高三英语课文 > Unit 13 The USA

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This is because the surface of the earth is not flat but round.
因为地球表面不是平的，而是圆的。
New York never sleeps.
纽约是一座不眠的城市。
The underground railway runs 24 hours a day, and there are all-night cinemas, bars and restaurants.
地铁一天24小时不停地运营。还有通宵电影院、酒吧间和餐馆。
Some people think that the weather is unpleasant, the city ugly and dirty, the competition fierce and the streets unsafe.
有些人认为，这儿的气候不佳，市容丑陋肮脏，竞争激烈，街上不安全。
It is a city in a hurry, but a very exciting place to be.
这是一座熙熙攘攘的城市，但也是一个富于刺激的地方。
The Bison on the Plains of America
美洲平原上的野牛
The first settlers on the plains of America were Native Americans.
美洲平原上的首批定居者是美洲土著人。
It is thought that they arrived more than 30,000 years ago by crossing a land bridge from Asia to America.
他们被认为是在3万多年以前从亚洲跨越一座陆桥来到美洲的。
They lived by hunting and by gathering roots, nuts and wild fruits.
他们靠狩猎和采集根茎、坚果和野果为生。
They also hunted and killed wild animals.
他们还猎杀野兽。
Around the year 1600 the first horses were brought to the American continent by the Spanish.
大约在1600年的时候，西班牙人把第一批马匹带来美洲大陆。
Soon there were many wild horses across the country.
不久，乡间就有了许多野马。
The Native Americans caught and trained them and were then able to use them to carry their goods when they travelled from one camping ground to another.
美洲土著人捕捉野马，加以驯服。
Now that they could ride horses, it became easier to hunt the bison, a type of cattle which used to exist in huge numbers on the plains of America.
当他们从一个营地搬到另一个营地去的时候，他们就可以利用这些野马来运载货物。既然土著人会骑马了，猎取野牛也就容易了。这种野牛以前是成群结队地生活在美洲平原上的。
The bison grows to a shoulder-height of 1.5 metres and can weigh 1100 kilograms.
野牛可以长到肩高1。5米，重达1，100公斤。
It was an important part of Native American’s existence.
野牛是美洲土著人赖以生活的重要部分。
Bison were killed for their meat, while their fur provided warm clothing during cold winters.
他们杀野牛，吃野牛肉，用野牛毛皮制成冬季御寒的衣服。
The skins were used for making tents and water containers.
还可以用野牛皮制作帐蓬和装水的容器。
Bones were carved into needles and tools, and the teeth were used to make necklaces.
骨头则雕琢成针和工具，牙齿用来作项链。
From 1830 onwards in the USA and from about 1870 in Canada, settlers began to move westwards and to take possession of the plains as their own.
美国自1830年起，加拿大从1870年左右起，殖民者开始向西迁移，并把平原据为己有。
Large groups of Native Americans were forced to move away form their old hunting grounds.
成批成批的美洲土著人被迫从他们原来的狩猎场迁走。
When they objected, they were killed.
他们反抗时就被杀害。
Fierce wars between Native Americans and European settlers broke out.
美洲土著人和欧洲殖民者之间发生了激烈的战争。
Settlers made agreements with Native American cheifs but always broke them afterwards.
殖民者同美洲土著人的首领达成了协议，但是这些协议随后总是被撕毁。
In this way Native Americans were forced onto poor land that the settlers did not want.
就这样，美洲土著人被赶到殖民者所不要的贫瘠的土地上去了。
The settlers built railways across the plains and began to hunt even more bison.
殖民者在平原上修起了铁路，于是开始猎取更多的野牛。
While early settlers had killed bison for food, now the killing became more widespread.
早期的殖民者只是以杀野牛为食，这时屠宰野牛就更为广泛了。
They killed the bison, cut off the skins and left the bodies behind to rot.
他们把野牛杀死剥皮，尸体就任其腐烂。
The bison skins were sent by rail to cities to be sold.
野牛皮用火车运到城里出售。
It was also thought that by removing their main supply of food, the Native Americans would be forced to give in.
当时还有人认为，断掉了主要的食物来源，土著人就会被迫屈服。
Between 1850 and 1910 the bison population is thought to have fallen from 60 million to just a few hundred.
人们认为，在1850年到1910年之间，野牛的头数从6，000万头降到只有几百头了。
The killing of the bison changed the whole wildlife of the plains. With fewer bison, grass shoots were not eaten, so grass did not grow as strongly.
屠宰野牛改变了平原的全部野生生物。野牛少了，嫩草没有牛来吃了，草就长得不粗壮。
Bison waste no longer fell on the ground to improve the soil, which as a result became less good for growing plants.
地上不再有野牛的粪便来改良土壤，结果对于植物生长土壤变得不够肥沃了。
The ground supported fewer plants, and the insects which lived on these plants died out.
