VOA慢速英语2011--American History: The War in the Pacific

THE MAKING OF A NATION - American History: The War in the Pacific
建国史话- 太平洋战争
STEVE EMBER: Welcome to THE MAKING OF A NATION -- American history in VOA Special English. I'm Steve Ember.
(MUSIC)
American military planners had to make an important decision when the United States entered the Second World War at the end of nineteen forty-one.
American forces could not fight effectively in Asia and Europe at the same time. The military planners decided¹ to use most of their forces to defeat the German troops of Adolf Hitler. Only after victory over the Nazis² was clear in Europe would they use all of America's strength to fight Japan in Asia and the Pacific.
Because of this decision, Japan was able to win many of the early battles of the war in Asia. The fighting in the Pacific is the subject of program this week.
(SOUND)
Japanese planes bombed the American naval³ base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, on December seventh nineteen forty-one.
BROADCASTER: "We interrupt this program to bring you a special news bulletin. The Japanese have attacked Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, by air, President Roosevelt has just announced.
"We take you now to Washington. The attack was apparently⁴ made on all naval and military activities on the principal island of Oahu.”
The surprise raid marked the first of several major victories for the Japanese.
(MUSIC)
Shortly after Pearl Harbor, imperial forces attacked American bases in the Philippines. And within days Japan captured the American island of Guam. Japanese troops landed in Thailand. They marched into Malaya, and they seized Hong Kong. The Japanese also moved into Indonesia and Burma.
Even Hitler's troops in Europe had not moved so quickly or successfully. As one American historian wrote later, the Pacific Ocean looked like a Japanese lake.
(SOUND)
The United States began to fight back. General Jimmy Doolittle led a group of sixteen American B-25 bombers⁵ that took off from the aircraft carrier Hornet and bombed Tokyo in a surprise raid.
JIMMY DOOLITTLE: "The B-25 was selected because it was small, because it had the sufficient range to carry two thousand pounds of bombs, two thousand miles, and because it took off and handled very well."
(SOUND)
STEVE EMBER: It was a bold move. The B-25 had never been launched from an aircraft carrier before. And the demands on the planes -- and the pilots -- were even greater with the weight of a full load of bombs.
Japan’s leaders believed no army could stop them. So they expanded their goals and launched new campaigns.
This was Japan's mistake. It stretched its forces too thin and too quickly. The military leaders in Tokyo believed that the United States could not resist because American forces were busy fighting the war in Europe. But no country could extend its communications and fighting ability over such a great distance and continue to win.
The turning point came in June nineteen forty-two in the central Pacific in the great battle of Midway Island.
Japanese Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto launched the battle. He wanted to meet and destroy the remaining ships in the American fleet before the United States could recover from the destruction at Pearl Harbor.
Yamamoto had one hundred sixty-two ships. The American admiral, Chester Nimitz, had just seventy-six. But the United States had discovered how to read the secret messages of the Japanese forces.
For this reason, Nimitz and the Americans knew exactly where the Japanese ships would sail. And they put their own ships in the best positions to stop them.
The fighting between the two sides was fierce. But when it ended, the Americans had won a great victory. Admiral Yamamoto was forced to call off his attack and sail home. For the first time, the Japanese navy had been defeated.
(MUSIC)
The next big battle was at Guadalcanal, one of the Solomon Islands in the southwestern Pacific. Guadalcanal's beaches were wide and flat. Japanese officers decided to build a military air base there. The United States learned of the plans. American commanders decided that they had to prevent Japan from establishing that base.
United States Marines quickly landed on the island. They were joined by troops from Australia and New Zealand. But Japanese ships launched a surprise attack and destroyed many of the American ships in the harbor. Allied⁶ forces on the island were left without naval support and suffered heavy losses.
For six months, the two sides fought for control of the island. Historian and naval officer Samuel Eliot Morison described the fighting this way in his book "The Struggle for Guadalcanal":
