雙語+MP3|美國學(xué)生世界地理12 青春泉

BIRDS go south in the winter to get warm. Some people in the cold Northern States do the same. The farthest south they can go in the United States is to the corner State, shaped like a dog’s paw, called Florida, which means the land of flowers. On the automobiles that go to Florida you can read the tags of every one of the forty-eight States. People go to Florida in the winter to sit in the sunshine, to bathe in the sea in January, to get rid of shivers, sneezes, and handkerchiefs. It is a winter playground, as New England is a summer playground. I know a man who is supposed to live in Baltimore, but he spends his winters in Florida and his summers in New England, so he only lives in Baltimore a few weeks in between.
冬天鳥類飛到南方過冬取暖。美國北部冬天極冷，一些人也去南方過冬。在美國他們能去的最南方的地方是一個(gè)比較邊遠(yuǎn)的州，叫做佛羅里達(dá)，形狀像個(gè)狗爪子，“佛羅里達(dá)”的意思是“鮮花之地”。在開往佛羅里達(dá)州的那些汽車上，你可以識(shí)別有來自48個(gè)州各州的汽車牌照。冬天人們到佛羅里達(dá)州去享受陽光，一月份去洗海水浴，讓寒戰(zhàn)、噴嚏和擤鼻涕的手帕都見鬼去吧。佛羅里達(dá)州是冬季的度假勝地，就像新英格蘭地區(qū)是夏季的度假勝地一樣。我認(rèn)識(shí)一個(gè)人，據(jù)稱他家是在巴爾的摩市，但他冬天在佛羅里達(dá)州過冬，夏天就到新英格蘭避暑，因此一年中只有其余的幾個(gè)星期才住在巴爾的摩的家中。

The first white people who came to America came to Florida, because they had been told there was a fountain of youth there. The fountain of youth was supposed to be a spring which was said to have magic powers. It was believed if old people bathed in it or drank its water they would become young again. But no one has ever found a fountain of youth in Florida or anywhere else, though many old people after they have spent the winter in Florida say they feel young again.
最早一批到達(dá)美國的白人聽說佛羅里達(dá)州有個(gè)青春泉，所以也來到這個(gè)邊遠(yuǎn)地區(qū)。青春泉據(jù)稱是一眼泉水，泉水據(jù)說有著神奇的魔力。人們都堅(jiān)信老人用泉水沐浴或喝點(diǎn)泉水，就能返老還童。但從來就沒有人在佛羅里達(dá)州或者其他什么地方找到過青春泉，不過很多老人在佛羅里達(dá)州度過一個(gè)冬天之后都說他們真的感覺變年輕了。

But not everybody in Florida plays all winter long. Many have to work. They have to run the hotels for the people who do come to Florida to play. And a great many others are busy raising “fresh early vegetables” to ship to the cold Northern States, where they would have only canned or frozen vegetables during the winter otherwise. Just as there is a top time, a kite time, a football time, and a baseball time, there used to be certain times or seasons for certain fruits and vegetables; but in most of Florida it is so warm they seldom or never have frost or snow or ice, so they can raise fruits and vegetables the year round. Farmers ship the vegetables they raise out of season to other States, so that people in the North can now have fresh strawberries at Christmas, and asparagus too, and lettuce and radishes every month in the year.
但是在佛羅里達(dá)州并不是每個(gè)人整個(gè)冬天都盡情玩樂。很多人都要工作。他們要經(jīng)營旅館，為來到佛羅里達(dá)州旅游的人提供服務(wù)。還有很多人忙于種植“新鮮的早熟蔬菜”運(yùn)送到寒冷的北部各州，否則那兒的人在冬天就只能吃罐裝或冷凍蔬菜。就像有陀螺季節(jié)、風(fēng)箏季節(jié)、足球賽季和棒球賽季一樣，某些水果和蔬菜也是有時(shí)令的；但是佛羅里達(dá)州大部分地區(qū)都四季如春，很少或者從來沒有霜凍或冰雪，因此人們一年四季都可以種植水果和蔬菜。農(nóng)民把他們種植的反季節(jié)蔬菜運(yùn)送到其他各州，因此北部地區(qū)的人們就可以在圣誕節(jié)吃到新鮮的草莓和蘆筍，一年中每個(gè)月都能吃到生菜和小蘿卜。

