VOA慢速英语2012 THE MAKING OF A NATION - American History: Bill Clinton’s Second Term

THE MAKING OF A NATION - American History: Bill Clinton’s Second Term

STEVE EMBER: Welcome to THE MAKING OF A NATION – American history in VOA Special English. I’m Steve Ember.
This week in our series, we look back at Bill Clinton's second term as president.
BILL CLINTON: “For four years now, to realize our vision, we have pursued a simple but profound strategy – opportunity for all, responsibility from all, a strong united American community.”
Americans elected Clinton as their forty-second president in nineteen-ninety-two and re-elected him four years later.
(MUSIC)
In the summer of nineteen ninety-six, President Clinton's first term was coming to an end. He had established a mixed record of successes and failures in his dealings with Congress. He had greater difficulty in those dealings after opposition¹ Republicans won control of Congress in nineteen ninety-four.
All presidents face political battles. But in President Clinton's case there was more to it. He and his wife, Hillary Rodham Clinton, were being investigated over their personal financial dealings in Arkansas during the nineteen eighties. There were also accusations² of womanizing from his years as governor of that state.
But in the summer of ninety-six President Clinton's public approval ratings stayed above fifty percent and went as high as sixty percent.
The economy had improved during his first term. Americans were getting jobs and spending more money. More people, and not just the wealthy, were investing in the stock market.
In August of nineteen ninety-six the Democratic Party met in Chicago and nominated President Clinton and Vice⁴ President Al Gore⁵ for a second term.
BILL CLINTON: “My fellow Democrats⁶ and my fellow Americans, thank you for your nomination⁷. I don’t know if I can find a fancy way to say this, but I accept.”
(MUSIC)
The Republican Party held its nominating convention that summer in San Diego, California. The party chose former Kansas senator Bob Dole⁸ as its presidential candidate. He had resigned from the United States Senate to seek the nomination. He chose former congressman⁹ and cabinet secretary Jack¹¹ Kemp of New York as his vice presidential running mate.
Dole was a World War Two hero who suffered a permanent injury to his right arm. He later served four terms in the House of Representatives. He was elected to the Senate in nineteen sixty-eight and re-elected four times.
Another candidate in the presidential race was businessman Ross Perot. He won the nomination of the Reform Party which he started a year earlier. He had also run for president in nineteen ninety-two, and received nineteen percent of the popular vote.
During the ninety-six campaign, President Clinton pointed¹² to the stronger economy. He also campaigned on his legislative¹³ record, including new gun-control measures and a higher minimum wage for the lowest paid workers.
Bob Dole, in his campaign, accused President Clinton of spending too much. Clinton's answer was that he had stopped Congress from cutting too much from programs like health insurance for retirees.
Bill Clinton and Al Gore easily won the election, defeating Bob Dole and Jack Kemp. Ross Perot received just eight percent of the popular vote this time.
Clinton became the first Democrat³ to win a second term since Franklin Roosevelt in nineteen thirty-six.
(MUSIC)
William Jefferson Clinton began his second term as president of the United States on January twentieth, nineteen ninety-seven. His inaugural¹⁴ speech would be the last by an American president in the twentieth century.
BILL CLINTON: “Let us lift our eyes toward the challenges that await us in the next century. It is our great good fortune that time and chance have put us not only at the edge of a new century, in a new millennium¹⁵, but on the edge of a bright new prospect¹⁶ in human affairs, a moment that will define our course, and our character, for decades to come. We must keep our old democracy forever young.”
Clinton discussed some of the issues that the country continued to face, including racial divisions.
BILL CLINTON: “The divide of race has been America’s constant curse. And each new wave of immigrants gives new targets to old prejudices. Prejudice and contempt, cloaked in the pretense¹⁷ of religious or political conviction are no different.”
(MUSIC)
During his first term, President Clinton appointed a large number of women and minorities to the government. As he began his second term, he chose the first woman to serve as secretary of state. Madeleine Albright had represented the United States in the United Nations during Clinton’s first term.
And he appointed the first Asian-American to serve in the cabinet. Norman Mineta became secretary of commerce.
(MUSIC)
The Republican Party kept control of both houses of Congress in the ninety ninety-six elections.
At the end of his first term Clinton had gotten into a budget fight with the Republicans which resulted in two government shutdowns. Those shutdowns did more political harm to the Republicans than to the president.
In nineteen ninety-seven they reached a compromise. They agreed to a plan to end the federal deficit¹⁸ by two thousand two.
In fact, the budget was balanced much sooner. In nineteen ninety-eight, the economy was so strong that the government found itself with an extra seventy billion dollars -- the first surplus since nineteen sixty-nine.
(MUSIC)
President Clinton visited China in nineteen ninety-eight. He spoke¹⁹ of his belief that in the twenty-first century, democracy "will be the right course practically as well as morally, yielding more stability and more progress."
A month later, in August of nineteen ninety-eight, al-Qaida terrorists bombed the American embassies in Kenya and Tanzania. The attacks killed more than two hundred people. President Clinton ordered missile strikes against al-Qaida targets in Sudan – and in Afghanistan, in an effort to kill the group's leader, Osama bin¹⁰ Laden²⁰.
Later in the year, President Clinton ordered military action in response to Iraq's refusal to cooperate with United Nations inspectors²¹. The inspectors were searching for nuclear, chemical or biological weapons. Clinton ordered missile strikes against targets that U.N. officials said could have been linked to such weapons of mass destruction.
BILL CLINTON: “Their mission is to attack Iraq’s nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons programs, and its military capacity to threaten its neighbors. Their purpose is to protect the national interests of the United States, and indeed the interests of people throughout the middle east and around the world.
“Saddam Hussein must not be allowed to threaten his neighbors, or the world, with nuclear arms, poison gas, or biological weapons.”
(MUSIC)
In nineteen ninety-nine, Clinton deployed²² American aircraft and missiles as part of a NATO campaign in Yugoslavia. NATO was trying to stop attacks against ethnic²³ Albanians in Kosovo. Yugoslav military leaders agreed to withdraw their troops. NATO stopped the bombing and sent an international peacekeeping force to Kosovo. The United States provided seven thousand troops for that force.
(MUSIC)
Earlier in Clinton's presidency²⁴, the United States had led NATO airstrikes against Serb targets in the former Yugoslav republic of Bosnia. The operations followed the killing²⁵ of eight thousand Muslim men and boys by Bosnian Serb forces in Srebrenica, a U.N.-declared "safe area." Clinton later pushed for the nineteen ninety-five peace agreement to end the Bosnian war. The Dayton peace accords were named after Dayton, Ohio, the location of the Air Force base where they were negotiated.
Three years later, in nineteen ninety-eight, Israeli and Palestinian leaders signed a memorandum²⁶ of understanding at the White House. It called for Israeli forces to withdraw from some areas of the West Bank. The Wye Memorandum resulted from nine days of negotiations²⁷ at the Wye River Plantation²⁸ in Maryland.
Secretary of State Madeleine Albright and special diplomat²⁹ Dennis Ross traveled repeatedly to the Middle East to work on the peace efforts.
In two thousand one, President Clinton tried to get Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak to sign a peace agreement. Clinton invited the two leaders to the United States and held many hours of talks with them. Reports said they came close to an agreement, but the negotiations ended without success.
Palestinians declared a new uprising against Israel.
(MUSIC)
On trade issues, President Clinton at the end of his second term got Congress to approve permanent normal trade relations with China. That meant no more need for presidents to have to ask Congress for temporary renewals³⁰ of those trade rights. Clinton argued that the move would create a better environment for democratic reforms in China, as well as creating jobs in the United States.
Among other foreign policy matters during his presidency, Clinton normalized relations with Vietnam. And he supported the expansion of NATO -- the North Atlantic Treaty Organization -- in Europe.
Bill Clinton's presidency will be remembered at least in part for his efforts to reach out to the international community. But it will also be remembered for the impeachment³¹ trial in Congress that almost ended that presidency.
BILL CLINTON: “These allegations are false, and I need to go back to work for the American people.
That will be our story next week.
(MUSIC)
You can find our series online with transcripts³², MP3s, podcasts and pictures at voanews.cn. You can also follow us on Facebook and Twitter at VOA Learning English. I’m Steve Ember, inviting³³ 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 #230. For earlier programs, type "Making of a Nation" in quotation³⁴ marks in the search box at the top of the page.