"For us who were there, or whose friends were there, Guadalcanal is not a name but an emotion, recalling desperate fights in the air, furious night naval battles, frantic⁷ work at supply or construction, savage⁸ fighting in the sodden⁹ jungle, nights broken by screaming bombs and deafening¹⁰ explosions of naval shells."
The fighting continued, seemingly forever. But finally, in February, nineteen forty-three, the Japanese were forced to leave Guadalcanal.
The battle was an important defeat for Japan. It opened the door for the American and other Allied forces to go on the attack after months of defensive¹¹ fighting.
But American military planners did not agree about the best way to launch such an attack. Admiral Nimitz of the Navy wanted to capture the small groups of Japanese-held islands in the Pacific, then seize Taiwan, and finally attack Japan itself. But General Douglas MacArthur of the Army thought it would be best to attack through New Guinea and the Philippines.
The American leadership finally decided to launch both attacks at once. Nimitz and MacArthur both succeeded. Nimitz and his naval forces moved quickly through the Marianas and other islands. General MacArthur's troops attacked through New Guinea and into the Philippines.
American ships defeated Japanese naval forces in the battle for Leyte Gulf¹².
Throughout the Pacific and East Asia, the fighting continued. Many of the fiercest battles were fought on tiny Pacific islands. Japanese troops captured the islands early in the war. And they quickly built strong defenses to prevent the Allies from invading.
Allied military leaders found a way to defeat the Japanese plan. They simply avoided the islands where the Japanese were strong and attacked other islands.
But sometimes the Allies could not avoid a battle. They had to land on some islands to seize airfields¹³ for American planes.
The names of these islands became well-known: Tarawa in the Gilbert Islands. Truk in the Marshall Islands. Saipan in the Marianas, and other islands including Guam and Tinian.
The two sides fought fiercely in the battle of Iwo Jima. And, on Okinawa, Japanese forces resisted for eighty-three days before finally being defeated by Allied troops.
After the defeat at Okinawa, many Japanese understood that the war was lost, even if Japan had not yet surrendered. Emperor Hirohito appointed a new prime minister and ordered him to explore the possibilities of peace.
But both sides still expected the Allies to launch a final invasion into Japan itself. And everyone knew that the cost in human life would be great for both sides.
But the invasion never came.
For years, American scientists had been developing a secret weapon, the atomic bomb. The code-name was the Manhattan Project. President Harry¹⁴ S. Truman made the decision to use it against Japan.
HARRY TRUMAN: “The world will note that the first atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima, a military base. We won the race of discovery against the Germans. We have used it in order to shorten the agony of war, in order to save the lives of thousands and thousands of young Americans. We shall continue to use it until we completely destroy Japan's power to make war.”
(SOUND: Atomic bomb tests)
American planes dropped one of the bombs on Hiroshima on August sixth, nineteen forty-five, and another on Nagasaki three days later.
Exactly how many people in those two cities died from the force and heat of the blasts or later from radiation may never be known. The Radiation Effects Research Foundation in Japan estimates that between one hundred fifty thousand and two hundred forty-six thousand died within two to four months of the bombings.
Japan surrendered on August fifteenth, nineteen forty-five, six days after the Nagasaki bombing.
(MUSIC)
Suddenly, sooner than expected, World War Two was over. More than twenty-five million people -- soldiers and civilians¹⁵ -- died during the six years of fighting. Germany and Japan were defeated. The Soviet¹⁶ Union was strong in much of eastern Europe. But the United States found itself the strongest military, economic and political power in the world. Our story continues next week.
Our program was written by David Jarmul. You can find our series online with transcripts¹⁷, MP3s, podcasts and pictures at voaspecialenglish.com. You can also follow us on Facebook and Twitter at VOA Learning English. I’m Steve Ember, inviting¹⁸ you to join us again next week for THE MAKING OF A NATION -- American history in VOA Special English.
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This was program #194. For earlier programs, type "Making of a Nation" in quotation¹⁹ marks in the search box at the top of the page.

