-
31 Geography of USA
美国地理概况
1.
The vast
expanse
of the United States
of America
stretch
es
from
the
heavily
industrialized
,
metropolitan
Atlantic
seaboard
across
the rich
flat farms
of
the
central
plain
s
,
over
the Rocky
Mountains
to
the
fertile
west
coast
, then
halfway
across
the Pacific
t
o
the
balmy
island-state
of
Hawaii
. The American scene
awe
s the
viewer
with
both its
variety
and size
.
The continental United States (
not
counting
outlying
Alaska and Hawaii) measures, 4,500 kilometers
from
its Atlantic
to
Pacific
coasts, 2,575 kilometers
from
Canada
to
Mexico. The
entire
nation (all 50
states)
cover
s
an
area of 9 million square kilometers
and
has
a population
of 220 million
people
.
1
、美利坚合众国的辽阔地域
(vast exp
anse)
,从
高度工业化
、遍布大都
市的大西洋沿岸
(Atlantic seaboard)
,<
/p>
延伸至中部平原
肥沃
平坦的农场,
越过洛矶山脉,
到达
富饶
的
(fertile)
西海岸,
然
后横跨半个太平洋
(the Pacific)
到达气候温和的
(balmy)
由群岛组成的夏威夷州。
来美国观光的人
无不赞叹
(awe)
这块土地
幅员广阔、多姿多彩
(
var
iety
)。美国大陆
(
不包
括远离本土的
(outlying)
阿拉斯加和
夏威夷
)
从大西洋沿岸到太平洋海岸的距离为
< br>4500
公
里,从加拿大到墨西哥的距离为
2575
公里。全国
50
个
州的总面积为
900
万平方公里,人口
为
2.2
亿。
2.
The
sparsely
settled
,
far-northern state of Alaska
is the
largest of America's
50
states
(in many countries they
would be called
province
s
). It is
more than two
and a half
times
the size of Sichuan province,
Texas, in the southern part of the
country, is second
in
size
. Texas is
half the size
of
Alaska.
2
、人口稀少的
(the
sparsely settled)
阿拉斯加州位于美国的最北部,在全国
50
个州
(
在很
多国家叫做省
(province))
中,它的
面积最大,比中国四川省的两倍半还大。南部的得克萨
斯州的面积是第二位,只有阿拉斯
加州的一半大。
3. A land of heavy
forest
s
(311
million
hectare
s) and
barren
desert
s
, of high-
peaked
mountain
s
(McKinley
rise
s
to
6,300 meters) and deep
canyon
s
, America
also enjoys
bountiful rivers and lakes.
The broad Mississippi River system,
famed
in song and
1
legend
,
meander
s
6,400
kilometers
from Canada to the Gulf of
Mexico
the world's
third longest river
after
the Nile and Amazon. A
canal
in the
north
join
s
the
Mississippi
to
the five Great Lakes-the world's largest inland
water transportation
route
and
the biggest body of
fresh water in the world.
3
、除
许多茂密的森林
(
达
3.11
亿公顷
(hect
are))
、
荒芜的沙漠
、
多高峰的山脉
(
麦金莱山海
拔
6300
米
)
和
深深的峡谷
(canyon)
以
外,美国还有(
enjoy
享有)很多美丽的河流和湖泊。<
/p>
为很多民歌和传说
(legend)
所传
颂
(famed)
的
宽阔的
(broad)
密西西比河水系
,从加拿大蜿
p>
蜒曲折
(meander)6400
公里,
流入墨西哥湾,是除尼罗河、亚马孙河以外的
世界第三大河
。<
/p>
北部的一条运河
(canal)
将世界上
最长的
内河航线
(inland water
transportation route)-
密
西西比河同
世界上最大的淡水群
-
五大湖连接在一起
(join)
。
4.
America's early
settler
s
were
attract
ed
by the
fertile land and
varied
climates
it offered for
farming
. Today,
with
121 million
hectares
under
cultivation
, American
farmers
plant
spring wheat
on the cold western
plain
; they
raise
corn and
fine beef
cattle
in the
central plains
, and rice
in
the damp heat of Louisiana
. Florida and
California
are famous
for
their
citrus
fruit
s
and
tropical
avocado
s
; the
cool rainy
northeastern states (are
famous)
for
apples, pears,
berries and vegetables.
