(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 continue the story of President George Herbert Walker Bush. He was elected the forty-first president of the United States in nineteen eighty-eight. George H.W. Bush was president when the Cold War ended between the United States and the Soviet Union. The Cold War had lasted more than forty years. Both sides were heavily armed with nuclear weapons. People worried that one wrong move could lead to the end of the world. But by the late nineteen eighties, the world was changing. The Soviet Union was dying. On November ninth, nineteen eighty-nine, East Germany opened the Berlin Wall for the first time since it had been built. The wall had divided communist East Germany from democratic West Germany since nineteen sixty-one. Citizens and soldiers together soon began tearing it down.
Tensions continued to ease as communist rule in most of the former Soviet republics ended by the early nineteen nineties. Fifteen republics had belonged to the Soviet Union. By the end of nineteen ninety-one, most had declared their independence. They became a loosely formed group called the Commonwealth of Independent States. Countries that had considered the United States their enemy, now looked to it to lead the way to peace and, they hoped, prosperity. As the Soviet Union was dying, President Bush repeatedly negotiated with Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev. One of those meetings took place in the spring of nineteen ninety in the United States. It led to an agreement calling for both sides to destroy most of their chemical weapons. The two leaders also agreed to increase trade relations. The American and Soviet presidents met in Moscow in July nineteen ninety-one. There, they signed the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty, known as START I. This treaty called for both sides to reduce their numbers of long-range nuclear weapons. They promised to cut the number by about one-third over seven years. START I became the first agreement between the two powers to order cuts in existing supplies of nuclear weapons.
In September nineteen ninety-one, President Bush said the United States would remove most of its short-range nuclear weapons from service. He also said the United States would destroy many of them. The next month, the Soviets announced that they would do the same. On December twenty-fifth of that year, Mikhail Gorbachev resigned as president, as the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics came to an end. "Compatriots, due to the situation, which has evolved as a result of the formation of the Commonwealth of Independent States, I hereby discontinue my activities at the post of president of the U.S.S.R." Six months earlier, Russians had chosen Boris Yeltsin as the first democratically elected leader of Russia. When the Soviet Union collapsed, he became the most important leader of the former republics. President Bush and President Yeltsin signed another strategic arms reduction treaty, START II, in January nineteen ninety-three. "My fellow citizens, last night I ordered U.S. military forces to Panama. No president takes such action lightly." One of George Bush's military actions as president was to send troops into Panama in December nineteen eighty-nine.
They captured the country's leader, General Manuel Noriega. The United States had charged Noriega with drug trafficking. He had also refused to honor election results that showed another candidate winning the presidency. President Bush said he also sent troops to the Central American nation to protect the thirty-five-thousand Americans living there. The American troops easily defeated Noriega's forces. He was taken to the United States where he was tried, found guilty and sent to prison for many years. The United States then supported the presidency of Guillermo Endara, the winner of the election in Panama. "Five months ago, Saddam Hussein started this cruel war against Kuwait. Tonight, the battle has been joined." In August nineteen ninety, Iraq invaded its neighbor, Kuwait. The United Nations Security Council passed a resolution threatening war on Iraq unless it withdrew from Kuwait. The council set a deadline of January fifteenth, nineteen ninety-one. But Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein refused. The United States and other nations were receiving much of their oil from Kuwait and neighboring Saudi Arabia.
