新托福考试听力特训 CD1-Track09

CD1-track9

Boston Tea Party

1. What is the main topic of the lecture?

A The background of the Boston Tea Party.

B The importance of the Boston Tea Party in American history.

C The relationship between patriots¹ and Mohawk Indians.

D The consequence of the Boston Tea Party.

(A)

2. According to the lecture, which of the following is the main problem of the TEA

ACT?

A It would make the East Indian Company bankrupt.

B It would put colonial smugglers out of business.

C It would make the tea price skyrocket.

D It would impose taxes on the Americans living in the colonies.

(B)

听力原文：

CD1-track9

Boston Tea Party

Okay calss, I know you must be up to your ear in history, but let's talk about another

important event in American history called the Boston Tea Party. On the evening of

December 16, 1773, a group of American patriots went to the Boston Harbor. The

men were dressed as Mohawk Indians and boarded three British vessels³, the Beaver⁴,

the Eleanor, and the Dartmough of th East Indian Company. After they boarded the

docked ships, they dumped all the tea that was on the three ships, which amounted to

45 tons or 342 chests with a value of 10 000 pounds, into the ocean. You must be

asking yourself why on earth these grown men would dump all that tea in the water.

Let's back up and start from the beginning and discover what led to this interesting

chapter in American history. It all began when the British East Indian Company had

total control of the tea trade between India and the British colonies. To offest this

domination of tea, the colonies would smuggle² their tea in from Holland. As a result

of the Tea Act OF 1773, which was passed by Parliament to save the British East

India Company from bankruptcy,the colonies refused to buy British tea, The Tea Act

basically elininated all taxes on tea and offered Americans tea at a lower price than

that of colonial smugglers. This Tea Act was put in place to save the British East Indian Company from bankruptcy,m but would cause the colonial smugglers to go out

of business, Because the patriots feared the Tea Act would create an illegal monopoly,

they discouraged people from importing tea, Fearing that some people would

continue to buy their tea from the British East Indian Company because it was so

cheap, the patriots took control by taking matters into their own hands, The paatriots

decided⁵ to reject tea shipments and they demanded that tea ships be permitted to

returen to England without paying the duty required by law.Over 5 000 townspoeple

of Boston and surrounding towns gathered at Old South Meeting House to beg the

governor to send the ships back to England, Howerver, the governor rfused and it was

on the night of December 16 that 60 men dressed as Mohawk Indians went over to the

Boston harbor and boarded the shops and dumped the tea into the Boston harbor.

Needless to say, Parliament was furious and reacted by closing the Boston

harbor.This event was just the beginning of a long clash between England and the

colonies.

1 patriots   

爱国者，爱国主义者( patriot的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Abraham Lincoln was a fine type of the American patriots. 亚伯拉罕·林肯是美国爱国者的优秀典型。
• These patriots would fight to death before they surrendered. 这些爱国者宁愿战斗到死，也不愿投降。

2 smuggle   

vt.私运；vi.走私

参考例句：

• Friends managed to smuggle him secretly out of the country.朋友们想方设法将他秘密送出国了。
• She has managed to smuggle out the antiques without getting caught.她成功将古董走私出境，没有被逮捕。

3 vessels   

n.血管( vessel的名词复数 )；船；容器；（具有特殊品质或接受特殊品质的）人

参考例句：

• The river is navigable by vessels of up to 90 tons. 90 吨以下的船只可以从这条河通过。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• All modern vessels of any size are fitted with radar installations. 所有现代化船只都有雷达装置。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

4 beaver   

n.海狸，河狸

参考例句：

• The hat is made of beaver.这顶帽子是海狸毛皮制的。
• A beaver is an animals with big front teeth.海狸是一种长着大门牙的动物。

5 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。