(单词翻译:单击)
听力文本
I'm Ray Freeman. And I'm Shirley Griffith with the Special English program, PEOPLE IN AMERICA. Every week we tell about a person important in the history of the United States. Today, we tell about Julia Ward Howe. She wrote one of the great songs of the American Civil War, the "Battle Hymn of the Republic." Marching soldiers. No end to the lines of soldiers marching across the land. They came from the northern states fighting to keep the Union together. And they came from the southern states fighting for a separate Confederate government that would protect their right to have slaves. In summer and winter, the fighting continued. The sun burned like fire. The soldiers marched on. The cold winter winds blew snow in their faces. The soldiers marched on.
The United States was a nation cut in two by a bitter struggle over slavery and a state's right to leave the Union. America's Civil War lasted four years. It destroyed the land. And it destroyed the young men of the nation. Many stories have been told about the soldiers of the Civil War. They have told of the soldiers' fear and terror. Their great and heroic acts. How they suffered and died. And how they sang before and after battle. One song, more than any other, caught the spirit of the Union soldiers of the North. The song is the "Battle Hymn of the Republic." Here is the first part of the song, sung by Odetta:
The words are religious. They are like a hymn, a song of praise to God. This is the story of the woman who wrote the song. The place was Washington, D.C. The year was eighteen sixty-one. It was a wet winter night. There were thousands of soldiers in the city. The hospitals were full. The field of battle was just across the Potomac River in the southern state of Virginia. A woman lay asleep in her hotel room. She had had a long, hard day. She had come to Washington to visit the Union troops. The sight and sounds of the soldiers gave her no rest. Even in her sleep she seemed to hear them. She heard their sad voices as they sat beside their fires. She heard them singing. They sang a marching song she knew. It was a song about John Brown, an activist against slavery. The song told about how his body turned to earth in the grave. It told about how his spirit lived on.
The woman's name was Julia Ward Howe. She was a writer and social reformer. She was born in New York City in eighteen nineteen. Her father was a wealthy banker. Julia married Samuel Gridley Howe. He was a reformer and teacher of the blind. Julia and Samuel Howe moved to Boston. Missus Howe raised five children. And she published several books of poetry.
Julia Ward Howe and Samuel Gridley Howe were leaders in the movement in America to end slavery. They published an anti-slavery newspaper called the "Commonwealth." Missus Howe had met John Brown. Like him, she was an anti-slavery activist. She opposed those Americans who used black people as slaves. Unlike him, she did not approve of using violence to end slavery. In eighteen fifty-nine, John Brown tried to start a revolt of slaves. He led an attack on Harper's Ferry, a town in what was then the state of Virginia. The town had a factory that made guns for the army. It also had a storage center for military equipment. The attack on Harper's Ferry failed. John Brown was put on trial for treason. He was found guilty and was executed.
In the northern states, John Brown became a hero. His story was told through song. The song was most popular with soldiers. It became the unofficial marching song of the Union Army. Julia Ward Howe also liked to sing the song. She felt that the music was beautiful, but the words about John Brown were not. So she decided to write different words to the music. Those words came to her that night as she lay in her hotel room in Washington. She was awakened by her dreams of marching soldiers.
"I found to my surprise that the words were forming themselves in my head. I lay still until the last line had completed itself in my thoughts. Then I quickly got out of bed. I thought I would forget the words if I did not write them immediately. I looked for a piece of paper and a pen. Then I began to write the lines of a poem: 'Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord. He is trampling out the vintage where the grapes of wrath are stored, He hath loosed the fateful lightning of His terrible swift sword, His truth is marching on.' I wrote until I was finished. Then I lay down again and fell asleep. I felt something important had happened to me."