1 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

2 accusations   

n.指责( accusation的名词复数 )；指控；控告；（被告发、控告的）罪名

参考例句：

• There were accusations of plagiarism. 曾有过关于剽窃的指控。
• He remained unruffled by their accusations. 对于他们的指控他处之泰然。

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 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。

5 gore   

n.凝血，血污；v.（动物）用角撞伤，用牙刺破；缝以补裆；顶

参考例句：

• The fox lay dying in a pool of gore.狐狸倒在血泊中奄奄一息。
• Carruthers had been gored by a rhinoceros.卡拉瑟斯被犀牛顶伤了。

6 democrats   

n.民主主义者，民主人士( democrat的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The Democrats held a pep rally on Capitol Hill yesterday. 民主党昨天在国会山召开了竞选誓师大会。
• The democrats organize a filibuster in the senate. 民主党党员组织了阻挠议事。 来自《简明英汉词典》

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 dole   

n.救济，（失业）救济金；vt.（out）发放，发给

参考例句：

• It's not easy living on the dole.靠领取失业救济金生活并不容易。
• Many families are living on the dole since the strike.罢工以来，许多家庭靠失业救济金度日。

9 Congressman   

n.（美）国会议员

参考例句：

• He related several anecdotes about his first years as a congressman.他讲述自己初任议员那几年的几则轶事。
• The congressman is meditating a reply to his critics.这位国会议员正在考虑给他的批评者一个答复。

