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VOA慢速英语2009-THIS IS AMERICA - Follow the Santa Fe Trail to O

时间:2009-04-15 06:39:14

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(单词翻译)

VOICE ONE:

Welcome to THIS IS AMERICA in VOA Special English. I'm Barbara Klein.

VOICE TWO:
 
A modern sign marks the Santa Fe Trail. Behind, an example of adobe1 architecture.

And I'm Steve Ember. This week on our program, we take you to a city in the American Southwest: Santa Fe, New Mexico.

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

We begin at the Santa Fe Trail, or what remains2 of it. The ground still shows the path cut deep into the earth by the wheels of thousands of wagons4. The Santa Fe Trail began in the state of Missouri, the nineteenth century gateway5 to the wild and largely unexplored West. The trail ended about one thousand two hundred kilometers away, in Santa Fe.

Wagons traveled the Santa Fe Trail from eighteen twenty-two until a railroad replaced it in eighteen seventy-nine. No one kept a total. But records from eighteen fifty-eight show that as many as one thousand eight hundred wagons made the trip that year.

VOICE TWO:
 
Wagon3 wheels left their mark on the Santa Fe Trail

The Santa Fe Trail was an important international trade route. It carried goods south into Mexico and north into the United States. But traders were not the only ones who traveled it.

Settlers, government officials, hunters, gold seekers, soldiers and American Indians all used the trail. So did storekeepers, hotel workers, lawyers, blacksmiths -- all the people needed to expand the young nation. They found places to live and work along the trail.

The National Park Service says that in eighteen twenty-two, trade along the Santa Fe Trail totaled fifteen thousand dollars. By eighteen sixty, it was more than three million. Today that would be worth fifty-three million dollars.

VOICE ONE:

The Santa Fe Trail dates back to eighteen twenty-one. A businessman named William Becknell believed he could earn a lot of money by moving trade goods from Missouri to Santa Fe. He was right.

He began his first trip in September of eighteen twenty-one. He carried his goods on the backs on mules6. He reached the center of Santa Fe in November. The next year he used wagons so he could carry more goods to sell.

Eighteen twenty-one was also an important year in the history of Mexico. That was the year Mexicans got their independence after years of revolt against Spanish rule. Spain had protected Mexico's borders with laws barring trade with the United States. With the coming of Mexican independence, the Santa Fe Trail became the major trade link between the two countries.

VOICE TWO:

American Indians have lived in the Southwest for thousands of years. The area surrounding the Santa Fe Trail included the hunting grounds of the Cheyenne, the Kiowa, the Comanche, the Arapaho and the Apache. It was also the homeland of the Osage, the Kaw, the Ute and the Pueblo7 Indians.

Early relations between the Indians and the settlers moving West were mostly peaceful. But misunderstandings and conflicting values led to violence as more people came. Mexican and American troops rode with the wagons to provide protection.

VOICE ONE:

Wagon trains -- groups of wagons -- rode in four lines across the land when they passed through dangerous country. If attacked, the wagons could quickly form a circle for defense8.

An average wagon train included twenty-five to thirty-five wagons pulled by oxen. They traveled about twenty-four kilometers a day. The trip in each direction could take fifty days or more.

Mules were faster. For example, in eighteen fifty-seven a stagecoach9 pulled by six mules took twenty to twenty-five days to travel from Independence, Missouri, to Santa Fe. The distance was one thousand two hundred kilometers. Later, a stagecoach could make the trip in thirteen to fourteen days by moving day and night and changing animals often.

Whichever kind of animal pulled the wagons, moving along the Santa Fe Trail was generally unexciting. Travelers mostly had to deal with mud, dust, insects and heat. But there was the danger not just of attacks but also floods, fires, winds and storms.

(MUSIC)

VOICE TWO:

One result of the continued expansion of United States territory was the Mexican-American war. It began in eighteen forty-six. A force known as the Army of the West used the Santa Fe Trail to protect American traders. It also used the trail to take control of an area that is now New Mexico and part of California.

