Nw， I must tell yu abut a fight s big that the wrld was at war.
There was a little cuntry in Eurpe called Serbia. It was next dr t the big cuntryf Austria. But thugh little Serbia and big Austria were next-dr neighbrs， they were nt gd neighbrs. Each was always saying mean things abut thether. This was because Austria ruledver severalther kindsf peple besides Austrians， and smef these peple were related t the Serbians. The Serbians used t say that Austria treated these peple unfairly. But the Serbians did mre than say things. They frmed secret scieties t send peple int Austria t stir up truble. Austria said that Serbia was trying t break up the kingdmf Austria by making the peple discntented and unwilling t be ruled by Austria.
Then a yung man wh lived in Serbia sht an Austrian prince， the prince wh was t have been the next kingf Austria.
f curse Austria was furius and blamed Serbia. The Serbs said they were very srry but they had nthing t d with the deathf the prince. Hwever， Austria wuldn"t accept Serbia"s aplgy. Austria thught the time had cme t punish Serbia fr all the truble Austria was having. In spitef everything thether cuntries in Eurpe culd d t stp this， Austria declared warn Serbia.
The truble started t spread just like fire in a fieldf grass. Russia tk the sidef Serbia andrdered its army t get ready t fight. Germany tk the sidef Austria. Ever since the timef the Franc-Prussian War and Bismarck and William， the big cuntriesf Eurpe had been training fr a fight. Nearly all these cuntries had been getting tgether in tw grups，ne made upf the friendsf Germany； thether， friendsf France.
Russia was a friendf France and s when Russia gt ready t fight， Francerdered its armies t get ready t help Russia. That meant Germany wuld be between tw big enemies， Francenne side and Russian thether. Germany decided t strike quickly and destry France befre Russia culd hit hard frm thether side.
T get at France quickly， Germany had t g thrugh the little cuntryf Belgium. Germany and France had agreed that neither wuld march armiesthrugh Belgium but when the war began German armies marched in anyway and pushed aside the Belgians， wh tried t stp them. Germany"s armies rushedn tward the capitalf France， Paris. They gt as far as a river called the Marne，nly twenty miles frm Paris. There， the French under General Jffre stpped the German army. This battlef the Marne is prbablynef the mst famusf all the battles yu have heard abut s far in this histry， fr thugh the war wentn fr fur years after this battle， if the Germans had wn at the Marne， they wuld have captured Paris and prbably made France a German cuntry.
By this time， England had cme int the warn the sidef France and Belgium and Russia. England had the strngest navy in the wrld. The German navy wasn"t strng enugh t beat the English navy， s Germany kept its battleships at hme. Germany had t fight frm under the sea with submarines， which were hard fr the English ships t catch. It was the first war in histry in which battles were fught ntnlyn land andn sea but up in the air and dwn under the water.
Eurpe in 1914 (1914 年的欧洲 )
The German submarines smetimes sank ships belnging t cuntries that weren"t in the war. That，f curse， made these cuntries very angry with Germany， and s befre the war wasver， almst all the cuntriesf the wrld were in the fight. That is why we call it a Wrld War. Later there was anther Wrld War， s we call this Wrld War I just as we call a king Gerge I s as nt t cnfuse him with Gerge II.
Millinsf peple had been killed， millinsf sldiers had been wunded， billinsf dllars had been spent， and still the war wentn， with neither sideable t win. Allf a sudden Russia had a revlutin. Russia was s pr that smef its sldiers received n ammunitin and n medical supplies. The Russian peple killed their ruler， the czar， and his family， and refused t fight any lnger. Things began t lk pretty bad fr the Allies.
The United States did nt enter the war until 1917， almst three years after it had begun； it did s after German submarines began sinking American ships and killing Americans.
Surrenderf Germans ( 德国人投降 )
America was s farff-three thusand miles away and acrss ancean- that it seemed impssible that we culd d much in the war. Hwever， in a very shrt time， the United States had sent tw millin sldiers acrss in ships. Under General Pershing they fught great battles.
At last， Germany and its friends surrendered andn Nvember 11， 1918， Germany signed a paper agreeing t d everything the Allies asked. The first Wrld War in histry was ended. The kaiser went t live in Hlland， and Germany became a republic. Big Austria became little Austria， fr all its lands and manyf its peple were taken away and made int independent cuntries. Little Serbia disappeared altgether. In its place was frmed the new cuntryf Yugslavia， which included Serbia and severalther small states.
