美国学生世界地理教材 第194期:温度计冻住的地方(2)

 Trappers hunt these animals just for their furs, to be made into coats to keep people warm. 捕兽者猎杀这些动物就是为了获取它们的皮毛，用来做保暖的大衣。

One small animal, called the ermine, has a snow-white coat and a tail with a black tip. 有一种叫“白鼬”的小动物，长着雪白的皮毛，只有尾巴尖是黑色的。

The ermine hates dirt or anything that will soil his white fur, so he keeps himself spotless. 白鼬爱干净，不愿让任何东西弄脏自己雪白的皮毛，所以全身总是一尘不染。

It is for this reason that the official robes¹ of judges and kings are made of the fur of the ermine, 由于这个原因，法官和国王的袍服都是用白鼬毛皮做的，

as a sign that they too must be pure and clean in heart and mind. 象征他们的心灵是纯净的。

The skins of many such animals are sewn together to make a single cape² or coat, which then looks white with little black tails spotted³ regularly⁴ over it. 将很多白鼬皮毛缝在一起就可以制成一件斗篷或大衣，整体看上去是白色上面均匀地点缀着黑色尾巴尖。

The longest railway in the World is built through the bottom part of Siberia. 世界上最长的铁路贯穿西伯利亚的底部。

It is so long it takes two weeks to go from one end of it to the other. 乘火车从一头到另一头要花两周的时间。

One end of it on the Pacific Ocean is called Vladivostok and the other end in Russia is Moscow. 铁路的一头在太平洋的海参崴，另一头在俄罗斯的莫斯科，

It is called the Trans-Siberian Railway, which means⁵ the Across Siberia Railway. 这条铁路叫做“西伯利亚大铁路”，意思是穿越整个西伯利亚的铁路。

Most of the people in Siberia live along this railway, and yet one may travel for hundreds of miles without seeing a town or even a house. 大多数西伯利亚人都住在铁路沿线。然而，你乘火车可能走数百英里也看不到一座城镇，甚至看不到一座房子。

Often the towns are far from the railroad⁶, so that there is a long drive from the station to the town. 城镇通常离铁路较远，因此从车站到镇上驾车还有很长一段路。

The engines that draw the trains are fired by wood instead of coal, 拉动火车的火车头不是烧煤而是烧木头。

and along the railroad there are piles of wood at which the train stops to get fuel, as a car would stop to get gasoline⁷. 铁路沿线有一堆堆的木头，火车停下就可以添加燃料，就像小汽车停下来加油一样。

The chief Siberian cities end in "sk." They are Omsk, Tomsk, and Irkutsk. 西伯利亚主要城市的名字都是以“斯（茨）克”结尾的，如鄂木斯克、托木斯克和伊尔库茨克。

A stranger once asked a man on the street how far it was to the railway station. 一个外地人曾在大街上询问到火车站有多远，

The man replied, "If you keep on going the way you are headed it is twenty-five thousand miles, but if you turn round it's two blocks." 得到的回答是，“如果你继续朝前走，有25,000英里，但是，如果你掉转头，也就两个街区而已。”

1 robes   

礼服( robe的名词复数 )； 法衣； 睡袍； 长袍

参考例句：

• cardinals in scarlet robes 身披红袍的枢机主教
• His Indian robes contrasted oddly with his fluent English. 他的印度长袍与他流利的英语形成奇特的对照。

2 cape   

n.海角，岬；披肩，短披风

参考例句：

• I long for a trip to the Cape of Good Hope.我渴望到好望角去旅行。
• She was wearing a cape over her dress.她在外套上披着一件披肩。

3 spotted   

adj.有斑点的，斑纹的，弄污了的

参考例句：

• The milkman selected the spotted cows,from among a herd of two hundred.牛奶商从一群200头牛中选出有斑点的牛。
• Sam's shop stocks short spotted socks.山姆的商店屯积了有斑点的短袜。

4 regularly   

adv.有规则地，一丝不苟地，正式地

参考例句：

• Check the engine oil level regularly.要时常检查机油量。
• We meet regularly to discuss business.我们定期会面讨论事务。

5 means   

n.方法，手段，折中点，物质财富

参考例句：

• That man used artful means to find out secrets.那人使用狡猾的手段获取机密。
• We must get it done by some means or other.我们总得想办法把它干完。

6 railroad   

n.铁路；vi.由铁路运输

参考例句：

• The railroad connects two cities,namely,New York and Chicago.这条铁路连接两个城市，即纽约与芝加哥。
• My brother is working on the railroad.我兄弟在铁路系统工作。

7 gasoline   

n.(美)汽油

参考例句：

• This car runs 5 miles on a gallon of gasoline.这部汽车一加仑汽油可以行驶五英里。
• There is still some gasoline left in the tank.油箱里还剩下一些汽油。