The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo ended the Mexican-American war in eighteen forty-eight. It gave the United States nearly all of what is today the states of California, Nevada, Utah, Arizona, Colorado and New Mexico.

The government built a series of bases in the New Mexico territory to protect the settlers and goods moving along the Santa Fe Trail. The largest was Fort Union, about one hundred twenty kilometers from Santa Fe.

VOICE ONE:

The area of the Santa Fe Trail around Fort Union was also involved in the American Civil War. By eighteen-sixty-two, the trail was the main supply line for Union forces in the Southwest.

Confederate forces moved into New Mexico from Texas. They wanted to seize the territory and Fort Union in an effort to find paths to the Pacific Ocean and to the gold fields of Colorado. But they never reached the fort.

Union forces defeated them on the Santa Fe Trail at Glorietta Pass in New Mexico. The battle secured control of the supply line for Union forces. It also ended Civil War activity in the Southwest.

VOICE TWO:
 
One of the ruins at Fort Union

Today, Fort Union is preserved by the National Park Service as an outdoor museum on the Santa Fe Trail. Visitors can explore the ruins of the buildings and the ruts made by wagons. And they can follow the path of the trail over a modern highway. A stone marker shows the spot where the Santa Fe Trail ended in the city's historic central plaza10.

New Mexico became the forty-seventh state in January of nineteen twelve. But Santa Fe has a longer history of serving as a capital city than any of the other capitals of the fifty states.

VOICE ONE:

Santa Fe was the capital of the Spanish kingdom of New Mexico beginning in sixteen ten. It was the capital of the province of Nuevo Mexico when Mexico became independent. And it was the capital of the New Mexico territory before the territory became a state.

The seat of government in Santa Fe for the Spanish, the Mexicans and the American territory was a building called the Palace of the Governors.
 
Indians selling handmade goods in front of the Palace of the Governors

The Palace of the Governors on the central plaza is the oldest continually occupied public building in the country. Today it houses the state history museum. Local Indians sell jewelry11 and other handmade goods along the front of the building.

Most of the buildings in Santa Fe are low and earth colored, a mixture of Spanish and native styles. These buildings are made of adobe brick. Abode12 is sun-dried earth and straw.

(MUSIC)

VOICE TWO:

Santa Fe means "Holy Faith" in Spanish. All around is mountains and desert. The city is more than two thousand meters above sea level, near the southern Rocky Mountains in northern New Mexico. Magazines in recent years have listed Santa Fe among the best places to live in the United States.

Santa Fe is known especially for art. More than two hundred fifty galleries and dealers13 make it one of the largest art markets in the country. In two thousand five Santa Fe was named a UNESCO Creative City -- the first American city to get that honor.

City officials estimate the population at seventy thousand. The United States Census14 Bureau says two percent are American Indian and about half are Hispanic or Latino.

The two biggest employers in the area are government and the hotel and food service industry.

VOICE ONE:

Each year more than one million people visit Santa Fe. But, like many places affected15 by the recession, the numbers were down in two thousand eight. A city report says economic activity last year totaled almost three billion dollars, a four percent decrease from two thousand seven.

The report says spending remains flat or in decline in the local economy. A spokesman for the Convention and Visitors Bureau, Steve Lewis, says economic activity last month was down five percent from February of last year. He says hotels have been reporting cancellations, which is rare for Santa Fe.

VOICE TWO:

Santa Fe is preparing to celebrate its four hundredth anniversary. Sixteen ten was when it became the capital of Spanish New Mexico. Activities will start this September over the Labor16 Day holiday weekend. Three nights of concerts are planned. Leaders from Spain, Mexico and the United States have been invited, along with American Indian leaders.

The celebration will continue through two thousand ten. Organizers say they need all that time to include all that needs to be remembered about the history of Santa Fe.