An American magazine, "The Atlantic Monthly," bought Missus Howe's poem. She was paid four dollars. The magazine published the poem in eighteen sixty-two. The poem became very popular. It had just the right words for the great marching music. The soldiers of the Union Army began to sing the words Julia Ward Howe had written. It soon became their official marching song -- "The Battle Hymn of the Republic." Julia Ward Howe became famous. She was invited to the White House to meet President Abraham Lincoln. After dinner at the White House, the guests talked about the Civil War. They were sad. The Union army had suffered many defeats. Then someone began to sing "The Battle Hymn of the Republic." Missus Howe and President Lincoln joined in the singing. There were tears in the President's eyes. Here is the last part of the song, sung by the Mormon Tabernacle Choir:
After the North won the Civil War in eighteen sixty-five, Julia Ward Howe became involved in other social reform movements. She became a leader in the movement to gain equal rights for American women, including the right to vote. She helped establish the New England Woman's Club in eighteen sixty-eight. This organization worked for equal rights for women in education and business. She served as president of the group for more than thirty years.
Julia Ward Howe also became involved in the movement for peace. In eighteen seventy, she issued an "Appeal to Womanhood Throughout the World." This was a call for an international conference of women to support the peaceful settlement of conflicts. The next year she helped organize the American group of the Woman's International Peace Association. She became president of the group. Julia Ward Howe continued to write books and make speeches about the issues she felt were important. Through the years, thousands of people came to hear her recite her most famous poem. She died in nineteen ten. She was ninety-one years old. The "Battle Hymn of the Republic" still is one of America's great traditional songs. No one knows for sure who wrote the music. But the song lives on. And so does the name of the woman who made the music famous with her words: Julia Ward Howe.
重点解析
1.destroy 摧毁
The building was completely destroyed by fire.
这栋建筑物被大火彻底焚毁了。
2.religious 虔诚的
They are both very religious and felt it was a gift from God.
他们俩都很虔诚，觉得这是上帝赐予的礼物。