地上长的植物少了，生活在这些植物上的昆虫就消亡了。
There was less food for birds and also for the prairie dog, a kind of animal which lives in holes in the ground.
供鸟类吃的食物少了，供草原犬鼠（一种生活在地洞里的动物）吃的食物也少了。
This in turn had an effect on the food supply for wolves.
这样又影响了狼的食物供应。
Thus one simple fact, a change in the number of bison, had an effect on the whole wildlife chain of the plains.
因此，出现了这样一个简单的事实--野牛数目换的变化对平原的整个野生生物链都产生了影响。
New York is built on a group of islands on the east coast of the USA at a point where several rivers flow into the ocean.
纽约市建立在美国东海岸的一群岛屿上，那儿是好几条河流入海的交汇点。
The first westerner to discover these islands was an Italian explorer in 1524.
首次发现这些岛屿的西方人是一位意大利探险家，时间是1524年。
In 1626 the island of Manhattan was bought from local Indians, Native Americans, for a handful of goods worth about $24.
曼哈顿岛是于1626年从当地的印第安人（即美洲土著人）手中买来的，只花了价值约为24美元的为数不多的货物
Today Native Americans express their anger over this business deal.
今天，美国的土著人对这桩买卖仍然愤愤不平。
After the War of Independence ended, New York became the capital of the USA for a short time (1789-90) before Washington, D.C.
独立战争结束以后，在华盛顿成为首都之前，纽约市曾经一度是美国的首都，不过时间很短（1789-90）。
By 1820 the population of New York had grown to about 125,000, making it the largest city in the USA.
到1820年，纽约市的人口增长到12。5万人左右，使它成了当时美国最大的城市。
In 1858 an area of poor housing, factories and farm buildings was torn down and Central Park was created, reaching from 59th Street to 110th Street and across three avenues.
1858年拆除了一大片破旧的房屋、工厂和农舍，建起了中央公园，这个公园从59街延伸到110街，跨越三条大马路。
There is space for summer picnics, open-air concerts, plays and games.
这儿有空旷的地方，供作夏日野餐、露天音乐会、各种娱乐和竞赛之用。
There is a zoo, an art museum, a boating lake, a smaller lake for model boats and, in winter, an ice-skating area.
还有一个动物园、一座艺术博物馆，一个供人划船用的湖。另有一个比较小的湖，供人们玩模型船艇，冬天就成为滑冰场。
In 1892 the age of mass arrivals began, during which 15 million new people passed through Ellis Island into the USA over a period of 62 years.
1892年开始了一个国外移民大量涌入的年代，在随后的62年中，有1，500万新来的人通过埃利斯岛进入美国。
Today Ellis Island is a museum, showing the roots of America’s new citizens, who came from all the corners of the earth.
今天，埃利斯岛成了一座博物馆，展示着来自世界各地的美国新公民的根源。
Officials used to have trouble with the foreign names of people passing through Ellis Island, and because they were so busy, many people’s names got changed in the rush.
官员们过去总是搞不清埃利斯岛过境人员的外国姓名，因为他们非常繁忙，所以在过境的人蜂拥而至的时候，许多人的姓名都被更改了。
Thus Ellis Island became known as the Island of Tears.
想要进入美国的人都必须经过多次的智力测验和体格检查，大约有200万人不准入境。因此，埃利斯岛被人们称为“眼泪岛”。
The building of skyscrapers in New York began around the year 1900.
在1900年左右，摩天楼开始在纽约兴建。
Because Manhattan Island is made of solid rock, it is safe to build very tall buildings.
曼合顿岛是由坚固的岩石构成的，这使得兴建大厦非常安全。
A 55-storey building went up in 1913, and in 1931 the Empire State Building was completed, then the tallest building in the world.
1913年一座55层高的大楼拔地而起。1931年帝国大厦竣工，这在当时是世界上最高的大厦。
It has 102 storeys and 73 lifts.
有102层楼，有电梯73部。
From the top of it, you could see up to a distance of 130 kilometres on a clear day.
在晴朗的日子里，从楼的顶层你可以看到130公里远的地方。
Today it is no longer the tallest building in the USA, or even in New York.
今天，它不再是美国最高的大厦了，甚至在纽约都排不上号了。
The World Trade Center, an office building for over 1200 firms employing about 50,000 people, is even higher at 411 metres.
世界贸易中心要高得多，有411米。它是一座办公大楼，楼里有1，200多家公司，大约有5万雇员。
The twin towers are 110 storeys high, but high-speed lifts controlled by computer take only a minute to reach the top.
这座双塔式大楼有110层高，而由电脑控制的高速电梯只需一分钟就可以到达塔顶。
The towers are further apart at the top than at the base, but this is no mistake.
两座塔楼的楼顶之间的距离比楼底之间的距离要大一些，但是这并不是错误。
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