【中文阅读】
现在，我必须给你讲一讲一场大规模的战争，它让全世界都陷入其中。 欧洲有个小国叫塞尔维亚。它是大国奥地利的邻国。可是尽管小塞尔维亚和大奥地利是隔壁邻居，但并不是好邻居。彼此总是说对方的坏话。这是因为奥地利 除了统治奥地利人以外，还统治着其他一些民族，其中有些人与塞尔维亚人有亲属 关系。塞尔维亚人过去常说奥地利对这些人不公平。但是塞尔维亚人不仅仅是口头 "说说"。他们组织了一些秘密社团，派人进入奥地利去挑起骚动。奥地利说塞尔维 亚企图煽动人们的不满情绪，让他们反抗奥地利统治，以此来分裂奥地利王国。
这时，一个住在塞尔维亚的年轻人用枪刺杀了一位奥地利王子，这位王子本来 是要成为奥地利下一任国王的。
奥地利当然怒不可遏，并责怪塞尔维亚是罪魁祸首。塞尔维亚人说他们感到非 常抱歉但是他们与王子的死毫无关系。可是，奥地利无法接受塞尔维亚的道歉。奥 地利认为惩罚塞尔维亚的时机到了，要让塞尔维亚为他们给奥地利造成的所有这些 麻烦付出代价了。尽管欧洲其他国家竭力阻止奥地利这么做，但是奥地利还是对塞 尔维亚宣战了。
骚动开始蔓延，就像牧场草地上的火苗一样。俄国支持塞尔维亚，命令自己的 军队准备出战。德国支持奥地利。自从普法战争和俾斯麦及威廉一世全盛时期以来， 欧洲各个大国就一直在为打仗训练军队。几乎所有这些国家分别形成两大阵营，一 个阵营由德国的友邦组成，另一个阵营是法国的友邦。
俄国是法国的盟友，所以当俄国准备出战时，法国命令自己的军队做好准备支 援俄国。那就意味着德国处于两大敌人之间，一边是法国，另一边是俄国。德国决 定趁俄国还没有从另一边打出重拳，就迅速出击摧毁法国。
要迅速赶到法国，德国必须穿过小国比利时。德国和法国曾经达成协议，双方 均不能行军穿过比利时，但是在战争开始后，德国军队还是不遵守协议进入比利时， 把试图阻止他们的比利时人推开。德国军队直扑法国首都巴黎，他们最远到达了马 恩河，离巴黎只有 20 英里了。正是在这个地方，法国人在霞飞将军的指挥下挡住了 德国军队。马恩河战役可能是你到目前听说过的最著名的战役之一，因为尽管这场 战役之后战争又持续了四年，但是如果在马恩河德国打赢了，他们就会攻下巴黎， 还可能把法国纳入德国的版图。
到此时，英国也加入了战争，支持法国、比利时和俄国这一方。英国有世界上 最强大的海军。德国海军还不够强大，无法和英国海军抗衡，所以德国把战舰都留 在了国内。德国只得用潜水艇从水下出击，英国军舰很难拦截到潜水艇。在这次战 争中，战役不仅在陆地和海上进行，而且还在空中和水下，这在历史上还是第一次。
有时德国潜水艇击沉了非参战国的船只。那当然让这些国家对德国非常气愤， 所以在战争结束之前，世界上几乎所有的国家都卷入了战争。那就是为什么我们称它为一次世界大战。后来又发生了一次世界大战，所以我们把这次世界大战称为第 一次世界大战，就像我们把一个国王称为乔治一世，只为了避免把他和乔治二世混 淆了。
在这场战争中，千千万万人死去，千千万万士兵受伤，无数金钱被耗费，可是 战争仍在继续，哪一方都不能获胜。突然俄国爆发了一场革命。俄国太穷困了，有 些士兵根本收不到弹药，也得不到任何医疗供给。俄国人杀掉了他们的统治者沙皇 和他的一家，拒绝再打下去。局势对协约国来说看起来很糟糕。
直到 1917 年美国才加入战争，那时战争打了差不多有三年；美国是在德国潜水 艇开始击沉美国船只、杀害美国人之后，才参战的。
美国离战场很遥远--3000 英里以外，还隔着一片大洋--似乎不可能在战争 中有多大作为。但是，在很短的时间内，美国用船只运送两百万名士兵横渡大西洋。 他们在潘兴将军的率领下打了许多大的战役。
最后，德国和它的盟国投降了，1918 年 11 月 11 日，德国签订了一份协议，同 意协约国提出的所有要求。历史上的第一次世界大战就此结束了。德国皇帝移居荷 兰，德国成为了共和国。大奥地利变成了小奥地利，因为它原有的土地和许多人民 都被分裂出来，成了一个个独立的国家。小塞尔维亚完全消失了。取而代之的是一 个新建立的国家南斯拉夫，南斯拉夫包括了塞尔维亚和其他一些小邦国。
