精美英文欣赏:美国内战

The American Civil War

The military aspect of the United States Civil War has always attracted the most attention from scholars. The roar of gunfire, the massed movements of uniformed men, the shrill¹ o f bugles², and the drama of hand to hand combat have facinated students of warfare³ for a century. Behind the lines, however, life was less spectacular. It was the story of back breaking labor⁴ to provide the fighting men with food and arms, of nerve tingling⁵ uncertainty⁶ about the course of national events, of heartbreak over sons or brothers or husbands lost in battle. If the men on the firing line won the victories, the means to those victories were forged on the home front. Never in the nation's history had Americans worked harder for victory than in the Civil War. Northerners and Southerners alike threw themselves into the task of supplying their respective armies. Both governments made tremendous demands upon civilians⁷ and, in general, received willing cooperations. By 1863 the Northern war economy was rumbling⁸ along in high gear. Everything from steamboats to shovels⁹ was needed and produced. Denied Southern cotton, textile mills turned to wool for blankets and uniforms. Hides by the hundreds of thousands were turned into shoes and harness and saddles; ironworks manufactured locomotives, ordnance¹⁰, armor plate.

Where private enterprise lagged, the government set up its own factories or arsenals¹¹. Agriculture boomed, with machinery¹² doing the job of farm workers drawn¹³ into the army. In short, everything that a nation needed to fight a modern war was produced in uncounted numbers. Inevitably¹⁴ there were profiteers with gold headed canes¹⁵ and flamboyant¹⁶ diamond stickpins, but for every crooked¹⁷ tycoon¹⁸ there were thousands of ordinary citizens living on fixed¹⁹ incomes who did their best to cope with rising prices and still make a contribution to the war effort. Those who could bought war bonds; others knitted, sewed, nursed, or lent any other assistance in their power.

美国内战

美国内战中的军事方面一直最吸引学者们的注意。 轰隆的炮声、军人大规模的阵式，尖锐的军号和白刃战的场面，已吸引了战争研究者们一个世纪。 然而，在后方，生活却没有这般壮观。那里的故事就是为作战的军人提供食物和武装而做劳累至极的工作，对国家事态的焦虑和对在战争中失去丈夫、兄弟和儿子的撕心裂肺。 如果说前线的人们获得了胜利，那胜利的手段就要归功于后方的人们。 在其历史上，美国人从来没有象在内战中那样为夺取胜利而如此努力。南方人和北方人一样投入到为各自军队供应物资的任务中。

双方政府对民众都提出巨大的要求，总的来说，得到了极积的合作。 到了 1863 年，北方战时经济呈高速运转，从蒸气船到铁锹，一切都需要并且生产出来。 由于没有了南方产的棉花，纺织工厂纷纷转用毛料生产毯子和军衣。 几十万件的皮革制成了鞋、挽具和马鞍。 铁厂生产出机车、大炮、装甲板。 私营企业不足以承担的方面，政府就成立自己的工厂和兵工厂。 农业迅猛发展，因为农场工人参军后机械代替了手工。 总之，国家参加现代战争所需的多得数不清的物资都生产出来了。 不可避免地出现了一些手持镀金手杖，戴着耀眼的钻石别针的投资商。 但每有一个奸诈的富翁就有成千上万的普通市民。 他们依靠固定的收入尽他们最大的努力应付着上涨的物价，为战争做着贡献。 那些有能力的人购买战争债券，其他的人编织、缝补衣服，护理伤病人或做其它一切他们力所能及的工作。

1 shrill   

adj.尖声的；刺耳的；v尖叫

参考例句：

• Whistles began to shrill outside the barn.哨声开始在谷仓外面尖叫。
• The shrill ringing of a bell broke up the card game on the cutter.刺耳的铃声打散了小汽艇的牌局。

2 bugles   

妙脆角，一种类似薯片但做成尖角或喇叭状的零食； 号角( bugle的名词复数 )； 喇叭； 匍匐筋骨草； （装饰女服用的）柱状玻璃（或塑料）小珠

参考例句：

• Blow, bugles, blow, set the wild echoes flying. "响起来，号角，响起来，让激昂的回声在空中震荡"。
• We hear the silver voices of heroic bugles. 我们听到了那清亮的号角。

3 warfare   

n.战争(状态)；斗争；冲突

参考例句：

• He addressed the audience on the subject of atomic warfare.他向听众演讲有关原子战争的问题。
• Their struggle consists mainly in peasant guerrilla warfare.他们的斗争主要是农民游击战。

