美国学生世界地理教材 第101期:低于海平面的国家(3)

 In Holland they don’t have many horses; they use dogs to haul¹ and bicycles to carry.  荷兰没有多少马；他们用狗拖运东西，用自行车搬运东西。

Dogs eat less than horses, they don’t have to have stables, and bicycles don’t have to have garages.  狗比马吃得少，也不需要马厩，自行车不需要车库。

Dogs can be trained like horses to haul small carts, large enough to carry milk cans.  狗可以像马一样经过训练来拉二轮运货车，这些运货车足以装得下一个个牛奶罐。

Sometimes, however, when a cat comes along, there is trouble. 然而，有时候猫出现了，这就有麻烦了。

Though there are few horses in Holland, there are many cows.  荷兰几乎没有马，却有很多奶牛。

They have black and white cows called Holsteins.  他们的奶牛是黑白色的，叫做黑白花牛。

Holstein cows give a great deal of milk, more milk than any other kind of cow.  黑白花牛产奶量很高，超过其他任何一种奶牛。

The milk is used for making cheese, for which Holland is famous.  牛奶可用来制作奶酪，荷兰的奶酪很有名。

The cheese is made in big pieces and then varnished² so that it will keep a long time.  奶酪被做成一大块一大块的，然后涂上一层薄蜡，这样就能保存很长时间。

They have markets in which nothing but cheese is sold—cheese markets. 他们还有专卖奶酪的市场——奶酪市场。

The Dutch keep their houses very clean. The kitchen is usually the living-room and dining-room too.  荷兰人把房子保持得特别干净。厨房通常也兼做客厅和餐厅。

They scrub³ and scrub and scrub, outside as well as inside, even the sidewalks, and in some towns even the street.  他们在屋内屋外一遍又一遍不厌其烦地擦洗，甚至包括人行道，有些镇上的人甚至把街道也擦洗干净。

The cow sheds are often part of the house and are kept just as clean as the houses,  奶牛棚通常就是房子的一部分，也和房子一样打扫得很干净，

with white curtains at the windows, and hooks⁴ to hold up the tails of the cows while they are being milked.  窗户上挂着白色的窗帘，还有专门的挂钩，挤奶的时候用来挂奶牛尾巴。

People wear wooden shoes, because Holland is such a damp country, and they take them off and leave them at the door,  那里的人穿木头做的鞋子，因为荷兰非常潮湿，进屋前他们把木头鞋子脱在门口，

as we do overshoes, before entering the house.  就像我们进屋前脱掉罩靴一样。

In some places in Holland the men wear trousers as big as pillow-cases and the girls wear very big skirts and white bonnets⁵.  在荷兰一些地方，男人穿和枕套一样大的裤子，女孩穿很大的裙子，戴白色的帽子。

In the large cities, however, the people dress about the same as we do. 然而，在大城市，人们的穿着和我们差不多。

Dam means a dike⁶, and as there are so many dikes in Holland there are many towns’ and cities’ names ending in “dam.”  在荷兰，“丹”的意思就是堤坝，由于荷兰有很多堤坝，很多城镇的名字都以“丹”结尾。

Amsterdam and Rotterdam are the two largest cities. 阿姆斯特丹和鹿特丹是最大的两个城市。

Amsterdam is a city of diamonds. The diamonds are not found in Holland but are brought there from Africa.  阿姆斯特丹是个钻石之城。钻石并不产于荷兰，而是从非洲运来的。

When they are taken out of the diamond mines in Africa they don’t look like diamonds but look like pebbles,  当它们从非洲钻石矿里刚开采出来时，看起来并不像钻石，而是像鹅卵石，

and you would never guess they could be made into anything beautiful.  你绝对想不到这些石头能被做成美丽的钻石。

But at Amsterdam they are made into the beautiful sparkling⁷ jewels that we know.  但是在阿姆斯特丹，这些矿石被制作成我们熟悉的闪闪发光的美丽宝石。

A diamond is the hardest thing in the World.  钻石是世界上最硬的物质。

You cannot cut it with a steel tool nor grind⁸ it on a grindstone; you cannot scratch it with sandpaper nor make a mark on it with a file.  钢做的工具切割不了它，砂轮也磨不动它；砂纸擦不动它，锉刀也不能在它上面留下任何痕迹。

The only thing that will cut a diamond or scratch a diamond is another diamond.  唯一能够切割或打磨钻石的东西就是另一块钻石。

So in Amsterdam they chip one diamond with another diamond and polish it into a many sided jewel with diamond dust. 因此在阿姆斯特丹人们用一块钻石去凿另一块钻石，把它打磨成一块多面的宝石，刚成型的宝石浑身落满了钻石粉末。

1 haul   

vt./n.（用力）拖，拉，（用车等）拖运，运送

参考例句：

• It was a long haul home and we arrived exhausted.搬运回家的这段路程特别长,到家时我们已筋疲力尽。
• The rope stood up under the strain of the haul.这绳子经受不住紧拉。

2 varnished   

浸渍过的，涂漆的

参考例句：

• The doors are then stained and varnished. 这些门还要染色涂清漆。
• He varnished the wooden table. 他给那张木桌涂了清漆。

3 scrub   

n.用力擦洗，矮树，渺小之物；v.用力擦洗

参考例句：

• I got paint on my hands and it won't scrub off.我手上沾上了油漆，擦不掉。
• The great plain was covered in scrub and small lifeless trees.浩瀚的平原覆盖着灌木和毫无生气的矮小树林。

4 hooks   

钩拳( hook的名词复数 )； 挂钩； 转弯处； 曲线球

参考例句：

• I want to buy the hams hanging on the hooks. 我想买挂在钩子上的火腿。
• This dress hooks at the back, not at the side. 这件衣服是在背后而不是在旁边扣钩。

5 bonnets   

n.童帽( bonnet的名词复数 )；（烟囱等的）覆盖物；（苏格兰男子的）无边呢帽；（女子戴的）任何一种帽子

参考例句：

• All the best bonnets of the city were there. 城里戴最漂亮的无边女帽的妇女全都到场了。 来自辞典例句
• I am tempting you with bonnets and bangles and leading you into a pit. 我是在用帽子和镯子引诱你，引你上钩。 来自飘（部分）

6 dike   

n.堤，沟；v.开沟排水

参考例句：

• They dug a dike along walls of the school.他们沿校墙挖沟。
• Fortunately,the flood did not break the dike.还好，这场大水没有把堤坝冲坏。

7 sparkling   

adj.发火花的，闪亮的；灿烂的，活泼的；闪闪发光的，闪烁的；起泡沫的v.闪光，闪耀(sparkle的现在分词)

参考例句：

• the calm and sparkling waters of the lake 平静的波光粼粼的湖水
• Other sparkling wines are often considered the poor relations of champagne. 其他起泡的葡萄酒通常被认为较香槟酒为次。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 grind   

n.（常贬义）用功的学生，书呆子；vt.磨，磨碎

参考例句：

• Would you please grind a pound of coffee for me? 请给我磨一磅咖啡好吗？
• Do you find learning English a grind?你觉得学英语是一件苦差事吗？