3.lay asleep 躺下睡着了
He lay asleep with his clothes scattered about.
他躺着睡了，脱下的衣服四处放着。
4.approve of 赞成；批准
The council is considering whether to approve of the use of firearms
政务委员会正在考虑是否要批准动用武器。
5.revolt 叛乱
The army quickly crushed the revolt.
军队很快镇压了叛乱。
6.execute 处死
One group claimed to have executed the hostage.
一个组织声称他们已处死了那名人质。
参考译文
我是雷·弗里曼。我是雪莉·格里菲斯。这里是VAO慢速英语栏目《美国人物志》。每周我们都会讲述一位美国历史上的重要人物。今天，我们将讲述朱莉亚·沃德·豪的故事。她是美国内战时期众多伟大歌曲之一《共和国战歌》的作者。行军中的士兵。行军队列绵延不绝的穿过。他们来自北方，为了联邦的统一而战。他们来自南方，为了独立的邦联政府而战，因为邦联政府会保护他们保留奴隶的权利。夏过冬至，战争一直持续。太阳像火球一样燃烧。士兵在行军。冰冷的冬风夹杂这冰雪吹过他们面颊。士兵在行军。
美国因为奴隶制纷争以及离开联邦的权利而被分割。美国内战持续四年，战争摧毁了这片土地，也毁灭了这个年轻的国家。有很多讲述内战时期士兵的故事。故事中讲述了士兵们的担心和恐惧，以及他们的伟大和英雄事迹。他们的遭遇和死亡，以及他们在战争前后的颂歌。有一首歌远比其他任何一首歌都能捕捉北方联邦军的精神。这首歌是《共和国战歌》。以下是这首歌的第一部分，由欧蒂塔演唱：歌词很虔诚，它们像是一只圣歌，一首赞美上帝的歌曲。以下是这首歌的作者的故事。
1861年，在华盛顿的一个冬季寒夜，城里有数千名士兵。医院都住满了，战场刚刚越过弗吉尼亚州南部的波托马克河。一位女士在她宾馆的房间躺下。这一天过得漫长艰难，她来到华盛顿拜访联邦军队。士兵们声音让她无法入眠，即使在睡梦中，她似乎也能听到他们的声音，她听到他们坐在火堆旁边发出悲伤的声音。她听到他们在歌唱，唱着那一首她听过的行军曲。这是一首关于活动家约翰·布朗反对奴隶制的歌曲。这首歌讲述了他的躯体如何在坟墓中化为尘土，讲述了他的精神如何永存。
这位女士的名字叫做朱莉亚·沃德·豪。她是一名作家兼社会改革家。她于1819年在纽约出生。她的父亲是一名富有的银行家。朱莉亚嫁给了萨缪尔·格里德利·豪。他是一名改革家兼盲人教师。朱莉亚和萨缪尔搬去了波士顿。朱莉亚有五个孩子。她还出版了几本诗集。朱莉亚·沃德·豪和萨缪尔·格里德利·豪是美国终止奴隶制运动的领袖。他们出版反奴隶制报纸《联邦报》。朱莉亚和约翰·布朗会面，和约翰·布朗一样，她也是一名反奴隶制活动家。她反对那些把黑人当做奴隶的美国人。和约翰·布朗不同的是，她不支持使用暴力终止奴隶制。1859年，约翰·布朗想要进行奴隶暴乱。他领导袭击了哈泊斯费里，这个小镇位于当时的弗吉尼亚州。这个小镇有一家工厂为军队制造枪支，这里还有一个军用设备储存中心。对哈泊斯费里的袭击失败了。约翰·布朗以叛国罪受审。罪名成立，他被行刑处死。
在北方各州，约翰·布朗成为了一名英雄。他的故事被写入各种流传。这首歌在士兵当中最受欢迎。这首歌成为了联邦军中的非官方行军曲。朱莉亚·沃德·豪也喜欢唱这首歌。她觉得这首歌很美，但是关于约翰·布朗的歌词却并不美丽。所以她决定给这首歌重新写词。那些歌词在她躺在华盛顿宾馆的那一夜蹦进了她的脑海中。她被行军士兵的梦惊醒。“我惊喜地发现，这些词在我脑海里自己组成句子。我安静的躺着，直到我脑海中的最后一行歌词完成。然后我迅速下床，我觉得如果我不马上把它们写下来，我就会忘记的。我找了一张纸和一支笔，然后我开始写下这首词的词：‘我的眼睛已经看见主降临的大光荣，他在踏尽一切不良葡萄使公义显彰 他已抽出他的怒剑发出闪闪的光芒，他真理在进行。’我写下了所有词，然后我又躺下睡觉。我觉得一些重要的事情发生了。”
美国杂志《大西洋月刊》以四美元价格买下了她的这首诗。该杂志在1862年出版了这首诗。这首诗变得非常受欢迎。伟大的行军曲配上了恰当的歌词。联邦军队的士兵们开始唱朱莉亚的词。很快这就变成了他们的官方行军曲—《共和国战歌》。朱莉亚·沃德·豪变得很出名。她被邀请去白宫会见亚伯拉罕·林肯总统。在白宫吃过晚餐后，客人们谈论起了内战，他们很悲伤，联邦军遭受多次失败。然后某人开始唱起了《共和国战歌》，朱莉亚和林肯总统也加入了他们。总统的眼中含着泪水。以下是这首歌的最后一部分，由摩门合唱团演唱：
1865年北方获得胜利后，朱莉亚·沃德·豪参与到了其他社会改革运动。她成为了为女性赢得平等权利，包括投票权的运动的领袖。1868年，她帮助成立新英格兰女性俱乐部。该组织为女性在教育和工作中的平等权利而工作。她担任该组织主席，任职30多年。朱莉亚·沃德·豪还参与了和平运动。1870年，她发表了《母亲节宣言》。该宣言旨在呼吁举行女性全球会议以支持和平解决冲突。
第二年，她帮助成立美国组织妇女国际和平协会，她任该组织主席。朱莉亚·沃德·豪继续写书、做演讲，讲那些她认为重要的事情。多年来，数千人前来听她背诵她最著名的诗篇。她于1910年去世，年91岁。《共和国战歌》仍是美国最伟大的传统歌曲之一。没人能够确定这首曲子是谁创作的，但是这首歌永存。而为这首曲子谱写歌词，让这首歌众所周知的女性朱莉亚·沃德·豪，她的名字也将永存。
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