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

Our program was written by Nancy Steinbach and produced by Caty Weaver17. I'm Barbara Klein.

VOICE TWO:

And I'm Steve Ember. Be sure to join us again next week for THIS IS AMERICA in VOA Special English.


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点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 adobe 0K5yv     
n.泥砖,土坯,美国Adobe公司
参考例句:
  • They live in an adobe house.他们住在一间土坯屋里。
  • Adobe bricks must drived dried completely before are used.土坯砖块使用前一定要完全干燥。
2 remains 1kMzTy     
n.剩余物,残留物;遗体,遗迹
参考例句:
  • He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
  • The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。
3 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。
4 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。
5 gateway GhFxY     
n.大门口,出入口,途径,方法
参考例句:
  • Hard work is the gateway to success.努力工作是通往成功之路。
  • A man collected tolls at the gateway.一个人在大门口收通行费。
6 mules be18bf53ebe6a97854771cdc8bfe67e6     
骡( mule的名词复数 ); 拖鞋; 顽固的人; 越境运毒者
参考例句:
  • The cart was pulled by two mules. 两匹骡子拉这辆大车。
  • She wore tight trousers and high-heeled mules. 她穿紧身裤和拖鞋式高跟鞋。
7 pueblo DkwziG     
n.(美国西南部或墨西哥等)印第安人的村庄
参考例句:
  • For over 2,000 years,Pueblo peoples occupied a vast region of the south-western United States.在长达2,000多年的时间里,印第安人统治着现在美国西南部的大片土地。
  • The cross memorializes the Spanish victims of the 1680 revolt,when the region's Pueblo Indians rose up in violent protest against their mistreatment and burned the cit
8 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。
9 stagecoach PuQww     
n.公共马车
参考例句:
  • She's getting off the stagecoach.她正在下马车。
  • The stagecoach driver cracked the whip.驿站马车的车夫抽响了鞭子。
10 plaza v2yzD     
n.广场,市场
参考例句:
  • They designated the new shopping centre York Plaza.他们给这个新购物中心定名为约克购物中心。
  • The plaza is teeming with undercover policemen.这个广场上布满了便衣警察。
11 jewelry 0auz1     
n.(jewllery)(总称)珠宝
参考例句:
  • The burglars walked off with all my jewelry.夜盗偷走了我的全部珠宝。
  • Jewelry and lace are mostly feminine belongings.珠宝和花边多数是女性用品。
12 abode hIby0     
n.住处,住所
参考例句:
  • It was ten months before my father discovered his abode.父亲花了十个月的功夫,才好不容易打听到他的住处。
  • Welcome to our humble abode!欢迎光临寒舍!
13 dealers 95e592fc0f5dffc9b9616efd02201373     
n.商人( dealer的名词复数 );贩毒者;毒品贩子;发牌者
参考例句:
  • There was fast bidding between private collectors and dealers. 私人收藏家和交易商急速竞相喊价。
  • The police were corrupt and were operating in collusion with the drug dealers. 警察腐败,与那伙毒品贩子内外勾结。
14 census arnz5     
n.(官方的)人口调查,人口普查
参考例句:
  • A census of population is taken every ten years.人口普查每10年进行一次。
  • The census is taken one time every four years in our country.我国每四年一次人口普查。
15 affected TzUzg0     
adj.不自然的,假装的
参考例句:
  • She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
  • His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。
16 labor P9Tzs     
n.劳动,努力,工作,劳工;分娩;vi.劳动,努力,苦干;vt.详细分析;麻烦
参考例句:
  • We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
  • He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后,他已经疲惫不堪了。
17 weaver LgWwd     
n.织布工;编织者
参考例句:
  • She was a fast weaver and the cloth was very good.她织布织得很快,而且布的质量很好。
  • The eager weaver did not notice my confusion.热心的纺织工人没有注意到我的狼狈相。

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