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美国总统西奥多·罗斯福(三)
DATE=7-19-2001
TITLE=THE MAKING OF A NATION #150 - Theodore Roosevelt, PART 3
BYLINE=FRANK BEARDSLEY
Voice one:
The making of a nation -- a program in Special English by the Voice Of America.
(theme)
Theodore Roosevelt became President of the United States in Nineteen-Oh-One. He firmly believed in (1)expanding American power in the world. To do this, he wanted a strong (2)navy. And he wanted a way for the navy to sail quickly between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. Roosevelt decided to build that (3)waterway.
I'm Maurice Joyce. Today, Richard Rael and I tell the story of the (4)Panama Canal.
Voice two:
For many years, people had dreamed of building a canal across central America to link the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. The most likely place was at the thinnest point of land: Panama. Another possible place was to the north: (5)Nicaragua. President Roosevelt (6)appointed a (7)committee to decide which place would be better.
Engineers said it would cost less to complete a canal that had been started in the eighteen-eighties in Panama. But the United States would have to buy the land and building rights from a French company. The price was high: more than
One-hundred-million dollars.
So, the committee decided it would be less costly, (8)overall, to build a canal in Nicaragua. The (9)proposal went to the United States (10)Congress for approval.
Voice one:
The house of (11)representatives quickly passed a bill to build the Nicaragua Canal. Then the French company reduced its price for the land and building rights in Panama. It decided some money was better than no money at all.
President Roosevelt was pleased. He gave his support to the Panama plan. When the (12)Senate began (13)debate, however, it appeared the Nicaragua plan would win.
Then a (14)volcano exploded in the (15)Caribbean area. A city was destroyed. Thirty-thousand people were killed. Soon, reports said another volcano had become active and was threatening a town. The volcano was in Nicaragua. Nicaragua's President (16)denied there were any active volcanoes in his country. But one of Nicaragua's (17)postal stamps showed a picture of an exploding volcano.
That little stamp weakened support for the Nicaragua canal. The Senate passed a bill for a Panama canal, instead. The house of representatives changed its earlier decision. It approved the Senate bill.
Voice two:
At that time, Panama was a state of Colombia. Canal (18)negotiations between America and Colombia did not go smoothly. After nine months, the United States threatened to end the talks and begin negotiations with Nicaragua. The threat worked.
In January, Nineteen-Oh-Three, Colombia signed a (19)treaty to (20)permit the United States to build the Panama canal. The treaty gave the United States a canal (21)zone. This was a piece of land ten kilometers wide across Panama. The United States could use the canal zone for one-hundred years. In (22)exchange, it would pay Colombia ten-million dollars, (23)plus two-hundred fifty-thousand dollars a year.
The United States Senate passed the treaty within two months. The Colombian Senate rejected it. The Colombian government demanded more money.
Voice one:
President Roosevelt was (24)furious. He saw the (25)issue in terms of world politics...not simply Colombia's (26)sovereignty. He said: "I do not think Colombia should be permitted to (27)bar (28)permanently one of the future highways of (29)civilization." Roosevelt was ready to take over Panama to build the canal.
That was not necessary. A (30)revolt was being planned in Panama to gain independence from Colombia. The United States made no promises to support the (31)rebels. But it wanted the rebels to succeed.
Under an old treaty, Colombia had given the United States the right to prevent (32)interference with travel across Panama. Now, the United States used the old treaty to prevent interference from Colombian (33)troops. Several American warships were sent to Panama.
Voice two:
The local leader of the Panamanian revolt was Nanuel Amador. Amador had the support of the French company that still owned the rights to build the Panama Canal. The chief representative of the company was Philippe Bunau-Varilla. He worked closely with an American lawyer, William Cromwell.
Bunau-Varilla and Cromwell (34)provided Manuel Amador with a (35)declaration of (36)independence, a (37)constitution, and money. Amador used the money to buy the support of the Colombian military commander in Panama city, the capital. He also got the support of the governor, who agreed to let himself be (38)arrested on the day of the revolt.
Amador formed a small army of railroad workers and fire fighters.
The rebel army planned to take over Panama city on November fourth, Nineteen-Oh-Three. Just before that date, five-hundred Colombian soldiers landed at Colon, eighty kilometers away.
The soldiers could not get to Panama city, however. All but one railroad car had been moved to the capital.
Voice one:
Manuel Amador gave a signal. The revolution began. There was a little shooting, but no one was hurt. Most of the shots were fired into the air to celebrate the call for Panama's independence. Colombian officials were arrested quickly. Then Amador made a speech. He said:
"yesterday, we were slaves of Colombia. Today, we are free. President Theodore Roosevelt has kept his word. Long Live the (39)Republic of Panama! Long Live President Roosevelt!"
Colombia asked the United States to help it re-gain control of Panama. The United States refused. It said it would (40)oppose any attempt by Colombia to send more forces there. The United States also recognized Panama's independence. And, almost immediately, it started negotiations with the new government on a canal treaty.
Voice two:
The two sides reached agreement quickly. The treaty was almost the same as the one the Colombian Senate had rejected earlier. This time, however, the canal zone would be sixteen kilometers wide, instead of ten. And the United States would get permanent control of the canal zone.
The treaty was signed on November eighteenth, Nineteen-Oh-Three. That was just fifteen days after Panama declared its independence.
