Who Was Ronald Reagan 罗纳德·威尔逊·里根 Chapter 6 Steps Toward Peace

The day Ronald Reagan became president, he was given a small plastic card to carry in his pocket. It contained the secret codes that would launch America’s nuclear missiles against enemy nations. If word should ever come that nuclear missiles were headed for the United States, the president had only six minutes to decide whether to launch American bombs. The decision, Reagan was told, could mean killing¹ at least 150 million people. This system was called MAD—for Mutual² Assured Destruction.

So far, the threat of a devastating³ nuclear war had stopped either side from starting an attack. But Reagan couldn’t help thinking that six minutes wasn’t much time to make such an important decision. “The MAD policy was madness,” he thought.

Reagan dreamed of a world where no one would have to live in terror of nuclear missiles. He asked the heads of the armed forces to develop a way to defend against incoming missiles. This project was called the Strategic Defense⁴ Initiative, or SDI. But SDI would need years of research and billions of dollars.

In speeches, Ronald Reagan made it clear that the United States was prepared to win the Cold War. He did not waste words—he called the Soviet⁵ Union the “Evil Empire.”

At the time, the Soviets⁶ had hundreds of missiles aimed at cities in Europe and the Middle East. When they refused to remove them, America and its allies decided⁷ to install their own missiles in Europe, aimed at the Soviet Union.

President Reagan’s foreign policy had many critics. Some thought the new missiles made a Soviet attack more likely, not less. There were big demonstrations⁸ in Europe and in America, too. European newspapers compared Reagan to a “gun-toting cowboy.” Even so, when he ran for re-election in 1984, Ronald Reagan won in a landslide⁹. His opponent, Walter Mondale, carried only his home state of Minnesota and the District of Columbia.

During Reagan’s second term, his popularity suffered because of the Iran-contra scandal. The “contras” were a group of Nicaraguan rebels. They were fighting against the pro-Communist government in their country. The U.S. Congress had cut off funds for the contras. Some officials, however, tried to find ways to support them in secret. Some members of Reagan’s national security staff made a deal with Iran. Missiles were sold to Iran, although this was against U.S. policy. Some of the money the Iranians paid to the United States for the missiles went to the contras.

President Reagan eventually fired the people responsible and apologized on television. Even so, he thought Congress was wrong to pass laws that interfered¹⁰ with the president’s right to conduct foreign policy.

The Soviet Union, meanwhile, had a new leader. Mikhail Gorbachev knew that the Soviet Union had deep social and economic problems. He wanted to reform the Communist system in order to save it. Reagan liked Gorbachev, but he also bargained hard. He refused to give up his plan to build a defense against nuclear weapons.

In 1987 President Reagan was asked to make a speech in West Berlin. The speech was delivered outdoors in the shadow of the Berlin Wall.

Reagan challenged Gorbachev to give the people of East Germany their freedom. “Mr. Gorbachev, open this gate!” he thundered. “Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!”

The crowd roared its approval.

Even some of Reagan’s speechwriters thought he had gone too far. But Gorbachev continued to work with Reagan. A year later, the United States and the Soviet Union signed a treaty to ban one type of nuclear weapon. It was an important first step. After the treaty was approved by the Senate, the president and Mrs. Reagan visited Moscow. When they went out for a stroll, they were mobbed by friendly crowds.

Before the visit ended, Ronald Reagan spoke¹¹ to a group of students. He told them that they were living through an exciting time “when the first breath of freedom stirs the air.” No one could say what would happen in the future, but he hoped that it would be the first step toward a “new world of reconciliation¹², friendship, and peace.”

1 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

2 mutual   

adj.相互的，彼此的；共同的，共有的

参考例句：

• We must pull together for mutual interest.我们必须为相互的利益而通力合作。
• Mutual interests tied us together.相互的利害关系把我们联系在一起。

3 devastating   

adj.毁灭性的，令人震惊的，强有力的

参考例句：

• It is the most devastating storm in 20 years.这是20年来破坏性最大的风暴。
• Affairs do have a devastating effect on marriages.婚外情确实会对婚姻造成毁灭性的影响。

4 defense   

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。

5 Soviet   

adj.苏联的，苏维埃的；n.苏维埃

参考例句：

• Zhukov was a marshal of the former Soviet Union.朱可夫是前苏联的一位元帅。
• Germany began to attack the Soviet Union in 1941.德国在1941年开始进攻苏联。

6 soviets   

苏维埃（Soviet的复数形式）

参考例句：

• A public challenge could provoke the Soviets to dig in. 公开挑战会促使苏联人一意孤行。
• The Soviets proposed the withdrawal of American ballistic-missile submarines from forward bases. 苏联人建议把美国的弹道导弹潜艇从前沿基地撤走。

7 decided   

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。

8 demonstrations   

证明( demonstration的名词复数 )； 表明； 表达； 游行示威

参考例句：

• Lectures will be interspersed with practical demonstrations. 讲课中将不时插入实际示范。
• The new military government has banned strikes and demonstrations. 新的军人政府禁止罢工和示威活动。

9 landslide   

n.(竞选中)压倒多数的选票；一面倒的胜利

参考例句：

• Our candidate is predicated to win by a landslide.我们的候选人被预言将以绝对优势取胜。
• An electoral landslide put the Labour Party into power in 1945.1945年工党以压倒多数的胜利当选执政。

10 interfered   

v.干预( interfere的过去式和过去分词 )；调停；妨碍；干涉

参考例句：

• Complete absorption in sports interfered with his studies. 专注于运动妨碍了他的学业。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• I am not going to be interfered with. 我不想别人干扰我的事情。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 spoke   

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。

12 reconciliation   

n.和解，和谐，一致

参考例句：

• He was taken up with the reconciliation of husband and wife.他忙于做夫妻间的调解工作。
• Their handshake appeared to be a gesture of reconciliation.他们的握手似乎是和解的表示。