英语 英语 日语 日语 韩语 韩语 法语 法语 德语 德语 西班牙语 西班牙语 意大利语 意大利语 阿拉伯语 阿拉伯语 葡萄牙语 葡萄牙语 越南语 越南语 俄语 俄语 芬兰语 芬兰语 泰语 泰语 泰语 丹麦语 泰语 对外汉语

VOA慢速英语 2008 1016b

时间:2008-11-03 07:25来源:互联网 提供网友:zjsuper   字体: [ ]
    (单词翻译:双击或拖选)
Welcome to THE MAKING OF A NATION -- American history in VOA Special English.
 
John Quincy Adams

The presidential campaign of eighteen twenty-eight was bitter and vicious1, full of angry words and accusations2. The old Republican3 Party of Thomas Jefferson, James Madison and James Monroe had split4 into two opposing groups. One group was led by President John Quincy Adams and Secretary of State Henry Clay. It called itself the National Republican Party. The other group was led by General Andrew Jackson. It called itself the Democratic Party.

This week in our series, Sarah Long and Steve Ember talk about the election of eighteen twenty-eight.

VOICE ONE:

Each party had its own newspapers. In Washington, the Daily National Journal supported President Adams. The United States Telegraph supported General Jackson. The Telegraph published charges against the administration made by congressional Democrats5.

The Journal, in turn, published a pamphlet6 that had been used against Jackson earlier. Among other things, the pamphlet charged that Jackson had fought a man, chased him away like a dog, and then took his wife. The charge was not true. This is the story. It is important, because it had a great effect on Andrew Jackson for the rest of his life.

VOICE TWO:
 

Rachel Donelson Jackson

Jackson met the young woman, Rachel, at her mother's home near Nashville, Tennessee. At the time, Rachel and her husband, Lewis Robards, were living there. They were having marriage problems. Robards argued with his wife about Jackson. He said she and Jackson seemed too close. Jackson was advised to leave, and he agreed to go.

Before he left, he met with Robards. Robards reportedly wanted to fight Jackson with his fists. Jackson refused to fist-fight. But, he said he would face Robards in a duel7, if Robards wished to fight like a gentleman. Robards rejected the invitation, and nothing more happened between the two men. Jackson left.

VOICE ONE:

Robards and Rachel settled their differences. She went back to their home in Kentucky, but did not stay long. They had another dispute, and she left. Court records say she left with a man -- Andrew Jackson.

Rachel's family had heard how unhappy she was with Robards, and had asked Jackson to bring her back to Tennessee. Robards followed them. Rachel told him she wanted a divorce. Robards threatened her. He said he would carry her away by force if she did not go back to Kentucky. Rachel decided8 to flee. She would go with some traders to Natchez, in the Mississippi territory. It would be a dangerous trip down the Cumberland, Ohio, and Mississippi rivers.

VOICE TWO:

Jackson was troubled. He felt badly, because he had been the cause of Rachel's unhappiness. By now, Rachel meant much to Jackson. He had fallen in love with her. When the traders asked him to go to Natchez, he agreed. The group left early in seventeen ninety-one.

A few weeks earlier, Lewis Robards had begun preparations for a divorce. He did not complete the necessary action, however. Yet he led Rachel's family to believe that he had. That the two of them were no longer married.

Jackson returned to Nashville after several months. He asked for permission to marry Rachel, now that she was free of Robards. Rachel's mother gave her permission.

VOICE ONE:
 

Andrew Jackson

Andrew Jackson and Rachel were married in August seventeen-ninety-one. Both were twenty-four years old. They remained in Tennessee. The next two years were busy ones for Jackson. As a young lawyer, he worked hard and traveled far.

In December, seventeen ninety-three, he discovered court papers showing that Lewis Robards had only recently divorced Rachel. This meant that at the time Jackson and Rachel were married, she was still legally married to Robards. Jackson was shocked. As soon as possible, he and Rachel were married again -- legally this time.

VOICE TWO:

Almost ten years passed. Jackson was a judge and took part in Tennessee politics. One day, Jackson met the state's governor outside the court house in Knoxville. The governor was telling a large crowd about his great services to the state.

Jackson felt it necessary to say that he, too, had done some public services. "Services," shouted the governor. "I know of no great service you have done the country except taking a trip to Natchez with another man's wife!"

