美国学生世界地理教材 第60期:战神的国家(3)

 Up in the Sierra Madre Mountains, in a bowl-shaped valley, is the capital of Mexico.  在马德雷山脉上有一个碗形的山谷，里面坐落着墨西哥的首都，

It is called Mexico City, so you don’t have to learn a new name. 叫做墨西哥城，因此你不用再学一个新名字了。 

The farther north you go the colder it gets, but not always. The farther south you go the warmer it gets, but not always.  通常，越往北就越冷，但并不总是这样；越往南就越暖和，但也并不总是这样；但是上山，越高就越冷——总是如此。

But the higher up you go in the mountains the colder it gets—always.  但实际上并不是这样，因为它在高高的山上。

Mexico City is so far south you would think it would be very hot, but it is not, because it is so high up in the mountains. 墨西哥城在往南很远的地方，你会以为那里很热， 

They have mild weather in Mexico City all the year round. 墨西哥城一年四季气候都很温和。

Near Mexico City is an old volcano with the peculiar¹ name: Po-poca- tepetl. It sounds something like Po-poca-teakettle. 墨西哥城附近有一座古老的火山，它有一个奇怪的名字：波波卡特佩特。听起来就像是波波卡水壶。 

Why didn’t they give it an easy name, you may wonder.  你也许会想：为什么不给它取个简单的名字呢？

They did, for in the language of the Indians who named it, Popocatepetl means “smoking mountain.” 这其实就是个简单的名字，因为在给火山命名的印第安人的语言中，“波波卡特佩特”的意思是“冒烟的山”。 

Popocatepetl is so far south we should expect it to be warm, but it is so high that its top is cold and is covered with snow all the year round. 波波卡特佩特在南部那么远的地方，我们会认为那里该是很温暖的，但是它海拔很高，山顶非常寒冷，终年积雪覆盖。 

Popocatepetl is no longer firing up, but clouds of sulphur smoke pour out of it all the time and sulphur collects in its mouth. 波波卡特佩特不再喷发，但是成团的硫黄烟一直从里面喷出来，硫黄不断堆积在火山口。 

Indian workmen climb up the sides of Popocatepetl and climb down inside to get the sulphur, which is used in making matches and medicine and other things. 印第安工人顺山坡爬上波波卡特佩特火山，然后进入火山口去采集硫黄，硫黄可以用于制造火柴、药物和其他东西。

On the Gulf² side of Mexico, along the shore, it is very warm indeed, very damp and unhealthful, so no one would live there if he didn’t have to;  墨西哥沿海湾这一带的气候炎热潮湿，不利于健康，因此除非是不得已，没有人愿意住在那儿；

but great lakes of oil were found down under the ground, along the shore near a city called Tampico, and men have dug wells through the ground to get the oil.  但是在这沿岸有个城市叫做坦皮科，人们在附近的地下发现了大油池，于是打井深入地下开采石油。

It is so close to the sea that tank ships can fill up with the oil and carry it to the United States and other places in the World.  这里离海很近，所以油船可以装满石油运送到美国和世界其他地方。

It is much cheaper to send oil by ship than by train, for one tank ship will carry as much as a thousand tank cars. 用船运油远比火车便宜得多，因为一艘油船装运的石油和一千辆铁路罐车一样多。

The thumb-like piece of Mexico is called Yucatan. In Yucatan grows a plant with tall swords-haped leaves.  墨西哥那块像大拇指的地方叫做尤卡坦。尤卡坦生长着一种植物，叶子形似长剑。

From these leaves a fiber³ that looks like long gray hair, called sisal, is obtained.  从这些叶子里可以提取出一种看起来就像灰色长头发的纤维，叫做波罗麻纤维。

It is used to make rope and twine⁴. From the juice of another plant that grows in Yucatan, chewing-gum is made. 这种纤维可以用来做粗绳和麻线。尤卡坦还生长一种植物，它的汁水可以做口香糖。

1 peculiar   

adj.古怪的，异常的；特殊的，特有的

参考例句：

• He walks in a peculiar fashion.他走路的样子很奇特。
• He looked at me with a very peculiar expression.他用一种很奇怪的表情看着我。

2 gulf   

n.海湾；深渊，鸿沟；分歧，隔阂

参考例句：

• The gulf between the two leaders cannot be bridged.两位领导人之间的鸿沟难以跨越。
• There is a gulf between the two cities.这两座城市间有个海湾。

3 fiber   

n.纤维，纤维质

参考例句：

• The basic structural unit of yarn is the fiber.纤维是纱的基本结构单元。
• The material must be free of fiber clumps.这种材料必须无纤维块。

4 twine   

v.搓，织，编饰；（使）缠绕

参考例句：

• He tied the parcel with twine.他用细绳捆包裹。
• Their cardboard boxes were wrapped and tied neatly with waxed twine.他们的纸板盒用蜡线扎得整整齐齐。