Moutains make rivers. If a continent were flat—absolutely flat and level like a table—there would be no rivers. 山脉造就了河流。如果大陆是平的——像桌面那样平坦——那就没有河流了。 

Rain falling would run off the continent like water poured on a table. 落下的雨水会从大陆上流走，就像倒在桌子上的水一样。 

The water running off the Andes Mountains makes the greatest river in the World—not the longest, but the biggest.  从安第斯山脉流下的水形成了世界上最大的河流——不是最长的，而是最宽的。

The name of this river also begins with an “A.”  这条河的英语名字也是以“A”开头的。它叫亚马逊河（Amazon）。

It is called the Amazon. On the map the Amazon looks like a vine with many branches.  从地图上看亚马逊河就像一棵有很多分支的葡萄藤。

It gets so broad and wide as it goes on that you cannot see across it.  随着河水流向下游，它变得非常宽广，你站在河边，看不到河对岸。

The Amazon empties more water into the ocean than any other river  亚马逊河是世界上流量最大的河流。如果你一直往浴缸里放水，浴缸里的水会漫出来。

You may wonder why, with all the big rivers in the World pouring water into the ocean all the time,  你也许想知道，为什么世界上所有大河的水不断流入到海洋里，

the ocean does not fill up and run over as a bathtub would fill up and run over if you left the water running into it all the time.  而海洋中的水却不会漫出来呢？那是因为海洋里的水一直在蒸发，

It is because the water in the ocean is always turning into vapor, rising high into the air and making clouds. 水蒸气升到空中形成云。

The clouds rise over the sea, then blow over the land, then turn to rain: the rain falls on the ground,  云在海洋上升起，随着风来到陆地上空，然后变成雨水落到地面上，

a great part of it is taken up by trees and plants but the rest runs into the rivers, 大部分雨水被树木和其他植物吸收，但其余的流入河中， 

the rivers flow into the ocean and then the same thing goes on over and over again—rivers, ocean; ocean, clouds;  河水流入海洋，如此反复循环——河流，海洋；海洋，云；

clouds, land; land, rivers; rivers, ocean; ocean, clouds, and so on forever and ever.  云，陆地；陆地，河流；河流，海洋；海洋，云……永远这样反复循环下去。

No water is ever lost in the World.  世界上的水不会有任何丢失。

It may be in a different place, but there is never any more nor any less water in the World than ever has or ever will be. 水也许在不同的地方，但是世界上的水始终不会增加也不会减少。

All the great rivers in South America flow into the Atlantic Ocean—none flows into the Pacific,  南美洲所有大河的水都流入大西洋——没有一条大河流入太平洋，

because the Andes Mountains lie so close to the Pacific edge there is no room for great rivers on that side. 因为安第斯山脉离太平洋很近，所以在这一侧没有空间形成大的河流。

The Amazon runs through a country by the name of Brazil. Brazil is the biggest country in South America.  亚马逊河流经一个叫做巴西的国家。巴西是南美洲最大的国家。

It is bigger than the whole of our United States! People called the country Brazil after a tree growing there. 国土面积比美国还要大！人们是以长在那里的一种树——叫“巴西木”——给这个国家命名的。 

The brazil-tree is used for making a colored dye.  巴西木被用来生产一种颜色染料。

But it would have been more fitting if the country had been named “Rubber” or “Coffee,”  但是如果把这个国家叫做“橡胶”或者“咖啡”可能会更合适，

for more rubber-trees and coffee-trees grow in Brazil than do brazil-trees. 因为这里的橡胶树和咖啡树比巴西木更多。