美国社会与文化.doc

美国社会与文化Part I Geography1. The two newest statesAlaska and Hawaiiare separated from the continental United States: Alaska borders on northwestern Canada, and Hawaii lies in the central Pacific.阿拉斯加与加拿大西北部接壤，夏威夷则位于太平洋中部。2. Of all the states of America,Alaskais the largest in area andRhode Islandthe smallest. But on the mainlandTexasis the largest state of the country.阿拉斯加是美国面积最大的州，罗得岛州最小。而在美国大陆，最大的州是德克萨斯州。3.The Rockies, the backbone of the North American continent, is also known as theContinental Divide.落基山脉是北美大陆的脊梁，也被称为大陆分水岭。4. The two main mountain ranges in America arethe Appalachian Mountainsandthe Rocky mountains. The Appalachians run slightlyfrom northeast to southwestand the Rocky Mountains run slightlyfrom northwest to southeast.阿巴拉契亚山脉和落基山脉是美国的两座达山脉。阿巴拉契亚山脉略呈东北至西南走向，而落基山脉略呈西北至东南走向。5.The Mississippi Riveris the largest river in America. Plus its main branch the Missouri, it isover 6,000 kilometers. The Mississippi has been called“father of waters” or “old man river”.密西西比河是美国最长的河，又被称作“众水之父”或“老人河”。6.The Ohio Riverhas been calledthe American Ruhr. As in Germany, the area along the river is rich in valuable deposits of high-grade coking coal and it is well-known for its steel industry. The river provides cheap water transportation for raw materials.俄亥俄河北称作美国的鲁尔和。就像德国的鲁尔区一样，沿河有丰富的高品质焦炭煤矿藏，该地区的钢铁工业也很有名。另外，该河还为原材料提供了廉价的水路运输。7. On the Pacific side there are two great rivers:the Colorado in the south and the Columbia, which rises in Canada.美国太平洋沿岸有两大河：科罗拉多河及哥伦比亚河。8.The Rio Grande Riverforms a natural boundary betweenMexicoandthe United Sates.里奥格兰德河是美国和墨西哥之间的天然界河。9. the most important lakes in the United States arethe Great Lakes. Theyare Lake Superior, which is thelargest fresh water lake in the world,Lake Michigan, the only one entirely in the US,Lake Huron, Lake Eire and Lake Ontario. They are located between Canada and the United States except Lake Michigan.美国最重要的湖泊是五大湖：苏必利尔湖，密歇根湖，休伦湖，伊利湖，安大略湖。除密歇根湖外均位于美国和加拿大之间。其中，苏必利尔湖为世界最大淡水湖，密歇根湖完全在美国境内。10. Many factors besides latitude influencetheclimate in the United States. Perhaps the most important forces arethe Atlantic and Pacific oceans, the Gulf of Mexico, and the Great Lakes.除纬度外影响美国气候的最主要原因为：太平洋和大西洋、墨西哥湾以及五大湖。11. Traditionally from the east to the west the United States can be divided intosevengeographical regions.传统上，美国从东到西分为七个地理区域。12. Major cities in Northeast include Boston, Baltimore and Philadelphia.New Englandis made up of six states of Northeast. Because of its stony soil it is not noted for its agriculture.Dairyingis the most important farm activity. New England is also well-known for its position in education. Many famous universities and colleges such asYale, Harvard, and the MIT are located here.波士顿、巴尔的摩和费城都是位于美国东北部的大城市。新英格兰由美国东北部六个州组成。由于土壤多石，该地区不以农业生产著称。乳制品业是最重要的农业活动。新英格还是著名的教育中心，许多著名学府如耶鲁大学、哈佛大学和麻省理工学院都坐落于此。13.New Englanderswere originally known asYankees, which came to stand for all Americans.新英格兰人最初曾被称作“美国佬”，这一名称后渐指所有美国人。14. The Middle Atlantic Stateshave aboutone fifthof the total population of the United States.大西洋中部各州的人口约占美国总人口的五分之一。15.The soil is rich, the rain usually plentiful and the growing season long.These factors make the Midwest Americas most important agricultural area. It is also a major manufacturing region and the nations leading centre of heavy industry.中西部地区是美国，也是主要的制造业区和最主要的重工业中心。16.Chicago, the largest and busiest port on the Great Lakes, is the largest industrial and commercial centre of the area.芝加哥市五大湖区最大、最繁忙的港口，也是该地区最大的工商业中心。17.Detroitis known as the automobile capital of the world.Omahais known as the agricultural capital of the United States.底特律被称作“汽车之都”，奥马哈被称作美国的“农业之都”。美国文学常识11.Benjamin Franklin(1706-1790) wastheonly writer in the colonial period whose works are still read today.“Lost is never found again”, “God helps those who help themselves”are very famous saying in hisPoor Richards Almanac本杰明富兰克林是殖民地时期唯一一位其作品至今仍广为传颂的作家。“光阴一去不复返”，“自助者，天助之”都是其穷理查的年鉴中的名言。本帖隐藏的内容需要回复才可以浏览2.Benjamin Franklinsuncompleted autobiographyis perhaps the first real American writing as well as the first real autobiography inEnglish.本杰明富兰克林没完成的自传可能是第一部真正的美国作品，也是第一部用英语写的自传。3.Thomas Paine1737-1809)was Anglo-American political philosopher, whose writings had great influence during two upheavals in the 18th century: the American Revolution and the French Revolution. His principle contribution was the powerful, widely-read pamphletCommon Senseadvocating colonial Americas independence from the Kingdom of Great Britain.托马斯潘恩，英裔美国思想家、作家、政治活动家、资产阶级民主主义者。他持美国独立，反对英国的殖民专政，撰写了他的成名小册子常识，极大地鼓励了美国独立的士气。他的一些其他作品帮助了法国、英国的民主事业。4.Washington Irving(1783-1859)was the first American writer who gainedinternational fame. His most famous bookThe Sketch Bookcontains two of the best-loved stories in American literature“Rip Van Winkle”and“The Legend of Sleepy Hollow”.华盛顿欧文是第一个获得国际知名度的美国作家。他最著名的一本书为见闻札记，其中包括了美国文学最受欢迎的两个故事：瑞普凡温克尔和睡谷的传奇5.James Cooper (1789-1851)was a prolific and popular American writer of the early 19th century, known particularly for his creation of the idealized heroNatty Bumppoand for his treatment if the American frontier inThe Leather-Stocking Tales,a series of five novels that includeThe Pioneers, The Last of the Mohicans,andThe Deerslayer.詹姆斯库珀，美国文学先驱者和奠基人之一，代表作为皮袜子故事集五部曲，对美国小说影响深远。6.In the early part of the 19th century,New York Citywas the center of American writing. Its writers were called“Knickerbockers”and the period from1810 t0 1840is calledthe“Knickerbockers Era”of American literature.十九世纪早期，纽约城市写作的中心。这里的作家被称为“纽约市人”，从1810年到1840年的30年被称为美国文学的“纽约市人时期”。7.Edgar Allan Poe(1809-1849)was an American poet, short-story writer, editor and literary critic, and is considered part ofthe American Romantic Movement. Best known for his tales ofmysteryand themacabre, Poe was one of the earliest American practitioners of the short story and is considered the inventor of thedetective-fiction genre.He is further credited with contributing to the emerging genre of science fiction. He was the first well-known American writer to try to earn a living thr