VOA慢速英语2014 演员射杀林肯,称他为暴君

 

Actor Shoots Lincoln, Calls Him a Tyrant¹ 演员射杀林肯,称他为暴君

From VOA Learning² English, this is The Making of a Nation. I’m Kelly Jean Kelly.

And I’m Christopher Cruise³. 

On April 9, 1865, Confederate General Robert E. Lee surrendered⁴ his army to Union General Ulysses Grant⁵. Within weeks, the Civil War would be over. 

But President Abraham Lincoln was already thinking about the difficult times ahead. Lincoln did not want to punish the South. He wanted to repair the ties the Civil War had broken. Lincoln hoped to make people forget hatred⁶ and bitterness so the country could re-build. 

On Friday, April 14, 1865 he agreed to put this work aside for a while. 

In the afternoon, he took his wife Mary for a long drive away from the city of Washington. That night, they went to the theater. 

One of the popular plays of the time, called "Our American Cousin," was being performed at Ford's Theater, not far from the White House. 

The President and Mrs. Lincoln sat in special seats. The presidential box was above and to one side of the stage. A guard always stood outside the door to the box. On this night, however, the guard did not remain. He left the box unprotected. 

President Lincoln settled down in his seat to enjoy the play. As he did so, a man came to the door of the box. He carried a gun in one hand and a knife in the other. The man entered the presidential box quietly. He slowly raised the gun. He aimed it at the back of Lincoln's head. He fired. 

Then the man jumped from the box to the stage three meters below. He broke his leg when he hit the stage floor. But he pulled himself up, shouted, "Sic semper tyrannis!" -- "Thus ever to tyrants⁷!" -- and ran out the door. Then he got on a horse and was gone.

The attack was so quick the audience did not know what happened. Then a woman shouted, "The president has been shot!"

Lincoln had fallen forward in his seat, unconscious. Someone asked if it was possible to move him to the White House. A young army doctor said no. The president's wound was terrible. 

So Lincoln was moved to a house across the street from Ford's Theater. A doctor tried to remove the bullet⁸ from Lincoln's head. He could not. Nothing could be done, except wait.

Early the next morning, on April 15, Abraham Lincoln died. A prayer was said over his body. His eyes were closed. 

The news spread to cities and towns across the country. People hung black cloth on their doors in sorrow. 

Even the South mourned for Lincoln, its former enemy. Southern General Joe Johnston said, “His death is the worst thing that could happen for the South."

The gunman who shot Lincoln was an actor: John Wilkes Booth⁹. Booth fled the theater after the murder. Almost two weeks later, soldiers found him hiding and killed him. 

In a notebook, Booth described why he had shot the president. "Our country," Booth wrote, "owed all her troubles to him. And God simply made me the instrument of his punishment."

Words in This Story

tyrant – n. a ruler who has complete power over a country and who is cruel and unfair

unconscious – adj. not awake, especially because of an injury

instrument – n. a tool or device used for a purpose

1 tyrant   

n.暴君，专制的君主，残暴的人

参考例句：

• The country was ruled by a despotic tyrant.该国处在一个专制暴君的统治之下。
• The tyrant was deaf to the entreaties of the slaves.暴君听不到奴隶们的哀鸣。

2 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。

3 cruise   

v.巡航，航游，缓慢巡行；n.海上航游

参考例句：

• They went on a cruise to Tenerife.他们乘船去特纳利夫岛。
• She wants to cruise the canals of France in a barge.她想乘驳船游览法国的运河。

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 grant   

vt.同意给予，授予，承认；n.拨款；补助款

参考例句：

• If you grant my request, you will earn my thanks.如果你答应我的要求，就会得到我的感谢。
• He requested that the premier grant him an internview.他要求那位总理接见他一次。

6 hatred   

n.憎恶，憎恨，仇恨

参考例句：

• He looked at me with hatred in his eyes.他以憎恨的眼光望着我。
• The old man was seized with burning hatred for the fascists.老人对法西斯主义者充满了仇恨。

7 tyrants   

专制统治者( tyrant的名词复数 )； 暴君似的人； （古希腊的）僭主； 严酷的事物

参考例句：

• The country was ruled by a succession of tyrants. 这个国家接连遭受暴君的统治。
• The people suffered under foreign tyrants. 人民在异族暴君的统治下受苦受难。

8 bullet   

n.枪弹，子弹

参考例句：

• The bullet wound in his shoulder was opened up for treatment.切开他肩上的枪伤进行治疗。
• The bullet missed me by a hair's s breadth.那颗子弹差一点就打中了我。

9 booth   

n.小房间，公用电话亭，岗亭；货摊

参考例句：

• Where can I find a telephone booth?我在哪儿可以找到电话亭？
• Let's walk around to each booth.我们到每个摊子转一转吧！