美国学生世界地理教材 第195期:温度计冻住的地方(3)

 How far do you suppose it is to Siberia from our country? 你猜从美国到西伯利亚有多远？

how many miles away would you say? eight thousand?—ten thousand miles? 你说有多少英里？——8,000英里？10,000英里？

As a matter of fact, it is only about fifty miles—yes, that's right, fifty miles—for the short way is across to Alaska. 事实上，大约只有50英里——对，没错，就是50英里——从西伯利亚到对面的阿拉斯加的最短路程。

Between Siberia and Alaska is a narrow strip¹ of water called Bering Strait, and when this is frozen² over, one could walk across from Asia to America. 西伯利亚和阿拉斯加之间有条狭长的海域叫白令海峡，当白令海峡全部结冰时，人们就能从亚洲走到美洲。

On the map there is also a long string of islands that look like stepping-stones, but one would have to be a giant to walk across that way. 在地图上有一串看起来像踏脚石一样的岛屿，但是，如果一个人要踩着这些岛屿跨过去，还得是个巨人才行。

Some say that the Indians and Eskimos in Alaska and the United States may have come across Bering Strait from Asia long, long ago, 有人说，在阿拉斯加和美国的印第安人与爱斯基摩人也许很久以前是从亚洲越过白令海峡来到美洲的，

and that they look something like the Chinese because they once came from that country. 而且，他们看起来有点像中国人，因为他们曾经就是来自那个国家。

Before World War I, when Russia had a czar, people who hated the czar or were supposed to hate the czar, or who had said anything against the czar, 第一次世界大战之前，俄国由沙皇统治。只要有人憎恨沙皇，或被认为憎恨沙皇，或说了什么反对沙皇的话，甚至有反对沙皇的想法，

or even thought anything against the czar, were made prisoners, torn away from their families and friends, and sent to far-off Siberia to work in the mines. 就会被抓起来，强行从家人和朋友身边被带走，送到遥远的西伯利亚矿场干活，

Many of them perished³ before reaching there. Most of them never returned. 很多人在途中就死了，大部分人再也没有回来。

After World War I, there was a revolution. The people rose up and threw out the Czar's government. 第一次世界大战之后俄国爆发了一场革命，人民起来反抗并推翻了沙皇政府。

The new government was taken over by a group of Russians called Communists. 新政府由被称为“共产党人”的俄国人接管。

These Communists killed the czar and his family and most of the well-to-do people of Russia. 共产党人处死了沙皇、沙皇家族以及大多数俄国富人。

The Communists made many changes. They started schools. 共产党人进行了很多变革，他们创建了学校，

They killed all farmers who owned large farms and gave their land to many poor people to farm. 处死了拥有大片农场的地主，并将他们的土地分给贫穷的农民耕种。

They started factories and opened stores and built railroads⁴ and airlines. 他们建起了工厂，开了商店，建造铁路和建立航空公司。

They made large dams across the rivers so they could use waterpower to send electric current to the factories. 他们在河流上建了大坝，利用水力发电，给工厂供电。

1 strip   

n.长条，条状；连环漫画；n.脱衣舞；vt.脱衣，剥夺；挤干(牛奶)；vt.拆卸；去除(烟叶的茎)；vi.脱衣，表演脱衣舞；剥落

参考例句：

• I need one more strip of cloth to finish this decoration.我还要一根布条来完成这个装饰品。
• We had to strip the old paint from the doors.我们只好把门上的旧漆刮掉。

2 frozen   

adj.冻结的，冰冻的

参考例句：

• He was frozen to death on a snowing night.在一个风雪的晚上，他被冻死了。
• The weather is cold and the ground is frozen.天寒地冻。

3 perished   

丧生( perish的过去式和过去分词 )； 消亡； 死亡； 损坏

参考例句：

• A family of four perished in the fire. 一家四口死于此次火灾之中。
• Hundreds of sheep perished that year because of drought. 那年由于干旱，几百头羊突然死去。

4 railroads   

n.铁路，铁道( railroad的名词复数 )；铁路系统v.铁路，铁道( railroad的第三人称单数 )；铁路系统

参考例句：

• Water transportation was outmoded by railroads and good pikes. 水上运输已因铁路和良好的税道而变得过时了。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• A severe snowstorm blocked up railroads. 一场暴风雪使铁路中断。 来自《简明英汉词典》