美国学生历史 第102期:1812年战争的原因(2)

 　　248. America, Britain, and France. 248．美国、不列颠和法国

　　Napoleon Bonaparte was now Emperor of the French. 此时拿破仑o波拿巴是法国的皇帝，

　　In 1804 he made war on the British and their allies. 1804年，他向英国和英国的同盟国开战，

　　Soon he became supreme¹ on the land, and the British became supreme on the water. 很快法国成为陆地之王，而英国成为海上之王，

　　They could no longer fight one another very easily, so they determined² to injure each other's trade and commerce as much as possible. 两个国家彼此都不能轻易打败对方，因此它们决定尽可能地去损害对方的商业贸易。

　　The British declared continental³ ports closed to commerce, and Napoleon declared all British commerce to be unlawful. 英国宣布关闭所有的陆地港口，而拿破仑则宣称所有的英国商贸活动都不合法。

　　Of course under these circumstances British and Continental ships could not carry on trade, and American vessels⁵ rapidly took their places. 在这种情况下，英国和法国的船只当然不可能从事商贸活动，美国的船只迅速取代了它们。

　　The British shipowners called upon their government to put an end to this American commerce. 英国的船主们呼吁政府终止美国的贸易，

　　Old laws were looked up and enforced. 于是，英国人翻查过去的法律，

　　American vessels that disobeyed them were seized by the British. 并强制执行这些法律，不服从这些法律的美国船只被英国收缴，

　　But if any American vessel⁴ obeyed these laws, Napoleon seized it as soon as it entered a French harbor. 但是，如果美国的船只服从这些法律的话，拿破仑会在这些船只进入法国港口时立刻将它们收缴起来。

　　249. The Impressment Controversy⁶. 249．"强制征兵"问题

　　With the British the United States had still another cause of complaint. 还有一个原因导致美国人对英国心存怨气。

　　British warships⁷ stopped American vessels and took away all their seamen⁸ who looked like Englishmen. 英国的军舰拦截美国船只，并将所有看起来像英国人的人带走，

　　These they compelled to serve on British men-of-war. 他们强迫这些人在英国军舰上服务，

　　As Americans and Englishmen looked very much alike, they generally seized all the best-looking seamen. 因为美国人和英国人开起来非常接近，他们一般掠走那些英俊的水手，

　　Thousands of Americans were captured in this way and forced into slavery on British men-of-war. 数千美国人就这样被捕获并被强迫到英国的军舰上当奴隶，

　　This method of kidnaping was called impressment. 人们把这种劫持人的方法叫做"强制征兵"。

1 supreme   

adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的

参考例句：

• It was the supreme moment in his life.那是他一生中最重要的时刻。
• He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。

2 determined   

adj.坚定的；有决心的

参考例句：

• I have determined on going to Tibet after graduation.我已决定毕业后去西藏。
• He determined to view the rooms behind the office.他决定查看一下办公室后面的房间。

3 continental   

adj.大陆的，大陆性的，欧洲大陆的

参考例句：

• A continental climate is different from an insular one.大陆性气候不同于岛屿气候。
• The most ancient parts of the continental crust are 4000 million years old.大陆地壳最古老的部分有40亿年历史。

4 vessel   

n.船舶；容器，器皿；管，导管，血管

参考例句：

• The vessel is fully loaded with cargo for Shanghai.这艘船满载货物驶往上海。
• You should put the water into a vessel.你应该把水装入容器中。

5 vessels   

n.血管( vessel的名词复数 )；船；容器；（具有特殊品质或接受特殊品质的）人

参考例句：

• The river is navigable by vessels of up to 90 tons. 90 吨以下的船只可以从这条河通过。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• All modern vessels of any size are fitted with radar installations. 所有现代化船只都有雷达装置。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

6 controversy   

n.争论，辩论，争吵

参考例句：

• That is a fact beyond controversy.那是一个无可争论的事实。
• We ran the risk of becoming the butt of every controversy.我们要冒使自己在所有的纷争中都成为众矢之的的风险。

7 warships   

军舰，战舰( warship的名词复数 )； 舰只

参考例句：

• The enemy warships were disengaged from the battle after suffering heavy casualties. 在遭受惨重伤亡后，敌舰退出了海战。
• The government fitted out warships and sailors for them. 政府给他们配备了战舰和水手。

8 seamen   

n.海员

参考例句：

• Experienced seamen will advise you about sailing in this weather. 有经验的海员会告诉你在这种天气下的航行情况。
• In the storm, many seamen wished they were on shore. 在暴风雨中，许多海员想，要是他们在陆地上就好了。