美国小学英语教材5:第19课 邮件必须送达(1)

 　　The Mail Must Go Through 邮件必须送达

　　Merlin Moore Taylor 作者：梅林·穆尔·泰勒

　　The same bravery and faithfulness that made Gunnar Kasson, Leonard Seppala, and their dogs carry the serum¹ to Nome were in the hearts of the men and horses of the Pony² Express long years ago. 贡纳尔·卡森、伦纳德·塞帕拉和他们的狗把这种血清带到诺姆市的勇气和忠诚，多年前就存在于“快马邮递”的人们和马心中。

　　In spite of Indians and blizzards³ and dangerous mountain trails, the Express riders carried the mails two thousand miles from the Missouri River to California. 尽管路上可能会遇到印第安人、暴风雪和危险的山路，但快递员们还是把这些邮件从密苏里河运到了加利福尼亚，行程2000英里。

　　William Saunders was only a boy, but he did a man’s work when duty called him to carry the mail. 威廉·桑德斯还只是个孩子，但当他肩负起搬运邮件的责任时，却做了一份男人的工作。

　　The First Pony Express Rider 第一个“快马邮递”骑士

　　In a log house at St. Joseph, Missouri, on April 3, 1860, half a dozen men were gathered around a rough pine table. 1860年4月3日，在密苏里州圣约瑟夫的一间小木屋里，六个人聚集在一张粗糙的松木桌子旁。

　　At the head of the table stood William Majors, manager for the firm of Russell, Majors and Waddell. 威廉·梅杰斯在桌子的最前面站着，他是罗素、梅杰斯和瓦德尔的公司的经理。

　　This company operated a line of stagecoaches⁴ and wagon⁵ trains which carried passengers and freight across the western plains and the Rocky Mountains to California, two thousand miles away. 这家公司经营着一趟驿站马车和马车队，将乘客和货物从西部平原和落基山脉运送到两千英里外的加利福尼亚。

　　The railroad from the eastern part of the United States ended at St. Joseph; 从美国东部来的铁路在圣约瑟夫就截止了；

　　travelers desiring to reach the gold fields and fertile lands of the Far West faced a weary trail of many weeks over plains and mountains. 旅行者们想要到达遥远西部的金矿和肥沃土地，必须越过平原和山丘，面临着好几周的疲惫旅程。

　　Every foot of the way was full of danger, mostly from the Indians. 每一脚都充满了危险，大部分危险来自印第安人。

　　It was Russell, Majors and Waddell who made that trail as safe as it could possibly be made, 是拉塞尔、梅杰斯和瓦德尔尽可能地使这条小路安全，

　　who kept in touch with weather conditions and the temper of the 33 redskins, and whose men guided the coaches and wagon trains across the wilderness⁶. 他们密切关注天气状况、33个印第安人的脾气，他们的人带领着驿站马车和马车队穿过荒野。

1 serum   

n.浆液，血清，乳浆

参考例句：

• The serum is available to the general public.一般公众均可获得血清。
• Untreated serum contains a set of 11 proteins called complement.未经处理的血清含有一组蛋白质，共11种，称为补体。

2 pony   

adj.小型的；n.小马

参考例句：

• His father gave him a pony as a Christmas present.他父亲给了他一匹小马驹作为圣诞礼物。
• They made him pony up the money he owed.他们逼他还债。

3 blizzards   

暴风雪( blizzard的名词复数 )； 暴风雪似的一阵，大量（或大批）

参考例句：

• Even in the summertime we might be struck by blizzards. 甚至在夏天，我们也可能受到暴风雪的袭击。
• Blizzards battered Britain for the third day. 大风雪袭击英国已进入第三天。

4 stagecoaches   

n.驿马车( stagecoach的名词复数 )

参考例句：

5 wagon   

n.四轮马车，手推车，面包车；无盖运货列车

参考例句：

• We have to fork the hay into the wagon.我们得把干草用叉子挑进马车里去。
• The muddy road bemired the wagon.马车陷入了泥泞的道路。

6 wilderness   

n.杳无人烟的一片陆地、水等，荒漠

参考例句：

• She drove the herd of cattle through the wilderness.她赶着牛群穿过荒野。
• Education in the wilderness is not a matter of monetary means.荒凉地区的教育不是钱财问题。