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VOA慢速英语 2007 0222b

时间:2007-07-07 06:34:21

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(单词翻译)

VOICE ONE:

This is Phil Murray.

VOICE TWO:

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

(MUSIC)

Today, we tell what life was like in American during the nineteen fifties.

VOICE ONE:

Imagine that you are visiting the United States. What would you expect to see?

In the nineteen fifties, America was a nation that believed it was on the edge of nuclear war. It was a nation where the popular culture of television was gaining strength. It was a nation whose population was growing as never before.

(MUSIC)

VOICE TWO:


Josef Stalin

After the terrible suffering of World War Two, Americans thought the world would be peaceful for awhile. By nineteen fifty, however, political tensions were high again. The United States and the Soviet1 Union, allies2 in war, had become enemies.

The communists had taken control of one east European nation after another. And Soviet leader Josef Stalin made it clear that he wanted communists to rule the world.

The Soviet Union had strengthened its armed forces after the war. The United States had taken many steps to disarm3. Yet it still possessed4 the atomic bomb. America thought it, alone, had this terrible weapon.

VOICE ONE:

In nineteen forty-nine, a United States Air Force plane discovered strange conditions in the atmosphere. What was causing them? The answer came quickly: the Soviet Union had exploded an atomic bomb.

The race was on. The two nations competed to build weapons of mass destruction. Would these weapons ever be used?

The American publication, The Bulletin5 of the Atomic Scientists, always showed a picture of a clock. By nineteen forty-nine, the time on the clock was three minutes before midnight. That meant the world was on the edge of nuclear destruction. The atomic scientists were afraid of what science had produced. They were even more afraid of what science could produce.

VOICE TWO:

In nineteen-fifty, North Korea invaded South Korea. The Korean conflict increased efforts in the United States to develop a weapon more deadly than an atomic bomb. That was the hydrogen bomb. The Soviets6 were developing such a weapon, too.

Many Americans were afraid. Some built what they hoped would be safe rooms in or near their homes. They planned to hide in these bomb shelters during a nuclear attack.

VOICE ONE:

Other Americans, however, grew tired of being afraid. In nineteen fifty-two, the military hero of World War Two, Dwight Eisenhower, was elected president. The economy improved. Americans looked to the future with hope.


Dwight Eisenhower

One sign of hope was the baby boom7. This was the big increase in the number of babies born after the war. The number of young children in America jumped from twenty-four million to thirty-five million between nineteen fifty and nineteen sixty. The bigger families needed houses. In ninetee fifty alone, one million four hundred thousand houses were built in America.

Most new houses were in the suburbs, the areas around cities. People moved to the suburbs because they thought the schools there were better. They also liked having more space for their children to play.

VOICE TWO:

Many Americans remember the nineteen fifties as the fad8 years. A fad is something that is extremely popular for a very short time one fad from the nineteen fifties was the Hula Hoop9. The Hula Hoop was a colorful plastic tube joined to form a big circle. To play with it, you moved your hips10 in a circular motion. This kept it spinning around your body. The motion was like one used by Polynesian people in their native dance, the hula.

Other fads11 in the nineteen fifties involved clothes or hair. Some women, for example, cut and fixed12 their hair to look like the fur of a poodle dog. Actress Mary Martin made the poodle cut famous when she appeared in the Broadway play, South Pacific.

VOICE ONE:

In motion pictures, Marilyn Monroe was becoming famous. Not everyone thought she was a great actress. But she had shining golden hair. And she had what was considered a perfect body. Marilyn Monroe's success did not make her happy. She killed herself in the nineteen sixties, when she was thirty-six years old.


'James

Another famous actor of those days was James Dean13. To many Americans, he was the living representation14 of the rebellious15 spirit of the young. In fact, one of his films was called, Rebel Without a Cause. James Dean died in a car accident in nineteen fifty-five. He was twenty-four.

VOICE TWO:

The nineteen fifties saw a rebellion16 in American literature. As part of society lived new lives in the suburbs, another part criticized this life. These were the writers and poets of the Beat generation, including Gregory Corso, Jack17 Kerouac, and Allen Ginsberg. They said life was empty in nineteen-fifties America. They described the people as dead in brain and spirit.