10 bin   

n.箱柜；vt.放入箱内；[计算机] DOS文件名:二进制目标文件

参考例句：

• He emptied several bags of rice into a bin.他把几袋米倒进大箱里。
• He threw the empty bottles in the bin.他把空瓶子扔进垃圾箱。

11 jack   

n.插座，千斤顶，男人；v.抬起，提醒，扛举；n.（Jake）杰克

参考例句：

• I am looking for the headphone jack.我正在找寻头戴式耳机插孔。
• He lifted the car with a jack to change the flat tyre.他用千斤顶把车顶起来换下瘪轮胎。

12 pointed   

adj.尖的，直截了当的

参考例句：

• He gave me a very sharp pointed pencil.他给我一支削得非常尖的铅笔。
• She wished to show Mrs.John Dashwood by this pointed invitation to her brother.她想通过对达茨伍德夫人提出直截了当的邀请向她的哥哥表示出来。

13 legislative   

n.立法机构，立法权；adj.立法的，有立法权的

参考例句：

• Congress is the legislative branch of the U.S. government.国会是美国政府的立法部门。
• Today's hearing was just the first step in the legislative process.今天的听证会只是展开立法程序的第一步。

14 inaugural   

adj.就职的；n.就职典礼

参考例句：

• We listened to the President's inaugural speech on the radio yesterday.昨天我们通过无线电听了总统的就职演说。
• Professor Pearson gave the inaugural lecture in the new lecture theatre.皮尔逊教授在新的阶梯讲堂发表了启用演说。

15 millennium   

n.一千年，千禧年；太平盛世

参考例句：

• The whole world was counting down to the new millennium.全世界都在倒计时迎接新千年的到来。
• We waited as the clock ticked away the last few seconds of the old millennium.我们静候着时钟滴答走过千年的最后几秒钟。

16 prospect   

n.前景，前途；景色，视野

参考例句：

• This state of things holds out a cheerful prospect.事态呈现出可喜的前景。
• The prospect became more evident.前景变得更加明朗了。

17 pretense   

n.矫饰，做作，借口

参考例句：

• You can't keep up the pretense any longer.你无法继续伪装下去了。
• Pretense invariably impresses only the pretender.弄虚作假欺骗不了真正的行家。

18 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。

19 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

20 laden   

adj.装满了的；充满了的；负了重担的；苦恼的

参考例句：

• He is laden with heavy responsibility.他肩负重任。
• Dragging the fully laden boat across the sand dunes was no mean feat.将满载货物的船拖过沙丘是一件了不起的事。

21 inspectors   

n.检查员( inspector的名词复数 )；（英国公共汽车或火车上的）查票员；（警察）巡官；检阅官

参考例句：

• They got into the school in the guise of inspectors. 他们假装成视察员进了学校。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Inspectors checked that there was adequate ventilation. 检查员已检查过，通风良好。 来自《简明英汉词典》

22 deployed   

（尤指军事行动）使展开( deploy的过去式和过去分词 )； 施展； 部署； 有效地利用

参考例句：

• Tanks have been deployed all along the front line. 沿整个前线已部署了坦克。
• The artillery was deployed to bear on the fort. 火炮是对着那个碉堡部署的。

23 ethnic   

adj.人种的，种族的，异教徒的

参考例句：

• This music would sound more ethnic if you played it in steel drums.如果你用钢鼓演奏，这首乐曲将更具民族特色。
• The plan is likely only to aggravate ethnic frictions.这一方案很有可能只会加剧种族冲突。

24 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。

25 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

26 memorandum   

n.备忘录，便笺

参考例句：

• The memorandum was dated 23 August,2008.备忘录上注明的日期是2008年8月23日。
• The Secretary notes down the date of the meeting in her memorandum book.秘书把会议日期都写在记事本上。

27 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。

28 plantation   

n.种植园，大农场

参考例句：

• His father-in-law is a plantation manager.他岳父是个种植园经营者。
• The plantation owner has possessed himself of a vast piece of land.这个种植园主把大片土地占为己有。

29 diplomat   

n.外交官，外交家；能交际的人，圆滑的人

参考例句：

• The diplomat threw in a joke, and the tension was instantly relieved.那位外交官插进一个笑话，紧张的气氛顿时缓和下来。
• He served as a diplomat in Russia before the war.战前他在俄罗斯当外交官。

30 renewals   

重建( renewal的名词复数 )； 更新； 重生； 合同的续订

参考例句：

• Number of circulations excluding renewals. 7th out of 10 libraries. 借阅数目（不包括续借）。在10间图书馆中排行第七。
• Certification Renewals shall be due on July 1 of the renewal year. 资格认证更新在更新年的7月1日生效。

31 impeachment   

n.弹劾；控告；怀疑

参考例句：

• Impeachment is considered a drastic measure in the United States.在美国，弹劾被视为一种非常激烈的措施。
• The verdict resulting from his impeachment destroyed his political career.他遭弹劾后得到的判决毁了他的政治生涯。

32 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

33 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。

34 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。