John. F. Kennedy

By Nancy Steinbach

Broadcast: November 16, 2003
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ANNCR:
Welcome to the VOA Special program English People in America. Today, Steve Ember and Sarah Long tell the story of President John Fitzgerald Kennedy.
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VOICE ONE:
On November twenty-second, Nineteen-Sixty-Three, President John F. Kennedy was shot and killed. He was riding in an open car through the streets of Dallas, Texas.
His death ended the time in American politics that has been known ever since as "Camelot." Jacqueline Kennedy named the years of her husband's presidency¹ after the 1)imaginary time of peace and good will in ancient Britain. She said her husband liked the song from the musical play called “Camelot”:
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VOICE TWO:
John Fitzgerald Kennedy was born in the northeastern city of Brookline, Massachusetts on May twenty-ninth, Nineteen-Seventeen. He was the second son of Joseph Patrick Kennedy and his wife, Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy. John had eight brothers and sisters. The family moved often to bigger houses as Joseph Kennedy became richer.
John Kennedy graduated from Harvard University in Nineteen-Forty. His final paper became the best selling book, “Why England Slept.” He joined the United States Navy during World War Two and was commander of a small attack boat in the South Pacific Ocean. A Japanese ship destroyed the boat. Two of the men were killed. The others swam to a nearby island, where John Kennedy spent the next four days searching for help. The crew was rescued. Later, Kennedy was honored for saving the life of one of his crewmen.
VOICE ONE:
The Kennedy family always explained John's poor health at times on the back injury he suffered during the war. But that was not the whole truth. John Kennedy had been a very sick child. He almost died more than once of fevers and other mysterious sicknesses.
In Nineteen-Forty-Seven, he found out that he had Addison's disease, a condition affecting the 2)adrenal 3)glands³.
The adrenal glands of a healthy person produce hormones⁴ that help fight infection and provide extra strength when necessary. Addison's Disease damages the adrenal glands, causing weight loss, tiredness, stomach problems and yellow skin. If the condition is not treated, the body has no resistance to infection, and death can result. After the disease was discovered, John Kennedy was treated with a medicine that he continued to take the rest of his life. No one outside the family and closest friends knew about his medical secret.
VOICE TWO:
John Kennedy survived World War Two and returned home to Massachusetts. His older brother did not. Joseph Kennedy Junior was killed in the war. The Kennedy family had always believed Joe Junior would someday become President of the United States. After his death, that goal fell to his younger brother. In Nineteen-Forty-Six, John Kennedy was elected to the United States House of Representatives, and served until Nineteen-Fifty-Two. Then he was elected senator from Massachusetts. He served in the Senate until Nineteen-Sixty when he was elected President.
VOICE ONE:
John Kennedy married Jacqueline Lee Bouvier in Nineteen-Fifty-Three. Not long after their marriage, Senator Kennedy had two operations on his spine⁵ to correct back problems suffered during the war. While recovering, he wrote about a series of acts of political courage by eight United States senators. The reports became the book “Profiles in Courage.” It received the Pulitzer Prize in Nineteen-Fifty-Seven.
The Kennedys had two children. Caroline Bouvier was born in Nineteen-Fifty-Seven. John Fitzgerald Kennedy Junior was born in November, Nineteen-Sixty, after his father was elected President, but before he was sworn in to office.
VOICE TWO:
John Fitzgerald Kennedy became America's thirty-fifth President on January twentieth, Nineteen-Sixty-One. It was an important day for millions of Americans, who saw John Kennedy as a new beginning for the country.
Not everyone liked the new President, however. He had won the election over the Republican candidate, Richard Nixon, by fewer than one-hundred-twenty-thousand popular votes. Many people thought he was too young to be President. He was the youngest man ever elected, only forty-three. Many people opposed him because he belonged to the Roman Catholic Church. A majority of Christians⁶ in America were Protestant. The United States had never had a Roman Catholic president.
VOICE ONE:
President Kennedy's speech the day he was sworn in is considered among the best speeches in American history. He spoke⁷ about a light of leadership being passed from older Americans to younger ones. He urged the young to take the light and accept responsibility for the future. And he urged other countries to work with the United States to create a better world:
(SOUND: KENNEDY INAUGURAL⁸ SPEECH)
“The energy, the faith, the 4)devotion which we bring to this 5)endeavor will light our country and all who serve it - and the glow from that fire can truly light the world. And so, my fellow Americans: ask not what your country can do for you -- ask what you can do for your country. My fellow citizens of the world: ask not what America will do for you, but what together we can do for the freedom of man.”
VOICE TWO:
A few weeks after he took office, President Kennedy announced the creation of the Peace Corps⁹. It has sent thousands of Americans to developing countries to provide help. He also announced a program called the Alliance for Progress to provide economic aid to Latin American nations.
The worst failure of Kennedy's administration came early in his presidency. On April seventeenth, Nineteen-Sixty-One, more than one-thousand Cuban exiles landed in western Cuba, in a place called the Bay of Pigs. They had received training and equipment from the United States. They were to lead a revolution to 6)overthrow¹⁰ the communist government of Cuba. The plan failed. Most of the exiles were killed or captured.
It had not been John Kennedy's idea to start a revolution against Cuban leader Fidel Castro. Officials in the former administration had planned it. But Kennedy approved it. The public considered him responsible for the failed Bay of Pigs invasion. His popularity rating dropped.
VOICE ONE:
President Kennedy soon regained¹¹ some public approval when he visited Europe, and met with French leader Charles DeGaulle in Paris. Later, the East Germans, with support from the Soviet¹² Union, built a wall to separate the eastern and western parts of Berlin. President Kennedy quickly announced a large increase in the number of American military forces in Germany. He said the United States would not permit freedom to end in Berlin.
Then in October, Nineteen-Sixty-Two, the United States discovered the Soviets¹³ were putting nuclear missiles in Cuba. President Kennedy immediately sent American ships to the area. They were to prevent Soviet ships from taking missile parts and other supplies to Cuba. War seemed likely.
Then the Soviet ships carrying missile parts to Cuba turned back. President Kennedy promised that the United States would not invade Cuba if the Soviet Union removed its missiles and stopped building new ones there.
VOICE TWO:
The United States and the Soviet Union did make progress on arms control in Nineteen-Sixty-Three. They reached a major agreement to ban tests of nuclear weapons above ground, under water and in space. The treaty did not ban nuclear tests under ground.
On national issues, President Kennedy began the American space effort to land a man on the moon by the end of the Nineteen-Sixties. He also supported efforts to provide a better life for African-Americans. He proposed a new civil rights law that would guarantee equal treatment for blacks in public places and jobs. It would speed the work of ending racial separation in schools. But Congress delayed action on the bill. It did not approve a civil rights law until after John Kennedy was killed and Lyndon Johnson took office.
President Lyndon B. Johnson and his wife Lady Bird, left, console widow Jacqueline Kennedy moments after he is administered the oath of office
VOICE ONE:
President John F. Kennedy was buried on his son's third birthday, November twenty-fifth, Nineteen-Sixty-Three. Millions of people around the world watched on television. They mourned along with the Kennedy family. Many people loved President Kennedy, his wife and young children. They felt the family represented a new, bright future for the United States and the world. With his death, they felt that hope disappearing.
(THEME)
ANNCR:
This program was written by Nancy Steinbach. It was produced by Paul Thompson. Your narrators were Steve Ember and Sarah Long. I'm Faith Lapidus. Listen again next week for another People in America program on the Voice Of America.

