美国学生世界地理教材 第99期:低于海平面的国家(1)

 Chapter 30 The Land Below the Sea 低于海平面的国家

Bells and Battle-fields don’t seem to go together, but north of France is a land of Bells and Battle-fields, called Belgium. 钟和战场似乎并不匹配，但是在法国北面有一个与钟和战场有不解之缘的国家，叫做比利时。

The bells are in the towers of churches, of town halls, and of other buildings.  比利时教堂、市政厅和其他建筑物的塔楼上都有大钟。

The bells in Belgium strike the hour, but they do more than that—they play a tune¹ every hour or oftener.  大钟整点敲响，但大钟不仅仅报时——每小时（有时不到一小时）还鸣奏一段曲子。

And on Sundays and holidays a bell-ringer, seated at a keyboard as at an organ, plays all sorts of hymns² and tunes³ on the bells,  到了星期天或者节假日，鸣钟人坐在一个键盘前，就像坐在一架风琴前那样，通过键盘，他在大钟上敲出各种乐曲，

so that every one in the town can enjoy the music without leaving his own home.  于是镇里每个人足不出户就能享受到美妙的音乐。

The music is broadcast without a radio.  音乐不是通过电台播出的。

Some of the bell sets have as many as fifty bells of different sizes and sounds 一组钟有时有多达五十个大小和声音都不同的钟

—little bells that make high notes, and big bells, as big as a man, that make deep, low notes.  ——小钟发高音，大钟——有的高如一人，则发深沉的低音。

The bells themselves don’t move; the bell clapper moves instead.  钟本身并不动；动的是钟锤。

The clappers are fastened by wire to keys like those of a piano or organ, and as the player touches the keys the clappers strike the side of the bell.  钟锤由金属线条定在类似钢琴或风琴上的键上，当演奏者弹奏键盘的时候，钟锤就会敲击钟壁。

When a bell concert is being given, all noises in the streets near-by are forbidden 当钟声音乐会举行时，附近街道禁止发出任何噪音

—no honking⁴ of horns⁵ nor loud shouting allowed—so that nothing will spoil⁶ the music for those who are listening. ——禁止汽车鸣喇叭，也不准人们大声喧哗——这样那些倾听音乐的人就不会受到任何干扰了。

Bells and Battle-fields! Belgium has been the battle-field of Europe—not battles fought by the Belgians themselves, but by other countries of Europe.  钟和战场！比利时曾是欧洲的战场——不是比利时人自己打仗，而是其他欧洲国家打仗。

In the two World Wars Belgium was a chief battle-ground of the French and German soldiers,  两次世界大战期间，比利时是法军和德军交战的主战场，

and thousands of buildings were wrecked⁷ and an immense⁸ amount of damage done.  成千上万的建筑物毁于战火中，造成了重大的损害。

A little over a hundred years ago a great French General named Napoleon, who I told you was buried in Paris,  在一百多年前，有位伟大的叫拿破仑的法国将军，就是我在前面说过的那位埋葬在巴黎的士兵，

fought one of the greatest battles in history at a place in Belgium called Waterloo.  他在比利时一个叫滑铁卢的地方打了历史上最著名的战役之一。

Napoleon was beaten at Waterloo, and beaten so badly that we now use the word “Waterloo”to describe almost any big defeat,  拿破仑在滑铁卢被击败了，败得很惨，所以我们现在用“滑铁卢”这个词来描写几乎任何一次惨败，

whether it is a defeat of an army in battle or of a team in a game.  不管那是军队在战争中的失败还是球队在比赛中的失败。

We say “A tennis champion has his Waterloo” or “A football team has its Waterloo.”  我们说“一位网球冠军遭遇了他的滑铁卢”或者“一个足球队遭遇了它的滑铁卢”，都表示在比赛中惨败。

B. B. B. The capital of Belgium also begins with a “B.” It is Brussels.  这里有B.B.B。除了比利时（Belgium）的，比利时首都的英语名字也是以“B”开头的。它是布鲁塞尔（Brussels）。

Perhaps you have heard of Brussels lace⁹, Brussels carpets, or Brussels sprouts¹⁰. They all come from Brussels. 也许你听说过布鲁塞尔花边、布鲁塞尔地毯或布鲁塞尔汤菜。这些东西都产自布鲁塞尔。

1 tune   

n.调子；和谐，协调；v.调音，调节，调整

参考例句：

• He'd written a tune,and played it to us on the piano.他写了一段曲子，并在钢琴上弹给我们听。
• The boy beat out a tune on a tin can.那男孩在易拉罐上敲出一首曲子。

2 hymns   

n.赞美诗，圣歌，颂歌( hymn的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• At first, they played the hymns and marches familiar to them. 起初他们只吹奏自己熟悉的赞美诗和进行曲。 来自英汉非文学 - 百科语料821
• I like singing hymns. 我喜欢唱圣歌。 来自辞典例句

3 tunes   

n.曲调，曲子( tune的名词复数 )v.调音( tune的第三人称单数 )；调整；（给收音机、电视等）调谐；使协调

参考例句：

• a potpourri of tunes 乐曲集锦
• When things get a bit too much, she simply tunes out temporarily. 碰到事情太棘手时，她干脆暂时撒手不管。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 honking   

v.（使）发出雁叫似的声音，鸣（喇叭），按（喇叭）( honk的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• Cars zoomed helter-skelter, honking belligerently. 大街上来往车辆穿梭不停，喇叭声刺耳。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Flocks of honking geese flew past. 雁群嗷嗷地飞过。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

5 horns   

n.角( horn的名词复数 )；号；角质；（蜗牛等的）触角

参考例句：

• The young goat was just beginning to grow horns. 这只小山羊刚开始长角。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The blare of horns could be heard in the distance. 可以听到远处传来的号角声。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 spoil   

n.战利品，赃物，奖品，掠夺，次品；vt.损坏，破坏，溺爱；vi.腐坏，掠夺

参考例句：

• Don't bunch the flowers up so tightly,you'll spoil them.别把花束得这么紧，会弄坏的。
• Overacting will only spoil the effect.表演过火，效果反而不好。

7 wrecked   

adj.失事的，遇难的

参考例句：

• the hulk of a wrecked ship 遇难轮船的残骸
• the salvage of the wrecked tanker 对失事油轮的打捞

8 immense   

adj.巨大的；极好的

参考例句：

• They made an immense improvement in English.在英语方面他们取得了巨大的进步。
• The expense of living is immense.生活费用很庞大。

9 lace   

n.饰带，花边，缎带；v.结带子，饰以花边

参考例句：

• She let a piece of lace into her dress.她在衣服上镶了一块花边。
• The bride is wearing a wedding dress made of lace.新娘穿一件蕾丝婚纱。

10 sprouts   

n.新芽，嫩枝( sprout的名词复数 )v.发芽( sprout的第三人称单数 )；抽芽；出现；（使）涌现出

参考例句：

• The wheat sprouts grew perceptibly after the rain. 下了一场雨，麦苗立刻见长。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• The sprouts have pushed up the earth. 嫩芽把土顶起来了。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》