美国学生世界地理教材 第21期:十三俱乐部(3)

 Now thirteen is generally considered an unlucky number, but these 13 States were not afraid of bad luck. 现在13通常被认为是个不吉利的数字，但是这13个州并不害怕什么坏运气。

In fact, as the new country had to have a flag, they made a flag with 13 stripes¹ 甚至想到一个新的国家总得有国旗，他们还制作了一面有13道条纹的旗子

seven red stripes and six white—and they put a white star for each State in a blue corner of the flag. 七红六白—并在旗子蓝色一角用13颗白色的星星代表13个州。

Other parts of North America thought they'd like to join the club too,  北美的其他地区也想要加入进来，

and more and more pieces kept on joining until there were forty eight States,  于是越来越多的地方加入进来，直到一共有48个州，

and these States that were united² stretched from the Atlantic Ocean on one side to the Pacific Ocean on the other 这些州连起来从大西洋东侧的岸向西延伸到西侧的太平洋

that is, from where the sun rises from the ocean on one side to where it sets over the ocean on the other. 也就是从海洋一边太阳升起的地方到海洋另一边太阳落下的地方。

Each time a piece joined the U.S., another star was put on the corner of the flag,  每次有新州加入，旗子一角的星星就会添加一颗，

but the number of stripes was not changed, for there would have been too many;  但是条纹不再增加，不然就太多了；

so now there are forty-eight stars —that means³ forty eight States united into one country. 所以现在国旗上有48颗星一一意味着48个州联合成一个国家。

That's why there are on our coins the words  e pluribus unum, which means one from many. 这就是为什么我们的硬币上有e pluribus unum这样的拉丁语字样，意思是合众为一。

Not all of America joined the club, however. 然而并不是整个美洲所有地区都加入了这个俱乐部。

The country north of the U.S.called Canada and the country south of the U.S.called Mexico did not join. 美国北部的国家加拿大和南部的国家墨西哥都没有加入。

And yet the people in Canada are Americans, and the people in Mexico are Americans, too,  不过加拿大人也是美洲人，墨西哥人也是美洲人，

but both Canada and Mexico have different rulers from what we have, for they are different countries. 但加拿大和墨西哥都有着和我们不一样的统治者，因为他们是不同的国家。

Though there are very few Indians left in the U.S., we still use some of their names in naming our States. 尽管美国现在只有极少数印第安人，我们仍然用他们的名字来命名一些州。

See if you can pick out some of the States on the map that have Indian names. 看看你能不能在地图上找出几个有印第安名的州。

Maryland and Virginia, of course, are not—for they are girls'names. 马里兰和弗吉尼亚当然不是—因为它们是女孩的名字。

States beginning with New —like New York, New Jersey⁴, New Hampshire—of course are not Indian. 以新字开头的州—比如说纽约、新泽西、新罕布什尔—当然也不是。

They are named after old places in another country. 它们是按别的国家的老地名来取名的。

But Minnesota, which means sky blue water； 但是像明尼苏达（意思是天蓝色的水），

Ohio, which means beautiful river or great;and many others are Indian. 俄亥俄（意思是美丽 的 河或伟大的）等许多其他州—都是印第安语。

1 stripes   

n.（与底色不同的）条纹( stripe的名词复数 )；（军装或警服上表示等级的）臂章；纹理

参考例句：

• The plant's stem is marked with thin green longitudinal stripes. 这种植物的茎上长有绿色细长条纹。
• a zebra's black and white stripes 斑马的黑白条纹

2 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。

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 jersey   

n.运动衫

参考例句：

• He wears a cotton jersey when he plays football.他穿运动衫踢足球。
• They were dressed alike in blue jersey and knickers.他们穿着一致，都是蓝色的运动衫和灯笼短裤。