The chief fruits from Florida are oranges and grape-fruit, which will grow only where there is no frost. Grape-fruit grows in bunches like big, yellow grapes—that’s why it is called “grape”-fruit. Grape-fruit was at first thought not fit to eat—too bitter and not sweet like an orange; but people have learned to like it. More grape-fruit grows in Florida than in any other place i.t.w.W.
佛羅里達(dá)州的主要水果是橙子和葡萄柚，這兩種水果只生長在沒有霜凍的地區(qū)。葡萄柚是簇生的，果實(shí)像成串的黃色大葡萄——這就是為什么它叫做“葡萄”柚的原因了。最初人們認(rèn)為葡萄柚并不適宜吃——太苦了，不像橙子那樣甜；但是人們逐漸喜歡了它的味道。佛羅里達(dá)州葡萄柚的產(chǎn)量比全世界任何地方都要多。

Once there was no Florida at all—the United States had no “paw” sticking out into the sea. It grew a paw and this is the way it grew it. The sea was warm and shallow and in the sea there lived millions, billions, trillions of little animals, each like a tiny drop of jelly with a tiny stony speck in the center, or a tiny stony shell on the outside, and millions and billions and trillions of these little sea animals died. As they died, millions, billions, trillions of these stony specks and shells fell to the bottom of the sea like a snowfall of chalk dust, and this piled up until the water was filled up. This stony, bony, chalky pile is Florida. On this kind of ground of which Florida is made plants grow very well indeed. In fact, this soft, chalky ground is so good for growing things that people dig it up and send it to other States to be put on the ground to make vegetables grow better.
以前并沒有佛羅里達(dá)——美國本來沒有伸到海里的“爪子”。“爪子”是長出來的。它是這樣長出的：那里的海水很溫暖，也很淺，海里生長著數(shù)百萬、數(shù)十億、數(shù)萬億的小動(dòng)物，每一個(gè)都像一小滴果醬，中間有個(gè)小小的硬點(diǎn)，或者是外面有個(gè)小小的硬硬的殼，當(dāng)這些數(shù)百萬、數(shù)十億、數(shù)萬億的海洋小動(dòng)物死掉后，數(shù)百萬、數(shù)十億、數(shù)萬億的小硬點(diǎn)和小貝殼紛紛掉落到海底，就像粉筆灰飄落下來一樣，它們堆積在一起，直到海水被填滿。這樣一堆既像石頭、又像骨頭、又像粉筆的東西形成了現(xiàn)在的佛羅里達(dá)州。在佛羅里達(dá)州的這種土地上植物長得特別好。事實(shí)上，這種松軟、像粉筆灰樣的土壤非常適宜種植各種作物，于是還有人把土壤挖出來運(yùn)到其他州，施在地里，讓蔬菜長得更好。

