【美国精神】第59期

Explanation:

  Most Americans are taught that an explorer (or a person who goes to an unknown place to learn about it) named Christopher Columbus discovered (or found) America in 1492. But the truth is that millions of people were already living in North and South American before Christopher Columbus ever arrived on the American shore (or the land next to an ocean). Christopher Columbus was surprised to see the natives (or people who are born in America). He thought that he had landed in the East Indies on his way to India, so he called the people he met there Indians. Today, these people are usually called American Indians or Native Americans.

  The arrival of Christopher Columbus and other Europeans in the New World (or North and South America) was devastating¹ (or extremely bad) for the Native Americans. Millions of Native Americans died because of epidemic² diseases⁴, which were illnesses that made a large number of the Native Americans sick very quickly. Many of the diseases that were common in the Old World (or Europe) were unheard of (or unknown) in the New World. The American Indians did not have the immunities⁵ that Europeans did, which meant that their bodies did not have the ability to fight against the diseases. When the Europeans came, they inadvertently (or without knowing or wanting to) infected the Native Americans and made them ill. Many of them died without ever knowing what was happening.

  The Native Americans who didn’t die from disease³ were often killed by the Europeans. Almost all of the Europeans who came to America wanted the Native Americans to become more like them, and especially to become Christian⁶ and believe in the Christian God. They killed Native Americans who resisted (or fought against) their efforts.

  As more and more Europeans began living in and being born in the New World, they needed more land, so they began to displace⁷ the Native Americans, which means that the Native Americans were made to move to other lands so that the Europeans could use them for farming. Over time, the Native Americans were pushed further and further west to lands that were not very good for growing things. Many Native Americans died while walking to those new lands, and many others died when there wasn’t enough water and food in those new lands.

 

问题：

Who lived in America before the Europeans arrived?

Answer:

• Native Americans

• American Indians

1 devastating   

adj.毁灭性的，令人震惊的，强有力的

参考例句：

• It is the most devastating storm in 20 years.这是20年来破坏性最大的风暴。
• Affairs do have a devastating effect on marriages.婚外情确实会对婚姻造成毁灭性的影响。

2 epidemic   

n.流行病；盛行；adj.流行性的，流传极广的

参考例句：

• That kind of epidemic disease has long been stamped out.那种传染病早已绝迹。
• The authorities tried to localise the epidemic.当局试图把流行病限制在局部范围。

3 disease   

n.疾病，弊端

参考例句：

• The doctors are trying to stamp out the disease.医生正在尽力消灭这种疾病。
• He fought against the disease for a long time.他同疾病做了长时间的斗争。

4 diseases   

n.疾病( disease的名词复数 )；弊端；恶疾；痼疾

参考例句：

• Smoking is a causative factor in several major diseases. 抽烟是引起几种严重疾病的病因。
• The illness frequently coexists with other chronic diseases. 这种病往往与其他慢性病同时存在。

5 immunities   

免除，豁免( immunity的名词复数 )； 免疫力

参考例句：

• Supplying nutrients and immunities to my baby? 为我的宝贝提供营养物质和免疫物质？
• And these provide immunities against the a host of infections and diseases. 这些物质可提高婴儿的免疫力，使之免受病毒感染和疾病侵袭。

6 Christian   

adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒

参考例句：

• They always addressed each other by their Christian name.他们总是以教名互相称呼。
• His mother is a sincere Christian.他母亲是个虔诚的基督教徒。

7 displace   

vt.取代，迫使...离开家园，使离开原位

参考例句：

• The extraordinary thing was that french did not displace English.奇特的是，法语没有取代英语。
• At present,obviously,nevertheless,he was not likely to displace himself.但时至今日，很清楚，他不可能再迁徙了。