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2007年VOA慢速英语special200708090045

时间:2007-08-20 02:22:43

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(单词翻译)

VOICE ONE:

This is Mary Tillotson.

VOICE TWO:

And this is Shirley Griffith with THE MAKING OF A NATION -- a VOA Special English program about the history of the United States. Today, we tell about the second administration of Bill Clinton, America's forty-second president. He was elected in nineteen ninety-two and re-elected four years later.

(MUSIC)


President Clinton with PLO leader Yasser Arafat (left) and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (right)

VOICE ONE:

The first term in office for President Bill Clinton was coming to an end in the summer of nineteen ninety-six. His record was like that of many other American presidents in the past. He had gained some successes with Congress and in foreign policy. He also had suffered some failures.

This president, however, had a personal concern that other presidents had not had. Investigations1 were continuing into possible wrongdoing by Mister and Missus Clinton. The main accusations2 were connected to their financial activities in Arkansas during the nineteen eighties.

VOICE TWO:

Americans, however, seemed far more interested in the nation's economy. It had improved during Mister Clinton's first term in office. Americans were getting jobs. They were spending money. Investing in the stock market traditionally had been an activity mainly for rich people. Now many other people were buying stocks, too. Opinion studies showed that Bill Clinton was a popular president.

VOICE ONE:

The Democratic Party met in Chicago, Illinois for its nominating convention in August of nineteen ninety-six. Mister Clinton and Vice3 President Al Gore4 were nominated as the party's candidates without opposition5.

The Republican Party held its nominating convention in San Diego, California that summer. It chose former Senator Robert Dole6 of Kansas to compete for president. Senator Dole had resigned from the Senate to compete for the nomination7. Former Congressman8 and Cabinet official Jack10 Kemp of New York received the nomination for vice president.

VOICE TWO:

Senator Dole was a hero during World War Two. Later he served four terms in the House of Representatives from Kansas. He was elected to the Senate in nineteen sixty-eight and re-elected four more times.

Businessman Ross Perot had competed in the presidential election four years earlier as an independent. He again declared himself a candidate of the Reform Party.

During the campaign, President Clinton pointed11 to his successes during his first term. They included an improved economy, increased wages for low-paid workers and gun control measures. Mister Dole criticized President Clinton for spending too much federal money. President Clinton answered that he had stopped Congress from cutting too much money from programs like Medicare. That is the government program that helps pay the medical expenses of older people.

VOICE ONE:

President Clinton and Vice President Gore won the election. They received almost forty-seven-and-one-half-million votes. Senator Dole and Mister Kemp received about thirty-nine million votes. Ross Perot received about eight million votes. President Clinton was the first Democratic president to be re-elected to a second term since Franklin Roosevelt in nineteen thirty-six.

(MUSIC)

VOICE TWO:


President Bill Clinton

Bill Clinton began his second term as president of the United States on January twentieth, nineteen ninety-seven. On that day, President Clinton gave the last inaugural12 speech of an American president in the twentieth century. He said, We must keep our old democracy forever young.

Mister Clinton also spoke13 of racial separation in the nation. He said it had been a continued terrible problem in American history. He urged that America become one unified14 nation.

CLINTON: The divide of race has been America's constant curse. And each new wave of immigrants gives new targets to old prejudices. Prejudice and contempt, cloaked in the pretense15 of religious or political conviction are no different.

VOICE ONE:

Mister Clinton continued to appoint women and minority members to important jobs. In nineteen ninety-six he nominated the first woman ever to serve as secretary of state. Madeleine Albright had served as the United States permanent representative to the United Nations during Mister Clinton's first administration.

Later, Mister Clinton named Bill Richardson as the permanent representative to the United Nations. Mister Richardson is Hispanic. Norman Mineta became the first Asian-American appointed to the Cabinet. The president named Mister Mineta secretary of commerce.

VOICE TWO:

The Republican Party had kept control of both houses of Congress as a result of the ninety ninety-six elections. This Republican Congress and the Democratic president had different ideas about the budget. In nineteen ninety-seven they reached a compromise. They agreed to a plan to end the deficit16 by two thousand-two.

But the nation did not have to wait until then. The economy in nineteen ninety-eight was so strong that the government had seventy thousand-million dollars more than its budget. This was the first federal budget surplus since nineteen sixty-nine.

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

Foreign relations took much of President's Clinton time during his second term. He visited China in nineteen ninety-eight. He urged Chinese leaders to permit more democracy in their country.

In August of that year, bombs placed by terrorists destroyed the American embassies in Kenya and Tanzania. Hundreds of people were killed. American intelligence experts blamed the attacks on Osama bin9 Laden17, a Saudi businessman and suspected terrorist. President Clinton ordered missile strikes against camps in Afghanistan suspected of being under Mister bin Laden's command.