Voice one:
Colombia (41)protested. It said the United States had acted illegally in Panama. Many American citizens protested, too. They called President Roosevelt a (42)pirate. They said he had acted (43)shamefully. Some members of Congress questioned the (44)Administration's deal with the French canal company in Panama. Several (45)investigations examined the deal.
Theodore Roosevelt did not care. He was proud of his success in getting the canal started. He said: "I took the canal zone and let Congress debate. And while the debate goes on...so does work on the canal."
Voice two:
It took ten years for the United States to complete the Panama canal. The first ship passed through it in August, Nineteen-Fourteen.
In that same year, the United States signed an agreement with Colombia. The agreement (46)expressed America's regret for its part in the Panamanian Revolution. And it provided a payment of twenty-five-million dollars to Colombia. Theodore Roosevelt was no longer President when the agreement was signed. But he still had many friends in the Senate. He got them to reject it.
After Roosevelt's death, the United States signed another agreement with Colombia. The new agreement (47)included the payment of twenty-five-million dollars. It did not include the statement of regret. The Senate approved the new agreement.
Voice one:
The issue of America's (48)involvement in Panama caused much (49)bitterness in other countries of (50)Latin America. Some did not feel safe from American interference. President Roosevelt said the United States would not interfere with any nation that kept order and paid what it owed.
Roosevelt was worried because some Latin American countries were having difficulty re-paying (51)loans from European banks. He did not want the issue of non-payment used as an excuse for European countries to (52)seize new (53)territory in the western (54)hemisphere.
Roosevelt said the United States was (55)responsible for making sure the debts were paid. His (56)policy led to further United States involvement in Latin America.
That will be our story next week.
(theme)
Voice two:
You have been listening to the making of a nation -- a program in Special English by the Voice Of America. Your (57)narrators were Maurice Joyce and Richard Rael. Our program was written by Frank Beardsley.
(1)expand [ iks5pAnd ] vt.扩张
(2)navy [ 5neivi ] n.海军
(3)waterway [ 5wC:tEwei ] n.水路, 排水沟
(4)Panama [ 7pAnE5mB: ] canal n.巴拿马运河(穿过巴拿马地峡,接通太平洋和大西洋)
(5)Nicaragua [ 7nikE5rB:^wE, 7nikE5rA^juE ] n.[国名] 尼加拉瓜
(6)appoint [ E5pCint ] vt.委任
(7)committee [ kE5miti ]n.委员会
(8)overall [ 5EuvErC:l ] adv.总体上
(9)proposal [ prE5pEuzEl ] n.提议, 建议
(10)Congress [ 5kCN^res ] n.(代表)大会, [c～] (美国等国的)国会, 议会
(11)representative [ 7repri5zentEtiv ] n.代表
(12)senate [ 5senit ] n.参议院, 上院
(13)debate [ di5beit ] v.争论, 辩论
(14)volcano [ vCl5keinEu ] n.火山
(15)Caribbean [ kAri5bi(:)En ] n.加勒比海
(16)deny [ di5nai ] v.否认, 拒绝
(17)postal [ 5pEustEl ] adj.邮政的, 邮局的
(18)negotiation [ ni7^EuFi5eiFEn ] n.商议, 谈判, 流通
(19)treaty [ 5tri:ti ] n.条约, 谈判
(20)permit [ pE(:)5mit ]v.许可, 允许, 准许
(21)zone [ zEun ] n.地区
(22)exchange [ iks5tFeindV ] n.交换
(23)plus [ plQs ] prep.加上
(24)furious [ 5fjuEriEs ] adj.狂怒的
(25)issue [ 5isju: ] n.问题
(26)sovereignty [ 5sCvrinti ] n.主权国家
(27)bar [bB:(r)]vt.禁止
(28)permanently [5p:mEntlI]adv.永存地, 不变地
(29)civilization [9sIvIlaI`zeIFLn;-lI`z-]n.文明
(30)revolt [ ri5vEult ] v.起义
(31)rebel [ 5rebEl ] n.造反者
(32)interference [ 7intE5fiErEns ] n.干涉
(33)troop [ tru:p ] n.军队
(34)provide [ prE5vaid ] v.供应, 供给
(35)declaration [ 7deklE5reiFEn ] n.宣言
(36)independence [ 7indi5pendEns ] n.独立
(37)constitution [ 7kCnsti5tju:FEn ] n.宪法
(38)arrest [ E5rest ] vt.逮捕
(39)republic [ ri5pQblik ] n.共和国
(40)oppose [ E5pEuz ] vt.反对
(41)protest [ prE5test ] v.抗议
(42)pirate [ 5paiErit ] n.海盗
(43)shamefully adv.不体面地
(44)administration [ Edminis5treiFEn ] n.行政部门
(45)investigation [ in7vesti5^eiFEn ] n.调查, 研究
(46)express [ iks5pres ] vt.表达, 表示
(47)include [ in5 klu:d ] vt.包括, 包含
(48)involvement [ in5vClvmEnt ] n.牵扯
(49)bitterness [5bItEnIs]n.辛酸
(50)Latin America n.拉丁美洲(美国以南的所有美洲), 南美洲
(51)loan [ lEun ] n.贷款
(52)seize [ si:z ] v.夺取
(53)territory [ 5teritEri ] n.领土
(54)hemisphere [ 5hemisfiE ]n.半球
(55)responsible [ ris5pCnsEbl ]adj.有责任的
(56)policy [ 5pClisi ]n.政策, 方针
(57)narrator n. 讲述者，叙述者
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