(单词翻译:单击)
听力文本
Today, Tony Riggs and I continue the story of the United States Constitution. In May of seventeen eighty-seven, a group of America's early leaders met in Philadelphia. They planned to amend the Articles of Confederation which provided a loose union of the thirteen American states. Instead, they wrote a completely new Constitution. That political document created America's system of government and recognized the rights of its citizens. It is still the law of the land. James Madison of Virginia was the first delegate to arrive for the convention in Philadelphia. Madison asked the other delegates from Virginia also to arrive early. He wanted to enter the convention with a plan for a strong central government. He was sure no other state would do this. Two Virginia delegates -- George Wythe and John Blair -- came early, as requested. Together, the three men worked on Madison's plan. The convention was to start on May fourteenth. George Washington arrived the day before. He was welcomed outside Philadelphia by a military guard and the firing of cannons. Washington was the most famous man in America. He led the forces that won the war for independence from Britain. The first thing Washington did in Philadelphia was to visit Benjamin Franklin. Franklin was an important political leader in America. He also was chief of Pennsylvania's delegation to the convention. Franklin was then eighty-one years old. Age had weakened him. But his mind remained strong.
Every important person who came to Philadelphia -- even the great General Washington – visited Benjamin Franklin. On the first day of the convention, the delegates from Virginia went to the State House where the meeting would be held. They gathered in the room where America's Declaration of Independence was signed in seventeen seventy-six. The only other delegates there were from Pennsylvania. One was Robert Morris. He raised much of the money to fight the American Revolution. Another was Gouverneur Morris. The two men were not related. Another Pennsylvania delegate was James Wilson. He signed the Declaration of Independence and was a member of America's early Continental Congress. Like James Madison, James Wilson wanted a strong central government for the United States. The men from Pennsylvania and Virginia spent that first day talking. They agreed to meet again the next morning. Nobody seemed worried that there were no delegates from the other eleven states. After all, it took two weeks to ride a horse to Philadelphia from New Hampshire in the northeast. And it took as many as three weeks to get to Philadelphia from Georgia in the south. For a while, it seemed the other delegates would never arrive. But then they started coming one or two at a time.
The delegates agreed to start the convention as soon as seven states were represented. New York sent three men. That was a surprise. Many people believed New York would refuse to send anyone at all. The governor of New York did not support the idea of a strong central government. But one of the New York delegates did. He was Alexander Hamilton. Hamilton served as an assistant to General George Washington during the revolution. He firmly believed the United States needed a strong central government. In fact, some people said he wanted the country ruled by a king. Day by day, more delegates arrived in Philadelphia for the convention. They included Rufus King and Elbridge Gerry of Massachusetts. John Rutledge and Charles Pinckney of South Carolina. John Lansing and Robert Yates of New York. Luther Martin and James McHenry of Maryland. Roger Sherman and Oliver Ellsworth of Connecticut. William Few and William Pierce of Georgia. David Brearly and Jonathan Dayton of New Jersey. John Langdon and Nicholas Gilman of New Hampshire. Gunning Bedford and George Read of Delaware. Alexander Martin and William Blount of North Carolina. Fifty-five men in all from twelve states. Pennsylvania sent the most delegates -- eight. Rhode Island sent none. A few of the delegates were very old. But many were in their twenties or thirties.
The average age of the delegates was just forty-three years. This respected group was missing two important persons – John Adams and Thomas Jefferson. At the time, Adams was serving as America's representative to Britain. Jefferson was serving as the representative to France. Both men expected to continue their service to the new nation. So both were extremely interested in the convention in Philadelphia. They exchanged letters with friends to learn what was happening. The convention did not have seven states represented until May twenty-fifth. On that day, it finally began its work. The delegates' first task was to name a clerk to write the reports of the meetings. They chose Major William Jackson. Major Jackson had asked George Washington to support him for the job. General Washington did so. But Major Jackson was not a good clerk. He wrote down few details of the convention. Luckily, however, James Madison did. From the moment the convention began, Madison kept careful records of everything everyone said. He never stopped writing. Other delegates took notes, including Alexander Hamilton and Rufus King. But their reports were short and not complete.
