精美英文欣赏:北美早期殖民者

The Early Settlers in North America

The North American frontier changed some of the characteristics of the pioneers of the 1750's and intensified¹ others.They were, as a group, semiliterate², proud, and stubborn, as dogged in their insistence³ on their own way of life as pine roots cracking granite⁴ to grow.Perhaps their greatest resource was their capacity to endure. They outlasted⁵ recurrent plagues of smallpox⁶ and malaria⁷ and a steady progression of natural accidents. They were incredibly prolific⁸. Squire⁹ Boone's family of eight children was small by frontier standards. James Roberson, an eventual¹⁰ neighbor of Boone's and the founder¹¹ of Nashville,had eleven children. Twice married John Sevier, the first governor of Tennessee, fathered eighteen; his longtime enemy, John Tipton, also twice married, produced seventeen. The entire assets of one of these huge families often amounted, in the beginning, to little more than an axe¹², a hunting knife, an auger¹³, a rifle, a horse or two, some cattle and a few pigs, a sack of corn seed and another of salt, perhaps a crosscut saw, and a loom¹⁴. Those who moved first into a new region lived for months at a time on wild meat, Indian maize¹⁵, and native fruits in season. Yet if they were poor at the beginning, they confidently expected that soon they would be rich. In a way almost impossible to define to urban dwellers¹⁶, a slice of ground suitable for farming represented not just dollars and cents, but dignity. The obsession¹⁷ brought shiploads of yearners every week to Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Charles Towne,and Savannah.It sent them streaming westward¹⁸ into the wilderness¹⁹ after their predecessors²⁰ to raise still more children who wanted still more land.

北美早期殖民者

北美的边远地区改变了 18 世纪 50 年代拓荒者的一些特点，而强化了他们的另一些特点。 作为一个整体，他们是半文盲，高傲并且顽固。 他们坚持自己的生活方式就象松树根在花岗石中爆缝生长。 也许，他们最大的资源是忍耐能力。 他们熬过了经常性的天花、疟疾等瘟疫及一系列自然灾难。 他们出奇地多育。 依他们的标准，斯夸尔布恩有八个孩子是少的了。 最后成了布恩的邻居并且是那士维的建造者的詹姆士 ·罗伯逊有 11个孩子。 曾结过两次婚的约翰·塞维尔-- 田纳西州的第一位州长，生了18 个孩子，他长期的仇敌，约翰 ·提普敦也结过两次婚并有 17 个孩子。 最初，在这些庞大的家庭中，全部的财产合起来也不过是一把斧头、一把猎刀和一根钻子，一条步枪，一两匹马，牛和猪，一袋玉米种子和一袋盐，或可能还有一把锯子和一台织布机。 那些新到一个地区的人们一连数月靠野味、印第安玉米和季节性野果维持生活。 然而，即使最初很贫穷，他们自信很快就会富起来。 一块适合耕种的土地不仅仅代表着金钱，更意味着尊严。 这一点是无法向城市居民解释的。 这一固执的想法每周都将整船整船的渴望者带往波士顿、纽约、费城、巴尔的摩、查尔斯城和萨瓦那。 跟随着他们的先行者，这些渴望的人们象潮水一般涌向荒野， 去生养更多的子女，而这些子女又将需求更多的土地。

1 intensified   

v.（使）增强， （使）加剧( intensify的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Violence intensified during the night. 在夜间暴力活动加剧了。
• The drought has intensified. 旱情加剧了。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 semiliterate   

n.半文盲，有初等文化者

参考例句：

• The study pointed out that over 23 million adult Americans are semiliterate.该项研究指出，越过2300万的美国成年人是半文盲。
• In the past,West China most people were the illiterate person,the semiliterate.过去，华西大多数人是文盲、半文盲。

3 insistence   

n.坚持；强调；坚决主张

参考例句：

• They were united in their insistence that she should go to college.他们一致坚持她应上大学。
• His insistence upon strict obedience is correct.他坚持绝对服从是对的。

