美国学生世界地理教材 第145期:铁幕国家(1)

 There are thousands of cities and towns in the World that neither you nor I have ever heard of, yet millions of people call these cities and towns home. 世界上有成千上万座城镇你我都没有听说过，但有千百万的人称它们为“家乡”，

These same people probably have never heard of the town or city where you yourself live. 同样，他们很可能也没有听说过你所居住的城市。

Between Russia and the rest of Europe are nine little countries, some of them not very important, 在苏联和欧洲其他部分之间有九个小国家，其中有些并不是非常重要的国家，

but all of them most important to the people who live in them; 但对于居住在这些国家的人来说，它们都是至关重要的。

and yet many people may live their whole lives and perhaps never hear of some of these places—unless they collect postage stamps. 然而，许多人也许活了一辈子也没有听说过这些地方——除非是喜欢集邮的人。

Six of these countries end in "ia" and two end in "land." 这些国家的英文国名有六个是以“ia”结尾的，两个以“land”结尾。

The two countries next to Russia that aren't run by Communists are Finland and Austria. 紧邻苏联的两个国家是芬兰和奥地利。

Finland is the largest of these in-between countries. 芬兰是所有夹在中间的国家中面积最大的，

It lies between Russia and the Scandinavian Peninsula. Finland means Marsh¹ Land, for it is a land of marshes² and lakes. 位于苏联和斯堪的纳维亚半岛之间。“芬兰”意思是“沼泽地”,因为在这片土地上有很多沼泽和湖泊。

It is like Norway and Sweden in some ways—it has fiords and it makes paper and matches. 在某些方面，芬兰与挪威和瑞典很像——有峡湾，生产纸和火柴。

It is a republic with a president. 芬兰也是共和政体，有一位总统。

The other "land" country is Po-land, which means Flat Land. 另一个国名以“land”结尾的国家是波兰，“波兰”意思是“平地”，

It is almost as large as Finland. Poland has much farm land and there are iron and coal mines. 国土面积几乎与芬兰一样大，有很多的农田，有铁矿和煤矿。

Many famous musicians have been Poles. 很多著名的音乐家都是波兰人。

Are you a good speller? How would you spell a cough or a sneeze? 你善于拼写吗？你是如何拼写“cough”（咳嗽）和“sneeze”（打喷嚏）这两个单词的？

South of Poland is a long thin country with a name which sounds funny to us—something between a cough and a sneeze—Czechoslovakia. 波兰的南边，有一个狭长的国家，它的名字听起来很有趣——介乎cough和sneeze之间——捷克斯洛伐克。

I have a set of china dishes that has stamped on the bottom MADE IN CZECHOSLOVAKIA, for there they used to make a great deal of china, and glassware too. 我有一套瓷盘，底部印着“捷克斯洛伐克制造”，因为捷克斯洛伐克以前大量生产瓷器和玻璃器皿。

There used to be a country called Austria-Hungary. 曾经有一个国家，叫做奥匈帝国。

Now there are two countries—Austria and Hungary. 现在是两个国家——奥地利和匈牙利。

Through Austria and Hungary runs a famous river—almost as famous as the Rhine. 有一条著名的河——几乎与莱茵河齐名——流经奥地利和匈牙利，

It is called the Danube; and, like the Rhine, the Danube has castles overlooking³ it, castles in which once lived robber barons⁴. 叫多瑙河；而且，像莱茵河一样，多瑙河两岸也有高耸的城堡，这些城堡曾经住着强盗贵族。

1 marsh   

n.沼泽，湿地

参考例句：

• There are a lot of frogs in the marsh.沼泽里有许多青蛙。
• I made my way slowly out of the marsh.我缓慢地走出这片沼泽地。

2 marshes   

n.沼泽，湿地( marsh的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Cows were grazing on the marshes. 牛群在湿地上吃草。
• We had to cross the marshes. 我们不得不穿过那片沼泽地。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 overlooking   

v.忽视( overlook的现在分词 )；监督；俯视；（对不良现象等）不予理会

参考例句：

• The house is in an elevated position, overlooking the town. 这栋房子地势较高，可以俯瞰全城。
• The house sits high on a hill overlooking a lake. 房子高高地坐落在可以俯瞰湖水的小山上。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 barons   

男爵( baron的名词复数 )； 巨头； 大王； 大亨

参考例句：

• The barons of Normandy had refused to countenance the enterprise officially. 诺曼底的贵族们拒绝正式赞助这桩买卖。
• The barons took the oath which Stephen Langton prescribed. 男爵们照斯蒂芬？兰顿的指导宣了誓。