美国学生世界地理教材 第110期:天空之国(3)

 Most countries have an army and a navy¹ as we have police and a watch-dog to keep out burglars².  大多数国家都有陆军或海军，就像我们会有警察和监察人员一样，防止窃贼闯入。

But Switzerland is one of the few countries in the World that has no seashore. 但瑞士是世界上少数几个没有海岸线的国家之一，

So she can’t have a navy, and she doesn’t have to have much of an army either,  所以没有海军，其实也不需要有多少陆军，

because the mountains are like great walls to keep out the enemy.  因为那里的高山就像巨大的城墙一样把敌人挡在外面。

Switzerland kept out of both World Wars, although every country around her was fighting. 两次世界大战瑞士都没有卷入，尽管周围每个国家都在打仗。

Switzerland is completely surrounded by other countries.  瑞士被其他国家整个环绕起来。

On one side is France, on the other Germany, and on another Italy.  一边是法国，另一边是德国，还有一边是意大利。

So the Swiss have no language of their own.  因此瑞士人没有自己的语言。

On the side nearest Italy they speak Italian, on the side nearest Germany they speak German and on the side nearest France they speak French.  和意大利交界的地方说意大利语，和德国交界的地方说德语，和法国交界的地方就说法语。

In fact, many Swiss people speak all three languages. 甚至，很多瑞士人三种语言都会说。

To get into Switzerland or out of Switzerland, or from one part of Switzerland to another, you don’t have to climb the mountains.  进入瑞士或者从瑞士出来，或者从瑞士的一个地区到另一个地区去，并不用翻山越岭。

You can go over the low places between the high mountains,  你可以从高山之间低凹的地方越过，

but many of these low places are a mile or more high, so they are not so very low at that.  但是很多这些低凹的地方起码也不低于1英里，因此地势并不是很低。

These low places are called passes.  这些低凹的地方叫做山口。

One of these passes is named the Simplon;  其中有一个山口叫做辛普朗山口；

and Napoleon, the French general I told you about, once crossed the Simplon Pass with his army into Italy.  拿破仑，我介绍过的那个法国将军，曾经率领他的军队穿过辛普朗山口进入意大利。

But you can now go under and through the mountains, for in many places long tunnels have been built. 但现在你可以从高山下面或者中间穿过去，因为很多地方都建了长长的隧道。

One of the longest tunnels is St. Gothard.  最长的隧道中有一个圣哥大隧道。

The men who built it started to dig from both sides of the mountain, and the two holes they dug exactly met in the middle.  当时建隧道的工人分别从山的两旁同时挖掘，他们凿的两个隧道口正好在中间相会。

Some people said it was wonderful that two tunnels, each miles long, dug from opposite sides of a mountain, should meet.  有些人说两边的隧道都有数英里长，从山的相对的两旁分开挖，最后竟能会合在一起真是太神奇了。

The men replied, “Not at all. It would have been wonderful if the tunnels hadn’t met. " 建隧道的工人说：“一点也不神奇。如果两边隧道没有会合那才神奇呢！“

We are not moles³ digging blindly. We had figured it out beforehand⁴ and we knew where we were digging. 我们又不是鼹鼠，盲目挖地道。我们预先已经计算好一切，我们知道往哪挖。

But the longest tunnel in the World is under the Simplon Pass.  但是世界上最长的隧道是在辛普朗山口下面。

At one end of this tunnel is Switzerland and at the other end is Italy. It is over twelve miles long.  隧道的一头是瑞士，另一头是意大利，全长超过12英里。

I have been under the pass riding in a train through this tunnel and I have been over the top of the pass carried by my own two legs.  我曾经坐着火车在山口下的隧道里穿过，也曾徒步从山口上走过去。

It takes sixteen minutes to go through the tunnel.  坐火车过隧道只需要16分钟。

1 navy   

n.海军，海军人员，海军军力，藏青色

参考例句：

• My brother is in the navy.我兄弟在海军服役。
• He has transferred from the army to the navy.他从陆军转到海军。

2 burglars   

窃贼( burglar的名词复数 )； 破门盗窃者； 破门盗贼； 小偷

参考例句：

• The house had been ransacked by burglars. 这房子遭到了盗贼的洗劫。
• The burglars took to their heels when they heard the police arrive. 窃贼听见警察来了，拔腿就跑。

3 moles   

防波堤( mole的名词复数 )； 鼹鼠； 痣； 间谍

参考例句：

• Unsightly moles can be removed surgically. 不雅观的痣可以手术去除。
• Two moles of epoxy react with one mole of A-1100. 两个克分子环氧与一个克分子A－1100反应。

4 beforehand   

adj.事先，预先，提前地，超前地

参考例句：

• If I'd known this beforehand,I would not have gone back.早知如此，我就不回去了。
• They proposed to make arrangement beforehand.他们提议事先做好安排。