VOA慢速英语2012--Carter brings Egypt’s Sadat, Israel’s Begin together for Peace Talks

THE MAKING OF A NATION - Carter brings Egypt’s Sadat, Israel’s Begin together for Peace Talks

 

STEVE EMBER: Welcome to THE MAKING OF A NATION – American history in VOA Special English. I’m Steve Ember.

Today, we tell about the administration of the thirty-ninth president of the United States, Jimmy Carter.

(MUSIC)

It is January twentieth, nineteen seventy-seven. Inauguration¹ Day. America's newly elected president, Jimmy Carter, is on his way to the White House after his swearing-in ceremony at the Capitol building.

But the new president is not riding in a car. He is walking. His wife, Rosalynn, and his daughter, Amy, walk with him. Crowds along Pennsylvania Avenue cheer. Bands play.

On this cold day in Washington, Americans look to the future. Watergate -- the crisis that led to the resignation of President Richard Nixon -- is several years in the past. The Vietnam War is history, too.

Republican Gerald Ford² served the remaining years of Nixon's term. Many people believe he brought respect and order back to the government. Yet he lost the office to Democrat³ Jimmy Carter in the election of nineteen seventy-six.

Egypt's president Anwar Sadat, left, shakes hands with Israeli prime minister Menachem Begin as American president Jimmy Carter looks on at Camp David, Maryland, September 1978

The nation still has problems. Unemployment is high. So is inflation. But the future of the nation looks bright. Jimmy Carter feels sure about his future, too. On the day before his inauguration, he said:

CARTER: "I do feel that the people of this nation and, I think, the entire world wish me well and want to see me succeed as president. And that gives me a sense of reassurance⁴ and confidence. I think I'm ready now to be president."

During the election campaign, Carter often said he would be different from other presidents. He told voters he was not a member of the Washington political establishment. So he would do things in his own independent way.

(MUSIC)

Carter was from Georgia, in the "Deep South" of the United States. There had not been a president born in the South in more than one-hundred years. Carter studied nuclear engineering and attended the United States Naval⁵ Academy. He planned to stay in the Navy. Then his father died. And he decided⁶ to return to Georgia to operate the family peanut farm.

Carter began his political life on the committee that supervised schools in his hometown of Plains, Georgia. He also served in other local offices. In nineteen-sixty-six, he failed to win the Democratic nomination⁷ for governor of Georgia. For the next four years, he traveled around the state gathering⁸ support. He won the next election.

As governor, Carter earned praise for reorganizing the state government. He also reformed state programs dealing⁹ with prisons and mental health care. In nineteen-seventy-two, he offered himself as a candidate for vice¹⁰ president with presidential candidate George McGovern. But the Democratic Party chose someone else.

Carter did not wait long to begin his next political move. He would try to win the Democratic presidential nomination in nineteen seventy-six.

Jimmy Carter was hardly known outside the state of Georgia. Political experts gave him little chance. Even his mother was surprised to learn that he wanted to be president. "President of what?" she asked.

But the farmer and former governor had a plan. He would try to win his party's primary elections in the South. He believed this would give him enough support at the party convention to win the nomination.

Other Democratic candidates tried to stop him, but his plan worked. By the time of the convention, he had enough support to win the nomination on the first ballot¹¹.

In the general election, Carter defeated President Ford by almost two percent of the popular vote. He lost in the West and Middle West, but won the South and Northeast.

(MUSIC)

President Carter believed strongly in human rights. He hoped he could use his new position to support human rights throughout the world. On this and other issues, he was not afraid of being criticized when he believed he was right.

For example, he believed it was right for the United States to end its control of the Panama Canal. He won Congressional support for treaties to give control to Panama by the year two-thousand. He believed it was right to give diplomatic recognition to Communist China. And he believed it was right to continue negotiations¹² with the Soviet¹³ Union about limiting nuclear weapons, even though he denounced human rights violations¹⁴ there.

