VOA慢速英语:Kansas Struggle over Slavery Turns Violent

短语讲解：

1. The dispute centered increasingly on Kansas, a territory in the middle of the country.

in the middle of 在…的中间
例句：The Sun sets, so to speak, in the middle of the sky. 
可以这样说，太阳从中天落下。 

2. In Kansas, white men were able to vote on whether they wanted slavery to be legal in the territory.

be able to 能够
例句：How I hope to be able to show you what I feel! 
我多么希望我能让你看出我现在的感情！ 

3. They did not want to compete with slave labor.

compete with 与…抗争
例句：Here was a car priced to compete with the small imports. 
这部车的定价可与进口的小车竞争。 

4. Pro-slavery officials moved to take control of the town.

take control of 控制
例句：There must be someone who can take control of these naughty children
应该有人能管住这些淘气的孩子 

5. He says the mob entered Lawrence with flags and flying banners as if it were a victorious army.

as if 好像， 似乎
例句： It seemed as if the lawyer was deliberately being as obnoxious as possible. 
那个律师给人的印象是存心要惹人讨厌。 

6. In other words, they suggested that pro-slavery raiders had completely destroyed the town.

in other words 换句话说
例句：In other words, menus provide a pedagogic vector. 
换句话说，菜单是一条学习的途径。 

7. In the summer and autumn of 1856, the competing forces repeatedly threatened each other. 

each other 互相
例句：Both girls write to each other regularly now. 
两个姑娘现在定期互相通信。 

8. The Kansas-Nebraska Act and the violence that followed also gave birth to a new political party.

give birth to 生（孩子），生育; 引起
例句：Though a mother give Birth to nine sons, all nine will be different 
一娘养九子九子九个心 

9. The Whig Party had lost badly in the elections of 1852 because its members could not agree on whether slavery should be legal.

agree on 对某事[物]有同样看法， 商定[同意]某事
例句：As we can't all agree on this matter, let's vote on it. 
大家意见不一，我们表决好了。

10. “White southerners do not see the distinction between a Republican party that says we don’t like slavery, it’s immoral, it shouldn’t expand; and a John Brown who says I don’t like slavery, it’s immoral, and it ought to be overturned by violence!”

ought to 应当，应该
例句：He ought to have kept his promise. 
他原本应该遵守自己的诺言。