美国学生世界地理教材 第172期:产生《一千零一夜》的国家(1)

 Have you ever been thirsty—really thirsty? Very few people in our country ever have. 你感到口渴过吗——真的很渴的那种感觉？在我们国家很少有人感到口很渴。

Have you ever gone for more than one whole day without a drink of water? 你有没有过了一整天还没有喝水？

Some people have gone without food for days and even weeks, 有些人可以坚持几天、甚至几个星期都不吃食物，

but no one ever has gone without water for as long as a week. 但是没有人可以一个星期都不喝水。

Suppose that you lived in a country where there is not a single river nor lake in the whole land,  设想一下你生活在一个没有任何河流和湖泊、

where it seldom, if ever, rains, 也几乎从不下雨的国家，

where there is practically¹ no water to drink and even less for washing— 那里连喝的水都没有，别说洗澡了——

a country that is almost surrounded by water, 那又是一个几乎完全被水包围着的国家，

but water you can't drink because it is salt— 但水不能喝是因为水是咸的——

a country that is a desert except for a little fringe² around the edge and damp spots here and there. 整个国家，除了边界一小部分地区，以及一些零星分散的较湿润地区，其他全是沙漠。

That country is Arabia, the home of the Arab people. 这个国家就是阿拉伯，就是阿拉伯人的家乡。

How can any one live there? 那里怎么会有人生活呢？

The answer is that people can only live along the edges or in those few spots where there is water. 答案是人们只能生活在沙漠边缘，或者少数一些有水的地方。

These spots are called oases³. 这些地方叫做绿洲。

Dates are bread and butter, meat and dessert to an Arab. 对阿拉伯人来说，海枣就是面包和黄油，是肉和甜点。

Dates grow on palm-trees, 海枣长在椰枣树上，

so the Arabs plant palm-trees in deep holes in order that their roots may be far down where the ground is a little damp. 所以阿拉伯人将椰枣树种在很深的坑里，这样它的根就可以向下延伸到有点潮湿的土壤中。

The well-to-do Arab has a camel, 富裕的阿拉伯人，

because that is the only animal that can stand hardships such as lack of food and water for any length of time; 家里会有一只骆驼，因为只有骆驼才能长时间忍受缺水少食那样恶劣环境。

also, he has a few goats or sheep and a horse. 此外，他还有一些山羊或绵羊，还有一匹马。

The Arab horses are small but they are swift⁴ runners. 阿拉伯马体型小但跑起来却很快。

Some say they are the finest in the World, and many of our race-horses have come from Arab stock⁵. 有人说它们是世界上最优良的马，很多赛马用的马就来自阿拉伯。

The Arabs are very much like all boys and girls in one particular— 阿拉伯人在某个方面非常像孩子——

they love to listen to good stories, especially at night. 就是很喜欢听好听的故事，尤其是在晚上。

They can't get enough of them. 好故事他们再听也听不腻。

1 practically   

adv.差不多；几乎；实际地，从实际角度

参考例句：

• He solved the problem very practically.他很实事求是地解决了这个问题。
• She's practically always late for school.她上学几乎总是迟到。

2 fringe   

n.边缘；（窗帘）缘饰，额前垂发；vt.饰...的边

参考例句：

• The girl wears her hair in a fringe.那女孩留着刘海。
• This is an enormous field of which l can touch only the fringe.这是一个很广阔的领域，我在这里只能谈个大概。

3 oases   

n.（沙漠中的）绿洲( oasis的名词复数 )；（困苦中）令人快慰的地方（或时刻）；乐土；乐事

参考例句：

• There was a hundred miles between the two oases. 这两片绿洲间有一百英里。 来自辞典例句
• Where underground water comes to the surface, there are oases. 地下水流到地表的地方，就成为了绿洲。 来自互联网

4 swift   

n.雨燕，大滚筒；adj.迅速的，快的，敏捷的，立刻的；adv.迅速地，敏捷地

参考例句：

• He is swift to hear,but slow to speak.他听力敏锐，但不善言辞。
• He made a remarkably swift recovery.他康复得相当快。

5 stock   

n.存货，储备；树干；血统；股份；家畜；adj.存货的；平凡的，惯用的；股票的；畜牧的；vt.进货，采购；储存；供给；vi.出新芽；进货

参考例句：

• The shop takes stock every week on Friday mornings.这家商店每星期五早晨盘点存货。
• Experts have forecast an upturn in the stock market.专家已预测股票市场价格有上升趋势。