Unit 9

Text

    In the last days of World War 11, Adolf Hitler and his closest associates had sought shelter in a command 司令部bunker before the fall of Berlin. He knew that defeat was close at hand and that he must prepare for his own death. Here is a detailed description of how he ended his life.

The Death of Hitler

                                                                William L. Shirer

    During the afternoon of April 29, news arrived at the bunker 碉堡, 掩体 where Adolf Hitler and Eva Braun were separated from the outside world. Mussolini, Hitler's fellow fascist dictator and partner in aggression进攻, 侵略, had met his end, and it had been shared by his mistress, Clara Petacci.

    They had been caught by Italian guerrillas游击队员 on April 27 while trying to escape to Switzerland and executed执行, 实行, 完成, 处死, 制成 after a brief trial. On the Saturday night of April 28 the bodies were brought to Milan in a truck and dumped on the town square 广场. The next day they were strung up用绳吊起；吊死by the heels from lampposts and later cut down so that throughout the rest of Sunday, they lay in the gutter排水沟. On May Day Benito Mussolini was buried beside his mistress in the paupers'叫花子, 乞丐plot of a Milan cemetery墓地, 公墓. In such a horrible climax高潮, 顶点 of degradation羞辱，降级, 降格, 退化 Mussolini and Fascism passed into history.

    It is not know how many of the details of Mussolini's shabby破旧的, 褴褛的, 低劣的, 卑鄙的, 不公平的 end were communicated to the Fuehrer（德）元首. One can only guess that if he heard many of them he was only strengthened in his resolve决心 not to allow himself or his bride to be made a spectacle 展览物,景象; 奇观—— not their live selves自我, 自身or their bodies.

    Shortly after receiving the news of Mussolini's death, Hitler began to make the final最后的, 最终的, 决定性的 preparations for his. He had his favorite Alsatian dog poisoned and two other dogs in the household shot. Then he called in his two remaining women secretaries and handed them capsules of poison to use if they wished to when the advancing Russians broke in. He was sorry, he said, not to be able to give them a better farewell辞别, 再见, 再会gift, and he expressed his appreciation感谢, 感激, 正确评价, 欣赏, 增值 for their long and loyal忠诚的, 忠心的service.

    Evening had now come, the last of Adolf Hitler's life. He instructed教, 教导, 命令, 指示, 通知 Mrs. Junge, one of his secretaries, to destroy the remaining papers in his files, and he sent out word that no one in the bunker was to go to bed until further orders. This was interpreted解释, 说明,认为是...的意思by all as meaning that he judged the time had come to make his farewells. But it was not until long after midnight, at about 2:30 AM of April 30, as several witnesses]证人, 目击者recall, that the Fuehrer元首 emerged显现, 浮现, 暴露, 形成from his private私人的, 私有的, 私营的, 秘密的quarters住处, 岗位and appeared in the general dining passage通过, 经过, 通道where some 20 persons, mostly the women members of his group of associates, were assembled装配,组合. He walked down the line shaking hand with each and mumbling a few words that were inaudible听不见的, 不可闻的. There was a heavy film 薄雾薄膜of moisture潮湿, 湿气on his eyes and, as Mrs. Junge remembered, "They seemed to be looking far away, beyond the walls of the bunker."

    After he retired, a curious好奇的, 求知的, 古怪的thing happened. The tension紧张(状态), 不安, 拉紧, 压力, 张力, 牵力, 电压 which had been building up to an almost unendurable无法忍受的, 不能忍耐的,不能持久的point in the bunker broke, and several persons went to the canteen食堂 —— to dance. The weird怪异的, 超自然的, 神秘的party soon became so noisy that word was sent from the Fuehrer's quarters住处, 岗位 requesting more quiet. The Russians might come in a few hours and kill them all —— though most of them were already thinking of how they could escaped —— but in the meantime, for a brief简短的, 短暂的spell一段时间, now that the Fuehrer's strict control of their lives was over, they would seek pleasure where and how they could find it. The sense of relief(痛苦等的)减轻among these people seems to have been enormous巨大的, 庞大的, and they danced on through the night.

    Berlin was no longer defensible. The Russians already had occupied almost all of the city. It was now merely a question of the defense of the Chancellery大臣，总理公署. It too was doomed命定的, as Hitler and Bormann learned at the situation conference at noon on April 30, the last that was ever to take place. The Russians were just a block街区away. The hour for Adolf Hitler to carry out his resolve决心, 决定had come.

