美国学生世界地理教材 第108期:天空之国(1)

 Lesson 33 The Land in the Sky 第33课 天空之国

The lowest country in Europe is Holland. 欧洲地势最低的国家是荷兰。

The highest country in Europe is the land of the Swiss people, called Switzerland. 欧洲地势最高的国家是瑞士。

There is hardly a hill in the whole of Holland. The country is as flat as a ball-field. 荷兰几乎连一座小山都没有。整个国家就像球场一样平坦。

There is hardly a hill in the whole of Switzerland.  瑞士也是几乎连一座小山都没有。

The hills are all mountains—the highest mountains in western Europe 那里的山全都是高山——西欧最高的山脉

—mountains so high that there is snow on their tops all the year round, in summer as well as winter.  —这些高山山顶一年四季白雪皑皑。

They are called the Alps. 这些山叫阿尔卑斯山脉。

But you can’t have a hole in a doughnut without the doughnut, and so you can’t have a mountain without a valley.  但要做炸面圈就得有炸面圈中间的洞，因此有山的地方肯定就有山谷。

The mountain tops in Switzerland are white, but the valleys are green, and cows with tinkling¹ bells graze² over the fields.  瑞士山脉的山顶都是白色的，但山谷是绿色的，奶牛戴着叮当响的铃儿在田野里吃草。

The melting snow from the mountain tops makes beautiful waterfalls and babbling³, tinkling brooks⁴ in the valleys. 融化的雪水从山顶流下，形成了美丽的瀑布和潺潺的溪流。

Have you ever seen the snow on the roof of a house suddenly slide off and fall to the ground?  你见过屋顶的积雪突然滑下来，整个掉到地面上吗？

That is called an avalanche⁵.  这样的现象叫雪崩。

But suppose the roof of the house were a mile long like the side of a mountain,  想象一下，如果屋顶有1英里长，像山坡一样，

and suddenly the snow covering it slipped and fell into the valley beneath.  覆盖在上面的雪突然全部滑下来落到下面的山谷里。

That is an avalanche such as they have in Switzerland;  瑞士就会发生这样的雪崩；

and sometimes avalanches⁶ bury people and houses and even whole villages beneath. 有时雪崩会把山谷里的人和房屋甚至整个村庄都埋进去。

Some long and wide valleys are filled with snow that has turned to ice.  有些又长又宽的山谷里满是已经冻成冰的积雪，

The ice filling these long valleys, like a river frozen⁷ to the bottom, is called a glacier⁸,  就像一条河从河面到河床全部结成了冰，这些山谷里的冰叫做冰川，

and the biggest of these glaciers⁹ have names just as rivers have. 其中一些最大的冰川像河流一样也有名字。

Most rivers start from springs, but in Switzerland they usually start from the melting ice under a glacier.  大多数河流发源于泉水，而瑞士的河流通常源于冰川底部融化的冰水。

One of these big glaciers in Switzerland is called the Rh?ne Glacier.  瑞士最大的冰川之一叫“罗讷冰川”。

From under the end of the Rh?ne Glacier, as from an ice cave, flows a cold stream of melting ice.  就像从一个冰洞里流出水一样，从罗讷冰川的尽头的下面流出一股融化的冰水形成小溪。

This stream grows larger and larger as it flows on down the valley and is joined by other streams of melted snow and ice.  这条小溪顺着山谷向下流淌，其他冰雪融化的小溪与它汇合在一起形成一条越来越宽的河。

It is then called the Rh?ne River.  这条河于是就叫做“罗讷河”。

It runs on until it reaches a big, broad valley, which it fills and forms a lake—the largest lake in Switzerland—called Lake Geneva. 罗讷河不断向前流，最后流入一个又大又宽的山谷，河水注满山谷形成一个湖—瑞士最大的湖—叫做“日内瓦湖”。

The Rh?ne flows out again on the other side of Lake Geneva, down through France past Lyons 罗讷河从日内瓦湖的另一侧又流出去，奔腾而下，穿过法国，流经里昂，

and the mulberry-trees and silkworm farms and silk manufactories I told you about, and at last empties into the Mediterranean¹⁰ Sea. 我在前面说过里昂的丝绸业，罗讷河流过那些桑树林、养蚕农场和丝绸工厂，最后流入地中海。

1 tinkling   

n.丁当作响声

参考例句：

• I could hear bells tinkling in the distance. 我能听到远处叮当铃响。
• To talk to him was like listening to the tinkling of a worn-out musical-box. 跟他说话，犹如听一架老掉牙的八音盒子丁冬响。 来自英汉文学

2 graze   

v.(牲畜)吃草；放牧；擦过(牲畜)；n.擦伤

参考例句：

• There is good grassland here for your cattle and horses to graze on.这里有很好的草地供你们放牧牛马。
• Nothing serious.Just a graze.没关系，就破了一点皮。

3 babbling   

n.胡说，婴儿发出的咿哑声adj.胡说的v.喋喋不休( babble的现在分词 )；作潺潺声（如流水）；含糊不清地说话；泄漏秘密

参考例句：

• I could hear the sound of a babbling brook. 我听得见小溪潺潺的流水声。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Infamy was babbling around her in the public market-place. 在公共市场上，她周围泛滥着对她丑行的种种议论。 来自英汉文学 - 红字

4 brooks   

n.小溪( brook的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Brooks gave the business when Haas caught him with his watch. 哈斯抓到偷他的手表的布鲁克斯时，狠狠地揍了他一顿。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Ade and Brooks exchanged blows yesterday and they were severely punished today. 艾德和布鲁克斯昨天打起来了，今天他们受到严厉的惩罚。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 avalanche   

n.雪崩，大量涌来

参考例句：

• They were killed by an avalanche in the Swiss Alps.他们在瑞士阿尔卑斯山的一次雪崩中罹难。
• Higher still the snow was ready to avalanche.在更高处积雪随时都会崩塌。

6 avalanches   

n.雪崩( avalanche的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The greatest dangers of pyroclastic avalanches are probably heat and suffocation. 火成碎屑崩落的最大危害可能是炽热和窒息作用。 来自辞典例句
• Avalanches poured down on the tracks and rails were spread. 雪崩压满了轨道，铁轨被弄得四分五裂。 来自辞典例句

7 frozen   

adj.冻结的，冰冻的

参考例句：

• He was frozen to death on a snowing night.在一个风雪的晚上，他被冻死了。
• The weather is cold and the ground is frozen.天寒地冻。

8 glacier   

n.冰川，冰河

参考例句：

• The glacier calved a large iceberg.冰河崩解而形成一个大冰山。
• The upper surface of glacier is riven by crevasses.冰川的上表面已裂成冰隙。

9 glaciers   

冰河，冰川( glacier的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Glaciers gouged out valleys from the hills. 冰川把丘陵地带冲出一条条山谷。
• It has ice and snow glaciers, rainforests and beautiful mountains. 既有冰川，又有雨林和秀丽的山峰。 来自英语晨读30分（高一）

10 Mediterranean   

adj.地中海的；地中海沿岸的

参考例句：

• The houses are Mediterranean in character.这些房子都属地中海风格。
• Gibraltar is the key to the Mediterranean.直布罗陀是地中海的要冲。