新视野大学英语听说教程2 10a

Reports on Britain Under the Bombs

Night after ninght,in the hot summer and early fall of 1940,a deep, steady voice came over the Atlantic Ocean from England to America,telling of England'sbattle for survival under the waves of German bombers².This strong and steady voice,an American voice with a slight accent of North Carolina,belonged to Edward R.Murrow,head of the European staff of the Columbia Broadcasting System.

"This is London,"said Murrow,while the bombs fell and flames spread on the streets of the city. His voice had a tone of sorrow for the suffering of that ancient city,and a tone of confidence,too—a feeling of belief that London would be there ,no matter what it had to endure.It could not be destroyed.

The heavy raids began in the middle of August,and Nazi³ bombs started to fall along England's Channel Coast.The German bombers cast dark shadows over the white cliffs of Dover,andEngland's Home Guard prepared to fight on the beaches,on the cliffs,and in the hills,until the last Englishman died or the invaders⁴ were driver off.

Air Marshal Goreing's bomber¹ pilots weresure of their ultimate triumph over England.Hitler and Goering believed that when London became a burned city like Warsaw and Rotterdam,England would surrender.

But the English were more fortunate than the Poles in Warsaw and the Dutch in Rotterdam.they hat the English channel as a barrier against the Nazi ground forces,and they had the Royal Air Force(RAF)to battle the Nazis⁵ in the sky.

The hardships of London really started in the first week of September,when Hitler was at last convinced that the English did not intend to give in.On September 7,1940,nearly four hundred German bombers hammered the city with bombs in broad daylight.Marshal Goering boasted,"this is the historic hour when our air force for the first time delivered its bombs right into the enemy's heart.

Fires burned,houses fell,gas pipes burst, and dark smoke rose from the streets.Men,women,and children felt the effect of the bombs.radar⁶ sirens wailed,ambulances rushedfrom one place of agony to another,and fire fighters faced the flames hour after hour.

It seemed impossible for any city to take so much punishment and continue to endure.Itseemed impossible for people of the city to do their daily jobs,to workand eat and sleep and carry on the business of life,with the crash of bombs all around them and planes spitting fire in the skies above.

But the city endured.Trains brought commuters in from the suburbs.Buses bumjped along the streets.the fires were brought under control.Bottles of dairy milk arrived in doorways,and women took them in,as though the war were a thousand mkles away. Newspapers appeared and people bought them,hurrying to work and reading reports of the battle raging over London.

And Edward R.Murrow went on the air,saying in his deep,steady voice,"this is London."He spoke⁷ as though nothing could ever keep him from saying those words.Hedid not spesk them with any attempt to sound heroic.He simply voiced the quiet truth of the city's existence.

Murrow knew that Britain's fate depended upon the resolution of the people in the shops and streets,the men in the pubs,the housewives,those watching for fire on the roos,the people who had a thousand difficult and painful things to do.

Much depended upon the handfuol of pilots who rose day after day and night after night to meet the flocks of Nazi bombers.The pilots in the RaF reached the limits of exhaustion⁸ and then went beyond those limits,still fighting.

But the people of London were also in the front line,and they did not have the satisfaction of being able to fight back.They couldn't reach up and smash the enemy planes.They had to dig quickly in cellars to rescue their friends who had been buried underneath⁹ the wreckage¹⁰.they had to put out endless fires.They had to stand firm and take whatever the enemy threw at them.

In a broadcast on October 1,1940,Murrow declared:"Mark it down that these people are both brave and patient,that all are equal under the bomb,that this is a war of speed and organization,and that whichever political system best provides for the defense¹¹ and decency¹² of the little man will win.

Murrow's projection¹³ of eventual¹⁴ victory for the ordinary people proved to be accurate. the Nazi powers were finally defeated by the Allied nations

1 bomber   

n.轰炸机，投弹手，投掷炸弹者

参考例句：

• He flew a bomber during the war.他在战时驾驶轰炸机。
• Detectives hunting the London bombers will be keen to interview him.追查伦敦爆炸案凶犯的侦探们急于对他进行讯问。

2 bombers   

n.轰炸机( bomber的名词复数 )；投弹手；安非他明胶囊；大麻叶香烟

参考例句：

• Enemy bombers carried out a blitz on the city. 敌军轰炸机对这座城市进行了突袭。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The Royal Airforce sill remained dangerously short of bombers. 英国皇家空军仍未脱离极为缺乏轰炸机的危境。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 Nazi   

n.纳粹分子，adj.纳粹党的，纳粹的

参考例句：

• They declare the Nazi regime overthrown and sue for peace.他们宣布纳粹政权已被推翻，并出面求和。
• Nazi closes those war criminals inside their concentration camp.纳粹把那些战犯关在他们的集中营里。

4 invaders   

入侵者，侵略者，侵入物( invader的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• They prepared to repel the invaders. 他们准备赶走侵略军。
• The family has traced its ancestry to the Norman invaders. 这个家族将自己的世系追溯到诺曼征服者。

5 Nazis   

n.（德国的）纳粹党员( Nazi的名词复数 )；纳粹主义

参考例句：

• The Nazis worked them over with gun butts. 纳粹分子用枪托毒打他们。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The Nazis were responsible for the mass murder of Jews during World War Ⅱ. 纳粹必须为第二次世界大战中对犹太人的大屠杀负责。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 radar   

n.雷达，无线电探测器

参考例句：

• They are following the flight of an aircraft by radar.他们正在用雷达追踪一架飞机的飞行。
• Enemy ships were detected on the radar.敌舰的影像已显现在雷达上。

7 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

8 exhaustion   

n.耗尽枯竭，疲惫，筋疲力尽，竭尽，详尽无遗的论述

参考例句：

• She slept the sleep of exhaustion.她因疲劳而酣睡。
• His exhaustion was obvious when he fell asleep standing.他站着睡着了，显然是太累了。

9 underneath   

adj.在...下面，在...底下；adv.在下面

参考例句：

• Working underneath the car is always a messy job.在汽车底下工作是件脏活。
• She wore a coat with a dress underneath.她穿着一件大衣，里面套着一条连衣裙。

10 wreckage   

n.（失事飞机等的）残骸，破坏，毁坏

参考例句：

• They hauled him clear of the wreckage.他们把他从形骸中拖出来。
• New states were born out of the wreckage of old colonial empires.新生国家从老殖民帝国的废墟中诞生。

11 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

12 decency   

n.体面，得体，合宜，正派，庄重

参考例句：

• His sense of decency and fair play made him refuse the offer.他的正直感和公平竞争意识使他拒绝了这一提议。
• Your behaviour is an affront to public decency.你的行为有伤风化。

13 projection   

n.发射，计划，突出部分

参考例句：

• Projection takes place with a minimum of awareness or conscious control.投射在最少的知觉或意识控制下发生。
• The projection of increases in number of house-holds is correct.对户数增加的推算是正确的。

14 eventual   

adj.最后的，结局的，最终的

参考例句：

• Several schools face eventual closure.几所学校面临最终关闭。
• Both parties expressed optimism about an eventual solution.双方对问题的最终解决都表示乐观。