中口翻译文章练习六              

         America :the land and the people

                          美国的国土和人民         

The United States is a varied land—of forests, deserts, mountains, high flat lands and fertile plains. Almost every kind of climate may be found, but the country lies mostly in the temperate zone. Including the states of Alaska and Hawaii, the United States covers an area of 9 million square kilometers. The continental United States stretches 4,500 kilometers from the Atlantic Ocean on the east to the Pacific Ocean on the west. It borders Canada on the north, and reaches south to Mexico and the Gulf of Mexico. A fast railroad train, traveling 96 kilometers an hour, takes more than 48 hours to cross the country.

美国是一个地形多样的国家—有森林、沙漠、山脉、平坦的高原和肥沃的平原。境内有各种气候，但是美国的大部分处在温带。把阿拉斯加和夏威夷两个州加在一起，美国的总面积达9百万平方公里。美国大陆东起大西洋，西至太平洋，横跨4，500公里。北面与加拿大接壤，南面与墨西哥和墨西哥湾毗邻。一列时速为96公里的快速火车，横跨美国需要48小时以上。

A jet plane crosses the continental United States from east to west in about five hours. Taking off from an Atlantic coast airport, the plane is soon flying over the gentle slopes of the Appalachian Mountains. Then, for hundreds of kilometers it crosses the fertile fields of the farm belt of the great Middle West. To the north, on clear days passengers may see the five Great Lakes located between the United States and Canada. Continuing into the West, the plane flies over vast prairies and rough cattle-grazing country. Soon the snow-topped Rocky Mountains appear in the distance. After crossing these high ranges, the plane can almost glide down into the rich valleys of California and, finally, to a landing not far from the beaches of the Pacific Ocean.

喷气飞机从东向西飞越美国大陆大约要5个小时。飞机从大西洋沿岸的机场起飞，不久便飞越阿巴拉契亚山脉平缓的山坡，接着在大中西部农业地带绵延数百公里的肥沃田野的上空飞行。在晴朗的日子，乘客朝北远眺，可以看到位于美国和加拿大之间的五大湖。飞机继续往西飞，越过辽阔的大草原和坎坷起伏的牧场。很快，远处便出现峰峦积雪的落基山脉。飞机越过这些崇山峻岭之后，几乎可以从高空向加利福尼亚富饶的谷地滑翔而下，最后在离太平洋海滩不远的机场降落。

The United States has long been known as a “melting pot”, because many of its people are descended from settlers who came from all over the world to make their homes in the new land. The first immigrants in American history came from England and the Netherlands. Attracted by reports of great economic opportunities and religious and political freedom, immigrants from many other countries flocked to the United States in increasing numbers, reaching a peak in the years 1880-1914. Between 1820 and 1980 the United States admitted almost 50 million immigrants.

美国历来以“民族熔炉”著称，因为许多美国人是移民的后裔，当年这些移民从世界各地来到这块新土地上安家落户。美国历史上首批移民来自英国和荷兰。许多其他国家的人听说美国经济上有很大的发展机会，还有宗教自由和政治自由，于是便纷纷涌入美国，移民人数越来越多，1880年至1914年达到了顶峰。在1820年到1980年间，美国接纳了近5，000万移民。

Some 1,360,000 American Indians, descendants of North America’s first inhabitants, now reside in the United States. Most live in the West, but many are in the south and north central areas. Of the more than 300 separate tribes, the largest is the Navaho in the Southwest.

现在约有136万印第安人居住在美国，他们是北美土著的后裔。大多数印第安人住在西部，也有许多住在中部的南北地区。美国印第安人分属300多个不同的部落，其中最大的是西南部的纳瓦霍部落。

Black people were first brought to America from Africa as slaves. Their descendants now make up nearly 12 per cent of the population. They once lived mainly in the agricultural South but now are scattered throughout the nation.

黑人当初是被当作奴隶从非洲贩运到美国的，他们的后裔现在几乎占美国人口的百分之十二。从前，黑人主要聚居在南方农业地带，如今则分散到美国各地。

In Hawaii, more than a third of the residents are of Japanese descent, a third are Caucasians, about 15 per cent are of Polynesian background, and the others are mainly Pilipino, Korean and Chinese descent.

在夏威夷，三分之一以上的居民是日本人后裔，三分之一是白种人，百分之十五左右是波利尼西亚族，其余的则主要是菲律宾人、朝鲜人和中国人的后裔。

The American people are always on the move----from one part of the country to another, from one city to another, from farm to city, from the city to the suburbs. One in five Americans moves to a new home every year seeking new job opportunities, a better climate, or for other reasons.

美国人总是在迁居，他们从美国的一个地区迁往另一个地区，从一座城市迁往另一座城市，从农村迁往城市，从市区迁往到郊区。每年每5个美国人中，就有一个人会迁往新的地区，为寻找更好的发展机会，换换气候，或者为了别的原因。