Long, long years ago, before there were any people on the World, our whole country was at the bottom of the sea, and a great deal of our country was made under the sea just as Florida was made, from bones and shells of sea animals. This kind of bone and shell rock—for it is rock—is called limestone, because if you burn it it makes lime. Limestone is really bone-stone; stone made of the bones of sea animals. Then the earth wrinkled and crinkled and rose out of the water and formed our country. We know it was once under the sea because in many places now, high above the sea, even on mountain tops, we find this limestone with shells and bones of fish and other sea animals still showing in it. Marble, the most beautiful of all stone, is a kind of limestone, for it also is made of bone. People build houses and palaces of it and make statues and tombstones of marble or limestone.
很多很多年以前，在世界上還沒有任何人之前，美國整個(gè)國家都在海底，我們國家的大部分地區(qū)都是在海底形成的，就像佛羅里達(dá)州那樣，由海洋動(dòng)物的骨頭和貝殼慢慢堆積而成。這種骨頭和貝殼形成的巖石——因?yàn)樗褪菐r石——叫做石灰?guī)r，因?yàn)槿绻惆阉鼰脑?，它就變成石灰了。石灰?guī)r真的就是骨頭巖石，是由海洋動(dòng)物的骨頭形成的。后來地球起皺、彎曲，升出水面，形成了美國。我們知道美國以前在海底，因?yàn)楝F(xiàn)在在很多高出海平面的地方，甚至在山頂上，我們都能發(fā)現(xiàn)這種石灰?guī)r，在巖石里還能看到貝殼、魚和其他海洋動(dòng)物的骨頭。大理石是所有石頭中最美麗的，也是一種石灰?guī)r，因?yàn)樗彩怯晒穷^形成的。人們建造大理石的房子和宮殿，也用大理石或石灰?guī)r來制作雕像和墓碑。

Many of the people who go to Florida stop on their trip to see sights, and one of the greatest sights is in Virginia and Kentucky where the rock under the ground is all limestone. The “sights” are huge caves, and in Kentucky they are so large they are called Mammoth Caves. These caves have not been dug out by men but by water. Water, you know, melts sugar; but perhaps you didn’t know that water melts rock too—not ordinary rock, but it melts limestone, and these caves are in limestone rock. The Mammoth Cave is like a huge cellar underground—a cave so large and high that you could put a whole city with its tall buildings in it. You could easily get lost and wander for miles. Men have been lost and unable to find their way out again and died and their skeletons have been found long years after.
許多前往佛羅里達(dá)的人們會(huì)在中途停下來欣賞風(fēng)景，而最美麗的風(fēng)景之一是在弗吉尼亞州和肯塔基州，那里地下的石頭全都是石灰?guī)r。“風(fēng)景”就是巨大的山洞，在肯塔基州有些山洞非常大，叫做“猛犸洞”。這些山洞不是由人工開鑿的，而是由于水的作用形成的。你知道，水可以溶解糖；但是你也許不知道水也能溶解巖石——不是普通的巖石，而是石灰?guī)r，這些山洞正是處在石灰?guī)r中。猛犸洞就像是地下一個(gè)巨大的地窖——又大又高，以至于你可以把整個(gè)城市連同它的高樓大廈一起放進(jìn)去。你在里面很容易就會(huì)迷路，漫無目的地走上幾英里。有人在里面走失過，無法找到出來的路，于是死在里面，他們的骸骨多年以后才被人發(fā)現(xiàn)。

Through the roof of the cave water drips drop by drop, and each drop leaves a bit of limestone, until in the course of time the dripping water makes icicles of rock that hang down from the roof of the cave. Drops of water from each icicle fall on to the floor of the cave, and the limestone gradually piles up and up like a stone post until at last the icicle above meets the post beneath. The trickling water also forms pools in the bottom of the cave, and in these pools of water live fish that are different from the fish in the water above ground. As it is pitch dark in the caves, these fish have no use for their eyes, so after long, long years they at last grew none. They are blind. Instead of seeing, they feel with the part of their heads where their eyes were.
水從巖洞頂部一滴一滴往下滴，每一滴水都會(huì)留下一點(diǎn)石灰?guī)r，時(shí)間久了水滴就慢慢形成了倒掛在洞頂?shù)氖?。水沿著石柱滴到巖洞的地面上，留下的石灰?guī)r逐漸堆積起來，也形成石柱，直到上下石柱最后會(huì)合在一起。滴下的水還會(huì)在洞底形成小水池，里面生長著一種與眾不同的魚。由于洞里是漆黑的，這些魚不需要用眼睛看東西，久而久之它們就不長眼睛了。它們看不見東西。它們不用眼睛，而是用頭上原來長眼睛的地方去感覺。