VOA慢速英语2015 密西西比河上的轮船

AS IT IS 2015-04-26 40th Anniversary for Mississippi River Steamboat 密西西比河上的轮船

During the 1800s, the Mississippi River was crowded with steamboats. The river divided the United States in half, separating the older, more populated eastern states from the West. Steamboats transported goods and people up and down the waterway. But only a few such boats can be seen there today. This month marks the 40th year one of them has been operating on the mighty¹ Mississippi.

Steamboat Natchez was built in 1975. The Natchez is made mostly of steel. Its steam engines came from a boat that was built in 1925.

Today, the Natchez carries people who want to learn what life was like in the 1800s on the Mississippi River. In those days, the arrival of a steamboat was announced by a steam-powered organ, called a calliope.

Clarke Hawley is 79 years old. He is known as “Doc.” He was the first captain of the Natchez.

“In the days before mass communication, a lot of these little river towns didn’t have a weekly newspaper, let alone a daily newspaper, but when you played the calliope, everybody in town knew the boat was there.”

Doc Hawley is now retired². But he still sails on the boat as the calliope player.

“There were steamboats that carried people, steamboats that pushed barges⁴, there were sawmill steamboats that went from farm to farm, plantation⁵ to plantation, sawing up wood. Farmer Brown wants to build a new barn, he’s got to go 40-50 miles (60-80 kilometers) to get to the closest sawmill, boat comes right to the front yard and grinds it. There were showboats that put on shows and melodramas⁶ before movies. There were gospel boats, believe it or not, that went from town to town, taking up collections.”

Donald Houghton is the current captain of the Natchez. He says he is honored to be one of the few steamboat captains in the country.

“This is a one-of-a-kind thing, you know, running a true steamboat in the Port of New Orleans, in a busy harbor, showing people the Mississippi River and where the Battle of New Orleans was fought, and the whole reason the city is here is because of the Mississippi river and steamboats.”

Passengers can dance and listen to jazz music. Jazz was born in the city of New Orleans, which is often called “The Big Easy.”

Doc Hawley says this is how life was when many steamboats sailed up and down the river.

“It was a way of life, and it’s still, it’s still amazingly a way of life, for people who live along the river, you know.”

Because the Natchez is so well cared for, it could keep paddling up and down the Mississippi for many years to come.

Words in This Story

steamboat – n. a boat that is powered by steam

mighty – adj. having or showing great strength or power

barge³ – n. a large vessel⁷ that has a flat bottom and that is used to carry goods in harbors and on rivers and canals

sawmill – n. a mill or factory where logs are sawed to make boards

1 mighty   

adj.强有力的；巨大的

参考例句：

• A mighty force was about to break loose.一股巨大的力量即将迸发而出。
• The mighty iceberg came into view.巨大的冰山出现在眼前。

2 retired   

adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的

参考例句：

• The old man retired to the country for rest.这位老人下乡休息去了。
• Many retired people take up gardening as a hobby.许多退休的人都以从事园艺为嗜好。

3 barge   

n.平底载货船，驳船

参考例句：

• The barge was loaded up with coal.那艘驳船装上了煤。
• Carrying goods by train costs nearly three times more than carrying them by barge.通过铁路运货的成本比驳船运货成本高出近3倍。

4 barges   

驳船( barge的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The tug is towing three barges. 那只拖船正拖着三只驳船。
• There were plenty of barges dropping down with the tide. 有不少驳船顺流而下。

5 plantation   

n.种植园，大农场

参考例句：

• His father-in-law is a plantation manager.他岳父是个种植园经营者。
• The plantation owner has possessed himself of a vast piece of land.这个种植园主把大片土地占为己有。

6 melodramas   

情节剧( melodrama的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• It was the operatic version of the Chinese costume melodramas so loved by television audiences. 这是电视观众最喜爱的一个中国故事的歌剧版本。

7 vessel   

n.船舶；容器，器皿；管，导管，血管

参考例句：

• The vessel is fully loaded with cargo for Shanghai.这艘船满载货物驶往上海。
• You should put the water into a vessel.你应该把水装入容器中。