President Bush succeeded in forming a coalition with thirty-eight other countries against Iraq. The purpose was to free Kuwait and protect Saudi Arabia against a possible Iraqi invasion. "This military action, taken in accord with United Nations resolutions and with the consent of the United States Congress, follows months of constant and virtually endless diplomatic activity on the part of the United Nations, the United States, and many, many other countries. Arab leaders sought what became known as an Arab solution, only to conclude that Saddam Hussein was unwilling to leave Kuwait. "Others traveled to Baghdad in a variety of efforts to restore peace and justice. Our secretary of state, James Baker, held an historic meeting in Geneva, only to be totally rebuffed. This past weekend, in a last-ditch effort, the secretary-general of the United Nations went to the Middle East with peace in his heart -- his second such mission. And he came back from Baghdad with no progress at all in getting Saddam Hussein to withdraw from Kuwait." Coalition forces began an air war against Iraq on January seventeenth, nineteen ninety-one. They bombed Iraqi targets in Iraq and Kuwait. On February twenty-third, the Iraqis set fire to hundreds of Kuwaiti oil wells. "It looks like what I envisioned hell would look like. The country of Kuwait is burning." The coalition had the long and difficult task of putting those fires out.
On February twenty-fourth, the allied ground war began as part of the operation known as Desert Storm. That ground war lasted just one hundred hours. Saddam Hussein withdrew his forces from Kuwait. But he was still in control of his own country. Years later, some Americans continued to criticize the Bush administration for not trying to oust the Iraqi leader. They believed that Bush should have sent forces to capture Baghdad, the Iraqi capital. After the war ended, Kurds in northern Iraq rebelled against Saddam Hussein. So did Shiite Muslims in southern Iraq. The Iraqi government crushed both uprisings. The defeated Kurds fled to Iran and Turkey and into the mountains of northern Iraq. President Bush ordered American troops to help give humanitarian aid to the refugees. The troops established refugee camps for the Kurds. As time passed, Iraqi soldiers and aircraft continued to attack the Kurds in the north and the Shiites in the south. Coalition forces led by the United States established "no-fly" zones barring Iraqi aircraft over northern and southern Iraq. Coalition planes enforced these no-fly zones in the years that followed.
By late nineteen ninety-two, drought and conflict had caused widespread suffering in Somalia. "I want to talk to you today about the tragedy in Somalia, and about a mission that can ease suffering and save lives. Every American has seen the shocking images from Somalia. The scope of suffering there is hard to imagine. "Already, over a quarter million people have died in the Somali famine. In the months ahead, five times that number, one and a half million people, could starve to death." The violence and the collapse of the government were keeping many Somalis from receiving food and other aid. "The security situation has grown worse. The U.N. has been prevented from deploying its initial commitment of troops. In many cases, food from relief flights is being looted upon landing. Food convoys have been hijacked, aid workers assaulted. Ships with food have been subjected to artillery attacks that have prevented them from docking. "There is no government in Somalia. Law and order have broken down. Anarchy prevails. One image tells the story – Imagine seven thousand tons of food aid, literally bursting out of a warehouse on a dock in Mogadishu, while Somalis starve, less than a kilometer away, because relief workers cannot run the gauntlet of armed gangs roving the city."
President Bush -- in the last year of his term -- sent American troops to Somalia to assist in the aid efforts. But the following year, in October of nineteen ninety-three, eighteen American soldiers on a raid were killed in a battle in Mogadishu. More than eighty were wounded. The failed operation would haunt the American military for years to come. The events of that day were the basis for the book and movie "Black Hawk Down." In December of nineteen ninety-two, as Bush was about to leave office, he and the leaders of Canada and Mexico signed the North American Free Trade Agreement. NAFTA called for removing taxes and other barriers to trade in North America. Some Americans accused Bush of sacrificing American jobs to lower-paid workers in Mexico by supporting NAFTA. Others praised him for supporting the agreement, which still had to pass Congress. But, by the time it did, George Bush was no longer president. He had lost his campaign for a second term. In November of nineteen ninety-two he lost the election to the Democratic governor of Arkansas, Bill Clinton. That will be our story next week.
重点解析
1.lead to 导致；引起
This can lead to bodily weakness and muscle wastage.
这样可能会导致身体虚弱和肌肉萎缩。
2.take place 互相；相互
Talent can't take place of perseverance. A talent without contribution will only be a laughing stock.
