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VOA慢速英语-THE MAKING OF A NATION - American History Series: A

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Welcome to THE MAKING OF A NATION – American history in VOA Special English.

As we described last week, British forces attacked Washington in the summer of eighteen fourteen. They burned the Capitol building, the White House and other public buildings before withdrawing to their ships in the Chesapeake Bay. Today, Harry1 Monroe and Maurice Joyce tell the story of how a British attack on Fort McHenry in the port of Baltimore led to "The Star-Spangled Banner," America's national anthem2.

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

British General Robert Ross and Admiral Sir George Cockburn led the attack on Washington. They planned next to attack Baltimore. But the people of Baltimore expected the attack, and began to prepare for it. Fifty thousand of them built defenses around the city.

The port of Baltimore was protected by Fort McHenry. The guns and cannon3 of the fort could prevent British ships from reaching the city.

VOICE TWO:

The British began with a land attack against Baltimore. General Ross, Admiral Cockburn, and about four thousand British soldiers landed at North Point, a finger of land reaching into the Chesapeake Bay.

From North Point, it was a march of about twenty-two kilometers to Baltimore. The march began about seven in the morning. General Ross and Admiral Cockburn stopped their men after an hour. The two commanders and several of their officers rode to a nearby farmhouse4 and forced the family living there to give them breakfast.

When the British officers had finished eating, the farmer asked General Ross where the British were going. "To Baltimore," answered Ross. The farmer told Ross that he might have some difficulty getting there, because of the city's strong defenses. "I will eat supper in Baltimore...or in hell," answered the British general.

VOICE ONE:

Ross and Cockburn moved far in front of the British forces. A group of several hundred Americans opened fire on the British officers. Ross was hit and died soon afterwards.
 
The battle at Fort McHenry

The Americans retreated, but slowed the progress of the British soldiers. It was late the next day before the British force arrived to face the army of Americans near Baltimore. The Americans were on high ground and had about one hundred cannon to fire down on the British. The British commander ordered his men to rest for the night. He sent a message to the British warships5 to attack the city with guns and mortars6. Such an attack, he felt, might cause the Americans to fall back. But the British ships already had been firing since early morning at Fort McHenry. The British guns were more powerful than those of the fort. This let the ships fire from so far away that the American guns could not hit them.

Shells and bombs from British mortars fell like rain over Fort McHenry. But few Americans in the fort were hurt or killed. Most of the rockets and shells exploded in the air or missed. Many of them failed to explode.

VOICE TWO:

On a tall staff from the center of the fort flew a large American flag. The flag could be seen by the soldiers defending the city and by the British warships. The flag also was seen by a young American. His name was Francis Scott Key.

Key was a lawyer who once had thought of giving his life to religious work. He was a poet and writer. Key opposed war. But he loved his country and joined the army in Washington to help defend it.

When the British withdrew from Washington, they took with them an American doctor, Wiliam Beanes. Key knew Beanes. And he asked President Madison to request the British commander to release the doctor. President Madison wrote such a request, and Key agreed to carry it to Admiral Cockburn. Key also carried letters from wounded British soldiers in American hospitals. In one of the letters, a British soldier told of the excellent medical care he was being given.

Cockburn agreed to free the doctor after he read the reports of good medical care given his wounded men. But Cockburn would not permit Key, the doctor, or a man who came with Key to return to land until after the attack.

VOICE ONE:
 
Francis Scott Key

Francis Scott Key watched as the shells and rockets began to fall on Fort McHenry.

"I saw the flag of my country," Key said later, "waving over a city -- the strength and pride of my native state. I watched the enemy prepare for his assault. I heard the sound of battle. The noise of the conflict fell upon my listening ear. It told me that the `brave and the free' had met the invaders7."

All through the rainy day, the attack continued. Doctor Beanes, watching with Key, had difficulty seeing the flag. He kept asking Key if the "stars and stripes" still flew above the fort. Until dark, Key could still see it. After then, he could only hope.

VOICE TWO:

Britain tried to land another force of men near the fort. But the Americans heard the boats and fired at them. The landing failed. Shells and rockets continued to rain down on Fort McHenry. At times, the fort's cannon answered. And Key knew the Americans had not surrendered.

The British land force east of Baltimore spent most of the night trying to keep dry. Commanders could not decide if they should attack or retreat. Finally, orders came from the admiral: "Withdraw to your ships." A land attack against Baltimore's defenses would not be attempted.

At first light of morning, British shells were still bursting in the air over the fort. The flag had holes in it from the British shells. But it still flew. The British shelling stopped at seven o'clock. Key took an old letter from his pocket and wrote a poem about what he had seen.

VOICE ONE:
 
Francis Scott Key's original copy of his "Star-Spangled Banner" poem. It is now on display at the Maryland Historical Society.

Oh, say can you see by the dawn's early light

What so proudly we hailed at the twilight's last gleaming?

Whose broad stripes and bright stars, through the perilous8 fight

O'er the ramparts we watched were so gallantly9 streaming?

And the rocket's red glare, the bombs bursting in air,

Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there.

Oh, say does that star-spangled banner yet wave

O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave?