American missiles also destroyed a factory in Sudan. The factory had been suspected of producing nerve gas for terrorists. However, the factory owner said his company produced medicines. The United States later freed property and money of the factory owner that it had seized.

VOICE TWO:

Later in nineteen ninety-eight, President Clinton ordered American forces to launch missile strikes against military and industrial centers in Iraq. United Nations officials feared the centers contained or could produce nuclear, chemical or biological weapons. The U-N had ordered Iraq to cooperate with inspectors18 searching for weapons. But Iraq refused to cooperate.

The next year, Mister Clinton deployed19 American aircraft and missiles as part of a NATO military campaign against Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic. NATO was trying to stop attacks against ethnic20 Albanians in Kosovo, a province of the Yugoslav republic of Serbia. Yugoslav military leaders agreed to withdraw their troops. NATO stopped the bombing and sent an international peacekeeping force to Kosovo. The United States sent seven thousand troops to the force.

VOICE ONE:

In October of nineteen ninety-eight, Israeli and Palestinian leaders signed a document of understanding at the White House. The Wye Memorandum21 developed from nine days of negotiations22 at the Wye River Plantation23 in eastern Maryland. It called for Israeli forces to withdraw from some West Bank areas.

Secretary of State Madeleine Albright and special diplomat24 Dennis Ross traveled often to the Middle East. They tried to help Israel and the Palestinians continue their peace efforts.

In two thousand-one, Mister Clinton tried to get Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak to sign a peace agreement. Mister Clinton met with the two men for many hours in the Washington area. Reports said they came close to a settlement. But the negotiations ended without an agreement. Violence increased soon afterward25. Palestinians declared a new uprising against Israel.

VOICE TWO:

One of President Clinton's major actions during his second term was helping26 establish permanent normal trade relations with China. Congress passed a bill enacting27 this in two thousand. The president said the measure would help democracy grow in China. He also said it would help create jobs in the United States.

Mister Clinton supported expansion of NATO as well as more free trade. He also worked for a worldwide campaign against the trade of illegal drugs. Historians say President Bill Clinton will be remembered for reaching out to the international community. But he will also be remembered for being charged and tried for wrongdoing by Congress. We will tell about that next week.

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

This program of THE MAKING OF A NATION was written by Jerilyn Watson and produced by George Grow. This is Mary Tillotson.

VOICE TWO:

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

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1 investigations 02de25420938593f7db7bd4052010b32     
(正式的)调查( investigation的名词复数 ); 侦查; 科学研究; 学术研究
参考例句:
  • His investigations were intensive and thorough but revealed nothing. 他进行了深入彻底的调查,但没有发现什么。
  • He often sent them out to make investigations. 他常常派他们出去作调查。
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 vice NU0zQ     
n.坏事;恶习;[pl.]台钳,老虎钳;adj.副的
参考例句:
  • He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
  • They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。
4 gore gevzd     
n.凝血,血污;v.(动物)用角撞伤,用牙刺破;缝以补裆;顶
参考例句:
  • The fox lay dying in a pool of gore.狐狸倒在血泊中奄奄一息。
  • Carruthers had been gored by a rhinoceros.卡拉瑟斯被犀牛顶伤了。
5 opposition eIUxU     
n.反对,敌对
参考例句:
  • The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
  • The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。
6 dole xkNzm     
n.救济,(失业)救济金;vt.(out)发放,发给
参考例句:
  • It's not easy living on the dole.靠领取失业救济金生活并不容易。
  • Many families are living on the dole since the strike.罢工以来,许多家庭靠失业救济金度日。
7 nomination BHMxw     
n.提名,任命,提名权
参考例句:
  • John is favourite to get the nomination for club president.约翰最有希望被提名为俱乐部主席。
  • Few people pronounced for his nomination.很少人表示赞成他的提名。
8 Congressman TvMzt7     
n.(美)国会议员
参考例句:
  • He related several anecdotes about his first years as a congressman.他讲述自己初任议员那几年的几则轶事。
  • The congressman is meditating a reply to his critics.这位国会议员正在考虑给他的批评者一个答复。
9 bin yR2yz     
n.箱柜;vt.放入箱内;[计算机] DOS文件名:二进制目标文件
参考例句:
  • He emptied several bags of rice into a bin.他把几袋米倒进大箱里。
  • He threw the empty bottles in the bin.他把空瓶子扔进垃圾箱。
10 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。
11 pointed Il8zB4     
adj.尖的,直截了当的
参考例句:
  • He gave me a very sharp pointed pencil.他给我一支削得非常尖的铅笔。
  • She wished to show Mrs.John Dashwood by this pointed invitation to her brother.她想通过对达茨伍德夫人提出直截了当的邀请向她的哥哥表示出来。
12 inaugural 7cRzQ     
adj.就职的;n.就职典礼
参考例句:
  • We listened to the President's inaugural speech on the radio yesterday.昨天我们通过无线电听了总统的就职演说。
  • Professor Pearson gave the inaugural lecture in the new lecture theatre.皮尔逊教授在新的阶梯讲堂发表了启用演说。
13 spoke XryyC     
n.(车轮的)辐条;轮辐;破坏某人的计划;阻挠某人的行动 v.讲,谈(speak的过去式);说;演说;从某种观点来说
参考例句:
  • They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
  • The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。
14 unified 40b03ccf3c2da88cc503272d1de3441c     
(unify 的过去式和过去分词); 统一的; 统一标准的; 一元化的
参考例句:
  • The teacher unified the answer of her pupil with hers. 老师核对了学生的答案。
  • The First Emperor of Qin unified China in 221 B.C. 秦始皇于公元前221年统一中国。
15 pretense yQYxi     
n.矫饰,做作,借口
参考例句:
  • You can't keep up the pretense any longer.你无法继续伪装下去了。
  • Pretense invariably impresses only the pretender.弄虚作假欺骗不了真正的行家。
16 deficit tmAzu     
n.亏空,亏损;赤字,逆差
参考例句:
  • The directors have reported a deficit of 2.5 million dollars.董事们报告赤字为250万美元。
  • We have a great deficit this year.我们今年有很大亏损。
17 laden P2gx5     
adj.装满了的;充满了的;负了重担的;苦恼的
参考例句:
  • He is laden with heavy responsibility.他肩负重任。
  • Dragging the fully laden boat across the sand dunes was no mean feat.将满载货物的船拖过沙丘是一件了不起的事。
18 inspectors e7f2779d4a90787cc7432cd5c8b51897     
n.检查员( inspector的名词复数 );(英国公共汽车或火车上的)查票员;(警察)巡官;检阅官
参考例句:
  • They got into the school in the guise of inspectors. 他们假装成视察员进了学校。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • Inspectors checked that there was adequate ventilation. 检查员已检查过,通风良好。 来自《简明英汉词典》
19 deployed 4ceaf19fb3d0a70e329fcd3777bb05ea     
(尤指军事行动)使展开( deploy的过去式和过去分词 ); 施展; 部署; 有效地利用
参考例句:
  • Tanks have been deployed all along the front line. 沿整个前线已部署了坦克。
  • The artillery was deployed to bear on the fort. 火炮是对着那个碉堡部署的。
20 ethnic jiAz3     
adj.人种的,种族的,异教徒的
参考例句:
  • This music would sound more ethnic if you played it in steel drums.如果你用钢鼓演奏,这首乐曲将更具民族特色。
  • The plan is likely only to aggravate ethnic frictions.这一方案很有可能只会加剧种族冲突。
21 memorandum aCvx4     
n.备忘录,便笺
参考例句:
  • The memorandum was dated 23 August,2008.备忘录上注明的日期是2008年8月23日。
  • The Secretary notes down the date of the meeting in her memorandum book.秘书把会议日期都写在记事本上。
22 negotiations af4b5f3e98e178dd3c4bac64b625ecd0     
协商( negotiation的名词复数 ); 谈判; 完成(难事); 通过
参考例句:
  • negotiations for a durable peace 为持久和平而进行的谈判
  • Negotiations have failed to establish any middle ground. 谈判未能达成任何妥协。
23 plantation oOWxz     
n.种植园,大农场
参考例句:
  • His father-in-law is a plantation manager.他岳父是个种植园经营者。
  • The plantation owner has possessed himself of a vast piece of land.这个种植园主把大片土地占为己有。
24 diplomat Pu0xk     
n.外交官,外交家;能交际的人,圆滑的人
参考例句:
  • The diplomat threw in a joke, and the tension was instantly relieved.那位外交官插进一个笑话,紧张的气氛顿时缓和下来。
  • He served as a diplomat in Russia before the war.战前他在俄罗斯当外交官。
25 afterward fK6y3     
adv.后来;以后
参考例句:
  • Let's go to the theatre first and eat afterward. 让我们先去看戏,然后吃饭。
  • Afterward,the boy became a very famous artist.后来,这男孩成为一个很有名的艺术家。
26 helping 2rGzDc     
n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的,辅助的
参考例句:
  • The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
  • By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。
27 enacting 0485a44fcd2183e9aa15d495a9b31147     
制定(法律),通过(法案)( enact的现在分词 )
参考例句:
  • Generally these statutes apply only to wastes from reactors outside the enacting state. 总之,这些法令只适宜用在对付那些来自外州的核废料。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法
  • In addition, the complexion of enacting standards for live working is described. 另外,介绍了带电作业标准的制订情况。

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