美国学生世界地理教材 第33期:帝国州(4)

 In spite¹ of the fact that land in New York City is worth more than any other land in the World, there are two big parks where city people may have a little country. 尽管纽约市的土地比世界上其他任何地方都要贵，但市内仍然有两个很大的公园，城里人可以在那里感受一点田园风光。

Central Park is fifty blocks long and several blocks wide, 中央公园有50个街区那么长，好几个街区那么宽，

and Bronx Park has a wonderful Zoo where there are strange and curious animals which hunters have brought alive from the jungles, mountains, deserts, and wildernesses² of far-off lands. 布朗克斯公园里有一座很棒的动物园，里面有各种珍奇罕见的动物，都是猎人从丛林、深山、沙漠和遥远国度的荒野之地捕捉来的。

A man from across the ocean once landed in New York and spent the day seeing the sights. 有一次，大洋彼岸有个人来到纽约，欣赏了一天的风景。

Just before dinner he said he would like to drive out and see Niagara Falls, which he had heard were the most wonderful falls in the World. 就在晚饭前，他说他想开车去看看尼亚加拉大瀑布，因为他听说那是世界上最壮观的瀑布。

When he was told that it would take all night on a fast train to get to Niagara, he couldn’t understand.  当他听说得乘坐快速火车花上一整夜的时间才能到达尼亚加拉，他很疑惑。

“But isn’t Niagara in New York?” he asked.  “尼亚加拉不是就在纽约吗？”他问道。

“Yes,” was the reply, “but not in New York City. Niagara is all the way across the State of New York.”  “是的，”对方回答说，“不过不是在纽约市，是在纽约州的另一端。”

On the west edge of New York State are two great lakes with Indian names—Lake Erie and Lake Ontario.  在纽约州西部边界有两个大湖——伊利湖和安大略湖，这两个名字都是印第安语。

Lake Erie on the map looks lower than Lake Ontario, but it really is much higher.  从地图上看伊利湖在安大略湖的下面，其实伊利湖的地势要高很多。

So the water from Lake Erie falls over a high and broad cliff³ to reach Lake Ontario.  因此伊利湖的水从一处又高又宽的悬崖飞泻而下，流入安大略湖。

This waterfall is called Niagara, and though there are other falls in the World higher and other falls broader,  这个瀑布叫做尼亚加拉瀑布，尽管世界上还有比它更高更宽的瀑布，

Niagara is the most beautiful and most famous, and people go from all over the World to see it. 但尼亚加拉瀑布却是最美丽、最著名的，世界各地的人都慕名前来观赏。

The oar⁴ of the water as it thunders over the edge can be heard for miles,  瀑布在悬崖边发出震耳欲聋的轰隆声，几英里外都能听到，

and when the sun is shining there is always a rainbow in the spray⁵ that rises from the bottom of the falls. 阳光灿烂的时候，瀑布底部升起的水雾中总能看到一道五彩缤纷彩虹。

Thousands of people view the falls each day, and of each thousand—  每天都有成千上万的人来观赏这个瀑布，每一千名游客中——

358 say “Isn’t it wonderful !” 358人会说：“太棒了！”

247 say “Isn’t it grand!” 247人会说：“太壮观了！”

136 say “Isn’t it beautiful!” 136人会说：“太美了！”

93 say “Isn’t it lovely!” 93人会说：“太可爱了！” 

45 say “Isn’t it pretty !” 45人会说：“太漂亮了！”

24 say “Ah!”  24人会发出“啊”的感叹声

And the rest say “Oh!” 其余人会发出“哇”的惊叹声。

A part of Niagara is caught in a huge bucket as it falls. and the falling water turns giant wheels in the bottom of the bucket. 尼亚加拉瀑布的水有一部分落入一个巨大的桶，桶底部有几个巨大的轮子，流水推动轮子转动就能发电了。

The wheels make electricity, which is carried on wires to turn the wheels of mills⁶, to run the trolley-cars, 电通过电线输送出去，就可以让磨坊的机轮转动起来，让电车开动起来，

and to light the houses and streets in the city of Buffalo⁷ near-by, and other places farther⁸ away.  也让附近的布法罗市和其他更远地方的房子和街道的灯亮起来。

1 spite   

n.（用于短语）虽然，不顾，尽管

参考例句：

• He has modern ideas in spite of his great age.尽管他年事很高，但思想观念却很入时。
• In spite of his anger,his remarks were restrained.他尽管生气，说的话还是有节制的。

2 wildernesses   

荒野( wilderness的名词复数 )； 沙漠； （政治家）在野； 不再当政（或掌权）

参考例句：

• Antarctica is one of the last real wildernesses left on the earth. 南极洲是地球上所剩不多的旷野之一。
• Dartmoor is considered by many to be one of Britain's great nature wildernesses. Dartmoor被很多人认为是英国最大的荒原之一。

3 cliff   

n.悬崖，峭壁

参考例句：

• The cliff edge is dangerous and should be railed.崖边危险，应该用栏杆围起来。
• He took the measure of the cliff before he climbed it.他把悬崖的高度估量一下后再攀登。

4 oar   

n.桨，橹，划手；v.划行

参考例句：

• The sailors oar slowly across the river.水手们慢慢地划过河去。
• The blade of the oar was bitten off by a shark.浆叶被一条鲨鱼咬掉了。

5 spray   

v.喷，(使)溅散；n.浪花，飞沫；喷雾

参考例句：

• The liquid came out of the bottle in a spray.液体从瓶子里呈雾状喷出。
• We were wet with the sea spray.我们被海水的浪花溅湿。

6 mills   

n.磨坊( mill的名词复数 )；磨粉机；作坊；工厂

参考例句：

• He was tall, dark and handsome, like a Mills and Boon hero. 他个头高大、皮肤黝黑、相貌堂堂，像通俗爱情小说的男主角。
• The captain wants to play Mills as defence in our next game. 队长想让密尔斯在下次比赛中打后卫。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 buffalo   

n.(北美)野牛；(亚洲)水牛

参考例句：

• Asian buffalo isn't as wild as that of America's. 亚洲水牛比美洲水牛温顺些。
• The boots are made of buffalo hide. 这双靴子是由水牛皮制成的。

8 farther   

adj.更远的，进一步的；adv.更远的，此外；far的比较级

参考例句：

• I can throw the ball farther than you can.这个球我能比你扔得远。
• The farther hill is five kilometres away.那座更远的小山在五公里以外。