In nineteen-seventy-nine, Carter and Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev signed the strategic arms limitation treaty known as SALT Two. However, Carter decided not to send the treaty to the Senate for approval after the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan later that year.

(MUSIC)

One of the finest moments of Carter’s presidency¹⁵ took place at Camp David. That is the holiday home of American presidents. There, in March nineteen seventy-nine, President Anwar Sadat of Egypt met with Prime Minister Menachem Begin of Israel. They signed a peace treaty ending thirty years of war between their countries.

CARTER: “We’re privileged to witness tonight a significant achievement in the cause of peace, an achievement none thought possible a year ago, or even a month ago, an achievement that reflects the courage and wisdom of these two leaders.”

Both men said the treaty would not have been possible without President Carter's help.

President Carter was not as successful in dealing with the economy. High unemployment and inflation continued. The federal deficit¹⁶ increased, although he had promised to end it. And there was a shortage of gasoline.

The shortage resulted when oil-producing countries limited production and exports. Carter urged American companies to develop new sources of energy, in addition to oil. He said the United States needed to do this, because it could not always depend on getting enough oil from other countries.

CARTER: “This intolerable dependence¹⁷ on foreign oil threatens our economic independence and the very security of our nation. The energy crisis is real. It is worldwide. It is a clear and present danger to our nation. These are facts and we simply must face them.

“I am tonight setting a clear goal for the energy policy of the United States. Beginning this moment, this nation will never use more foreign oil than we did in 1977 -- never. From now on, every new addition to our demand for energy will be met from our own production and our own conservation. The generation-long growth in our dependence on foreign oil will be stopped dead in its tracks right now.”

(MUSIC)

During the gasoline shortage, Americans had to wait in long lines to buy fuel.

They did not like it and were angry.

Many were even more angry about a different situation. Like the gasoline shortage, it was a result of actions in another distant place.

ABC NEW ANCHOR SAM DONALSON: “Good Evening. The U-S embassy in Tehran has been invaded and occupied by Iranian students. The Americans inside have been taken prisoner.”

(MUSIC)

On November fourth, nineteen seventy-nine, Muslim extremists in Iran seized the American Embassy in Tehran. They took many hostages, including more than sixty Americans. The extremists said they were punishing the United States for being friendly with ousted¹⁸ Iranian leader, Shah Reza Pahlavi.

The extremists refused to negotiate. They refused to release the hostages. In early April nineteen-eighty, President Carter broke off diplomatic relations with Iran. He then ordered American military forces to try to rescue the hostages in Tehran. The operation failed. A sandstorm caused two of the aircraft to crash into each other. They went down in the desert hundreds of kilometers away.

The failed rescue attempt had a major effect on the presidency of Jimmy Carter. Many Americans felt it showed that he could not do the job. Their respect for him continued to decrease as the hostages continued to be held.

Other things were beginning to go wrong, too. The president's younger brother, Billy, admitted receiving a large amount of money from Libya. He took the money in exchange for supporting Libyan interests with American lawmakers. His mistake was that he did not list his name as a representative of a foreign government.

(MUSIC)

Nineteen-Eighty was a presidential election year in the United States. President Carter was expected to be the candidate of the Democratic Party. His chances were almost ruined because of the situation in Iran. Carter hoped that concern for the hostages would unite the country behind him. Instead, support turned to blame.

Senator Edward Kennedy of Massachusetts believed he could defeat Carter for the nomination. Kennedy won several important Democratic primary elections. But that was not enough. The party re-nominated Carter. Kennedy offered Carter his support, but not very strongly. This left the party divided.

(MUSIC)

The Republicans got ready to win back the White House. They hoped to do it with a strong appeal to American voters. The appeal came from a man who would become one of America's most popular presidents -- Ronald Reagan.

That will be our story next week.