If it were not for James Madison, we would know little of what happened at that historic meeting in Philadelphia in seventeen eighty-seven. Later, Madison explained how he did it. "I sat in front of the president of the convention. All the other delegates were on my right and on my left. I could hear everything the president said. I could hear all the words of every delegate. I made notes only I could understand. Then, at night in my room, I wrote out completely all the speeches and acts. I attended the convention every day. I was there as long as the delegates were meeting and talking." In his reports, Madison called himself "Mister M." He wrote down everything that was said, even the unfriendly things said by others about "Mister M." James Madison's full records of the convention were not published until thirty years later. The first important decision by the delegates was choosing a president for the convention. Several urged the others to name George Washington. The delegates agreed. Washington was their choice. George Washington then officially opened the convention with a short speech.
He thanked the delegates for naming him president. But he said the honor was too great. He asked the delegates to forgive him if he made mistakes. After all, he said, he had never been chairman of a meeting before. With those words, George Washington sat down. And for the next four months, he spoke only when necessary. The first day of the convention ended well. The delegates agreed to name a small committee to write rules for the meetings. They quickly appointed three men: George Wythe of Virginia, Alexander Hamilton of New York, and Charles Pinckney of South Carolina. So far, the business of the convention was easy. The work was done in a friendly way. It was not long, however, before a serious dispute developed. The dispute was between the large states and the small states. How would they share power in a government of United States? Should states with bigger populations have more power than states with smaller populations? The dispute would sharply divide the delegates for the next four months. That will be our story next week.
重点解析
1.in front of 在…前面
Our school is in front of the factory.
我们的学校就在那个工厂的前面。
2.delegation to 代表团
We sent our delegation to the borders and [the Iraqis] did not come.
我们派出自己的代表团到边界，但是伊拉克人并没有来。
3.wrote out 写出
One week slipped away, but he wrote out nothing.
一个星期悄然逝去，他连一个字也没写出来。
