美国学生世界地理教材 第223期:财富岛(2)

 But they found that it cost more to get the gold than it was worth—it didn't pay. They didn't give up, however. 但是他们发现挖金子的成本太高，一点都不划算。然而，他们并不放弃，

They were bound to make their fortunes in one way or another, so they tried another. 下了决心，无论以怎样的方式都要实现发财梦。于是他们就尝试别的方法。

In the southeastern part of this island was grass land. 在这个岛的东南部有大片草地。

Grass was good for raising sheep and cattle, but there were no sheep and no cattle. 草地适合放牛养羊，但是那儿既没有羊也没有牛，

So the Englishmen sent to England for sheep and cattle. 于是英国人派人回国，将牛羊运来。

But when the sheep and cattle came it was found that they would not eat the grass—it was not the right kind. 牛羊来了，却发现它们不吃这儿的草——草的品种不对头。

And still the Englishmen were not discouraged. "If at first you don't succeed, try, try again." 但是英国人并不气馁。“一开始不成功，就试了再试。”

So they sent back again to England and got good grass seed and planted that. 于是他们再次派人回到英国，带来适合的草籽，在澳大利亚种植。

And then at last they did succeed, for the grass grew exceedingly well and before long the sheep and cattle turned out to be a "gold mine,"  最终他们成功了，因为草长得特别好，不久羊和牛就变为“金矿”了，

better even than the gold mines they had expected to find. 甚至比他们期望找到的金矿还要好。

From the sheep that they raised they got the finest wool in the World—very long and silky. 从他们喂养的绵羊身上，他们得到了世界上最好的羊毛——又长又柔软。

It was shipped to England and other places to make woolen¹ clothing, and Australia is now the greatest wool-raising country. 羊毛被运到英国以及其他地方再生产出各种毛料衣着用品。现在，澳大利亚是世界上羊毛产量最高的国家。

And the cattle grew and prospered², and now frozen³ beef and mutton are sent back to England, which hasn't nearly enough beef of its own. 牛在那里生长得也很好，又强又壮。现在，冷冻的牛肉和羊肉被运回英国，英国国内产的牛肉早已满足不了需求。一开始，牛羊畜牧进展顺利。

But not long after the sheep and cattle had gotten a good start a peculiar⁴ thing happened. 但是不久发生了一件特别的事。

An Englishman carried a pair of pet rabbits out to Australia. 一个英国人带了一对宠物兔来到澳大利亚。

The pair of rabbits got loose and started to raise families. Now rabbits as well as sheep like grass. 来，这对兔子逃走了，开始繁殖小兔子。兔子和羊都喜欢吃草。

But rabbits raise families very, very fast, much faster than sheep or cattle, so before very long there were more rabbits in the country than there were sheep, 但是兔子繁殖的速度非常、非常快，比羊和牛快多了，所以不久，这片土地上，兔子就比羊多了，

and there were so many millions of rabbits eating up the grass and running wild over everything that there was not enough grass for the sheep. 几百万只兔子吃掉了大量的草，它们又不受任何约束，变得狂野。这样，羊就渐渐没草吃了。

More rabbits and more rabbits and more rabbits—the people could not get rid of them. 兔子越来越多、越来越多、越来越多——人们无法消灭它们。

1 woolen   

adj.羊毛(制)的；毛纺的

参考例句：

• She likes to wear woolen socks in winter.冬天她喜欢穿羊毛袜。
• There is one bar of woolen blanket on that bed.那张床上有一条毛毯。

2 prospered   

成功，兴旺( prosper的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The organization certainly prospered under his stewardship. 不可否认，这个组织在他的管理下兴旺了起来。
• Mr. Black prospered from his wise investments. 布莱克先生由于巧妙的投资赚了不少钱。

3 frozen   

adj.冻结的，冰冻的

参考例句：

• He was frozen to death on a snowing night.在一个风雪的晚上，他被冻死了。
• The weather is cold and the ground is frozen.天寒地冻。

4 peculiar   

adj.古怪的，异常的；特殊的，特有的

参考例句：

• He walks in a peculiar fashion.他走路的样子很奇特。
• He looked at me with a very peculiar expression.他用一种很奇怪的表情看着我。