VOA慢速英语2012 Words and Their Stories: Nicknames for Philadelphia and Boston

 

Words and Their Stories: Nicknames for Philadelphia and Boston

词汇典故：费城和波士顿别名

Now, the VOA Special English program, WORDS and THEIR STORIES. Almost all American cities have nicknames. They help establish a city’s identity. They can also spread unity¹ and pride among its citizens.

这里是美国之音慢速英语词汇典故节目。几乎所有的美国城市都有别名。别名有助于确立城市特性，还能激发民众自豪感增进团结。

Two east coast cities -- Philadelphia and Boston -- were both important in the early history of the United States. Philadelphia is best known as The City of Brotherly Love.

美国两个东部沿海城市--费城和波士顿在美国早期历史中都非常重要。费城是最著名的“兄弟之爱之城”。

In sixteen eighty-one, King Charles the Second of England gave William Penn a large amount of land to establish a colony. The king named the colony Pennsylvania in honor of Penn’s father. William Penn was a Quaker. He brought his beliefs about equality, religious freedom and brotherly love to this new land. Penn was also an expert in Latin and Greek. He established a city and named it Philadelphia, which is Greek for “brotherly love.” An ancient city called Philadelphia was also noted² in Christianity’s holy book, the Bible.

1681年，英国国王查尔斯二世送给威廉·佩恩（William Penn）大片土地建立一个殖民地。为了纪念佩恩的父亲，国王将这块殖民地命名为宾夕法尼亚。佩恩是贵族，他把自己的信条：平等、宗教自由和兄弟之爱带到了这片新的土地。佩恩还是一名拉丁语和希腊语专家。他建立了一个城市并把它命名为Philadelphia（费城），这个名字在希腊语中的意思是“兄弟之爱”。基督教《圣经》中也提到了一个被称为Philadelphia的古老城市。

Philadelphia became the social, political and geographical³ center of the American colonies. In the late seventeen hundreds, many events that took place in Philadelphia gave birth to the American Revolution and independence. For example, the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution were signed in the city. Philadelphia was the temporary capital of the new nation from seventeen ninety to eighteen hundred.

费城成为了美国殖民地的社会、政治和地理中心。18世纪末期，许多事件都发生在费城，催生了美国的革命和独立。例如，美国独立宣言和美国宪法都是在这个城市签署的。从1790年到1800年，费城还是美国这个新国家的临时首都。

Some of Philadelphia’s other nicknames are The Quaker City, The Cradle of Liberty and The Birthplace of America. Philadelphia is a long name. So many people just call it Philly.

费城的其它别名还包括贵格城(Quaker City)，自由的摇篮和美国发源地。Philadelphia这个名字太长了，所以很多人称之为Philly。

注：贵格城别名源自基督新教派贵格会。

Boston is another important city. It is one of the oldest cities in the United States. In sixteen thirty, Puritan settlers from England established Boston in what would become the state of Massachusetts.

波士顿是另一个重要城市。它是美国最古老的城市之一。17世纪30年代，来自英格兰的清教徒在后来的马萨诸塞州建立了波士顿。

Several major events took place in Boston before and during the American Revolution. You may have heard of the Boston Massacre⁴, the Boston Tea Party and the Battle of Bunker Hill.

美国革命前和革命期间，几次重大事件都发生在波士顿。你可能已经听说过波士顿大屠杀，波士顿茶叶党和邦克山战役。

So, like Philadelphia, Boston is called The Cradle of Liberty. Another nickname is The Cradle of Modern America.

因此，和费城一样，波士顿也被称为自由的摇篮。另一个别名是现代美国的摇篮。

However, Boston's most famous nickname is Beantown. But it was not because the city grew a lot of beans. In the seventeen hundreds, Boston was a major trading center. It received a lot of sugarcane from the West Indies. Beans baked in molasses, a sugar product, became a favorite food in the city. Today, no companies there make Boston baked beans. Restaurants in Boston rarely serve it. But many Americans eat this tasty dish at home.

然而，波士顿最著名的别名是豆城（Beantown）。但这并不是因为这个城市盛产豆子。18世纪时，波士顿是一个主要贸易中心，它收到了大量来自西印度群岛的甘蔗。豆子在糖浆中烘烤后成为这个城市最受欢迎的食物。如今这里没有哪家公司生产波士顿闷烤豆，波士顿的餐馆也很少提供这种食物，但许多美国人在家里做这道美食。

(MUSIC)

This program was written by Shelley Gollust. I'm Barbara Klein.

1 unity   

n.团结，联合，统一；和睦，协调

参考例句：

• When we speak of unity,we do not mean unprincipled peace.所谓团结，并非一团和气。
• We must strengthen our unity in the face of powerful enemies.大敌当前，我们必须加强团结。

2 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

3 geographical   

adj.地理的；地区(性)的

参考例句：

• The current survey will have a wider geographical spread.当前的调查将在更广泛的地域范围內进行。
• These birds have a wide geographical distribution.这些鸟的地理分布很广。

4 massacre   

n.残杀，大屠杀；v.残杀，集体屠杀

参考例句：

• There was a terrible massacre of villagers here during the war.在战争中，这里的村民惨遭屠杀。
• If we forget the massacre,the massacre will happen again!忘记了大屠杀，大屠杀就有可能再次发生！