    His bride apparently显然；似乎had no appetite食欲, 胃口, 欲望, 爱好for lunch that day, and Hitler took his meal with his two secretaries and with his vegetarian cook, who perhaps did not realize that she had prepared his last meal. While they were finishing their lunch at about 2:30 PM, Erich Kempka, the Fuehrer's chauffeur司机, who was in charge of the Chancellery garage车库, received an order to deliver immediately 200 liters of gasoline in cans to the Chancellery garden. Kempka had some difficulty in rounding制圆, 舍入, 凑整up so much fuel燃料, but he managed to collect some 180 liters and with the help of three men carried it to the emergency紧急情况exit of the bunker.

    While the oil to provide the fire for the Viking海盗 funeral葬礼, 出殡was being collected, Hitler, having done with his last meal, fetched取来，拿来；叫来Eva Braun for another and final farewell to his most intimate 亲密的, 隐私的collaborators合作者: Dr. Goebbels, Generals Krebs and Burgdorf, the secretaries, and Miss Manzialy, the cook厨师.

    They finished their farewells and retired to their rooms. Outside in the passageway, Dr. Goebbels, Bormann and a few others waited. In a few moments a revolver左轮手枪shot was heard. They waited for a second one, but there was only silence. After a decent合适的；恰当的；得体的interval间隔, 距离, 幕间休息they quietly entered the Fuehrer's quarters. They found the body of Adolf Hitler sprawled on the sofa dripping blood. He had shot himself in the mouth. At this side lay Eva Braun. Two revolvers左轮手枪 had fallen to the floor, but the bride had not used hers. She had swallowed poison.

    It was 3:30 PM on Monday, April 30, 1945, ten days after Adolf Hitler's fifty-sixth birthday, and twelve years and three months to the day since he had become Chancellor of Germany and had instituted设立；制定；创立the Third Reich德意志帝国. It would survive幸存him but a week.

            NEW WORDS

    bunker

n.  strongly-built shelter for soldiers, esp. one built underground 地堡,掩体

    fascist

a.  法西斯主义的

n.  法西斯分子

    dictator

n.  a ruler who has absolute power over a country, esp. one who has obtained such power by force 独裁者

    partner

n.  伙伴

    aggression

n.  the starting of a war, fight, or quarrel without just cause 进攻,侵略

    mistress

n.  情妇

    Italian

a.  意大利的

n.  意大利人；意大利语

    guerrilla guerilla

n.  游击队员

    execute

vt. kill (sb.) by law; carry out完成, 实现, 贯彻, 执行, perform 处死；实施，执行

    executive

a. & n. 实行的, 执行的, 行政的 执行者,决策人,

    dump

vt. drop or unload (sth.) in a heap or carelessly 倾倒,倾卸

    string

vt. hang with a string or rope排成一列 

    heel

n.  （脚）后跟

    lamppost

n.  post for a street lamp 路灯柱

    pauper

n.  a person with no means of livelihood生计, 谋生, esp. one who is supported by charity慈善, 施舍, 慈善团体     贫民,叫花子, 乞丐

    plot

n.  a piece of land (usu. small) 小块土地, 地区图, 图, 秘密计划(特指阴谋), (小说的)情节.结构

    cemetery

n.  place for burying the dead 公墓；墓地

    horrible

a.  causing a feeling of great shock, fear or dislike可怕的, 恐怖的, 讨厌的

horror

 n.

    climax

n.  the point of greatest interest or intensity强烈, 剧烈, 强度     高潮

    degradation

n.  羞辱

    Fascism

n.  法西斯主义

    shabby

a.  dishonourable; mean; worn out 不光彩的；卑鄙的；破旧的

    Fuehrer

n.  （德）元首

    strengthen

v.  make or become strong(er) 加强

    resolve

n.  resolution 决心

    bride

n.  a girl or woman just married or about to be married 新娘

    spectacle

n.  an object of contempt轻视, 轻蔑, 耻辱, 不尊敬or disrespect; a public show or scene 引入鄙视的对象；场面.奇观, 景象, 光景

    preparation

n.  things done to get ready for sth.