You can find our series online with transcripts¹⁹, MP3s, podcasts and pictures at voanews.cn. You can also follow us on Facebook and Twitter at VOA Learning English. I’m Steve Ember, inviting²⁰ you to join us again next week for THE MAKING OF A NATION -- American history in VOA Special English.
___

Contributing: Jerilyn Watson

This was program #222. For earlier programs, type "Making of a Nation" in quotation²¹ marks in the search box at the top of the page.

1 inauguration   

n.开幕、就职典礼

参考例句：

• The inauguration of a President of the United States takes place on January 20.美国总统的就职典礼于一月二十日举行。
• Three celebrated tenors sang at the president's inauguration.3位著名的男高音歌手在总统就职仪式上演唱。

2 Ford   

n.浅滩，水浅可涉处；v.涉水，涉过

参考例句：

• They were guarding the bridge,so we forded the river.他们驻守在那座桥上，所以我们只能涉水过河。
• If you decide to ford a stream,be extremely careful.如果已决定要涉过小溪，必须极度小心。

3 democrat   

n.民主主义者，民主人士；民主党党员

参考例句：

• The Democrat and the Public criticized each other.民主党人和共和党人互相攻击。
• About two years later,he was defeated by Democrat Jimmy Carter.大约两年后，他被民主党人杰米卡特击败。

4 reassurance   

n.使放心，使消除疑虑

参考例句：

• He drew reassurance from the enthusiastic applause.热烈的掌声使他获得了信心。
• Reassurance is especially critical when it comes to military activities.消除疑虑在军事活动方面尤为关键。

5 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。

6 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。

7 nomination   

n.提名，任命，提名权

参考例句：

• John is favourite to get the nomination for club president.约翰最有希望被提名为俱乐部主席。
• Few people pronounced for his nomination.很少人表示赞成他的提名。

8 gathering   

n.集会，聚会，聚集

参考例句：

• He called on Mr. White to speak at the gathering.他请怀特先生在集会上讲话。
• He is on the wing gathering material for his novels.他正忙于为他的小说收集资料。

9 dealing   

n.经商方法，待人态度

参考例句：

• This store has an excellent reputation for fair dealing.该商店因买卖公道而享有极高的声誉。
• His fair dealing earned our confidence.他的诚实的行为获得我们的信任。

10 vice   

n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的

参考例句：

• He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
• They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。

11 ballot   

n.（不记名）投票，投票总数，投票权；vi.投票

参考例句：

• The members have demanded a ballot.会员们要求投票表决。
• The union said they will ballot members on whether to strike.工会称他们将要求会员投票表决是否罢工。

12 negotiations   

协商( negotiation的名词复数 )； 谈判； 完成（难事）； 通过

参考例句：

• negotiations for a durable peace 为持久和平而进行的谈判
• Negotiations have failed to establish any middle ground. 谈判未能达成任何妥协。

13 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。

14 violations   

违反( violation的名词复数 )； 冒犯； 违反（行为、事例）； 强奸

参考例句：

• This is one of the commonest traffic violations. 这是常见的违反交通规则之例。
• These violations of the code must cease forthwith. 这些违犯法规的行为必须立即停止。

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 deficit   

n.亏空，亏损；赤字，逆差

参考例句：

• The directors have reported a deficit of 2.5 million dollars.董事们报告赤字为250万美元。
• We have a great deficit this year.我们今年有很大亏损。

17 dependence   

n.依靠，依赖；信任，信赖；隶属

参考例句：

• Doctors keep trying to break her dependence of the drug.医生们尽力使她戒除毒瘾。
• He was freed from financial dependence on his parents.他在经济上摆脱了对父母的依赖。

18 ousted   

驱逐( oust的过去式和过去分词 )； 革职； 罢黜； 剥夺

参考例句：

• He was ousted as chairman. 他的主席职务被革除了。
• He may be ousted by a military takeover. 他可能在一场军事接管中被赶下台。

19 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

20 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。

21 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。