Jackson's eyes grew as cold as ice. The governor pulled his sword. "Great God!" cried Jackson. "Do you speak her sacred name." He jumped at the governor with a stick. The two men were separated. A few years later, Jackson killed a man in a duel, after the other man made a joke -- while drunk -- about Jackson's marriage.

VOICE ONE:

As a candidate for president, Jackson could not take to the dueling9 field to defend his wife's honor. He wanted to. But he knew it would prevent him from being elected.

Jackson asked a special committee of citizens to investigate his marriage and make a public report. The committee found that Jackson and Rachel got married only after they believed her first husband had divorced her.

As soon as the mistake was discovered, they were married again, legally. The report said they were not at fault.

VOICE TWO:
 

One of the "coffin10 hand bills" published to attack Andrew Jackson during his presidential campaign. The coffins11 represent the deaths Jackson's critics believed he caused during his military campaigns.

The pro-Jackson newspaper in Washington published the committee's report. But anti-Jackson newspapers did not. They insulted him and his wife.

General Jackson struggled to control his anger. "How hard it is," he said, "to keep myself away from these villains12. I have made many sacrifices for my country. But being unable to punish those who lie about my wife is a sacrifice too great to bear."

Anti-Jackson newspapers continued to print vicious lies about him. And the pro-Jackson newspapers began to print vicious lies about President Adams and his wife.

VOICE ONE:

All during the bitter campaign, neither candidate said anything about one very important issue: slavery. Adams did not want to lose what little support he had in the South and West by denouncing13 slavery. Jackson did not want to lose the support of some Republicans14 in the North by openly defending it.

Adams's silence did not mean that he approved of slavery. Southerners were sure that he opposed it. And Jackson did not have to tell the South what he thought about slavery. He was a slave owner, and had bought and sold slaves all his life.

VOICE TWO:

There was another important difference between the two men and their political parties. President Adams and the Republicans represented the interests of those who owned property.

Many of the president's supporters felt that wealthy, property-owning citizens should control the government. They feared popular rule, or government elected by all the people.

Jackson and the Democrats represented the interests of common men. They did not feel that the rich had more right to govern than the poor. They believed in the democratic right of all men to share equally in the government.

VOICE ONE:

The election was held in different states on different days between October thirty-first and November fifth, eighteen-twenty-eight. In two states -- South Carolina and Delaware -- the legislature chose the presidential electors.

In all the other states, the electors were chosen by the voters. When the electoral votes were counted, Jackson received one hundred seventy-eight. Adams received only eighty-three. It was a great victory for Jackson.

VOICE TWO:

His wife, however, was troubled. She was a simple, kind woman who loved her husband. "For Mr. Jackson's sake," she wrote, "I am glad. For my own part, I never wished it." She knew, of course, of the charges made during the campaign about their marriage. Her courage supported her. But when the excitement of the election had ended, she lost her energy. And her health became worse.

Someone proposed that Rachel Jackson stay in Tennessee until her health became better. Then she could join her husband at the White House in Washington. Rachel did not want to go to Washington. But she felt that her place was with her husband. That will be our story next week.

(MUSIC)

ANNOUNCER:

Our program was written by Frank Beardsley. The narrators were Sarah Long and Steve Ember. Transcripts15, MP3s and podcasts of our programs are online, along with historical images, at voaspecialenglish.com. Join us again next week for THE MAKING OF A NATION - an American history series in VOA Special English.
__

