美国小学英语教材6:第58课 从印第安足迹到航空邮政(3)

 The places where the courier changed horses were called posts; 邮递员更换马匹的地方叫站；

and there was a line of these posts between Boston and New York and between New York and Philadelphia. 在波士顿和纽约沿线，纽约和宾州沿线有许多这样的站。

In the far South and West, where there were not so many people, there were fewer posts and postmen. 最南端和最西端人口稀少，站也比较少，邮递员也比较少。

At last the king appointed¹ a Postmaster General for the colonies², and after several men had held the office, 最终，国王任命了殖民地的邮政大臣，历经几任大臣以后，

it came to the great Benjamin Franklin. Franklin at once set about trying to improve the mail service. 来到了本杰明·富兰克林在任期间，富兰克林起初想要提升邮递服务。

He traveled over the colonies, visiting many of the posts, and he tried in every way to make the mails move quickly and safely. 他探访了殖民地，造访了许多站，他利用各种方法加快邮递速度，保证邮递安全。

Then came the Revolutionary War. The colonies broke away from the King of England and became the United³ States of America. 之后是独立战争，殖民地脱离英格兰国王统治，成为了美国。

Franklin, who had been the king's Postmaster General, now became the Postmaster General of the United States. 富兰克林曾是国王的邮政大臣，如今成为了美国的邮政大臣。

The first thing he had to do was to see that George Washington⁴ could send messages to his soldiers along the battle fronts. 他要做的第一件事就是保证乔治·华盛顿可以将讯息传递给前线打仗的士兵。

The next thing he had to do was to see that letters could be sent back and forth⁵ among all the colonies, 第二件事是保证各殖民地之间的信件往来，

so that they could all work together as the new United States. 这样才可以一起协力创造新的美国。

He did all this so well, and he improved the mail service in so many ways 他这些都做得很不错，他也从许多方面改善了邮政服务，

that he has been called the father of the United States Post Office. 他被称之为美国邮政之父。

After the couriers on horseback, came the stage coaches. Some of these mail coaches must have been wonderful sights, 马背上的邮递员之后是驿马车，许多邮递马车很好看，

for they were painted green, with red wheels. On the doors were the words, United States Mail Stage, painted in bright yellow, 它们被涂成了绿色，红色的轮胎，车门上写着美国邮车，字用明亮的黄色显示，

with a spread eagle of a size and color to suit over the words. 还有一只大小和颜色都匹配文字的展翅老鹰。

But often their bright colors were covered with mud⁶, and in many places they could not be used at all because of bad roads. 但通常明亮的颜色被泥土覆盖，在许多地方因为道路糟糕而派不上用场。

Much of the mail was still carried on horseback, especially in the far South and West. 多数邮政依然通过马背运输，特别是最南端和最西端。

 

1 appointed   

adj.指定的，约定的v.任命( appoint的过去式和过去分词 )；确定；约定；安排

参考例句：

• They have appointed a new head teacher at my son's school. 我儿子读书的学校任命了一位新校长。
• They appointed a new manager to coordinate the work of the team. 为协调这个队的工作，他们任用了一位新经理。

2 colonies   

n.殖民地( colony的名词复数 )；（侨民等）聚居区；（动植物的）群体；（来自同一地方，职业或兴趣相同的）聚居人群

参考例句：

• They amassed huge wealth by plundering the colonies. 他们通过掠夺殖民地聚敛了大笔的财富。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• But throughout the colonies, people relied primarily on small farms and self-sufficiency. 但就整个殖民地来说，人们主要依靠小型农场，过着自给自足的生活。 来自英汉非文学 - 政府文件

3 united   

adj.和谐的；团结的；联合的，统一的

参考例句：

• The whole nation is closely united.全国人民紧密团结。
• The two men were united by community of interests.共同的利益使两个人结合在一起。

4 Washington   

n.华盛顿特区(是美国首都)

参考例句：

• His birthplace is Washington,but he lives in San Francisco.他出生于华盛顿，但住在旧金山。
• They, together with my father,have gone to Washington.他们和我父亲一起去华盛顿了。

5 forth   

adv.向前；向外，往外

参考例句：

• The wind moved the trees gently back and forth.风吹得树轻轻地来回摇晃。
• He gave forth a series of works in rapid succession.他很快连续发表了一系列的作品。

6 mud   

n.泥，泥浆

参考例句：

• The swimming pool is filled up with mud.游泳池里全是泥。
• A car ran past,spotting my coat with mud.一辆汽车驶过，给我的外衣溅上了泥点。