    Alsatian

a.  阿尔萨斯的

n.  阿尔萨斯狼犬

    poison

vt. 毒死，放毒

n.  毒药

    farewell

n.  goodbye辞别, 再见, 再会

    appreciation

n.  understanding of the qualities质量, 品质, 性质or worth of sth.; grateful感激的, 感谢的feelings 欣赏；感激

    loyal

a.  true to one's friends, group, country, etc. faithful守信的, 忠实的, 详确的, 可靠的    忠诚的,忠心的

    instruct

vt. give orders or directions to 命令；指示

    file

n.  卷宗；档案

    word

n.  order

    interpret

vt. explain or tell the likely meaning of (sth.) 解释, 说明, 口译, 通译, 认为是...的意思

    interpretation n.

    private

a.  personal; one's own 私人的；个人的,私营的, 秘密的

    mostly

ad. chiefly首要, 主要地; almost all主要地, 大部分, 通常

    associate

n.  a person connected with another, esp. in work合作人, 同事

    assemble

vt. gather or collect together 集合

    inaudible

a.  that can not be heard听不见的, 不可闻的

    moisture

n.  slight wetness; water or other liquid spread in small drops in the air or on a surface 潮湿，湿气

    retire

vi. withdraw; go away 退出,退休, 引退, 退却, 撤退, 就寝

    unendurable

a.  unbearable无法忍受的, 不能忍耐的,不能持久的

    canteen

n.  a place in a military军事的, 军用的camp, factory, etc. where people may buy and eat food, meals, drinks, sweets, etc. 食堂,小卖部, 食具箱, 饭盒, (军用)水壶

    weird

a.  strange; unnatural怪异的, 超自然的, 神秘的, 不可思议的, 超乎事理之外的

    request

vt. Demand politely 请求

    meantime

n. & ad. (in) the time between其间, 其时

    spell

n.  a period of time一段时间

    strict

a.  rigid刚硬的, 刚性的, 严格的     严格的, 严厉的, 严谨的, 精确的

    relief

n.  the fact or state of lessening or freeing from anxiety, fear, or pain （忧虑等的）减轻，解除

    enormous

a.  very large巨大的, 庞大的

    defensible

a.  that can be defended可防御的

    doom

vt. cause to suffer sth. unavoidable不能避免的, 不可避免的, 不能取消的 and unpleasant, such as death or destruction破坏, 毁灭   注定, 判决

    noon

n.  midday中午，正午

    apparently

ad. evidently; it seems (that) 显然；似乎

    apparent a.

    vegetarian

a.       relating to a person who eats vegetables but no meat （有关）素食的

n.  素食者, 食草动物

    chauffeur

n.  a person employed to drive someone's car司机

    liter

n.  （容量单位）升

    gasoline

n.  汽油

    fuel

n.  燃料

    intimate

a.  close in relationship 亲密的隐私的

    collaborator

n.  partner in an activity 协作者，同伙

    passageway

n.  走廊

    revolver

n.  左轮手枪

    decent

a.  right and suitable 合宜的；得休的

    interval

n.  time between two events 间隔, 距离, 幕间休息

    sofa

n.  沙发

    drip

v.  fall or let fall in drops滴；滴落；使滴落

    swallow

vt. 吞咽

    chancellor

n.  chief minister of state (in some countries e.g举例来说. Germany)总理（或首相）长官, 大臣,首席法官

    institute

vt. set up for the first time 建立,开始, 制定, 开始(调查), 提起(诉讼)

n.学会, 学院, 协会

        PHRASES短语, 习语, 惯用语, 成语& EXPRESSIONS语法

  meet one's end         die

  string up             hang (sth.) high with strings; put to death by hanging 用绳吊起；吊死

  call in               ask to come or go in

  break in              enter a building by force （非法）强行进入

  build up              increase, strengthen gradually增加, 加大

  in the meantime        meanwhile

  in charge of           responsible for

  round up              collect, gather together 集拢

  have done with         finish with; stop doing or using 结束；终止

  to a/ the day            exactly (in time)

          PROPER 固有的, 特有的 NAMES

  Adolf Hitler

  阿道夫.希特勒

  Eva Braun爱娃.勃劳恩

  Benito Mussolini本尼托.墨索里尼

  Clara Petacci克拉拉.贝塔西

  Switzerland瑞士

Milan米兰（意大利城市）

  May Day劳动节

  the Fuehrer 元首（纳粹统治时期对希特勒的称呼）

  Junge荣格（姓氏）

  Berlin柏林（德国首都）

  the Chancellery（德国）总理府

  Bormann鲍曼（姓氏）

  Erich Kempka埃里希.肯普卡

  Viking（八至十世纪劫掠欧洲海岸的）北欧海盗

  Goebbels戈培尔（姓氏）

  Krebs 克莱勃斯（姓氏）

  Burgdorf布克道夫（姓氏）

  Manzialy 曼齐阿里（姓氏）

  the Third Reich<德> （德意志）帝国, 德国       第三帝国