For more than one hundred years, Americans sang this song and remembered the attack at Fort McHenry. In nineteen thirty-one, Congress made the "Star-Spangled Banner" the national anthem of the United States.

VOICE TWO:

The unsuccessful British attack on Baltimore was followed by news that Britain also had suffered a defeat to the north.

British General Sir George Prevost led eleven thousand soldiers south from Montreal to New York. At Plattsburgh, on the western shore of Lake Champlain, his army was opposed by less than four thousand Americans. General Prevost believed he should get control of the lake before moving against the American defenders10.

He requested the support of four British ships and about ten gunboats. A group of American ships of about the same size also entered the lake. In a fierce battle, the American naval11 force sank the British ships. The large land army of Prevost decided12 not to attack without naval support. The eleven- thousand British soldiers turned around and marched back to Montreal.

VOICE ONE:

By the time these battles of eighteen f ourteen had been fought, the two sides already had agreed to discuss peace. The peace talks began in the summer at Ghent, in Belgium.

The British at first were in no hurry to sign a peace treaty. They believed that their forces would be able to capture parts of the United States.

Britain demanded as a condition for peace that the United States give large areas of its northwest to the Indians. It also said America must give Canada other areas along the border. And Britain would not promise to stop seizing American seamen13 and putting them in the British navy.

(MUSIC)

ANNOUNCER:

British policy at the peace talks changed after the battles of Baltimore and Plattsburgh. That will be our story next week. Join us each week for THE MAKING OF A NATION – an American history series in VOA Special English.

(Star-Spangled Banner)
__

This is program #47 of THE MAKING OF A NATION

 


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点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 harry heBxS     
vt.掠夺,蹂躏,使苦恼
参考例句:
  • Today,people feel more hurried and harried.今天,人们感到更加忙碌和苦恼。
  • Obama harried business by Healthcare Reform plan.奥巴马用医改掠夺了商界。
2 anthem vMRyj     
n.圣歌,赞美诗,颂歌
参考例句:
  • All those present were standing solemnly when the national anthem was played.奏国歌时全场肃立。
  • As he stood on the winner's rostrum,he sang the words of the national anthem.他站在冠军领奖台上,唱起了国歌。
3 cannon 3T8yc     
n.大炮,火炮;飞机上的机关炮
参考例句:
  • The soldiers fired the cannon.士兵们开炮。
  • The cannon thundered in the hills.大炮在山间轰鸣。
4 farmhouse kt1zIk     
n.农场住宅(尤指主要住房)
参考例句:
  • We fell for the farmhouse as soon as we saw it.我们对那所农舍一见倾心。
  • We put up for the night at a farmhouse.我们在一间农舍投宿了一夜。
5 warships 9d82ffe40b694c1e8a0fdc6d39c11ad8     
军舰,战舰( warship的名词复数 ); 舰只
参考例句:
  • The enemy warships were disengaged from the battle after suffering heavy casualties. 在遭受惨重伤亡后,敌舰退出了海战。
  • The government fitted out warships and sailors for them. 政府给他们配备了战舰和水手。
6 mortars 2ee0e7ac9172870371c2735fb040d218     
n.迫击炮( mortar的名词复数 );砂浆;房产;研钵
参考例句:
  • They could not move their heavy mortars over the swampy ground. 他们无法把重型迫击炮移过那片沼泽地。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • Where the hell are his mortars? 他有迫击炮吗? 来自教父部分
7 invaders 5f4b502b53eb551c767b8cce3965af9f     
入侵者,侵略者,侵入物( invader的名词复数 )
参考例句:
  • They prepared to repel the invaders. 他们准备赶走侵略军。
  • The family has traced its ancestry to the Norman invaders. 这个家族将自己的世系追溯到诺曼征服者。
8 perilous E3xz6     
adj.危险的,冒险的
参考例句:
  • The journey through the jungle was perilous.穿过丛林的旅行充满了危险。
  • We have been carried in safety through a perilous crisis.历经一连串危机,我们如今已安然无恙。
9 gallantly gallantly     
adv. 漂亮地,勇敢地,献殷勤地
参考例句:
  • He gallantly offered to carry her cases to the car. 他殷勤地要帮她把箱子拎到车子里去。
  • The new fighters behave gallantly under fire. 新战士在炮火下表现得很勇敢。
10 defenders fe417584d64537baa7cd5e48222ccdf8     
n.防御者( defender的名词复数 );守卫者;保护者;辩护者
参考例句:
  • The defenders were outnumbered and had to give in. 抵抗者寡不敌众,只能投降。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • After hard fighting,the defenders were still masters of the city. 守军经过奋战仍然控制着城市。 来自《简明英汉词典》
11 naval h1lyU     
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。
12 decided lvqzZd     
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。
13 seamen 43a29039ad1366660fa923c1d3550922     
n.海员
参考例句:
  • Experienced seamen will advise you about sailing in this weather. 有经验的海员会告诉你在这种天气下的航行情况。
  • In the storm, many seamen wished they were on shore. 在暴风雨中,许多海员想,要是他们在陆地上就好了。

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