4.no other 仅此而已
No other session can access that value.
其他会话都不能访问这个值。
5.agreed to 不同意
I agreed to this plan.
我同意了这个计划。
参考译文
今天，我和托尼·里格斯继续为您讲述美国宪法的故事。1787年5月，美国一群早期的领袖在费城会面。他们计划修改《联邦条例》，该条例确定了美国13个州形成松散的联邦。却起草了一部全新的宪法。那份政治文件确立了美国的政府体系，承认了美国公民的权利，至今仍然是美国的法律。弗吉尼亚州的詹姆斯·麦迪逊是第一个到达费城参加大会的代表。麦迪逊要求弗吉尼亚州的其他代表也提前到。他想在大会上提出一个强有力的中央政府计划。麦迪逊确信其他州不会这样做。弗吉尼亚州的两名代表——乔治·怀斯和约翰·布莱尔——按照麦迪逊的要求提前到场。这三个人一起商讨了麦迪逊的计划。大会原定于5月14日召开，乔治·华盛顿在前一天到达费城。他在费城城外受到卫兵和礼炮的欢迎。华盛顿是美国最有名的人。他领导军队赢得了美国的独立战争。华盛顿来到费城做的第一件事就是拜访本杰明·富兰克林。富兰克林是美国重要的政治领袖，也是出席大会的宾夕法尼亚州的代表。富兰克林已年过八旬，虽然饱经沧桑，但头脑依然灵活。每一个来到费城的重要人物都拜访过本杰明·富兰克林，甚至是伟大的华盛顿将军。
大会的第一天，维吉尼亚州的代表们前往会议举办地——州议会大楼。他们来到1776年签署美国独立宣言的房间里。其他的代表只有来自宾夕法尼亚州。一个是罗伯特·莫里斯。他为对抗独立战争筹集了很多资金。另一位是古韦努尔·莫里斯。这两个人没有血缘关系。宾夕法尼亚州的另一位代表是詹姆斯·威尔逊。他签署了《独立宣言》，是美国早期大陆会议的成员。和詹姆斯·麦迪逊一样，詹姆斯·威尔逊也希望建立一个强大的中央政府。第一天，来自宾夕法尼亚和弗吉尼亚的两名男子进行了交谈。他们同意第二天上午再见面讨论。其他11个州的代表不在场，似乎没有人担心。毕竟，从东北部的新罕布什尔骑马到费城要两个星期的时间。从南方的乔治亚州到费城要三个星期的时间。没过多久，其他州的代表就开始陆续抵达了。一次来一两个。代表们同意7个州的代表到场后，大会立即开始。令人没有想到的是，纽约州派了三名代表，许多人认为纽约州会拒绝出席。纽约州长不支持建立一个强大的中央政府。但纽约州的一名代表予以支持。他就是亚历山大·汉密尔顿。汉密尔顿在革命期间担任乔治·华盛顿将军的助手。他坚信美国需要一个强大的中央政府。事实上，有些人说他想要让国王来统治国家。日子一天天的过去，越来越多的代表来到费城参加大会。他们包括鲁弗斯·金和马萨诸塞州的埃尔布里奇·格里。
南卡罗莱纳州的约翰·拉特里奇和查尔斯·平克尼。纽约州的约翰·兰辛和罗伯特·耶茨，马里兰州的路德·马丁和詹姆斯·麦克亨利。康涅狄格州的罗杰·谢尔曼和奥利弗·埃尔斯沃斯。乔治亚州的威廉·利奇和威廉·皮尔斯，新泽西州的戴维·布里利和乔纳森·戴顿。新罕布什尔州的约翰·兰登和尼古拉斯·吉尔曼，特拉华州的宁·贝德福德和乔治·里德。北卡罗来纳州的亚历山大·马丁和威廉·布朗特。到场的总共12个州的55名代表。宾夕法尼亚州派出的代表最多——8名。罗德岛州没有派人来。有几个代表年纪很大，但大多数都是二三十岁。代表们的平均年龄只有43岁。两个重要人物——约翰·亚当斯和托马斯·杰斐逊缺席了此次会议。当时，亚当斯是美国驻英国的代表。杰斐逊担任美国驻法国代表。两人都希望继续为这个新国家服务。所以两个人都对费城的大会非常感兴趣。并与朋友通信，了解情况。5月25日，已经有七个州的代表出席，大会正式开始。代表们的首要任务是指定一个人负责撰写会议报告。这个工作最后交给了威廉·杰克逊少校。杰克逊少校要求乔治·华盛顿支持他的工作。华盛顿将军照做了。但是杰克逊少校并没有把工作完成的很好。他没有记下多少大会的细节。幸运的是，詹姆斯·麦迪逊做到了。从大会开始的那一刻起，麦迪逊就详细记下了每个人的发言。一刻也没有停止过其他代表也做了记录，包括亚历山大·汉密尔顿和鲁弗斯·金。但都很简短，不够完整。如果不是詹姆斯·麦迪逊的话，那么我们对1787年在费城举行的历史性会议所发生的事情知之甚少。
后来，麦迪逊解释了他是如何记录会议进程的。“我坐在大会主席的前面，其他代表都坐在我的左右两边。我能听到主席说的每一句话，也能听到每位代表的全部讲话。我用自己的方式做了笔记，然后，晚上回到房价，我把所有的发言和行动都记录下来。每天的会议我都会参加。只要代表们在开会和讨论，我就一定会到场。”麦迪逊在他的报告中，称自己为“Mister M.”。他记录了别人说的每句话，甚至是对“Mister M.”不友好的话。詹姆斯·麦迪逊对大会的完整记录直至三十年后才出版。代表们作出的第一个重大决定是为大会选出一名主席。一些人提名乔治·华盛顿，代表们同意华盛顿作为大会主席。乔治·华盛顿随后发表简短的讲话，宣布大会正式开幕。他感谢代表们提名他为大会主席，说这个是至高无上的荣誉。如果自己有什么错误，还请代表们见谅。他说，毕竟他以前从来没有担任过会议主席。说完这些话，乔治·华盛顿坐了下来。在接下来的四个月里，他只在必要的时候发言。大会的第一天圆满结束。代表们同意任命一个小组委员会制定会议细则。他们很快任命了三个人：弗吉尼亚州的乔治·怀思、纽约州的亚历山大·汉密尔顿和南卡罗来纳州的查尔斯·平克尼。到目前为止，大会进展还算顺利，气氛也是友好的。然而，不久就出现激烈的争论。这场争论发生在大州和小州之间。他们如何在美国政府中分享权力?人口较多的州应该比人口较少的州拥有更多的权力吗?这场争论将使代表们在接下来的四个月里产生严重分歧。这就是我们下周要讲的故事。
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