent of the delegates. He had also sought the nomination four years earlier. The Democrats chose Michael Dukakis, the governor of Massachusetts. His running mate was Senator Lloyd Bentsen of Texas. In public opinion surveys Dukakis looked like a strong candidate after the party conventions. But then he began to lose popularity. Many observers said he had waited too long to launch a nationwide campaign. The candidates heavily attacked each other through campaign advertising on television. Dukakis came under attack from the Bush campaign, targeting his record as a governor. Campaign ads said Dukakis had not been tough enough with criminals.
"Bush and Dukakis on Crime. Bush supports the death penalty for first degree murderers. Dukakis not only opposes the death penalty – he allowed first degree murderers to have weekend passes from prison. One was Willy Horton, who murdered a boy in a robbery, stabbing him nineteen times. Despite a life sentence, Horton received ten weekend passes from prison. Horton fled, kidnapped a young couple, stabbing the man and repeatedly raping his girlfriend. Weekend prison passes – Dukakis on crime." Ads by the Bush campaign also said Dukakis would weaken America's military power. And they accused him of not protecting the environment by seeking a permit to dump sewage from Massachusetts off the coast of New Jersey. "The Environmental Protection Agency called Boston Harbor one of the dirtiest harbors in America. But not long ago, Governor Dukakis proposed a way to help clean it up – by dumping Massachusetts sewage sludge off the New Jersey shore, just one hundred and six miles from New York. Now, Michael Dukakis says he wants to do for America, what he's done for Massachusetts. New Jersey can't afford to take that risk." "I'm fed up with it -- never seen anything like it in twenty-five years of public life." Dukakis fought back. "George Bush's negative TV ads distorting my record -- full of lies, and he knows it."
Dukakis accused Bush of not telling the truth about his part in the secret sales of arms to Iran to finance contra rebels in Nicaragua. He also criticized Bush for being part of an administration that reduced social programs. "I must have been living through a different eight years from the ones the vice president's been living through, because this administration has cut and slashed, and cut and slashed programs for children, for nutrition, for the kinds of things that can help these youngsters to live better lives. "It's cut federal aid to education, has cut Pell Grants and loans, to close the door to college opportunity on youngsters all over this country. And that, too, is a major difference between the vice president and me." In the end, Bush's campaign succeeded in making Dukakis look weak on crime and defense. Dukakis did not help himself with a commercial in which he was looking out of a moving tank while wearing a large helmet. Many people made fun of the Ad. On Election Day in November, Bush defeated Dukakis by almost seven million votes. George Bush was sworn into office on January twentieth, nineteen eighty-nine.
"No president, no government can teach us to remember what is best in what we are. But if the man you have chosen to lead this government can help make a difference, if he can celebrate the quieter, deeper successes that are made -- not of gold and silk, but of better hearts and finer souls -- if he can do these things, then he must. We as a people have such a purpose today. It is to make kinder the face of the nation and gentler the face of the world. My friends, we have work to do." George Bush was the son of a United States senator and had led a life of public service. He joined the Navy when America entered World War Two. He flew attack planes. He was just eighteen years old -- at that time, the youngest pilot the Navy ever had. He flew many bombing raids against the Japanese in the Pacific. He was shot down once and rescued by an American submarine. George Bush came home from the war as a hero. He became a university student and got married. He and his wife, Barbara, then moved to Texas where he worked in the oil business. He ran for the United States Senate in nineteen sixty-four, and lost. Two years later, he was elected to the House of Representatives.
He ran for the Senate again in nineteen seventy, and lost again. But by that time, he had gained wider recognition. Over the next eight years, he was appointed to a series of government positions. He was ambassador to the United Nations. He was chairman of the Republican National Committee. He was America's representative in China before the two countries had diplomatic relations. And he was head of the Central Intelligence Agency. In nineteen eighty, Bush ran against Ronald Reagan for the Republican nomination for president. Bush lost but became Reagan's running mate. After two terms as vice president, he felt ready to lead the nation himself. The new president took seven foreign trips during his first year in office. In Europe, Bush met with the other leaders of NATO, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. He proposed a major agreement on reducing troops and non-nuclear weapons in Europe. The Soviet Union considered his proposal an important step in the right direction. In central and eastern Europe, communist governments also faced protests. Since nineteen eighty-seven, Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev had let countries in the Warsaw Pact experiment with political and economic reforms. But those reforms were not enough to stop the fall of communist governments in one country after another.
