美国学生世界地理教材 第17期:没有尽头的队列(2)

 There are only six continents² where people live, but on each of these continents there are several countries.  世界上有人居住的大陆只有六个，但是每一个大陆上都有好 多个国家。

A country doesn't mean the country.  国家并不意味着乡村。

A country means³ cities, towns, villages and country under one ruler.  一个国家意味着处于 一个统治者之下的城市、乡镇、村庄和乡村。

There are eighty countries on the World.  世界上一共有80个国家。

Some countries are small with only a few thousand people in the whole country, and some countries are large with many millions of people.  有的国家很小，全国总共只有几千人。有的国家很大，全国会有几百万的人。

Our country, the United⁴ States, has over one hundred and fifty million people, but there are several countries with more.  我们的国家，美国，有一亿五千万人，但是还有几个国家的人数更多。

China, which is on the other side of the World, has the most people.  在世界另一面的中国拥有最多的人口，

It has three times as many people as the United States;  是美国的三倍。

and India, another country on the other side of the World, has the next largest number of people.  世界另一面的另一个国家—印度—拥有第二多的人口。

Both these countries are in Asia—the largest continent¹ with the shortest name and the most people. 这两个国家都位于亚洲—最大的大陆，它的名字最短，人口最多。

Each country has a ruler, just as every family has a father or every football team has a captain.  每个国家都有一个统治者，就像每个家庭都有一个爸爸，或者像每个足球队都有一个队长。

Some countries have a king for a ruler and some have a president⁵, and most countries have other people to rule with the king and the president. 有的国家的统治者是国王，有的是总统，大多数国家都由其他的人和国王或总统共同来统治国家。

A king is a king because his father was a king, and his son will be king for the same reason.  一个国王能当国王是因为他的爸爸是国王，因为同样的原因他的儿子也会成为国王。

A president is president because he was chosen by the people in the country,just as the captain of a football team is chosen by his team.  一个总统能当总统因为他是由他的国家的人民选出来的，就像足球队的队长是由队员推选出来的一 样。

Choosing we call voting⁶.  这种推选叫做选举。

A king is king for his whole life, but a president is president for only a few years. 一个国王一辈子都是国王，而一个总统只能当几年的总统。

1 continent   

n.大陆，洲，(the Continent)欧洲大陆

参考例句：

• Africa is the second largest continent in the world.非洲是世界第二大洲。
• Asia is the biggest continent.亚洲是第一大洲。

2 continents   

n.洲，大陆( continent的名词复数 )；欧洲大陆（不包括英国和爱尔兰）

参考例句：

• The seas are rising and the continents are rocking. 四海翻腾，五洲震荡。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• The Five Continents are rocking, wind and thunder roaring. 五洲震荡风雷激。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

3 means   

n.方法，手段，折中点，物质财富

参考例句：

• That man used artful means to find out secrets.那人使用狡猾的手段获取机密。
• We must get it done by some means or other.我们总得想办法把它干完。

4 united   

adj.和谐的；团结的；联合的，统一的

参考例句：

• The whole nation is closely united.全国人民紧密团结。
• The two men were united by community of interests.共同的利益使两个人结合在一起。

5 president   

n.总统；总裁；校长；院长；会(社)长；主席

参考例句：

• They selected him to be president.他们选举他为总裁。
• The president's speech lacked sincerity.校长的演讲缺乏诚意。

6 voting   

n.选举，投票

参考例句：

• The voting was 15 in favour, 3 against and 2 abstentions. 表决结果是15人赞成，3人反对，2人弃权。
• They were accused of intimidating people into voting for them. 他们被控胁迫选民投他们的票。