天才不能取代坚持，没有贡献的天才只会成为一个笑柄。
3.refuse to 不肯；拒绝
The family refuse to accept that she might be dead.
家人拒绝接受她可能死了的消息。
4.flee to 逃到；逃至
I had to flee to the airport.
我得赶紧撤到机场去了。
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，我们将继续讲述乔治·赫伯特·沃克·布什总统的故事。他在1988年当选为美国第41任总统。乔治·H·W·布什就任总统时，美苏冷战结束。冷战持续了40多年，双方都拥有大量的核武器，人们担心一个错误的举动就会导致世界末日。但是到了20世纪80年代末，世界正在发生变化，苏维埃联盟走向灭亡。1989年11月9日，自柏林墙建成以来，东德第一次将其开放。从1961年开始，这堵墙将共产主义东德和民主西德分开。市民和士兵们很快开始拆除柏林墙。
由于大多数前苏维埃共和国的共产党统治到19世纪90年代初结束，紧张局势继续缓和。曾经有15个共和国属于苏维埃联盟。到1991年底，大多数已经宣布独立，他们成立了一个松散的组织，叫做独立国家联合体。曾经把美国视为敌人的国家，现在却指望美国引领和平和繁荣的道路。在苏维埃联盟即将灭亡之际，布什总统多次与苏联领导人戈尔巴乔夫谈判。其中一次会议于1990年春天在美国举行。会议达成了一项协议，要求双方销毁大部分化学武器。两国领导人还同意加强贸易关系。1991年7月，美国和苏联总统在莫斯科会晤。他们在那签署了《削减战略武器条约》，即《第一阶段裁武条约》，该条约要求双方削减其远程核武器数量，他们承诺在七年内把该数字减少三分之一。《第一阶段裁武条约》成为两大强国之间第一个下令削减现有核武器供应的协议。
1991年9月，布什总统说美国将停止使用大部分短程核武器。他还表示，美国将摧毁许多核武器。10月，苏联宣布他们也将采取同样的措施。同年12月25日，随着苏维埃社会主义共和国联盟解体，戈尔巴乔夫辞去总统职务。“同胞们，由于独立国家联合体的形成，我现在不再担任苏联总统的职务。”六个月前，俄罗斯人选择鲍里斯·叶利钦为俄罗斯第一位民选领导人。苏联解体后，他成为前共和国最重要的领导人。1993年1月，布什总统和叶利钦总统签署了另一项战略武器削减条约，《第二阶段裁武条约》。“同胞们，昨晚我命令美军前往巴拿马，任何总统都不会轻易采取这种行动。”乔治·布什作为总统的军事行动之一，是在1989年12月派遣军队进入巴拿马。
他们抓获了该国领导人曼努埃尔·诺列加将军。美国指控诺列加犯有贩毒罪，他还拒绝承认另一位候选人赢得总统大选的结果。布什总统说，他还向中美洲国家派遣军队，以保护居住在那里的三万五千名美国人。美军轻而易举地击败了诺列加的部队。诺列加被带到美国受审，被判有罪，入狱多年。美国随后支持巴拿马大选获胜者吉列尔莫·恩达拉担任总统。“五个月前，萨达姆·侯赛因发动了这场针对科威特的残酷战争。今晚，战斗已经开始。”1990年8月，伊拉克入侵邻国科威特。联合国安理会通过一项决议，威胁伊拉克，除非其从科威特撤军。安理会规定1991年1月15日为最后期限。但是，伊拉克领导人萨达姆·侯赛因表示拒绝。美国和其他国家从科威特与邻国沙特阿拉伯获得了大量石油。