In the summer of nineteen eighty-nine, President Bush visited Hungary and Poland. Both nations were trying to develop free-market economies. Both were suffering as they moved away from central control. In Poland the leader of the Solidary trade union, Lech Walesa, led the push for reform. He would later become president of a democratic Poland. November of nineteen eighty-nine brought a dramatic expression of the changes taking place in eastern Europe. On November ninth, East Germany opened the wall that had divided it from the West since nineteen sixty-one. "From ABC, this is World News Tonight with Peter Jennings, reporting tonight from Berlin." "From the Berlin Wall specifically. Take a look at them. They've been there since last night. They are here in the thousands; they are here in the tens of thousands. Occasionally they shout ‘Die Mauer muss weg!' – the Wall must go! "Thousands and thousands of West Germans come to make the point that the wall has suddenly become irrelevant. Something, as you can see, almost to party on. How do you measure such an astonishing moment in history?
"The East German government said tonight they were going to make more openings in the wall, at least a dozen more, put bulldozers right through the wall, so that more people could cross to the West. The East German communist leadership tonight said there'd be a new election law guaranteeing secret elections which the rest of the world could monitor. "And only twenty-four hours after East Germans were told they could go anywhere, anytime, the Soviet Union said – That was a sensible move!" Within days, citizens and soldiers began tearing the wall down as the world watched with hope for a new era of peace. "What's it feel like to be standing on top of the Wall?" "Incredible. For me, it's...I can't describe really my feelings. It's something unreal for me." "If there is someone who sleeps for eight weeks, and you told him what happened here, he thinks you are crazy. It's unthinkable hard to imagine." The fall of the Berlin Wall pointed to the end of the Soviet Union, the end of Communist rule in most of the countries in the former Soviet Bloc – and the end of more than 40 years of the Cold War between the East and West. The presidency of George Herbert Walker Bush will be remembered as the time during which these world changing events took place, as well as the beginning of the Persian Gulf War with Iraq, following Iraq's invasion of Kuwait.
重点解析
1.in office 就任；执政
He had nothing tangible to show off three years in office.
他为官三年，无实绩可言。
2.each other 互相；相互
They support each other in their work.
他们在工作中互相支持。
3.full of 充满；装满
The article is full of suggestions.
这篇文章充满了暗示。
4.be ready to 准备好；准备做某事
He may now be ready to sanction the use of force.
他现在可能打算批准使用武力。
