人教全日制普通高中英语（必修）高三UNIT6-1

 In the spring of 1845, my father read a book about California. This account of the wonderful land beyond the Rocky Mountains gave him the idea to move there. Less than half a year later we packed all our things onto a wagon¹ and left our farm. It was not easy to decide what to take and what to leave behind. By the middle of October we set off for our journey across the continent: a journey of about a year, across more than 2,500 miles. We traveled with many other families. Most wagons² were drawn³ by oxen, but ours had a team of horses.
 
      We traveled through four states and decided⁴ to spend the winter before moving on. In the spring we continued our journey westward⁵. Our first destination was Indian Creek⁶ in Kansas., which was then the frontier⁷.-This Was the meeting place for people moving to the west. April 12, 1846, was chosen as the day when all should be ready to start. We left traveling with a group of 45 wagons.
 
      We traveled by day. At night, when we camped, our wagons were driven to form a circle all around the camp fire. The journey through the mountains and desert in the central part of the continent was the most trying part. Sometimes the wagons had to be lifted and pulled up, where there were no roads. Passing through the desert, we came out into the Salt Lake Valley, which looked beautiful to us. We took the road around the lake and after traveling a short time came to the Salt Lake Desert. On November 4, 1846, we entered the desert and soon lost our way. We had to travel about ninety miles without water or grass for the animals to eat. We called this the "long drive". The landscape was dry and barren⁸. Water that was shown on the map proved to be salty ponds and not drinkable. The patches⁹ of grass were never found, and the long walk through the sand was hard on the oxen. We could not ride the wagons and had to walk beside them. I carried my younger son, who was only four, most of the way. The cattle became tired and weak. The animals dragged their legs, too weak to pull their burden, and their tongues hung out in desperate need of water. Yet, our water supply was so low that we dared not share it with the beasts. As the animals could no longer pull the wagons, we burnt them and packed the oxen with our supplies. Now we were on our feet with another 500 miles to go.
 
      For many weeks we had been accustomed to seeing horses and oxen suffering from heat, thirst, and starvation. Now things got worse. For miles both sides of the road were lined with dead animals and abandoned wagons. Lying around them were Chains, guns, tools, bedding, clothing, and many other articles. The owners had left everything -- and hurried on to save themselves. In anxiety of reaching a place of safety, no one stopped to look or help. In fact, the situation was so desperate that, in most cases, no one could help another. Each could only try to save himself and his animals. We called it Death Valley.
 
      I was so weak and tired that I got onto my knees and started moving across the sands on all fours. A young man in our group suggested that I stay behind with the children, and wait for help. I knew what was in his mind. So I got up and said "No, I won't give up." I knew that giving up meant a shallow¹⁰ grave¹¹ in the sand.
 
      At three o'clock on the morning of Christmas Day we reached the edge of the desert. The animals almost ran. They must have smelt¹² the water. Not long after this, we reached a running stream. Farmers who saw us stared at us. They could hardly believe what they saw: people who looked like walking skeletons¹³. When we saw the valley with fat cattle and horses, we thought we had reached the promised land! Our days of hardship had come to an end.

1 wagon   

n.四轮马车，手推车，面包车；无盖运货列车

参考例句：

• We have to fork the hay into the wagon.我们得把干草用叉子挑进马车里去。
• The muddy road bemired the wagon.马车陷入了泥泞的道路。

2 wagons   

n.四轮的运货马车( wagon的名词复数 )；铁路货车；小手推车

参考例句：

• The wagons were hauled by horses. 那些货车是马拉的。
• They drew their wagons into a laager and set up camp. 他们把马车围成一圈扎起营地。

3 drawn   

v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的

参考例句：

• All the characters in the story are drawn from life.故事中的所有人物都取材于生活。
• Her gaze was drawn irresistibly to the scene outside.她的目光禁不住被外面的风景所吸引。

4 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

5 westward   

n.西方，西部；adj.西方的，向西的；adv.向西

参考例句：

• We live on the westward slope of the hill.我们住在这座山的西山坡。
• Explore westward or wherever.向西或到什么别的地方去勘探。

6 creek   

n.小溪，小河，小湾

参考例句：

• He sprang through the creek.他跳过小河。
• People sunbathe in the nude on the rocks above the creek.人们在露出小溪的岩石上裸体晒日光浴。

7 frontier   

n.国境，边境；尚待开发的领域

参考例句：

• The frontier station was starved for food and water.边防站急需食物和水。
• Areas near the frontier were rough and lawless in the old days. 过去边远地区混乱不堪，而且没有法律。

8 barren   

adj.贫瘠的，不（生）育的，没有结果的

参考例句：

• The place used to be a stretch of barren land.早先这里是一片不毛之地。
• The barren land could produce little food.那贫瘠的土地几乎不长庄稼。

9 patches   

n.小块( patch的名词复数 )；斑；补丁；小块土地v.补( patch的第三人称单数 )；修理；调停；解决

参考例句：

• The dog's coat is white with black patches. 这只狗的皮毛白色中带有黑斑。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• She sewed patches on the elbows of jacket. 她在夹克肘部缝了几块补丁。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 shallow   

adj.浅的，肤浅的，浅显易懂的；n.(pl.)浅滩，浅处；v.变浅

参考例句：

• The dish is too shallow to serve soup in.盘子太浅，盛不了汤。
• His analysis was always shallow.他的分析总是很肤浅的。

11 grave   

n.墓穴，坟墓，雕刻工，抑音；adj.庄重的，严肃的，重大的，低沉的；vt.雕刻

参考例句：

• Marriage is the grave of love.婚姻是爱情的坟墓。
• This is a very grave matter indeed.这问题的确非常严重。

12 smelt   

v.熔解，熔炼；n.银白鱼，胡瓜鱼

参考例句：

• Tin is a comparatively easy metal to smelt.锡是比较容易熔化的金属。
• Darby was looking for a way to improve iron when he hit upon the idea of smelting it with coke instead of charcoal.达比一直在寻找改善铁质的方法，他猛然想到可以不用木炭熔炼，而改用焦炭。

13 skeletons   

n.（建筑物等的）骨架( skeleton的名词复数 )；骨骼；梗概；骨瘦如柴的人（或动物）

参考例句：

• Only skeletons of buildings remained. 只剩下了建筑物的框架。 来自辞典例句
• It looks like six skeletons in front of that stone door! 在这石头门前看上去就象有六副骨骼！ 来自辞典例句