VOA常速英语2019--30年前,柏林墙倒塌了（在线收听）

Thirty years ago today, the Berlin Wall was torn down. For 28 years, this most visible manifestation of the Cold War and a symbol of the tug of war between Communism and Capitalism, the two prevailing ideologies of the second half of the twentieth century, cut through the heart of one of Europe’s great cities.

30年前的今天，柏林墙被推倒。28年来，这一最明显的冷战表现，以及20世纪下半叶两种主流意识形态——共产主义和资本主义之间的拉锯战的象征，贯穿了欧洲一座大城市的中心地带。

But it was far more than just a symbol to the German people on both sides of the divide—it was physical proof that the country would never be whole again.

但对分裂双方的德国人来说，它远远不只是一个象征——它是德国永远不会再完整的物理证据。

After World War II ended in 1945, the four nations that were instrumental in defeating Nazi Germany: the United States, France, the United Kingdom and the Soviet Union, split the country into four administrative sectors. In the 16 years after the Second World War, some 2.5 million of East Germany’s best educated people and skilled workers, most of them young, crossed permanently to the West.

1945年二战结束后，美国、法国、英国和苏联这四个国家在击败纳粹德国的过程中发挥了重要作用，它们将德国分裂成四个行政区。在二战结束后的16年里，大约250万东德受过最好教育的人和技术工人(其中大部分是年轻人)永久地移居到了西德。

So, to stop the brain drain, in the early hours of Sunday, August 13th, 1961, the East German police and units of the East German army closed the border separating the Russian sector from the other three. They tore up streets running along the eastern side of the border to make them impassable to vehicles, and installed barbed wire coils and fences around the three sectors that comprised West Berlin, as well as along the 43 kilometers which split the city and its population in half. Over time, they would replace the wire with a concrete wall 3.6 meters high and 1.2 meters wide.

因此，为了阻止人才外流，在1961年8月13日(星期日)的凌晨，东德警察和东德军队关闭了俄罗斯区与其他三个区之间的边界。他们拆除了沿国境线东侧的街道，使车辆无法通行，并在包括西柏林在内的三个区周围安装了带刺的铁丝网和栅栏，以及将城市和人口一分为二的43公里长地段。随着时间的推移，他们将用3.6米高、1.2米宽的混凝土墙取代铁丝。

Almost immediately, attempts to cross the wall to the West began. Some 5000 tried. Around 200 died in the attempt.

几乎就在同时，向西翻越墙的企图开始了。约5000人尝试。大约有200人在尝试中死亡。

Finally, in 1989, Communist governments collapsed across Eastern Europe, and on November 9, under pressure from its restive population, the East German government partially opened the border in Berlin. A flood of East Germans rushed to West Berlin, and following celebrations up and down its length, they began to tear down the Berlin Wall. At zero hour Central European Time, October 3rd, 1990, Germany once again became one country. The German family was reunited.

最终，在1989年，东欧各国的共产主义政府垮台，11月9日，在其不安的民众的压力下，东德政府部分开放了柏林边境。大批东德人涌入西柏林，庆祝活动在整个柏林进行，他们开始推倒柏林墙。1990年10月3日中欧时间零点，德国再次成为一个国家。德国家庭团聚了。

And the crumbling of the Berlin Wall started an avalanche that saw the liberation of millions of people across Eastern Europe.

柏林墙的倒塌引发了一场雪崩，东欧数百万人获得了解放。