THE MAKING OF A NATION 198 - Post-World War Two / Population

THE MAKING OF A NATION - June 20, 2002: Post-World War Two / Population

By David Jarmul
VOICE 1:

THE MAKING OF A NATION -- a program in Special English by the Voice of America.

(Theme)

World War Two ended finally in the summer of nineteen-forty-five. Life in the United
States began to return to normal. Soldiers began to come home and find peacetime jobs.
Industry stopped producing war equipment and began to produce goods that made
peacetime life pleasant. The American economy was stronger than ever.

Some major changes began to take place in the American population. Many Americans
were not satisfied with their old ways of life.

They wanted something better. And many people were earning enough money to look for a better life.

Millions of them moved out of cities and small towns to buy newly¹ -built homes in
the suburbs³. Our program today will look at the growth of suburbs and other
changes in the American population in the years after World War Two.

VOICE 2:

The United States has always counted its population every ten years. The
government needed to know how many people lived in each state so it would know how many congressmen each
state should have.

The first count was made two-hundred years ago. At that time, the country had about four-million persons. One-
hundred years later, the population had increased to about sixty-three-million persons. By nineteen-fifty, there
were more than one-hundred-fifty-million persons in the United States.

In the early years of America, the average mother had eight to ten children. Living conditions were hard. Many
children died at an early age. Families needed a lot of help on the farm. So it was good to have many children.

This changed in the years that followed. Families began to have fewer and fewer children. By nineteen-hundred,
the average woman only had three or four children and by nineteen-thirty-six, during the great economic
depression, the average American mother gave birth to only two children.

VOICE 1:

This changed immediately after World War Two. Suddenly, it seemed, every family started having babies.
Parents were hopeful about the future. There were lots of jobs. And people everywhere felt the need for a family
and security⁴ after the long, difficult years of the war. So the birth rate increased suddenly.

The number of children between the ages of five and fourteen increased by more than ten-million between
nineteen-fifty and nineteen-sixty.

VOICE 2:

Many of the new parents moved to homes in the new suburbs. The word suburb² comes from the word urban, or
having to do with cities. A suburb was sub, or something less than, a city.

It usually was created on an empty piece of land just outside a city. A businessman would buy the land and build
houses on it. Young families would buy the houses with money that they borrowed from local banks.


Life was different in the suburbs. There were all sorts of group activities.

VOICE 1:

There were boy scout⁵ groups for the boys. Girl scout groups for the girls. The parent -teachers association⁶ at the
school. Barbecue parties where families gathered to cook and eat outside. Historian⁷ William Manchester
described life in the suburbs in this way: "The new suburbs were free, open, and honestly friendly to anyone
except black people, whose time had not yet come."

Manchester wrote, "Families moving in found that their new friends were happy to help them get settled.
Children in the suburbs exchanged toys and clothes almost as though they were group property. If little Bobby
out-grew his clothes, his mother gave them to little Billy across the street. Front doors were not locked. Friends
felt free to enter without knocking or asking permission."

VOICE 2:

Parents did everything they could to make life good for their children. The number of boys playing on Little
League baseball teams increased from less than one-million to almost six-million between nineteen-fifty and
nineteen-sixty. During the same period, the number of Girl Scouts⁸ increased by two-million. And twice as many
bicycles were sold.

Parents also tried to improve their children's education. In nineteen-sixty, parents bought almost three times more
educational books for children than ten years earlier.

Parents also bought millions of dollars' worth of pianos, violins, and other musical instruments for their children.
Families in the suburbs wanted a new life, a good life, for their children.

VOICE 1:

It was true that the average number of children per family was increasing. But the total population of the United
States did not increase as much during this period as one might have expected.

The reason for this was that fewer immigrants⁹ were coming from foreign countries. In fact, the number of
immigrants to the United States had been dropping for many years. In nineteen-ten, eleven immigrants were
coming to America for every thousand Americans already living here. By nineteen-fifty, just one-and-a-half
immigrants were coming for every thousand Americans.

The kinds of immigrants were changing, too. In the past, most came from northern and western Europe. But now,
growing numbers of people came to the United States from Latin¹⁰ America, Asia, and southern and eastern
European countries.

VOICE 2:

Many Americans moved to different parts of the country in the nineteen-fifties.

Most Americans continued to live in the eastern, central, and southern parts of the country. But growing numbers
moved to the western states. The population of the western states increased by almost forty percent during the
nineteen-fifties.

America's biggest city in nineteen-fifty was New York, with almost eight -million persons. Second was Chicago,
with more than three- and -a-half million. Then came Philadelphia, Los Angeles, Detroit, Baltimore, Cleveland,
and Saint¹¹ Louis.

VOICE 1:

Another population change was in life expectancy¹². In the early nineteen-hundreds, the average newborn
American could only expect to live about forty-seven years. But by the nineteen-fifties, most American babies
could expect to live well past their sixtieth birthday.

