【美国精神】第83期

Explanation:

  A war usually involves a lot of fighting and death. The Cold War, however, was different. The Cold War wasn’t actually a war, but instead it was a very long period of hostility¹ (or dislike) between the United States and the Soviet² Union (or the part of the world that would later become Russia and other countries). The two countries disagreed on ideology³ (or ideas about how governments should work). The United States believed that democracies were the best governments. The Soviet Union believed that communism was best.

  The Cold War began in the mid-1940s and didn’t end until the early 1990s. During that time, the United States and the Soviet Union were the world’s superpowers (or most powerful and richest countries). Many people were scared that the two superpowers would begin to actually fight each other, causing many deaths, but that never happened.

  But there were many dangerous threats (or bad things that could have happened) during that time. The two superpowers engaged (or became involved) in a nuclear arms race. This was a period of time when both superpowers made a lot of nuclear arms (or weapons) like bombs. Each country wanted to have more nuclear weapons than the other country did. The superpowers spent a lot of money making these weapons and building defense⁴ to protect themselves from each other.

  The United States was worried about the spread (or growth) of communism. The Soviet Union was helping⁵ other countries adopt (or begin to follow) communism. All those countries were said to be behind the Iron Curtain. When the Soviet Union began to be powerful in another country, the United States tried to stop the spread of communism there. At the same time, the Soviet Union sent its support to countries where there was a communist movement (or interest in becoming communist).

  In the late 1980s and early 1990s, U.S. President Ronald Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev, the head (or leader) of the Soviet Union, began to have diplomatic⁶ discussions, or conversations between political leaders. These discussions eventually (or after a long period of time) led to the end of the Cold War.

 

问题：

During the Cold War, what was the main concern of the United States?

Answer:

Communism

1 hostility   

n.敌对，敌意；抵制［pl.］交战，战争

参考例句：

• There is open hostility between the two leaders.两位领导人表现出公开的敌意。
• His hostility to your plan is well known.他对你的计划所持的敌意是众所周知的。

2 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。

3 ideology   

n.意识形态，(政治或社会的)思想意识

参考例句：

• The ideology has great influence in the world.这种思想体系在世界上有很大的影响。
• The ideal is to strike a medium between ideology and inspiration.我的理想是在意识思想和灵感鼓动之间找到一个折衷。

4 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。

5 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

6 diplomatic   

adj.外交的，从事外交的，策略的，有手腕的

参考例句：

• There are certain forms that must be followed in diplomatic circles.在外交界有一些礼节是必须遵守的。
• You must be more diplomatic in handling the situation.你在处理这一情况时，必须圆滑。