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VOA慢速英语2009年-THE MAKING OF A NATION - American History

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

America's civil war in the eighteen sixties did not have the full support of the people. Many said they did not care who won -- North or South. They just wanted to be left alone.
 
General Robert E. Lee

In the North, many young men refused to be drafted into the Union army. Some of their protests turned violent.

Southern leaders were pleased with the anti-war movement in the North. Confederate General Robert E. Lee saw it as a sign of weakness in the northern war effort. He also saw it as an opening for a military victory. Lee hoped for a final, decisive1 blow that would bring the war to an end.

This week in our series, Kay Gallant2 and Harry3 Monroe talk about General Lee's campaign north to Gettysburg, Pennsylvania.

VOICE ONE:

Gettysburg was a small town. Many roads came together there. Robert E. Lee needed those roads to pull his army together quickly. He had seventy thousand men in all. But they were spread over a wide area of southern Pennsylvania.

Some were at York, to the east. Some were at Carlisle, to the north. And most were at Chambersburg, to the west. All of them were ordered to move against the Union force at Gettysburg.

General Robert E. Lee had not planned to go to Gettysburg. He had planned to capture Harrisburg, the state capital, and then Philadelphia. If successful, he would turn south to seize Baltimore and Washington.

Lee had not worried about the large Union Army of the Potomac. He believed it was far behind him, in Virginia. But Lee was wrong. The Union Army had followed him. And it had reached Gettysburg first.

VOICE TWO:

The first group of northern soldiers formed a thin line of defense4 outside Gettysburg. The first group of southern soldiers attacked this line. It was the morning of July first, eighteen sixty-three.

When the guns began to roar, both sides hurried more men to the front.

After hours of fighting, the Confederates had pushed the Union soldiers back through the town. The Union soldiers formed a new line along a place called Cemetery5 Hill.

General Robert E. Lee decided6 not to attack the hill immediately. He would wait for more men. But as he waited, more and more Union soldiers arrived. By sunrise the next day, Lee's seventy thousand men faced a Union army of ninety thousand men.

VOICE ONE:
 
General George Meade

The Confederates attacked both sides of the Union line. They moved the Union soldiers a little. But then the Union soldiers came back again. The Confederates could not hold the line.

The fighting stopped at sunset. Union commander George Meade met with his generals. He said he was sure General Lee would attack again the next day. The next attack, Meade said, would be against the center of the Union line.

Meade was right. Lee planned to send fifteen thousand men against the Union center. They would be under the command of General George Pickett.

(MUSIC)

VOICE TWO:
 
The Battle of Gettysburg

When the sun rose on July third, the Union troops were ready. They watched as the Confederate troops set up their cannon7. More than one hundred thirty of these big guns were aimed at the center of the Union line.

The morning passed. The day grew hotter. A little past one o'clock in the afternoon, a Confederate gun fired, once. Then again. That was the signal to attack.

All at once, the Confederate artillery8 thundered with a deafening9 roar. The cannon sent iron and smoke into the Union soldiers on Cemetery Hill. Within minutes, hundreds lay dead or dying.

Union artillery on the hill answered the Confederate cannon. Men lay flat on the ground. They prayed for the shelling to stop. Finally, it did. And the smoke of battle began to clear.

VOICE ONE:

Now the Union soldiers could see across the valley. They watched as the Confederate soldiers formed a long line. It was a sight to take your breath away.

Facing Cemetery Hill, the Confederates stood shoulder to shoulder in a line almost two kilometers long. Sunlight shone from their guns. Their battle flags waved. Slowly, the line began to move. It seemed more like a parade than an attack.

Shouts went up and down the Union line. "Here they come! Here come the rebels!"

(MUSIC)

VOICE TWO:

Thousands of Confederate soldiers moved across the valley outside Gettysburg. Union artillery opened fire. The guns tore open big holes in the Confederate battle line. But the southerners kept moving forward up the hill.

Union soldiers rose up from behind stone walls and fallen trees. They poured even more gunfire into the Confederate line. More and more bodies fell to the ground. Still, the line moved forward.

A few Confederates reached the Union line, but not enough to seize it. They were shot down. Suddenly, the Confederates began racing10 down the hill. Many raised their hands in surrender. Fifteen thousand began the attack. Only half returned.

The battle of Gettysburg was over.

The Union commander, General Meade, was told that the Confederate attack had been broken. He said, simply: "Thank God." The Confederate commander, General Lee, said: "This has been a sad day for us, a sad day."

VOICE ONE:

Lee's invasion of the North had failed. There was only one thing he could do now: retreat. He must get his army back to Virginia. He could only hope that the Union Army was hurt too badly to chase him.

The line of wagons12 carrying wounded soldiers was twenty-five kilometers long. Many of the wounded needed treatment. But the wagons were not permitted to stop for any reason.

