VOA慢速英语 2007 0614b

VOICE ONE:

This is Rich Kleinfeldt.

VOICE TWO:

And this is Stan Busby with THE MAKING OF A NATION -- a VOA Special English program about the history of the United States.

(MUSIC)

Today, we tell about the administration of the thirty-ninth president of the United States, Jimmy Carter.

VOICE ONE:

 
Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter in the inaugural¹ parade 
It is January twentieth, nineteen seventy-seven. Inauguration² Day. America's newly elected president, Jimmy Carter, is on his way to the White House after his swearing-in ceremony at the Capitol building.

But the new president is not riding in a car. He is walking. His wife, Rosalynn, and his daughter, Amy, walk with him. Crowds along Pennsylvania Avenue cheer. Bands play.

On this cold day in Washington, Americans look to the future. Watergate -- the crisis that led to the resignation of President Richard Nixon -- is several years in the past. The Vietnam War is history, too.

VOICE TWO:

Republican Gerald Ford³ served the remaining years of Nixon's term. Many people believe he brought respect and order back to the government. Yet he lost the office to Democrat⁴ Jimmy Carter in the election of Nineteen-Seventy-Six.

The nation still has problems. Unemployment is high. So is inflation. But the future of the nation looks bright. Jimmy Carter feels sure about his future, too. On the day before his inauguration, he said:

CARTER: "I do feel that the people of this nation and, I think, the entire world wish me well and want to see me succeed as president. And that gives me a sense of reassurance⁵ and confidence. I think I'm ready now to be president."

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

During the election campaign, Carter often said he would be different from other presidents. He was not a member of the Washington political establishment. So he would do things in his own independent way.

Carter was from Georgia -- the "Deep South" of the United States. There had not been a president born in the South in more than one-hundred years. Carter studied nuclear engineering and attended the United States Naval⁶ Academy. He planned to stay in the Navy. Then his father died. And he decided⁷ to return to Georgia to operate the family peanut farm.

VOICE TWO:

Carter began his political life on the committee that supervised schools in his hometown. He also served in other local offices. In nineteen sixty-six, he failed to win the Democratic nomination⁸ for governor of Georgia. For the next four years, he traveled around the state gathering⁹ support. He won the next election.

As governor, Carter earned praise for reorganizing the state government. He also reformed state programs dealing¹⁰ with prisons and mental health care. In nineteen seventy-two, he offered himself as a candidate for vice¹¹ president with presidential candidate George McGovern. But the Democratic Party chose someone else.

VOICE ONE:

Carter did not wait long to begin his next political move. He would try to win the Democratic presidential nomination in nineteen seventy-six.

Jimmy Carter was not well-known outside the state of Georgia. Political experts gave him little chance. Even his mother was surprised to learn that he wanted to be president. "President of what?" she asked.

VOICE TWO:

The farmer and former governor had a plan, however. He would try to win his party's primary elections in the South. He believed this would give him enough support at the party convention to win the nomination.

Other Democratic candidates tried to stop him, but his plan worked. By the time of the convention, he had enough support to win the nomination on the first ballot¹².

 
The Carters at Camp David
In the general election, Carter defeated President Ford by about two percent of the popular vote. He lost in the West and Middle West, but won the South and Northeast.

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

President Carter believed strongly in human rights. He hoped he could use his new position to support human rights throughout the world. On this and other issues, he was not afraid of being criticized when he believed he was right.

For example, he believed it was right for the United States to end its control of the Panama Canal. He won Congressional support for treaties to give control to Panama by the year two thousand. He believed it was right to give diplomatic recognition to Communist China. And he believed it was right to continue negotiations¹³ with the Soviet¹⁴ Union about limiting nuclear weapons, even though he denounced human rights violations¹⁵ there.

In nineteen seventy-nine, Carter and Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev signed the SALT Two treaty. However, Carter decided not to send the treaty to the Senate for approval after the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan later that year.

VOICE TWO:

 
Anwar Sadat and Menachem Begin at their first meeting at the Camp David summit
One of the finest moments of his presidency¹⁶ took place at Camp David. That is the holiday home of American presidents. There, in March nineteen seventy-nine, President Anwar Sadat of Egypt met with Prime Minister Menachem Begin of Israel. They signed a peace treaty ending thirty years of war between their countries. Both men said the treaty would not have been possible without President Carter's help.

VOICE ONE:

President Carter was not as successful in dealing with the economy. High unemployment and inflation continued. The federal deficit¹⁷ increased, although he had promised to end it. And there was a shortage of gasoline.

The shortage resulted when oil-producing countries limited production and exports. Carter urged American companies to develop new sources of energy, in addition to oil. He said the United States must do this, because it could not always depend on getting enough oil from other countries.

VOICE TWO:

During the gasoline shortage, Americans had to wait in long lines to buy fuel. They did not like it and were angry. Many were even more angry about a different situation. Like the gasoline shortage, it was a result of actions in another place.

In November nineteen seventy-nine, Muslim extremists in Iran seized the American Embassy in Tehran. They took many hostages, including more than sixty Americans. The extremists said they were punishing the United States for being friendly with ousted¹⁸ Iranian leader, Shah Reza Pahlavi.

VOICE ONE:

The extremists refused to negotiate. They refused to release the hostages. In early April nineteen eighty, President Carter broke relations with Iran. He then ordered American military forces to try to rescue the hostages in Tehran. The operation failed. A sandstorm caused two of the aircraft to crash into each other. They went down in the desert hundreds of kilometers away.

