美国学生世界地理教材 第182期:对面脚踩之地(3)

 Two Englishmen¹, after weeks of struggling up the sides of the giant mountain, 两名英国人，在这巨大的山体侧面，艰难爬行几周之后，

got nearer than any other human being ever had before—within a few hundred feet of the top. 到达了以前别人从未到过的高度，离山顶只有几百英尺了。

A companion whom they left at their last stop watched them as they plunged² upward³ in their last desperate struggle, 有个同伴被留在最后一个停留地点，注视他俩奋力向上攀登，作最后一搏。

and then—whish!—an icy blast⁴ of snow and sleet⁵ swept them from sight—forever. 就在这时，——“唿嘘”一声——一阵凛冽的狂风带着雪和冻雨吹来，把两人刮走了，从视线中消失——永远地消失了。

The native people think a goddess lives at the top and that she will let no one climb to her, 当地人认为山顶上住着一位女神，这位女神不愿让任何人爬上山顶，接近她。

and that it brings bad luck and even death to try to reach such a holy place. 任何人想要登上如此神圣的地方，就会遭遇厄运，甚至死亡。

At the other end of the Himalaya Mountains is a high valley which is so beautiful that poets call it a vale instead of a valley. 在喜马拉雅山脉的另一端是一个很高的山谷，非常美丽，诗人都称它为河谷而不是山谷，

It is the Vale of Kashmir. "Who has not heard of the Vale of Kashmir," says one poet, "with its roses, the brightest the earth ever gave?" 那就是克什米尔河谷。“谁没有听说过克什米尔河谷？”一位诗人说，“那里盛开着地球上最美丽的玫瑰花。”

Beautiful lakes with snow-topped mountains, and roses, roses everywhere. 美丽的湖泊、白雪皑皑的山峰，到处都是玫瑰花，

It seems as if this should have been the Garden of Eden instead of that sun-baked mud bank between the Tigris and Euphrates. 似乎这儿应当就是伊甸园，而不是底格里斯河与幼发拉底河之间那块被太阳烤干了的土地。

If you will look at your map of Asia carefully you will see something strange about two of the countries that touch India. 如果仔细看亚洲地图，你会发现，与印度相连的两个国家，有什么不同寻常的地方。

The country next to India on the west and the country next to India on the east have the same name, Pakistan. 在西边与印度相邻的国家，和在东部与印度相邻的国家，有一个共同的名字——巴基斯坦。

How can two separate countries have the same name? The answer is that Pakistan is one country in two parts. 两个分开的国家怎么会有相同的名字？答案是巴基斯坦是一个分成了两个部分的国家。

1 Englishmen   

n.英国人；英格兰（男）人，英国（男）人( Englishman的名词复数 )；英国人的家就是他的城堡（意即一个人的家是安全的私人场所）

参考例句：

• Few Englishmen wear frock coats now.They went out years ago. 现在，英国人很少穿大礼服了，大礼服在多年以前就不时兴了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• During the disturbance which followed, three Englishmen were hurt. 在接下来的骚乱中，3名英国人受伤。 来自辞典例句

2 plunged   

v.颠簸( plunge的过去式和过去分词 )；暴跌；骤降；突降

参考例句：

• The train derailed and plunged into the river. 火车脱轨栽进了河里。
• She lost her balance and plunged 100 feet to her death. 她没有站稳，从100英尺的高处跌下摔死了。

3 upward   

adj.向上的，上升的；adv.向上，上升

参考例句：

• The birds flew upward.鸟儿向上飞去。
• Prices have an upward tendency.价格有上升的趋势。

4 blast   

v.炸毁，摧毁；n.爆炸，爆破，一阵，汽笛声

参考例句：

• A huge bomb blast rocked central London last night.昨晚一次剧烈的炸弹爆炸震动了伦敦市中心。
• Not until last week was the project in full blast.工程直到上星期才全部开工。

5 sleet   

n.雨雪；v.下雨雪，下冰雹

参考例句：

• There was a great deal of sleet last night.昨夜雨夹雪下得真大。
• When winter comes,we get sleet and frost.冬天来到时我们这儿会有雨夹雪和霜冻。