Jackson Pollock represented the rebellion in art. Pollock did not paint things the way they looked. Instead, he dropped paint onto his pictures in any way he pleased. He was asked again and again: What do your paintings mean? He answered: Do not worry about what they mean. They are just there ... like flowers.

VOICE ONE:

In music, the rebel was Elvis Presley. He was the king of rock-and-roll.

(MUSIC)


Elvis Presley

Elvis Presley was a twenty-one-year-old truck driver when he sang on television for the first time. He moved his body to the music in a way that many people thought was too sexual18.

Parents and religious leaders criticized him. Young people screamed for more. They could not get enough rock-and-roll. They played it on records. They heard it on the radio. And they listened to it on the television program American Bandstand.

(MUSIC)

This program became the most popular dance party in America. Every week, young men and women danced to the latest songs in front of the television cameras.

VOICE TWO:

During the nineteen forties, there were only a few television receivers in American homes. Some called television an invention for stupid people to watch. By the end of the nineteen fifties, however, television was here to stay. The average family watched six hours a day.

Americans especially liked games shows and funny shows with comedians19 such as Milton Berle and Lucille Ball. They also liked shows that offered a mix of entertainment, such as those presented by Arthur Godfrey and Ed Sullivan.

VOICE ONE:

People from other countries watching American television in the nineteen fifties might have thought that all Americans were white Christians20. At that time, television failed to recognize that America was a great mix of races and religions.

Few members of racial or religious minorities were represented on television. Those who appeared usually were shown working for white people.

A movement for civil rights for black Americans was beginning to gather strength in the nineteen fifties. Many legal battles were fought to end racial separation, especially in America's schools. By the nineteen sixties, the civil rights movement would shake the nation.

(MUSIC)

VOICE TWO:

Dwight Eisenhower was president for most of the nineteen fifties. He faced the problems of communism, the threat of nuclear war, and racial tensions. He had a calm way of speaking. And he always seemed to deal with problems in the same calm way. Some citizens felt he was like a father to the nation.

With Mister Eisenhower in the White House, they believed that even in a dark and dangerous world, everything would be all right.

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

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

VOICE TWO:

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


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1 Soviet Sw9wR     
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。
2 allies 0315fa8e6410a54cc80a4eb2babcda27     
联盟国,同盟者; 同盟国,同盟者( ally的名词复数 ); 支持者; 盟军
参考例句:
  • The allies would fear that they were pawns in a superpower condominium. 这个联盟担心他们会成为超级大国共管的牺牲品。
  • A number of the United States' allies had urged him not to take a hasty decision. 美国的一些盟友已力劝他不要急于作决定。
3 disarm 0uax2     
v.解除武装,回复平常的编制,缓和
参考例句:
  • The world has waited 12 years for Iraq to disarm. 全世界等待伊拉克解除武装已有12年之久。
  • He has rejected every peaceful opportunity offered to him to disarm.他已经拒绝了所有能和平缴械的机会。
4 possessed xuyyQ     
adj.疯狂的;拥有的,占有的
参考例句:
  • He flew out of the room like a man possessed.他像着了魔似地猛然冲出房门。
  • He behaved like someone possessed.他行为举止像是魔怔了。
5 bulletin xSWyB     
n.小报,会刊,简明新闻,新闻快报
参考例句:
  • We read the declaration posted on the bulletin board.我们读了贴在布告板上的声明。
  • The radio bulletin warned of the typhoon.收音机新闻快报发布了台风警报。
6 soviets 95fd70e5832647dcf39beb061b21c75e     
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。
7 boom CWFz3     
n.隆隆声;vt.发隆隆声
参考例句:
  • The country is having a great boom in industry.这个国家的工业正蓬勃发展。
  • Boom!Boom!Boom!A series of explosions shook the valley.轰!轰!轰!一连串爆破声震撼山谷。
8 fad phyzL     
n.时尚;一时流行的狂热;一时的爱好
参考例句:
  • His interest in photography is only a passing fad.他对摄影的兴趣只是一时的爱好罢了。
  • A hot business opportunity is based on a long-term trend not a short-lived fad.一个热门的商机指的是长期的趋势而非一时的流行。
9 hoop wcFx9     
n.(篮球)篮圈,篮
参考例句:
  • The child was rolling a hoop.那个孩子在滚铁环。
  • The wooden tub is fitted with the iron hoop.木盆都用铁箍箍紧。
10 hips f8c80f9a170ee6ab52ed1e87054f32d4     
abbr.high impact polystyrene 高冲击强度聚苯乙烯,耐冲性聚苯乙烯n.臀部( hip的名词复数 );[建筑学]屋脊;臀围(尺寸);臀部…的
参考例句:
  • She stood with her hands on her hips. 她双手叉腰站着。
  • They wiggled their hips to the sound of pop music. 他们随着流行音乐的声音摇晃着臀部。 来自《简明英汉词典》
11 fads abecffaa52f529a2b83b6612a7964b02     
n.一时的流行,一时的风尚( fad的名词复数 )
参考例句:
  • It was one of the many fads that sweep through mathematics regularly. 它是常见的贯穿在数学中的许多流行一时的风尚之一。 来自辞典例句
  • Lady Busshe is nothing without her flights, fads, and fancies. 除浮躁、时髦和幻想外,巴歇夫人一无所有。 来自辞典例句
12 fixed JsKzzj     
adj.固定的,不变的,准备好的;(计算机)固定的
参考例句:
  • Have you two fixed on a date for the wedding yet?你们俩选定婚期了吗?
  • Once the aim is fixed,we should not change it arbitrarily.目标一旦确定,我们就不应该随意改变。
13 Dean lmUyu     
n.(大学)院长,系主任,教务长
参考例句:
  • The students much like the new dean.学生们很喜欢这位新系主任。
  • Who is the dean of the Foreign Languages Department?外语系主任是谁?
14 representation uVFxV     
n.表现某人(或某事物)的东西,图画,雕塑
参考例句:
  • The painting is a representation of a storm at sea.这幅画描绘的是海上的暴风雨。
  • All parties won representation in the national assembly.所有政党在国民大会中都赢得了代表资格。
15 rebellious CtbyI     
adj.造反的,反抗的,难控制的
参考例句:
  • They will be in danger if they are rebellious.如果他们造反,他们就要发生危险。
  • Her reply was mild enough,but her thoughts were rebellious.她的回答虽然很温和,但她的心里十分反感。
16 rebellion stVyI     
n.造反,叛乱,反抗
参考例句:
  • The next year they rose up in rebellion.第二年他们就揭竿起义了。
  • The new government quickly suppressed the rebellion.新政府迅速把叛乱镇压下去。
17 jack 53Hxp     
n.插座,千斤顶,男人;v.抬起,提醒,扛举;n.(Jake)杰克
参考例句:
  • I am looking for the headphone jack.我正在找寻头戴式耳机插孔。
  • He lifted the car with a jack to change the flat tyre.他用千斤顶把车顶起来换下瘪轮胎。
18 sexual YiLzlw     
adj.性的,两性的,性别的
参考例句:
  • He was a person of gross sexual appetites.他是个性欲旺盛的人。
  • It is socially irresponsible to refuse young people advice on sexual matters.拒绝向年轻人提供性方面的建议是对社会不负责任。
19 comedians efcac24154f4452751c4385767145187     
n.喜剧演员,丑角( comedian的名词复数 )
参考例句:
  • The voice was rich, lordly, Harvardish, like all the boring radio comedians'imitations. 声音浑厚、威严,俨然是哈佛出身的气派,就跟无线电里所有的滑稽演员叫人已经听腻的模仿完全一样。 来自辞典例句
  • He distracted them by joking and imitating movie and radio comedians. 他用开玩笑的方法或者模仿电影及广播中的滑稽演员来对付他们。 来自辞典例句
20 Christians 28e6e30f94480962cc721493f76ca6c6     
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。

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