美国学生世界地理教材 第77期:白银之国和棉条之国(3)

 The Andes Mountains separate Argentina from a very long and narrow country on the Pacific shore named Chile. 安第斯山脉把阿根廷和位于太平洋沿岸的一个非常狭长的国家分隔开来，这个国家叫做智利。

Argentina is called the Silver Land. Chile is so long and thin it is sometimes called the Sliver¹ land.  阿根廷被叫做白银之国。智利又长又细，有时被叫做棉条之国。

Chile doesn’t mean chilly²; it means Land of Snow, for most of Chile is mountains,  智利并不是寒冷的意思；“智利”的意思是“白雪之国”，因为智利大部分地区都是山脉，

and the mountains are so high there is snow on their tops all the time. 山很高，山顶终年都有积雪。

Chile and Argentina were once going to war in spite³ of the wall of mountains between them, but they made an agreement,  尽管两国之间隔着一道高山之屏，智利和阿根廷曾经差点兵戎相见，但是他们后来达成协议，

as Canada and the United States did, that they would not fight.  就像加拿大和美国那样，约定永不交战。

They set up on top of the Andes Mountains a huge bronze figure of Christ holding a cross 他们在安第斯山脉顶峰竖立了巨大的基督铜像，铜像手持一个十字架

—they melted their cannons⁴ to make it—and on the base they put words which say something like this:  ——他们把大炮熔化造了这尊铜像——底座上写着这样的话：

“Sooner shall these mountain crags crumble⁵ to dust than Chile and Argentina shall go to war with each other—they have sworn it at the foot of Christ.” “除非安第斯山脉山崩地裂，碎成灰尘，否则智利和阿根廷绝不交战——两国在基督脚下以此为誓。” 

They have had no fights since. What a pity such an easy way to stop fighting cannot be used everywhere!  两国之间从此以后再没有发生过战争。如此简单的方法就阻止了战争，但却不能用在世界各地，真是可惜！

Chile is so long and so thin and has so many mountains it hardly seems a country worth fighting for,  智利地域这么狭长，又有很多的高山，撕毁不值得为之而战，

but in spite of what seems to be, Chile makes a lot of money.  但尽管不像是个好地方，智利却财源滚滚。

This may seem still more surprising when I tell you that the northern part of Chile is a desert where it often does not rain for ten years at a time.  如果我告诉你智利北部是个沙漠，往往连续十年不下雨，你可能会更吃惊了。

That doesn’t sound like very good land, but it is one of the richest lands in the World.  这片土地听起来不怎么样，但它却是世界上最富饶的地区之一。

You would never guess why. Of course, nothing will grow there because it is a desert, and there are no diamonds nor gold.  你肯定猜不出为什么。当然，那里什么也不长，因为那里是沙漠，那里也没有钻石或黄金。

It is on account of something you probably never heard of.  之所以富饶是因为一种你也许从未听说过的东西。

This something you never heard of is called Nitrate of Soda⁶.  这种你从未听说过的东西叫做硝酸钠。

It is a kind of salt that was once in the sea.  它是一种以前在海里的盐。

The reason it is so valuable is because farmers all over the World buy it to put on their fields, as it makes vegetables grow so much better.  它之所以值钱是因为世界各地的农民都买硝酸钠，作为肥料施到田里，使蔬菜长得更好。

Strange it doesn’t grow anything where it is found; but that is because there is no rain there and nothing will grow without rain.  奇怪的是能找到这个东西的地方却什么都不长；不过这是因为那里不下雨，而没有雨水什么都不长。

But it is lucky there is no rain, for if there were rain the Nitrate of Soda would melt.  但是幸亏那里不下雨，因为如果有雨水，硝酸钠就溶化了。

This part of Chile is like a long narrow trough.  智利这一地区就像一个又长又窄的槽。

It was once under the sea, then there was an earthquake, and this part of the bottom of the sea rose up and made land;  它曾经在海底，后来发生了地震，这部分海底隆起形成了陆地；

the water in the trough evaporated⁷ and left this rough kind of sea salt called Nitrate of Soda.  槽里的水蒸发之后留下了这种叫做硝酸钠的粗糙的海盐。

Iodine⁸ comes from there too; and who doesn’t know that stinging⁹ brown stuff that your mother puts on cuts? 那里还产碘；你受了点伤，妈妈就往伤口上涂抹一种让人刺痛的褐色的东西，有谁不知道那是什么呢？

1 sliver   

n.裂片，细片，梳毛；v.纵切，切成长片，剖开

参考例句：

• There was only one sliver of light in the darkness.黑暗中只有一点零星的光亮。
• Then,one night,Monica saw a thin sliver of the moon reappear.之后的一天晚上，莫尼卡看到了一个月牙。

2 chilly   

adj.凉快的，寒冷的

参考例句：

• I feel chilly without a coat.我由于没有穿大衣而感到凉飕飕的。
• I grew chilly when the fire went out.炉火熄灭后，寒气逼人。

3 spite   

n.（用于短语）虽然，不顾，尽管

参考例句：

• He has modern ideas in spite of his great age.尽管他年事很高，但思想观念却很入时。
• In spite of his anger,his remarks were restrained.他尽管生气，说的话还是有节制的。

4 cannons   

n.加农炮，大炮，火炮( cannon的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Cannons bombarded enemy lines. 大炮轰击了敌军阵地。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• One company had been furnished with six cannons. 某连队装备了六门大炮。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 crumble   

vi.碎裂，崩溃；vt.弄碎，摧毁

参考例句：

• Opposition more or less crumbled away.反对势力差不多都瓦解了。
• Even if the seas go dry and rocks crumble,my will will remain firm.纵然海枯石烂，意志永不动摇。

6 soda   

n.苏打水；汽水

参考例句：

• She doesn't enjoy drinking chocolate soda.她不喜欢喝巧克力汽水。
• I will freshen your drink with more soda and ice cubes.我给你的饮料重加一些苏打水和冰块。

7 evaporated   

adj. 浓缩的，脱水的，蒸发干燥的 动词evaporate的过去式和过去分词形式

参考例句：

• Heat until all the water has evaporated. 加热直至水全部蒸发。
• The water soon evaporated in the sunshine. 水在阳光下不久就蒸发了。

8 iodine   

n.碘，碘酒

参考例句：

• The doctor painted iodine on the cut.医生在伤口上涂点碘酒。
• Iodine tends to localize in the thyroid.碘容易集于甲状腺。

9 stinging   

刺一样的，刺人的，激烈的

参考例句：

• My eyes are stinging from the smoke. 我眼睛被烟熏的疼痛。
• On September 24, he wrote a stinging denunciation of his critics. 9月24号，他写了一篇痛斥那些批评者的措词强烈的文章。