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。在本周的系列节目中，我们来看看1988年的总统选举。罗纳德·里根即将结束其第二个任期，他是美国第40任总统，也是最受欢迎的总统之一。在他执政的八年时间里，许多美国人的经济状况都很好。许多人对国家和世界的未来感到更加安心，与苏联发生核战争的可能性似乎不像过去那样是一个巨大的威胁。宪法规定总统只能连任两届，因此，在1988年，国家准备选举一位新总统。
共和党提名的三位主要候选人，是乔治·赫伯特·沃克·布什、鲍勃·多尔和帕特·罗伯逊。布什和副总统里根一样，执政八年。多尔是参议院共和党的头号人物，罗伯逊是一个保守的基督教徒，他拥有自己的电视节目。
共和党提名，多尔和罗伯逊在初选季赢得的选票都不足以构成威胁，布什在党代会上第一次投票就获得提名。代表们接受了他对副总统的选择，印第安纳州参议员丹·奎尔。八名候选人竞争民主党的提名，其中一位候选人是杰西·杰克逊，一位黑人部长和政治活动家。他赢得了大约25%的代表，他四年前也曾寻求过提名。民主党选择了马萨诸塞州州长迈克尔·杜卡基斯，他的竞选搭档是德克萨斯州参议员劳埃德·本特森。在民意调查中，杜卡基斯在党代会之后看起来是一位强有力的候选人，但后来他开始失去人气。许多观察家说，他等待太久才发起全国性的运动。候选人通过电视上的竞选广告互相猛烈攻击。杜卡基斯受到布什阵营的攻击，目标是他作为州长的政绩。竞选广告中说，杜卡基斯对罪犯不够严厉。
基斯针对犯罪问题。布什支持对一级杀人犯判处死刑，杜卡基斯不仅反对死刑，他还允许一级杀人犯在周末获得监狱通行证。一个是威利·霍顿，他在一次抢劫中谋杀了一个男孩，刺了他19刀。尽管被判无期徒刑，霍顿还是收到了十张周末监狱通行证。霍顿逃跑，绑架了一对年轻夫妇，刺伤了这名男子，并多次强奸其女友。周末监狱通行证——杜卡基斯犯罪调查。”布什阵营的广告还宣称，杜卡基斯将削弱美国的军事力量。他们指责他不保护环境，因为他获得了许可证，将马萨诸塞州的污水倾倒在新泽西州海岸外。美国环境保护局称波士顿港为美国最肮脏的港口之一。但就在不久前，杜卡基斯州长提出了一种帮助清理的方法，即将马萨诸塞州的污水和污泥，倾倒在距离纽约仅106英里的新泽西海岸。现在，迈克尔·杜卡基斯说他想为美国做些事情，就像他为马萨诸塞州所做的那样。新泽西州承担不起这样的风险。”“我受够了，在25年的公共生活中从没见过这种事。”杜卡基斯反击。“乔治·布什的负面电视广告歪曲了我的业绩——充斥着谎言，他知道这一点。”
杜卡基斯指责布什，在向伊朗秘密出售武器资助尼加拉瓜反政府武装方面没有说出真相。他还批评布什政府，削减社会项目。“我所经历的八年肯定与副总统所经历的不同，因为本届政府削减了针对儿童、营养，以及帮助这些年轻人过上更好生活的各种项目。“这削减了联邦对教育的援助，削减了佩尔助学金和贷款，关闭全国各地年轻人上大学的机会，这也是我和副总统之间的主要区别。”最后，布什竞选成功使杜卡基斯在犯罪和国防方面显得软弱无力。杜卡基斯没有帮自己做广告，他戴着大头盔从移动的坦克中往外看。许多人取笑这个广告。在11月的选举日，布什以近700万张选票击败了杜卡基斯。乔治·布什在1989年1月20日宣誓就职。
“没有总统，没有任何政府可以教我们记住什么是最好的。但是，如果您选择领导这个政府的人能有所作为，只要他能以更安静，更深刻的方式庆祝成就，不是用金子和丝线，而是用更好的心和更好的灵魂—如果他能做到这些，那他就必须这样做。今天，作为一个民族，我们的目标是这样的：使国家的面孔更亲善，世界的面孔更温柔。我的朋友们，我们还有工作要做。”乔治·布什是美国参议员的儿子，过着公共服务生涯。美国参加二战时，他加入了海军。他驾驶过攻击机，那时他只有18岁，是当时海军里有史以来最年轻的飞行员。他在太平洋地区对日本人进行多次轰炸袭击。他被击落一次，被一艘美国潜艇营救。乔治·布什作为一名英雄从战争中归来，他成为一名大学生，后来结婚了。他和妻子芭芭拉随后搬到德克萨斯州，从事石油业务。他于16岁时参加美国参议院竞选，不过输了。两年后，他当选为众议院议员。
他在1970代再次竞选参议员，再次败北。但在那时，他已经获得了更广泛的认可。在接下来的八年中，他被任命出任一系列政府职位。他曾是联合国的大使、共和党全国委员会主席。在中美两国建交之前，他曾是美国的驻华代表，他还曾是中央情报局局长。1980年，布什与罗纳德·里根竞选共和党总统候选人。布什败北，但他成为里根的竞选伙伴。
他担任副总统两个任期后，准备自己领导美国。新任总统在任的第一年，进行了七次国外访问，在欧洲，布什会见了北约组织（NATO）的其他领导人。他提出了一项减少欧洲部队和无核武器的重大协议，苏联认为他的建议是朝正确方向迈出的重要一步。在中欧和东欧，共产党政府也面临抗议。自1987年以来，苏联领导人米哈伊尔·戈尔巴乔夫带领《华沙条约》中的国家进行政治和经济改革的尝试。但是，这些改革还不足以阻止一个国家接一个国家的共产党政府垮台。
1989年夏天，布什总统出访匈牙利和波兰，两国都试图发展自由市场经济。但当他们离开中央控制时，两个国家都在遭受痛苦。在波兰，团结工会的领导人莱希·瓦文萨带头发起改革。后来，他成为民主波兰的总统。1989年11月，戏剧性地表达了东欧发生的变化。11月9日，东德打开了从1961分割东、西德国的这道墙。“美国广播公司报道，这里是彼得·詹宁斯的《今晚世界新闻》节目，从柏林进行报道。”“特别是从柏林墙，看看他们。他们昨晚以来一直在那儿，成千上万的人，这有成千上万的人，有时他们高喊“把墙拆掉！”“成千上万的西德人来到这，这堵墙突然变得无关紧要。如你所见，几乎可以开派对了。你如何看待历史上如此惊人的时刻？
“东德政府今晚表示，他们将在隔离墙上开更多的开口，至少再打十二个，让推土机穿过隔离墙，以便更多人可以到西德去。东德共产党领导层今晚表示，将有一项新的保证秘密选举的选举法出台，世界其他国家都可以进行监督。“就在东德人被告知能随时随地去任何地方的24小时后，苏联表示——这是一个明智之举！”几天之内，全世界充满希望地注视着一个新的和平时代的到来时，公民和士兵开始拆除柏林墙。“站在墙顶上感觉如何？”“难以置信，对我来说，我无法真正描述自己的真实感受。对我而言，这是不真实的。”“如果有人睡了八周，而你告诉他这里发生的事情，他会认为你疯了。真是难以想象。”柏林墙的倒塌标志着苏联的终结，共产主义在前苏联集团大多数国家的统治的终结，以及东西方40多年冷战的结束。乔治·赫伯特·沃克·布什的总统任期，将被人们铭记为这些改变世界的事件所发生的时期，以及伊拉克入侵科威特后，与伊拉克爆发波斯湾战争的开始。
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