美国学生世界地理教材 第155期:新月之国(4)

 An inlet¹ from the Bosporus cuts into Istanbul in the shape of a horn. 有一个牛角形状的小水湾，从博斯普鲁斯海切入到伊斯坦布尔，

It is called the Golden Horn, and across the entrance a great chain used to be stretched to keep out ships which the Sultan did not wish to enter. 叫做“金角湾”。过去在入口处拉了一条很大的链子拦住那些苏丹王禁止进入的船只。

Across the Golden Horn is a bridge called Galata. 现在一座叫“加拉塔桥”的大桥横跨金角湾。

I have told you of some of the most famous bridges in the World: Brooklyn Bridge, London Bridge, the Rialto and the Ponte Veechio. 我已经将世界上最有名的一些桥告诉你了：布鲁克林桥、伦敦桥、里阿尔托桥和维奇奥桥。

Galata bridge is one of the oldest and most famous bridges of the World. 加拉塔桥是世界上最古老和最著名的大桥之一。

All day and all night people of every nationality, every color, every dress, and every language pass in an unending stream. 日日夜夜，各种国籍、各种肤色、各种穿着和说各种语言的人从桥上走过，人来人往川流不息。

Every one on one side seems to want to get to the other side, which makes me think of the old riddle², "Why does a chicken cross the road?" 似乎在桥一边的每个人都想到桥另一边去。看到此情此景，我想起一个古老的谜语，“为什么小鸡要过马路？”

Turkish writing looks something like shorthand³ and is very hard to read and to write. 土耳其文字看起来有点像速记，非常难认，也难写。

But because it is so difficult and so different from the letters of Europe, Turkey began to use an alphabet like ours, 因为它很难学，与欧洲语言的字母文字又差别很大，土耳其开始使用一种类似英语字母的文字符号。

and every one under forty years of age is now required to learn the new writing. 土耳其要求所有40岁以下的人都要学习这种新的文字。

In fact, Turkey has been made over into a new Turkey. 事实上，土耳其已经改变成一个全新的土耳其了。

The old ruler of Turkey, the Sultan, ruled alone and whatever he said had to be done whether it was right or wrong. 土耳其以前的统治者，苏丹王，独自一人统治土耳其，因此拥有至高无上的权力，凡是他说的话，无论对错，人们都得执行。

Turkey now has a ruler who rules not alone but with others chosen by the people to rule with him. 土耳其现在也有一位元首，但不是一个人统治，而是与土耳其人推选出来的其他人一起统治。

The women used to think it immodest to go out on the street with their faces uncovered⁴, so they wore veils⁵. 土耳其女人从前认为自己外出上街不遮住脸，是不正派的，所以她们都戴面纱。

Now, however, they wear hats and dresses as Christian⁶ women do. 然而，现在，她们像基督教国家的女人一样穿着打扮了。

The Turks used to have many wives, and every house had a separate apartment, called the harem, where all the wives lived together. 土耳其男人以前可以娶好几个妻子，每户房屋里有独立的房间叫“哈来姆”，专门给妻子住。

You may wonder why the bird we eat at Thanksgiving and Christmas is called a turkey. 你也许很好奇，为什么我们在感恩节和圣诞节的时候吃的火鸡叫“土耳其”？

Turkey was first brought to our country from Mexico, but people thought it had come from Turkey, so they called it a Turkey bird. 火鸡最初是从墨西哥传入美国的，但是人们认为它产自土耳其，所以就把它叫做“土耳其鸟”。

1 inlet   

n.小湾，海湾，入口，进口；vt.引进，插入

参考例句：

• There is an inlet to a parking lot.那儿有一个停车场的入口。
• They went to a fishing village on a small inlet of the sea.他们去了小海湾边的一个渔村。

2 riddle   

n.谜，谜语，粗筛；vt.解谜，给…出谜，筛，检查，鉴定，非难，充满于；vi.出谜

参考例句：

• The riddle couldn't be solved by the child.这个谜语孩子猜不出来。
• Her disappearance is a complete riddle.她的失踪完全是一个谜。

3 shorthand   

n.速记，速记法

参考例句：

• The reporters took down the speech in shorthand.记者们迅速记下讲话的内容。
• Instead of writing her shorthand by hand,she could use a machine.她可以不用手，而使用一种带键盘的机器进行速记。

4 uncovered   

adj.无盖的，未保险的v.揭开…的盖子( uncover的过去式和过去分词 )；揭露，发现

参考例句：

• His head was uncovered. 他光着头。
• A plot to assassinate the banker has been uncovered by the police. 暗杀银行家的密谋被警方侦破了。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 veils   

（绘画）层式法（在白色背景上涂一层薄而透明的油色，使，背景加染色彩，并能保持光泽的效果）； 面纱( veil的名词复数 )； 掩饰； 覆盖物； 薄薄的遮盖层

参考例句：

• The women wore veils in deference to the customs of the country. 这些妇女戴着面纱是遵从这个国家的习俗。
• In many Muslim countries, the women wear veils. 在许多穆斯林国家，妇女们蒙面纱。

6 Christian   

adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒

参考例句：

• They always addressed each other by their Christian name.他们总是以教名互相称呼。
• His mother is a sincere Christian.他母亲是个虔诚的基督教徒。