South American looks like a carrot, a turnip, a top, a funnel, a leaf, a fig,  南美洲看起来像一只胡萝卜、一个芜菁、一个陀螺、一个漏斗、一片叶子、一个无花果、

a pear turned upside down, a paddle, a lamb chop, a leg of mutton,  一个倒置的梨子，还像一个船桨、一块小羊排、一支羊腿，

an ice-cream cone—but the only thing it really looks like is: South America.  还像一个蛋筒冰淇淋——但它确实只像一个东西：南美洲。

The stem is Panama; the hook at the bottom is called Cape Horn. 地图上叶子梗的那里是巴拿马；底部的钩子是合恩角。

From the tip top to the tip toe of South America, from Panama to Cape Horn, stretches a long wall of high mountains called the Andes. 从南美洲的最顶点到最底处，从巴拿马到合恩角，有一条山脉像一道长长的墙贯穿整个南美洲，它叫安第斯山脉。 

It is the highest range of mountains in the Western Half Ball, and it is the longest range of mountains  安第斯山脉是西半球最高的山脉，也是全世界最长的山脉。

Columbus, who discovered America, had only one country named after him. 哥伦布发现了美洲大陆，有一个国家是以他的名字命名的。 

This country is in South America nearest Panama, nearest the stem by which South America seems to hang to Central America. 这个国家位于南美洲，距离巴拿马最近，最靠近南美洲挂到中美洲上的那个“叶梗”。 

It is called Colombia, spelled with two o’s instead of an “o” and a “u.” 它叫“哥伦比亚”，和“哥伦布”的拼写有点不同，它有两个“o”，而不是一个“o”和一个“u”。 

When white men first came to the northern shore of South America  当白人最初到达南美洲北部海岸的时候，

they found a land next to Colombia where the Indians lived in houses built on stakes in the water.  他们发现在哥伦比亚附近有一个地方，那里的印第安人住在建在水上的房子里，房下是木桩。

This reminded them of a city in Italy across the ocean, called Venice,  这让他们想起了大洋对岸意大利的一个城市，叫威尼斯，

where the houses are built in the water, so they named this new country Little Venice, which in the Spanish language is Venezuela. 那里的房子都是建在水上的，因此他们把这个新的地区叫做“小威尼斯”，在西班牙语中就是“委内瑞拉”。 

Off the shore of Venezuela is a peculiar island called Trinidad.  在委内瑞拉海边有一个很特别的小岛，叫做“特立尼达岛”。

On this island is a lake—but the lake has no water in it. 这个岛上有一个湖——但是湖里没有水， 

Instead of water there is a kind of tar called asphalt.  却有一种叫做沥青的焦油。

This asphalt is dug up and loaded on to ships and brought to the United States to make roadways. 这种沥青从湖里被挖出来，用船运到美国修建公路。

The three little countries next door to Venezuela are called the three Guianas.  委内瑞拉旁边有三个小国家，都叫做圭亚那。

They belong to three different countries in Europe. 它们属于欧洲三个不同的国家。 

In fact, they are the only countries in South America that do belong to countries outside of South America. 事实上，它们是南美洲唯一属于南美洲之外国家的地区。

The first Guiana belongs to England, the second belongs to Holland, the third belongs to France. 第一个圭亚那属于英国，第二个属于荷兰，第三个属于法国。