布什总统成功地与38个国家组成了反伊拉克联盟，目的是解放科威特，保护沙特阿拉伯免受伊拉克的入侵。“这一军事行动依据联合国决议，并经过了美国国会的同意，是在联合国、美国和许多其他国家，几个月来不断进行外交活动之后采取的。阿拉伯领导人寻求一种后来被称为阿拉伯解决方案的办法，最终的结果是萨达姆·侯赛因不愿意离开科威特。“其他人前往巴格达，为恢复和平与正义作出各种努力。我们的国务卿詹姆斯·贝克在日内瓦举行了一次历史性会议，但遭到了完全否决。上周末，作为最后的努力，联合国秘书长怀抱和平之心前往中东，这是他第二次进行此类访问。他从巴格达回来时，并未让萨达姆·侯赛因在撤出科威特方面取得丝毫进展。”联军于1991年1月17日开始对伊拉克发动空战，他们轰炸了伊拉克和科威特境内的伊拉克目标。2月23日，伊拉克人放火烧毁数百口科威特油井。“看起来就像我想象中的地狱，科威特正在燃烧。”联盟承担着扑灭大火的漫长而艰巨的任务。
2月24日，盟军开始发动地面战争，这是沙漠风暴行动的一部分。这场地面战争只持续了一百小时。萨达姆·侯赛因从科威特撤军，但他仍然控制着自己的国家。几年后，一些美国人继续批评布什政府没有试图推翻伊拉克领导人，他们认为布什应该派军队攻占伊拉克首都巴格达。战争结束后，伊拉克北部的库尔德人反抗萨达姆·侯赛因，伊拉克南部的什叶派穆斯林也是如此。伊拉克政府镇压了两次暴动。战败的库尔德人逃到伊朗和土耳其，并进入伊拉克北部山区。布什总统命令美军帮助难民，为他们提供人道主义援助。美军为库尔德人建立了难民营。随着时间的推移，伊拉克士兵和飞机继续攻击北部的库尔德人和南部的什叶派。以美国为首的联军建立了“禁飞”区，禁止伊拉克飞机在伊拉克北部和南部上空飞行。在随后的几年里，联军飞机坚持执行这些禁飞区。
到1992年底，干旱和冲突使索马里的广大民众遭受苦难。“我今天想和你们谈谈在索马里发生的悲剧，以及一个能够减轻痛苦和拯救生命的使命。每个美国人都看到了索马里令人震惊的画面，那里的人们遭受的苦难超出了我们的想象。“已经有超过25万人死于索马里的饥荒，在接下来的数月里，该数字的五倍，即150万人，可能会因饥饿而死亡。”暴力事件和政府垮台，使许多索马里人无法获得粮食和其他援助。“安全局势变得更加糟糕。联合国被阻止部署最初承诺过的部队。在许多情况下，救援航班运载的食物在降落时被掠夺。食品运输队遭到劫持，救援人员受到袭击。载有食物的船只遇到炮火袭击，无法靠岸。“索马里没有政府，法律和秩序崩塌，无政府主义盛行。一副图片可以讲述这个故事——想象一下，七千吨的粮食援助，在摩加迪沙码头上的一个仓库里都放不下了，而索马里人却在不到一公里的地方挨饿，因为救援人员无法抵挡在城里游荡的武装团伙。”
布什总统在任期的最后一年，派遣美国军队到索马里协助援助工作。但在第二年，1993年10月，18名美国士兵在摩加迪沙的一场战斗中丧生，80多人受伤。这次失败的行动，将在未来数年困扰着美军。《黑鹰计划》一书和同名电影，所依据的就是这天发生的事件。1992年12月，布什即将卸任，他与加拿大和墨西哥领导人签署了《北美自由贸易协定》。《北美自由贸易协定》呼吁取消北美的税收和其他贸易壁垒。一些美国人指责布什支持《北美自由贸易协定》，把美国人的工作让给廉价的墨西哥劳动力。其他人则赞扬他支持该协议，该协议仍需国会批准通过。但在那时，乔治·布什已经不是总统了，他竞选连任失败。1992年11月，他在与阿肯色州民主党州长比尔·克林顿的选举较量中败北。这将是我们下周要讲述的故事。
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