This is program #55 of THE MAKING OF A NATION


点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 vicious lUFzR     
adj.恶毒的,恶意的,凶残的,剧烈的,严重的
参考例句:
  • He gave the dog a vicious blow with his stick.他朝着那只狗狠狠地打了一棍子。
  • The author portrayed his father as a vicious drunkard.作者把他父亲描绘成一个可恶的酒鬼。
2 accusations 3e7158a2ffc2cb3d02e77822c38c959b     
n.指责( accusation的名词复数 );指控;控告;(被告发、控告的)罪名
参考例句:
  • There were accusations of plagiarism. 曾有过关于剽窃的指控。
  • He remained unruffled by their accusations. 对于他们的指控他处之泰然。
3 republican wW0xw     
n.拥护共和政体的人; adj.共和政体的,(Republican)共和党人,(Republican)共和党的
参考例句:
  • Some families have been republican for generations.有些家庭世代都支持共和党。
  • A third candidate has entered the contest for the Republican nomination.第三个候选人已经加入角逐共和党提名的行列。
4 split avXwG     
n.劈开,裂片,裂口;adj.分散的;v.分离,分开,劈开
参考例句:
  • Who told you that Mary and I had split up?谁告诉你玛丽和我已经离婚了?
  • The teacher split the class up into six groups.老师把班级分成6个小组。
5 democrats 655beefefdcaf76097d489a3ff245f76     
n.民主主义者,民主人士( democrat的名词复数 )
参考例句:
  • The Democrats held a pep rally on Capitol Hill yesterday. 民主党昨天在国会山召开了竞选誓师大会。
  • The democrats organize a filibuster in the senate. 民主党党员组织了阻挠议事。 来自《简明英汉词典》
6 pamphlet 2KBxG     
n.小册子
参考例句:
  • Over a thousand copies of the pamphlet have now been given out.现在已分发了一千多本小册子。
  • The scholarly monographs were published as pamphlet.学术专著是以小册子形式出版的。
7 duel 2rmxa     
n./v.决斗;(双方的)斗争
参考例句:
  • The two teams are locked in a duel for first place.两个队为争夺第一名打得难解难分。
  • Duroy was forced to challenge his disparager to duel.杜洛瓦不得不向诋毁他的人提出决斗。
8 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。
9 dueling dueling     
n. 决斗, 抗争(=duelling) 动词duel的现在分词形式
参考例句:
  • More light-hearted But somewhat puzzled, Vladimir prepared to meet Eugene on the dueling ground. 弗拉基米尔心里轻松了一些,但仍感到有些困惑,在这种心情下,他准备去决斗场地迎战叶甫盖尼。 来自英汉 - 翻译样例 - 文学
  • They had been dueling for hours and finally called a draw. 他们一直决斗了数小时,最后打成平局。
10 coffin XWRy7     
n.棺材,灵柩
参考例句:
  • When one's coffin is covered,all discussion about him can be settled.盖棺论定。
  • The coffin was placed in the grave.那口棺材已安放到坟墓里去了。
11 coffins 44894d235713b353f49bf59c028ff750     
n.棺材( coffin的名词复数 );使某人早亡[死,完蛋,垮台等]之物
参考例句:
  • The shop was close and hot, and the atmosphere seemed tainted with the smell of coffins. 店堂里相当闷热,空气仿佛被棺木的味儿污染了。 来自辞典例句
  • Donate some coffins to the temple, equal to the number of deaths. 到寺庙里,捐赠棺材盒给这些死者吧。 来自电影对白
12 villains ffdac080b5dbc5c53d28520b93dbf399     
n.恶棍( villain的名词复数 );罪犯;(小说、戏剧等中的)反面人物;淘气鬼
参考例句:
  • The impression of villains was inescapable. 留下恶棍的印象是不可避免的。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • Some villains robbed the widow of the savings. 有几个歹徒将寡妇的积蓄劫走了。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
13 denouncing af45ad28d1a1abf3a351fccc67b29cd0     
公开指责( denounce的现在分词 ); 揭发; 告发; 通知废止
参考例句:
  • He saw the huge signs, listened to speeches denouncing himself and smiled. 他看见一些巨大标语,也听到一些抨击他的演讲,对此,他一笑置之。
  • You must not think I am denouncing money. 你别以为我是在攻击钱。
14 republicans 060358f4c6087ad76e0fb6fca649bd02     
拥护共和政体者,共和主义者( republican的名词复数 )
参考例句:
  • The Republicans got shellacked in the elections. 共和党在选举中一败涂地。
  • The latest poll gives the Republicans a 5% lead. 最近的民意调查结果表明共和党领先了五个百分点。
15 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
本文本内容来源于互联网抓取和网友提交,仅供参考,部分栏目没有内容,如果您有更合适的内容,欢迎点击提交分享给大家。
------分隔线----------------------------
TAG标签:   voa  慢速英语  voa  慢速英语
顶一下
(0)
0%
踩一下
(0)
0%
最新评论 查看所有评论
发表评论 查看所有评论
请自觉遵守互联网相关的政策法规,严禁发布色情、暴力、反动的言论。
评价:
表情:
验证码:
听力搜索
推荐频道
论坛新贴