4
p>
、适于农业的肥沃土地和各种不同的气候吸引了早期来美洲的移民
(
settlers)
。
现在美国
的
p>
耕地
达
1.21
亿
公顷。美国农场主
在寒冷的西部平原上
种植
春小麦
(spring wheat)
,
< br>在中部
平原上
种植玉米、饲养良种肉牛
< br>(fine beef cattle)
,在气候湿热的
(the damp heat
)
路易斯
安那州种植水稻。佛罗里达州和加利福尼亚州以盛产柑
橘和热带鳄梨闻名,
凉爽多雨
(cool
rainy)
的东北各州
则以苹果、梨、莓和蔬菜而著称。
5. Underground, a wealth of
mineral
s
provide
s
a solid base for American
industry
.
History has
glamorize
d
the
gold
rushes
to
California and Alaska,
and
the
silver
finds
i
n
Nevada.
Yet
America's
yearly
production
of
gold ($$140 million) and silver ($$150
million)
is now
valued
far less
than
the oil ($$25,000 million), copper,
iron, coal and
other minerals
it mines
. Texas, a big oil-
producer in the southwest,
alone
accounts
for
one-
fifth
the value of all
U.S.
mineral production
.
5
、丰富的地下矿藏
(underground, a
wealth of
minerals)
是美国工业的坚实基础
(a solid
base for American industry)
。
美国历史虽然曾对加利福尼亚州和阿拉斯加州的
淘金热
2
(the gold rushes)<
/p>
以及内华达州
银矿的发现
(the
silver finds)
作过动人的描绘
(has
glamorized)
,
然而
(yet)
美国当今的黄金年产值
(1.4
亿美元
)
和白银年产值
(1.5
亿美元
)
都
< br>大大
低于
(far less)
石油
(250
亿美元
)
、铜、铁、煤及其他
开采的
(
it mines
)金属。得克萨斯州
是
西南部主要的产油州
(a big oil-producer in the so
uthwest)
,仅该州的石油总产值就占
美国矿产品产值的
五分之一
(one-
fifth)
。
6.
America
has
long
been known as
a
melting
pot
,
for
it is a
nation of
immigrant
s
from
all over the world.
The first
to
arrive
-
from
Siberia
,
more than 10,000
years
ago
,
it is
believed
-
were the American
Indians
. Today they
number
nearly 850,000;
half
live
on
land
set aside
for them
in
31
states
;
the rest
have
in
with
the
rest of
America's
nearly
220 million population.
6
、美国历来以
“
熔
炉
(
各种族融合的国家
)”
(melting pot)
而著称,因为
(fo
r)
这个国家的人口
是由世界各地来的移民所组成的。
最早的移民是美洲印第安人,
据信
(it is
believed)
是一万
余年前从西伯利亚来的。现今印第安
人约有
(number)85
万,其中一半人居住在
31
个州内
为
他们专门划
出的
土地上
(
on land set
aside for them
)
,其余的人
< br>已
“
融入
”
全美国的近
2.2
亿人口中。
7. Europe, the major source of
immigration
,
began sending
colonist
s
to
America
in
the
early 17th century
.
Tens of
millions
flood
ed
to America's shores
from Europe
between 1880 and
the
First
World
War
.
The
next
largest
group
of
Americans
trace
their
ancestry
to
Africa, black people
now
constitute
over 11 percent of the
population
. The melting pot
has also
absorb
ed
nearly
600,000
Japanese
,
half a
million
Chinese
and 340,000
Filipino
s
. Many
live in Hawaii, more than two-thirds of
whose
people
boast
on
Asian or
Polynesian
heritage
.
7
、
(1)
欧洲这个移民的主要来源地,
在
17<
/p>
世纪初就开始输送
殖民地开拓者来
(co
lonists)
到美
洲。从
1880
年到第一次世界大战,有
几千万
(
p>
tens of millions
)人从欧洲
涌上
(flood to)
美洲海岸。
(2)
美国第二大族群的祖先
(ancestry)
可追溯到非洲;黑人现在占美国人口的百
分之十一
(2420
万人
)
。这个多种族融
合的国家还吸收
(absorb)
了近
60
万日本人、
50
万中国
人和
34
万菲律宾人。很多移民生活在夏威夷,超
过三分之二的夏威夷居民
自称
(boast)
< br>为亚
洲人和波利尼西亚人的后裔
(heritage)<
/p>
。
8.
Once
a
nation
of
farmers
, the United States
has
become
increasingly
urban
since
3