英语四级听力部分算是同学们考试时的难点，听力不能急于求成，需要耐心练习。因此文都网校四六级小编整理了英语四级听力VOA练习题，希望大家可以在练习中掌握技巧。

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听力材料：

　　The Civil War began in 1861 as a struggle overwhether states had the right to leave the Union.President Abraham Lincoln firmly believed that astate did not have that right. And he declared war onthe southern states that tried to leave.

　　But the fight to preserve the nation was goingbadly. By summer of 1862, Union troops had notwon a decisive victory in Virginia, the heart of the Confederacy. And the war was losingsupport with politicians and the public in the north. President Lincoln had to do something toguarantee their continued support.

　　Finally, in September 1862, the Union successfully stopped the Confederate invasion ofMaryland. The armies of Union general George McClellan and Confederate general Robert E. Leebattled near Antietam Creek. Almost 100,000 men fought. More than 23,000 were killed,wounded or missing.

　　Antietam was a violent, savage battle -- the bloodiest one-day battle in American history. Butthe North's victory there made it easier for Abraham Lincoln to make an importantannouncement.

　　Lincoln decided to recognize that slavery was, in fact, a major issue in the war. On September22, 1862, he announced a new policy on slavery in the rebel southern states. Hisannouncement became known as the Emancipation Proclamation.

　　American newspapers printed the Emancipation Proclamation. This is what it said:

　　I, Abraham Lincoln, president of the United States and commander in chief of the Army andNavy, do hereby declare that on the first day of January, 1863, all persons held as slaveswithin any state then in rebellion against the United States, shall then become and be foreverfree.

　　The government of the United States, including the military and naval forces, will recognizeand protect the freedom of such persons, and will interfere in no way with any efforts theymay make for their actual freedom.

　　The Emancipation Proclamation freed the slaves in states held by the Confederates. For politicalreasons, the proclamation did not free slaves in the states that supported the Union. Nor didit free slaves in the areas around Norfolk, Virginia, and New Orleans, Louisiana.

　　Lincoln personally agreed that all slaves should be freed. But he did not believe that theConstitution gave him that power. He said the Emancipation Proclamation was a militarymeasure made under his wartime powers as commander in chief. As such, it was legal only inenemy territory. He hoped the emancipation of slaves in all the states could be done slowly,during peacetime.

　　People in the South were furious about the proclamation. Southern newspapers accused thepresident of trying to create a slave rebellion in states he could not occupy with troops.

　　In the North, most people cheered the new policy. The Emancipation Proclamation changed thenature of the Civil War. No longer was it a struggle over southern rights. Now it was a strugglefor human freedom.