1 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。

2 Nazis   

n.（德国的）纳粹党员( Nazi的名词复数 )；纳粹主义

参考例句：

• The Nazis worked them over with gun butts. 纳粹分子用枪托毒打他们。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The Nazis were responsible for the mass murder of Jews during World War Ⅱ. 纳粹必须为第二次世界大战中对犹太人的大屠杀负责。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 naval   

adj.海军的，军舰的，船的

参考例句：

• He took part in a great naval battle.他参加了一次大海战。
• The harbour is an important naval base.该港是一个重要的海军基地。

4 apparently   

adv.显然地；表面上，似乎

参考例句：

• An apparently blind alley leads suddenly into an open space.山穷水尽，豁然开朗。
• He was apparently much surprised at the news.他对那个消息显然感到十分惊异。

5 bombers   

n.轰炸机( bomber的名词复数 )；投弹手；安非他明胶囊；大麻叶香烟

参考例句：

• Enemy bombers carried out a blitz on the city. 敌军轰炸机对这座城市进行了突袭。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The Royal Airforce sill remained dangerously short of bombers. 英国皇家空军仍未脱离极为缺乏轰炸机的危境。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 allied   

adj.协约国的；同盟国的

参考例句：

• Britain was allied with the United States many times in history.历史上英国曾多次与美国结盟。
• Allied forces sustained heavy losses in the first few weeks of the campaign.同盟国在最初几周内遭受了巨大的损失。

7 frantic   

adj.狂乱的，错乱的，激昂的

参考例句：

• I've had a frantic rush to get my work done.我急急忙忙地赶完工作。
• He made frantic dash for the departing train.他发疯似地冲向正开出的火车。

8 savage   

adj.野蛮的；凶恶的，残暴的；n.未开化的人

参考例句：

• The poor man received a savage beating from the thugs.那可怜的人遭到暴徒的痛打。
• He has a savage temper.他脾气粗暴。

9 sodden   

adj.浑身湿透的；v.使浸透；使呆头呆脑

参考例句：

• We stripped off our sodden clothes.我们扒下了湿透的衣服。
• The cardboard was sodden and fell apart in his hands.纸板潮得都发酥了，手一捏就碎。

10 deafening   

adj. 振耳欲聋的, 极喧闹的 动词deafen的现在分词形式

参考例句：

• The noise of the siren was deafening her. 汽笛声震得她耳朵都快聋了。
• The noise of the machine was deafening. 机器的轰鸣声震耳欲聋。

11 defensive   

adj.防御的；防卫的；防守的

参考例句：

• Their questions about the money put her on the defensive.他们问到钱的问题，使她警觉起来。
• The Government hastily organized defensive measures against the raids.政府急忙布置了防卫措施抵御空袭。

12 gulf   

n.海湾；深渊，鸿沟；分歧，隔阂

参考例句：

• The gulf between the two leaders cannot be bridged.两位领导人之间的鸿沟难以跨越。
• There is a gulf between the two cities.这两座城市间有个海湾。

13 airfields   

n.（较小的无建筑的）飞机场( airfield的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• For several days traffic fromthe Naples airfields was partially interrupted. 那不勒斯机场的对外交通部分地停顿了数天。 来自辞典例句
• We have achieved a great amount of destruction at airfields and air bases. 我们已把机场和空军基地大加破坏。 来自辞典例句

14 harry   

vt.掠夺，蹂躏，使苦恼

参考例句：

• Today,people feel more hurried and harried.今天，人们感到更加忙碌和苦恼。
• Obama harried business by Healthcare Reform plan.奥巴马用医改掠夺了商界。

15 civilians   

平民，百姓( civilian的名词复数 )； 老百姓

参考例句：

• the bloody massacre of innocent civilians 对无辜平民的血腥屠杀
• At least 300 civilians are unaccounted for after the bombing raids. 遭轰炸袭击之后，至少有300名平民下落不明。

16 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。

17 transcripts   

n.抄本（ transcript的名词复数 ）；转写本；文字本；副本

参考例句：

• Like mRNA, both tRNA and rRNA are transcripts of chromosomal DNA. tRNA及rRNA同mRNA一样，都是染色体DNA的转录产物。 来自辞典例句
• You can't take the transfer students'exam without your transcripts. 没有成绩证明书，你就不能参加转学考试。 来自辞典例句

18 inviting   

adj.诱人的，引人注目的

参考例句：

• An inviting smell of coffee wafted into the room.一股诱人的咖啡香味飘进了房间。
• The kitchen smelled warm and inviting and blessedly familiar.这间厨房的味道温暖诱人，使人感到亲切温馨。

19 quotation   

n.引文，引语，语录；报价，牌价，行情

参考例句：

• He finished his speech with a quotation from Shakespeare.他讲话结束时引用了莎士比亚的语录。
• The quotation is omitted here.此处引文从略。