注释：
1) imaginary [i5mAdVinEri] adj.假想的, 想象的
2) adrenal [E5dri:nl] adj.肾上腺的
3) gland² [^lAnd] n.（解剖）腺
4) devotion [di5vEuFEn] n.热爱, 投入
5) endeavor [in5devE] n.努力, 尽力
6) overthrow [7EuvE5WrEu] n.推翻, 打倒

1 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。

2 gland   

n.腺体，(机)密封压盖，填料盖

参考例句：

• This is a snake's poison gland.这就是蛇的毒腺。
• Her mother has an underactive adrenal gland.她的母亲肾上腺机能不全。

3 glands   

n.腺( gland的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• a snake's poison glands 蛇的毒腺
• the sebaceous glands in the skin 皮脂腺

4 hormones   

n. 荷尔蒙，激素 名词hormone的复数形式

参考例句：

• This hormone interacts closely with other hormones in the body. 这种荷尔蒙与体內其他荷尔蒙紧密地相互作用。
• The adrenals produce a large per cent of a man's sex hormones. 肾上腺分泌人体的大部分性激素。

5 spine   

n.脊柱，脊椎；(动植物的)刺；书脊

参考例句：

• He broke his spine in a fall from a horse.他从马上跌下摔断了脊梁骨。
• His spine developed a slight curve.他的脊柱有点弯曲。

6 Christians   

n.基督教徒( Christian的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Christians of all denominations attended the conference. 基督教所有教派的人都出席了这次会议。
• His novel about Jesus caused a furore among Christians. 他关于耶稣的小说激起了基督教徒的公愤。

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 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。

9 corps   

n.(通信等兵种的)部队；(同类作的)一组

参考例句：

• The medical corps were cited for bravery in combat.医疗队由于在战场上的英勇表现而受嘉奖。
• When the war broke out,he volunteered for the Marine Corps.战争爆发时，他自愿参加了海军陆战队。

10 overthrow   

v.推翻，打倒，颠覆；n.推翻，瓦解，颠覆

参考例句：

• After the overthrow of the government,the country was in chaos.政府被推翻后，这个国家处于混乱中。
• The overthrow of his plans left him much discouraged.他的计划的失败使得他很气馁。

11 regained   

复得( regain的过去式和过去分词 )； 赢回； 重回； 复至某地

参考例句：

• The majority of the people in the world have regained their liberty. 世界上大多数人已重获自由。
• She hesitated briefly but quickly regained her poise. 她犹豫片刻，但很快恢复了镇静。

12 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。

13 soviets   

苏维埃（Soviet的复数形式）

参考例句：

• A public challenge could provoke the Soviets to dig in. 公开挑战会促使苏联人一意孤行。
• The Soviets proposed the withdrawal of American ballistic-missile submarines from forward bases. 苏联人建议把美国的弹道导弹潜艇从前沿基地撤走。