4 granite   

adj.花岗岩，花岗石

参考例句：

• They squared a block of granite.他们把一块花岗岩加工成四方形。
• The granite overlies the older rocks.花岗岩躺在磨损的岩石上面。

5 outlasted   

v.比…长久，比…活得长( outlast的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• I outlasted several downsizings but the last one included me. 虽然我坚持到了最后，还是逃不过被裁的命运。 来自互联网
• This clock has outlasted several owners. 这座时钟的寿命比它的几个主人的寿命都长。 来自互联网

6 smallpox   

n.天花

参考例句：

• In 1742 he suffered a fatal attack of smallpox.1742年，他染上了致命的天花。
• Were you vaccinated against smallpox as a child?你小时候打过天花疫苗吗？

7 malaria   

n.疟疾

参考例句：

• He had frequent attacks of malaria.他常患疟疾。
• Malaria is a kind of serious malady.疟疾是一种严重的疾病。

8 prolific   

adj.丰富的，大量的；多产的，富有创造力的

参考例句：

• She is a prolific writer of novels and short stories.她是一位多产的作家，写了很多小说和短篇故事。
• The last few pages of the document are prolific of mistakes.这个文件的最后几页错误很多。

9 squire   

n.护卫, 侍从, 乡绅

参考例句：

• I told him the squire was the most liberal of men.我告诉他乡绅是世界上最宽宏大量的人。
• The squire was hard at work at Bristol.乡绅在布里斯托尔热衷于他的工作。

10 eventual   

adj.最后的，结局的，最终的

参考例句：

• Several schools face eventual closure.几所学校面临最终关闭。
• Both parties expressed optimism about an eventual solution.双方对问题的最终解决都表示乐观。

11 Founder   

n.创始者，缔造者

参考例句：

• He was extolled as the founder of their Florentine school.他被称颂为佛罗伦萨画派的鼻祖。
• According to the old tradition,Romulus was the founder of Rome.按照古老的传说，罗穆卢斯是古罗马的建国者。

12 axe   

n.斧子；v.用斧头砍，削减

参考例句：

• Be careful with that sharp axe.那把斧子很锋利，你要当心。
• The edge of this axe has turned.这把斧子卷了刃了。

13 auger   

n.螺丝钻，钻孔机

参考例句：

• We make a hole in the ice with an auger.我们用螺旋钻在冰上钻洞。
• Already the Snowblast's huge auger blades were engorging snow.扬雪车上庞大的钻头叶片在开始大量吞进积雪。

14 loom   

n.织布机，织机；v.隐现，(危险、忧虑等)迫近

参考例句：

• The old woman was weaving on her loom.那位老太太正在织布机上织布。
• The shuttle flies back and forth on the loom.织布机上梭子来回飞动。

15 maize   

n.玉米

参考例句：

• There's a field planted with maize behind the house.房子后面有一块玉米地。
• We can grow sorghum or maize on this plot.这块地可以种高粱或玉米。

16 dwellers   

n.居民，居住者( dweller的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• City dwellers think country folk have provincial attitudes. 城里人以为乡下人思想迂腐。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• They have transformed themselves into permanent city dwellers. 他们已成为永久的城市居民。 来自《简明英汉词典》

17 obsession   

n.困扰，无法摆脱的思想(或情感)

参考例句：

• I was suffering from obsession that my career would be ended.那时的我陷入了我的事业有可能就此终止的困扰当中。
• She would try to forget her obsession with Christopher.她会努力忘记对克里斯托弗的迷恋。

18 westward   

n.西方，西部；adj.西方的，向西的；adv.向西

参考例句：

• We live on the westward slope of the hill.我们住在这座山的西山坡。
• Explore westward or wherever.向西或到什么别的地方去勘探。

19 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。

20 predecessors   

n.前任( predecessor的名词复数 )；前辈；（被取代的）原有事物；前身

参考例句：

• The new government set about dismantling their predecessors' legislation. 新政府正着手废除其前任所制定的法律。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Will new plan be any more acceptable than its predecessors? 新计划比原先的计划更能令人满意吗？ 来自《简明英汉词典》