VOA慢速英语2015 美国内战结束

 

The Civil War Ends 美国内战结束

From VOA Learning¹ English, this is The Making of a Nation. I’m Kelly Jean Kelly.

Abraham Lincoln did not live to see the final surrender² of the armies of the Confederacy. A Confederate sympathizer³ shot the president at Ford's Theatre in Washington on April 14, 1865. 

By that time, however, the American Civil War was over. 

General Robert E. Lee surrendered⁴ in early April, bringing an end to four years of fighting. Several other Confederate armies were still in the field. But they were too small and too weak to continue the fight. 

One by one, the remaining armies surrendered. The soldiers began returning home. 

Late in May, 150,000 Union soldiers, representing every one of the Union armies, came to Washington. They came to take part in a victory march through the city. 

For two days, the soldiers marched past the White House. Many of the men had fought at Bull⁵ Run, Antietam, Gettysburg and Appomattox. Sherman's western army was there from battles at Shiloh and Atlanta. 

The soldiers marched proudly past the new president, Andrew Johnson, and other government leaders. 

Finally, the last group of soldiers passed the White House. The grand parade was over. The battle flags were put away, and the marching bands fell silent. The war was ended. Now, people could look about them and count the cost of the war. 

Civil War Destruction⁶: Ruins of the Railroad⁷ Yards at RichmondCivil War Destruction: Ruins of the Railroad Yards at Richmond

Four years of bloody⁸ fighting had saved the Union of states. The northern victory had decided⁹ that states could not leave the Union. And it had put to rest the great problem of slavery, which had troubled the nation for so many years. 

But the costs were great. More than 600,000 men of the North and South lost their lives. Hundreds of thousands more were wounded. Many had lost their arms or legs. 

The war cost the North over 3 billion dollars. The war was almost as costly¹⁰ to the Confederates. Most of the war was fought in the southern states. And most of the war damage was there. 

Some towns and cities -- including Atlanta -- were completely destroyed. The damage outside the populated areas was almost as great. Union armies had marched across the South, leaving behind them widespread destruction. Farm houses and buildings had been burned; animals and crops seized or destroyed. 

There was also the question of the four million former slaves. They were free now. But they needed jobs and training. Once again, the American people debated the best plan for moving the country forward.

Words in This Story

sympathizer – n. supporter

put to rest – v. make someone stop thinking about or believing something

costly – adj. causing people to lose something or to suffer

1 learning   

n.学问，学识，学习；动词learn的现在分词

参考例句：

• When you are learning to ride a bicycle,you often fall off.初学骑自行车时，常会从车上掉下来。
• Learning languages isn't just a matter of remembering words.学习语言不仅仅是记些单词的事。

2 surrender   

v.投降，自首；屈服；交出，放弃

参考例句：

• He preferred to die rather than surrender to the enemy.他宁死也不愿向敌人投降。
• Liu Hulan would rather die than surrender before the enemy.刘胡兰在敌人面前宁死不屈。

3 sympathizer   

n.同情者；同感者；支持者；赞助者

参考例句：

• Sometimes a sympathizer is one step away from a lover. 有时侯，同情者与情人仅一步之遥。 来自互联网
• It is said that his cousin, a British sympathizer under Howe's command, betrayed him. 据说，海尔之所以被发现，是因为他有一个堂兄弟在豪威的部队里做事，因为同情英国，所以背叛了海尔。 来自互联网

4 surrendered   

n.电子放单；Telex releasedv.投降( surrender的过去式和过去分词 )；放弃，抛弃

参考例句：

• The bandit chief surrendered himself to despair and took his own life. 匪首在绝望中自杀了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• She gradually surrendered her dream of becoming an actress. 她渐渐放弃了当演员的梦想。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 bull   

n.公牛，买进证券投机图利者，看涨的人

参考例句：

• It's only a hair off a bull's back to them.这对他们来说，不过九牛一毛。
• Many dogs closed around the bull.很多狗渐渐地把那只牛围了起来。

6 destruction   

n.破坏，毁灭，消灭

参考例句：

• The enemy bombs caused widespread destruction.敌人的炸弹造成大面积的破坏。
• Overconfidence was his destruction.自负是他垮台的原因。

7 railroad   

n.铁路；vi.由铁路运输

参考例句：

• The railroad connects two cities,namely,New York and Chicago.这条铁路连接两个城市，即纽约与芝加哥。
• My brother is working on the railroad.我兄弟在铁路系统工作。

8 bloody   

adj.非常的的；流血的；残忍的；adv.很；vt.血染

参考例句：

• He got a bloody nose in the fight.他在打斗中被打得鼻子流血。
• He is a bloody fool.他是一个十足的笨蛋。

9 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。

10 costly   

adj.昂贵的，价值高的，豪华的

参考例句：

• It must be very costly to keep up a house like this.维修这么一幢房子一定很昂贵。
• This dictionary is very useful,only it is a bit costly.这本词典很有用，左不过贵了些。