This increase in life expectancy was due to improvements¹³ in living conditions and medical care. And it would


continue to increase steadily¹⁴ in the years that followed.
VOICE 2:
The United States was a changing country, a nation on the move. And political leaders battled each other for the

right to lead it. We will look in our next program at political events during this period and look at the presidency¹⁵
of Harry¹⁶ Truman.
(Theme)

VOICE 1:
You have been listening to THE MAKING OF A NATION, a program in Special English by the Voice of
America. Your narrators have been Harry Monroe and Rich Kleinfledt. Our program was written by David
Jarmul. The Voice of America invites you to listen again next week to THE MAKING OF A NATION.

 

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1 newly   

adv.新近，最近；重新，再度；以新的方式

参考例句：

• Have you reviewed for this newly published novel?你给这本新出版的小说写书评了吗？
• It is a newly planted tree and it has not established yet.这是一颗新栽的树，还没有扎下根来。

2 suburb   

n.郊区，郊外，近郊

参考例句：

• Toward the suburb the houses begin to thin out.靠近市郊的地方房屋渐渐稀少。
• Disneyland is in Los Angeles suburb.迪斯尼游乐场在洛杉矶的近郊。

3 suburbs   

n.郊区，城郊( suburb的名词复数 )；四乡；隧；四郊

参考例句：

• The poor suburbs traditionally formed the bedrock of the party's support. 贫穷的郊区在传统上构成了支持该党的牢固基础。
• The new college will be located in the suburbs. 这所新建的学院将设在郊区。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 security   

n.安全，安全感；防护措施；保证(金)，抵押(品)；债券，证券

参考例句：

• A security guard brought him down with a flying tackle.一名保安人员飞身把他抱倒。
• There was tight security at the airport when the President's plane landed.总统的专机降落时，机场的保安措施很严密。

5 scout   

n.童子军，侦察员；v.侦察，搜索

参考例句：

• He was mistaken for an enemy scout and badly wounded.他被误认为是敌人的侦察兵，受了重伤。
• The scout made a stealthy approach to the enemy position.侦察兵偷偷地靠近敌军阵地。

6 association   

n.联盟，协会，社团；交往，联合；联想

参考例句：

• Our long association with your company has brought great benefits.我方和贵公司的长期合作带来了巨大的利益。
• I broke away from the association ten years ago.我10年前就脱离了那个团体。

7 historian   

n.历史学家，编史家

参考例句：

• As a historian,he was most typical of the times in which he lived.作为历史学家，他是他所处时代最有代表性的人物。
• He calls himself a historian,but his books are a mere journalism.他自称为历史学家，但是他的书都是些肤浅的通俗作品。

8 scouts   

侦察员[机，舰]( scout的名词复数 )； 童子军； 搜索； 童子军成员

参考例句：

• to join the Scouts 参加童子军
• The scouts paired off and began to patrol the area. 巡逻人员两个一组，然后开始巡逻这个地区。

9 immigrants   

n.移民( immigrant的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Illegal immigrants were given the opportunity to regularize their position. 非法移民得到了使其身份合法化的机会。
• Immigrants from all over the world populate this city. 这个城市里生活着来自世界各地的移民。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 Latin   

adj.拉丁的，拉丁语的，拉丁人的；n.拉丁语

参考例句：

• She learned Latin without a master.她无师自通学会了拉丁语。
• Please use only Latin characters.请仅使用拉丁文字符。

11 saint   

n.圣徒；基督教徒；vt.成为圣徒，把...视为圣徒

参考例句：

• He was made a saint.他被封为圣人。
• The saint had a lowly heart.圣人有谦诚之心。

12 expectancy   

n.期望，预期，（根据概率统计求得）预期数额

参考例句：

• Japanese people have a very high life expectancy.日本人的平均寿命非常长。
• The atomosphere of tense expectancy sobered everyone.这种期望的紧张气氛使每个人变得严肃起来。

13 improvements   

增加或修改( improvement的名词复数 )； 改进； 改善； 改良

参考例句：

• improvements in efficiency at the factory 工厂效率的提高
• They've spent a lot of money on home improvements. 他们花了很多钱装修家居。

14 steadily   

adv.稳定地；不变地；持续地

参考例句：

• The scope of man's use of natural resources will steadily grow.人类利用自然资源的广度将日益扩大。
• Our educational reform was steadily led onto the correct path.我们的教学改革慢慢上轨道了。

15 presidency   

n.总统(校长，总经理)的职位(任期)

参考例句：

• Roosevelt was elected four times to the presidency of the United States.罗斯福连续当选四届美国总统。
• Two candidates are emerging as contestants for the presidency.两位候选人最终成为总统职位竞争者。

16 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。