4 labor   

n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦

参考例句：

• We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
• He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后，他已经疲惫不堪了。

5 tingling   

v.有刺痛感( tingle的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• My ears are tingling [humming; ringing; singing]. 我耳鸣。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• My tongue is tingling. 舌头发麻。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

6 uncertainty   

n.易变，靠不住，不确知，不确定的事物

参考例句：

• Her comments will add to the uncertainty of the situation.她的批评将会使局势更加不稳定。
• After six weeks of uncertainty,the strain was beginning to take its toll.6个星期的忐忑不安后，压力开始产生影响了。

7 civilians   

平民，百姓( civilian的名词复数 )； 老百姓

参考例句：

• the bloody massacre of innocent civilians 对无辜平民的血腥屠杀
• At least 300 civilians are unaccounted for after the bombing raids. 遭轰炸袭击之后，至少有300名平民下落不明。

8 rumbling   

n. 隆隆声, 辘辘声 adj. 隆隆响的 动词rumble的现在分词

参考例句：

• The earthquake began with a deep [low] rumbling sound. 地震开始时发出低沉的隆隆声。
• The crane made rumbling sound. 吊车发出隆隆的响声。

9 shovels   

n.铲子( shovel的名词复数 )；锹；推土机、挖土机等的)铲；铲形部份v.铲子( shovel的第三人称单数 )；锹；推土机、挖土机等的)铲；铲形部份

参考例句：

• workmen with picks and shovels 手拿镐铲的工人
• In the spring, we plunge shovels into the garden plot, turn under the dark compost. 春天，我们用铁锨翻开园子里黑油油的沃土。 来自辞典例句

10 ordnance   

n.大炮，军械

参考例句：

• She worked in an ordnance factory during the war.战争期间她在一家兵工厂工作。
• Shoes and clothing for the army were scarce,ordnance supplies and drugs were scarcer.军队很缺鞋和衣服，武器供应和药品就更少了。

11 arsenals   

n.兵工厂，军火库( arsenal的名词复数 )；任何事物的集成

参考例句：

• We possess-each of us-nuclear arsenals capable of annihilating humanity. 我们两国都拥有能够毁灭全人类的核武库。 来自辞典例句
• Arsenals are factories that produce weapons. 军工厂是生产武器的工厂。 来自互联网

12 machinery   

n.(总称)机械，机器；机构

参考例句：

• Has the machinery been put up ready for the broadcast?广播器材安装完毕了吗？
• Machinery ought to be well maintained all the time.机器应该随时注意维护。

13 drawn   

v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的

参考例句：

• All the characters in the story are drawn from life.故事中的所有人物都取材于生活。
• Her gaze was drawn irresistibly to the scene outside.她的目光禁不住被外面的风景所吸引。

14 inevitably   

adv.不可避免地；必然发生地

参考例句：

• In the way you go on,you are inevitably coming apart.照你们这样下去，毫无疑问是会散伙的。
• Technological changes will inevitably lead to unemployment.技术变革必然会导致失业。

15 canes   

n.（某些植物，如竹或甘蔗的）茎( cane的名词复数 )；（用于制作家具等的）竹竿；竹杖

参考例句：

• Sugar canes eat sweet. 甘蔗吃起来很甜。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• I saw several sugar canes, but wild, and for cultivation, imperfect. 我还看到一些甘蔗，因为是野生的，未经人工栽培，所以不太好吃。 来自英汉 - 翻译样例 - 文学

16 flamboyant   

adj.火焰般的，华丽的，炫耀的

参考例句：

• His clothes were rather flamboyant for such a serious occasion.他的衣着在这种严肃场合太浮夸了。
• The King's flamboyant lifestyle is well known.国王的奢华生活方式是人尽皆知的。

17 crooked   

adj.弯曲的；不诚实的，狡猾的，不正当的

参考例句：

• He crooked a finger to tell us to go over to him.他弯了弯手指，示意我们到他那儿去。
• You have to drive slowly on these crooked country roads.在这些弯弯曲曲的乡间小路上你得慢慢开车。

18 tycoon   

n.有钱有势的企业家，大亨

参考例句：

• The tycoon is on the verge of bankruptcy.那名大亨濒临破产的边缘。
• The tycoon has many servants to minister to his needs.那位大亨有很多人服侍他。

19 fixed   

adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的

参考例句：

• Have you two fixed on a date for the wedding yet?你们俩选定婚期了吗？
• Once the aim is fixed,we should not change it arbitrarily.目标一旦确定，我们就不应该随意改变。