VOICE TWO:

The failed rescue attempt had a major effect on the presidency of Jimmy Carter. Many Americans felt it showed that he could not do the job. Their respect for him continued to decrease as the hostages continued to be held.

Other things were beginning to go wrong, too. The president's younger brother admitted receiving a large amount of money from Libya. He took the money in exchange for supporting Libyan interests with American lawmakers. His mistake was that he did not list his name as a representative of a foreign government.

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

Nineteen eighty was a presidential election year in the United States. President Carter was expected to be the candidate of the Democratic Party. He almost ruined his chances, however, because of the situation in Iran. Carter hoped that concern for the hostages would unite the country behind him. Instead, support turned to blame.

Senator Edward Kennedy of Massachusetts believed he could defeat Carter for the nomination. Kennedy won several important Democratic primary elections. It was not enough. The party re-nominated Carter. Kennedy offered Carter his support, but not very strongly. This left the party divided.

VOICE TWO:

The Republicans got ready to win back the White House. They hoped to do it with a strong appeal to American voters. The appeal came from a man who would become one of America's most popular presidents -- Ronald Reagan.

That will be our story next time.

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

This program of THE MAKING OF A NATION was written by Jeri Watson and produced by Paul Thompson. This is Rich Kleinfeldt.

VOICE TWO:

And this is Stan Busby. Join us again next week for another VOA Special English program about the history of the United States.

 

1 inaugural   

adj.就职的；n.就职典礼

参考例句：

• We listened to the President's inaugural speech on the radio yesterday.昨天我们通过无线电听了总统的就职演说。
• Professor Pearson gave the inaugural lecture in the new lecture theatre.皮尔逊教授在新的阶梯讲堂发表了启用演说。

2 inauguration   

n.开幕、就职典礼

参考例句：

• The inauguration of a President of the United States takes place on January 20.美国总统的就职典礼于一月二十日举行。
• Three celebrated tenors sang at the president's inauguration.3位著名的男高音歌手在总统就职仪式上演唱。

3 Ford   

n.浅滩，水浅可涉处；v.涉水，涉过

参考例句：

• They were guarding the bridge,so we forded the river.他们驻守在那座桥上，所以我们只能涉水过河。
• If you decide to ford a stream,be extremely careful.如果已决定要涉过小溪，必须极度小心。

4 democrat   

n.民主主义者，民主人士；民主党党员

参考例句：

• The Democrat and the Public criticized each other.民主党人和共和党人互相攻击。
• About two years later,he was defeated by Democrat Jimmy Carter.大约两年后，他被民主党人杰米卡特击败。

5 reassurance   

n.使放心，使消除疑虑

参考例句：

• He drew reassurance from the enthusiastic applause.热烈的掌声使他获得了信心。
• Reassurance is especially critical when it comes to military activities.消除疑虑在军事活动方面尤为关键。

6 naval   

adj.海军的，军舰的，船的

参考例句：

• He took part in a great naval battle.他参加了一次大海战。
• The harbour is an important naval base.该港是一个重要的海军基地。

7 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。

8 nomination   

n.提名，任命，提名权

参考例句：

• John is favourite to get the nomination for club president.约翰最有希望被提名为俱乐部主席。
• Few people pronounced for his nomination.很少人表示赞成他的提名。

9 gathering   

n.集会，聚会，聚集

参考例句：

• He called on Mr. White to speak at the gathering.他请怀特先生在集会上讲话。
• He is on the wing gathering material for his novels.他正忙于为他的小说收集资料。

10 dealing   

n.经商方法，待人态度

参考例句：

• This store has an excellent reputation for fair dealing.该商店因买卖公道而享有极高的声誉。
• His fair dealing earned our confidence.他的诚实的行为获得我们的信任。

11 vice   

n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的

参考例句：

• He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
• They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。

12 ballot   

n.（不记名）投票，投票总数，投票权；vi.投票

参考例句：

• The members have demanded a ballot.会员们要求投票表决。
• The union said they will ballot members on whether to strike.工会称他们将要求会员投票表决是否罢工。

13 negotiations   

协商( negotiation的名词复数 )； 谈判； 完成（难事）； 通过

参考例句：

• negotiations for a durable peace 为持久和平而进行的谈判
• Negotiations have failed to establish any middle ground. 谈判未能达成任何妥协。

14 Soviet   

adj.苏联的，苏维埃的；n.苏维埃

参考例句：

• Zhukov was a marshal of the former Soviet Union.朱可夫是前苏联的一位元帅。
• Germany began to attack the Soviet Union in 1941.德国在1941年开始进攻苏联。

15 violations   

违反( violation的名词复数 )； 冒犯； 违反（行为、事例）； 强奸

参考例句：

• This is one of the commonest traffic violations. 这是常见的违反交通规则之例。
• These violations of the code must cease forthwith. 这些违犯法规的行为必须立即停止。

16 presidency   

n.总统(校长，总经理)的职位(任期)

参考例句：

• Roosevelt was elected four times to the presidency of the United States.罗斯福连续当选四届美国总统。
• Two candidates are emerging as contestants for the presidency.两位候选人最终成为总统职位竞争者。

17 deficit   

n.亏空，亏损；赤字，逆差

参考例句：

• The directors have reported a deficit of 2.5 million dollars.董事们报告赤字为250万美元。
• We have a great deficit this year.我们今年有很大亏损。

18 ousted   

驱逐( oust的过去式和过去分词 )； 革职； 罢黜； 剥夺

参考例句：

• He was ousted as chairman. 他的主席职务被革除了。
• He may be ousted by a military takeover. 他可能在一场军事接管中被赶下台。