【美国精神】第60期

Explanation:

  When Europeans began to live in the United States, they had a lot of work to do. They needed to make farms so that people would have enough to eat, build towns and cities, and build roads so that people could go between the towns and cities. There was too much work to do and not enough people to do it. So Europeans began to use slaves (or people who are forced to work without pay and are owned by other people). Most of the slaves were black people from Africa who were taken to America and sold to wealthy (or rich) people.

  Africans were treated very poorly on the slave ships, which were large boats that brought slaves from Africa, and many of them died before getting to America. Historians¹ (or people who study history) estimate (or guess) that about 645,000 Africans were brought to the United States. By 1860, the number of Africans had grown to around 4 million slaves. Most of these slaves lived and worked in the Southern United States, where cotton fields (or areas where something is grown for food or clothing) needed a lot of labor² (or hard work). Many of them worked on large plantations³, which were very large farms.

  Slavery was legal (or allowed by law) from 1654 to 1865. During this time, most slaves were treated very badly by their owners. Slaves were often whipped (or hit with a long piece of leather to cut a person’s back) and beaten (or hit badly). Female slaves were often raped⁴ (or forced to have sex) by their owners. Black families were often separated (or forced to leave each other) when children were sold separately from their parents. For all these reasons, over time people began to think that slavery was wrong. Eventually slavery was made illegal (or against the law) when the 13th Constitutional Amendment⁵ was passed (or made into law) in 1865.

 

问题：

What group of people was taken to America and sold as slaves?

Answer:

• Africans

• people from Africa

1 historians   

n.历史学家，史学工作者( historian的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Historians seem to have confused the chronology of these events. 历史学家好像把这些事件发生的年代顺序搞混了。
• Historians have concurred with each other in this view. 历史学家在这个观点上已取得一致意见。

2 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。

3 plantations   

n.种植园，大农场( plantation的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Soon great plantations, supported by slave labor, made some families very wealthy. 不久之后出现了依靠奴隶劳动的大庄园，使一些家庭成了富豪。 来自英汉非文学 - 政府文件
• Winterborne's contract was completed, and the plantations were deserted. 维恩特波恩的合同完成后，那片林地变得荒废了。 来自辞典例句

4 raped   

v.以暴力夺取，强夺( rape的过去式和过去分词 )；强奸

参考例句：

• A young woman was brutally raped in her own home. 一名年轻女子在自己家中惨遭强暴。 来自辞典例句
• We got stick together, or we will be having our women raped. 我们得团结一致，不然我们的妻女就会遭到蹂躏。 来自辞典例句

5 amendment   

n.改正，修正，改善，修正案

参考例句：

• The amendment was rejected by 207 voters to 143.这项修正案以207票对143票被否决。
• The Opposition has tabled an amendment to the bill.反对党已经就该议案提交了一项修正条款。