美国学生世界地理教材 第168期:确切地点(4)

 Ever since the temple was destroyed Jews have gone there to weep and to pray that their country, which the ancient Romans took from them, would be restored¹ to them. It is called the Wailing² Wall. 自从圣殿被摧毁之后，犹太人常来此哭泣并为被古罗马占领的国家会回归他们而祈祷，这段墙被称为“哭墙”。

Jews lived in many countries but there was no Jewish³ country that they could call their own. 许多国家都有犹太人生活，但是却没有一个国家可以称得上是犹太人自己的国家。

After World War II, however, the United Nations voted to divide Palestine into two parts. 然而，第二次世界大战之后，联合国投票决定将巴勒斯坦分为两个部分。

One part, they said, should be for Jews and would be the country that Jews for two thousand years had prayed to have. 他们说，其中一部分应该属于犹太人，将成为犹太人祈祷了两千年希望拥有的那个国家；

The other part, the United Nations said, should be for the many Arab Mohammedans who lived in Palestine. 另一部分，联合国说，应该属于住在巴勒斯坦的众多阿拉伯伊斯兰教徒。

So at last the Jews had a country of their own. They named it Israel. 这样，最终，犹太人有了自己的国家，他们把这个国家命名为以色列。

Israel is the part of Palestine on the east next to the Mediterranean⁴ Sea. 以色列是巴勒斯坦西部那片地区，濒临地中海。

The western part of Palestine became part of the Arab country of Jordan. 巴勒斯坦东部那片地区成为阿拉伯国家约旦的一部分。

Jerusalem, which is the holy city for both Mohammedans and Jews, was divided also. 作为伊斯兰教徒和犹太人的圣城，耶路撒冷也被一分为二，

The western and newer part of Jerusalem belongs to Israel and the eastern and older part belongs to the Mohammedans. 西部新城区属于以色列，东部老城区属于伊斯兰教徒。

Israel is a republic. Though some of the oldest cities in the World are in Israel, 以色列是一个共和国。尽管世界上一些最古老的城市在以色列，

the Jews made one of the newest cities in the World the capital of the new country, the city of Tel Aviv. 犹太人却让世界上最新的城市之一——特拉维夫城——作为新国家的首都。

Tel Aviv has modern buildings and wide straight streets and it is very clean and neat, much different from the old cities with their narrow, dirty streets. 特拉维夫有很多现代建筑和宽阔笔直的街道，城市干净整齐，与那些街道狭窄肮脏的老城市截然不同。

Many Jews from other countries have gone to live in Israel. 许多犹太人从其他国家到以色列定居，

They are welcome there, for Israel is the home land of the Jews. 他们在那儿很受欢迎，因为以色列就是犹太人自己的家园。

1 restored   

v.归还( restore的过去式和过去分词 )；交还；使恢复；修复

参考例句：

• The stolen goods were all restored to their owners. 被偷窃的东西都归还给原主了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Mary was restored to health after a period of medical treatment. 经过一段时间治疗，玛丽康复了。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 wailing   

v.哭叫，哀号( wail的现在分词 )；沱

参考例句：

• A police car raced past with its siren wailing. 一辆警车鸣着警报器飞驰而过。
• The little girl was wailing miserably. 那小女孩难过得号啕大哭。

3 Jewish   

adj.犹太人的，犹太民族的

参考例句：

• The coin bears a Jewish symbol.硬币上有犹太标记。
• They were two Jewish kids;I was friendly with both of them.他们是两个犹太小孩；我同他们都很要好。

4 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。