VOA常速英语2020--2020年美国独立纪念日（在线收听）

Next, an editorial reflecting American ideals and institutions. Today, the United States of America celebrates its birthday. It is a commemoration of the day in 1776 when representatives of the 13 British colonies signed the Declaration of Independence, a separation from Great Britain. That was the official beginning of the seven-year War for American Independence. But one of the most significant events of the conflict took place more than a year earlier, on April 18, 1775, during the first armed engagement between British troops and American militiamen in Massachusetts. The first shot fired in the skirmish became known as the Shot Heard Around the World, because it presaged the monumental changes that would result from the Americans’ successful campaign to separate from what at the time was the world’s preeminent super power.

下面是一篇反映美国理想和风俗的社论。今天，美利坚合众国庆祝它的生日。这正是为了纪念在1776年，13个英属殖民地的代表签署独立宣言的那一天。这标志着为期七年的美国独立战争正式开始。但是这场战争中最重要的事件之一发生在一年多以前的1775年4月18日，其间，英国军队和美国民兵在马萨诸塞州爆发第一次武装交战。这场小规模冲突打响了独立战争的第一枪，被誉为“震惊世界的枪声”，因为它预示着一场成功的战役，使美国从当时的世界超级大国中独立出来，致使美国发生翻天覆地的变化。

In the aftermath of the revolution, liberal ideals that characterized the Enlightenment became the official norm of American political culture. This included the disestablishment of the Anglican church, the idea of individual freedom, which quickly became widely accepted throughout the former colonies, and the notion that advancement should be determined by merit, not birth-right. Most importantly, the relationship between the government and the governed changed. The top-down government headed by a hereditary ruling class was replaced by the principle of elected national and state executives. Common citizens played increasingly important roles in local and state governance, and as more people gained the right to vote, political participation increased. Europe took note. While Monarchists waited for the new country to fail, thus undermining the idea of Republicanism, anti-monarchists saw that the American Revolution not only proved that oppressive governments could be overthrown, but that ordinary men could, and should, participate in governance. In the Declaration of Independence, Thomas Jefferson wrote that “all men are created equal”. These words galvanized democratic and independence movements in the Netherlands, Belgium, Ireland, Poland, and Haiti, and around the globe. The phrase appeared in The Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen of the French Revolution. And in the 19th century, they inspired leaders such as Simon Bolivar, leading to successful uprisings against colonial powers in Latin American. Over two hundred years ago, Marquis de Lafayette, one of the heroes of the American Revolution, said that “Humanity has won its battle. Liberty now has a country.” But the implications of the American Revolution were global and continue to resound to this day. That was an editorial reflecting American ideals and institutions.

革命结束后，启蒙运动时期的自由主义理想成为美国政治文化的正式规范。自由主义理想包括废除圣公会，个人自由的观念，这两点在整个前殖民地被快速并广泛地接受，还包括晋升应该由功绩决定，而不是靠出生权利。最重要的是，政府和被统治者之间的关系发生了变化。通过选举产生国家和州行政长官的原则取代了由世袭统治阶级领导的自上而下的政府。普通公民在地方和国家治理中发挥着愈加重要的作用，随着越来越多的人获得选举权，政治参与度也在增加。欧洲注意到了这一点。当君主主义者们等待着这个新成立的国家失败，从而破坏共和主义的思想时，反君主主义者发现，美国革命不仅证明了压迫性政府可以被推翻，而且普通人可以，并且应该参与治理。托马斯·杰斐逊在《独立宣言》中写道：“人人生而平等”。这些话激起了荷兰、比利时、爱尔兰、波兰、海地以及全球各地的民主和独立运动。这句话出现在法国大革命的《人权和公民权利宣言》中。在19世纪，他们鼓舞了西蒙·玻利瓦尔等领导人，导致拉丁美洲反抗殖民势力的成功起义。两百多年前，美国独立战争的英雄人物之一拉斐特侯爵曾说过：“人类已经赢得了战争的胜利。我们现在拥有自由的国家”但美国革命的影响是全球性的，并持续至今。这是一篇反映美国理想和风俗的社论。