Suffering was terrible. An officer who led the wagon11 train said he learned more about the horrors of war on that one trip than he had learned in all of his battles.

Twenty thousand Confederate soldiers were killed, wounded, or listed as missing in the battle of Gettysburg. Twenty-three thousand Union soldiers were killed, wounded or missing.

VOICE TWO:

General Meade lost so many men that he was in no hurry to chase General Lee. He believed it might be best to let Lee escape than to take a chance on losing what remained of the Army of the Potomac.

Meade waited for a week until his army was stronger. But by then, Lee and his men had crossed safely back into Virginia.

President Abraham Lincoln was angry. He had told General Meade that driving the Confederates out of the North was not enough. The southern army must be destroyed.

"We had them," Lincoln said. "We had only to stretch out our hands and take them. And nothing I could do or say could make the army move."

VOICE ONE:

President Lincoln believed that General Meade had made a mistake. But he felt that the general had ability. Lincoln was thankful for what Meade had done at Gettysburg. He said Meade would continue to command the Army of the Potomac.

In November of eighteen sixty-three, President Lincoln went to Gettysburg. He attended the opening of a new burial place for the Union soldiers who had died in the great battle there.

VOICE TWO:

The governor of Pennsylvania had asked the president to say a few words at the ceremony. Lincoln agreed. He felt it was his duty to go to honor the brave men who lost their lives to save the Union. Lincoln hoped his words might help lift the spirit of the nation.

Lincoln did not have much time to prepare his speech. He wrote it down the night before the ceremony. Lincoln was sure the speech was not a good one. But it came to be one of the most famous speeches in American history.

We will tell the story of Abraham Lincoln's Gettysburg Address next week.

(MUSIC)

ANNOUNCER:

Our program was written by Frank Beardsley. The narrators were Kay Gallant and Harry Monroe. Transcripts13, MP3s and podcasts of our programs are online, along with historical images, at voaspecialenglish.com. And you can follow our weekly programs on Twitter at VOA Learning English. Join us again next week for THE MAKING OF A NATION -- an American history series in VOA Special English.
___

This is program #109 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 decisive y9Kyx     
adj.决定性的,坚定的,果断的,决断的
参考例句:
  • A decisive person acts quickly and often succeeds.果断的人行动迅速,常常成功。
  • Man is a decisive factor in doing everything.人是做每件事情的决定性因素。
2 gallant 66Myb     
adj.英勇的,豪侠的;(向女人)献殷勤的
参考例句:
  • Huang Jiguang's gallant deed is known by all men. 黄继光的英勇事迹尽人皆知。
  • These gallant soldiers will protect our country.这些勇敢的士兵会保卫我们的国家的。
3 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。
4 defense AxbxB     
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 cemetery ur9z7     
n.坟墓,墓地,坟场
参考例句:
  • He was buried in the cemetery.他被葬在公墓。
  • His remains were interred in the cemetery.他的遗体葬在墓地。
6 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。
7 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。
8 artillery 5vmzA     
n.(军)火炮,大炮;炮兵(部队)
参考例句:
  • This is a heavy artillery piece.这是一门重炮。
  • The artillery has more firepower than the infantry.炮兵火力比步兵大。
9 deafening deafening     
adj. 振耳欲聋的, 极喧闹的 动词deafen的现在分词形式
参考例句:
  • The noise of the siren was deafening her. 汽笛声震得她耳朵都快聋了。
  • The noise of the machine was deafening. 机器的轰鸣声震耳欲聋。
10 racing 1ksz3w     
n.竞赛,赛马;adj.竞赛用的,赛马用的
参考例句:
  • I was watching the racing on television last night.昨晚我在电视上看赛马。
  • The two racing drivers fenced for a chance to gain the lead.两个赛车手伺机竞相领先。
11 wagon XhUwP     
n.四轮马车,手推车,面包车;无盖运货列车
参考例句:
  • We have to fork the hay into the wagon.我们得把干草用叉子挑进马车里去。
  • The muddy road bemired the wagon.马车陷入了泥泞的道路。
12 wagons ff97c19d76ea81bb4f2a97f2ff0025e7     
n.四轮的运货马车( wagon的名词复数 );铁路货车;小手推车
参考例句:
  • The wagons were hauled by horses. 那些货车是马拉的。
  • They drew their wagons into a laager and set up camp. 他们把马车围成一圈扎起营地。
13 transcripts 525c0b10bb61e5ddfdd47d7faa92db26     
n.抄本( transcript的名词复数 );转写本;文字本;副本
参考例句:
  • Like mRNA, both tRNA and rRNA are transcripts of chromosomal DNA. tRNA及rRNA同mRNA一样,都是染色体DNA的转录产物。 来自辞典例句
  • You can't take the transfer students'exam without your transcripts. 没有成绩证明书,你就不能参加转学考试。 来自辞典例句

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