Geography of USA
美國(guó)地理概況
1. The vast expanse of the United States of America stretches from the heavily industrialized, metropolitan Atlantic seaboard across the rich flat farms of the central plains, over the Rocky Mountains to the fertile west coast, then halfway across the Pacific to the balmy island-state of Hawaii. The American scene awes 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） covers an area of 9 million square kilometers and has a population of 220 million people.
1、美利堅(jiān)合眾國(guó)的遼闊地域，從高度工業(yè)化、遍布大都市的大西洋沿岸，延伸至中部平原肥沃平坦的農(nóng)場(chǎng)，越過(guò)洛磯山脈，到達(dá)富饒的西海岸，然后橫跨半個(gè)太平洋到達(dá)氣候溫和的由群島組成的夏威夷州。來(lái)美國(guó)觀(guān)光的人無(wú)不贊嘆這塊土地幅員廣闊、多姿多彩。美國(guó)大陸（不包括遠(yuǎn)離本土的阿拉斯加和夏威夷）從大西洋沿岸到太平洋海岸的距離為4500公里，從加拿大到墨西哥的距離為2575公里。全國(guó)50個(gè)州的總面積為900萬(wàn)平方公里，人口為2、2億。
2. The sparsely settled, far-northern state of Alaska is the largest of America's 50 states （in many countries they would be called provinces）. 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、人口稀少的阿拉斯加州位于美國(guó)的最北部，在全國(guó)50個(gè)州（在很多國(guó)家叫做�。┲校拿娣e最大，比中國(guó)四川省的兩倍半還大。南部的得克薩斯州的面積占第二位，只有阿拉斯加州的一半大。
3. A land of heavy forests （311 million hectares） and barren deserts, of high-peaked mountains （McKinley rises to 6,300 meters） and deep canyons, America also enjoys bountiful rivers and lakes. The broad Mississippi River system, famed in song and legend, meanders 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 joins 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、除許多森林（達(dá)3、11億公頃）、荒蕪的沙漠、多高峰的山脈（麥金萊山海拔6300米）和深深的峽谷以外，美國(guó)還有很多河流和湖泊。為很多民歌和傳說(shuō)所傳頌的寬闊的密西西比河水系，從加拿大蜿蜒曲折6400公里，流入墨西哥灣，是除尼羅河、亞馬孫河以外的世界第三大河。北部的一條運(yùn)河將世界上最長(zhǎng)的內(nèi)河航線(xiàn)—密西西比河同世界上最大的淡水群—五大湖連接在一起。
4. America's early settlers were attracted 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 fruits and tropical avocados; the cool rainy northeastern states for apples, pears, berries and vegetables.
4、適于農(nóng)業(yè)的肥沃土地和各種不同的氣候吸引了早期來(lái)美洲的移民。現(xiàn)在美國(guó)的耕地達(dá)1、21億公頃。美國(guó)農(nóng)場(chǎng)主在寒冷的西部平原上種植春小麥，在中部平原上種植玉米、飼養(yǎng)良種肉牛，在氣候濕熱的路易斯安那州種植水稻。佛羅里達(dá)州和加利福尼亞州以盛產(chǎn)柑橘和熱帶鱷梨聞名，涼爽多雨的東北各州則以蘋(píng)果、梨、莓和蔬菜而著稱(chēng)。
5. Underground, a wealth of minerals provides a solid base for American industry. History has glamorized the gold rushes to California and Alaska, and the silver finds in 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、豐富的地下礦藏是美國(guó)工業(yè)的堅(jiān)實(shí)基礎(chǔ)。美國(guó)歷史雖然曾對(duì)加利福尼亞州和阿拉斯加州的淘金熱以及內(nèi)華達(dá)州銀礦的發(fā)現(xiàn)作過(guò)動(dòng)人的描繪，然而美國(guó)當(dāng)今的黃金年產(chǎn)值（1、4億美元）和白銀年產(chǎn)值（1、5億美元）都大大低于石油（250億美元）、銅、鐵、煤及其他開(kāi)采的金屬。得克薩斯州是西南部主要的產(chǎn)油州，僅該州的石油總產(chǎn)值就占美國(guó)礦產(chǎn)品產(chǎn)值的五分之一。
6. America has long been known as a "melting pot," for it is a nation of immigrants 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 "melted" in with the rest of America's nearly 220 million population.
6、美國(guó)歷來(lái)以“熔爐（各種族融合的國(guó)家）”而著稱(chēng)，因?yàn)檫@個(gè)國(guó)家的人口是由世界各地來(lái)的移民所組成的。最早的移民是美洲印第安人，據(jù)信是一萬(wàn)余年前從西伯利亞宋的�，F(xiàn)今印第安人約有85萬(wàn)，其中一半人居住在31個(gè)州內(nèi)為他們專(zhuān)門(mén)劃出的土地上，其余的人已“融入”全美國(guó)的近2、2億人口中。、
7. Europe, the major source of immigration, began sending colonists to America in the early 17th century. Tens of millions flooded 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 absorbed nearly 600,000 Japanese, half a million Chinese and 340,000 Filipinos. Many live in Hawaii, more than two-thirds of whose people boast on Asian or Polynesian heritage.
7、歐洲這個(gè)移民的主要來(lái)源在17世紀(jì)初就開(kāi)始輸送殖民地開(kāi)拓者來(lái)到美洲。從1880年到第一次世界大戰(zhàn)，有幾千萬(wàn)人從歐洲涌上美洲海岸。美國(guó)第二大族群的祖先可追溯到非洲；黑人現(xiàn)在占美國(guó)人口的百分之十一。這個(gè)多種族融合的國(guó)家還吸收了近60萬(wàn)日本人、50萬(wàn)中國(guó)人和34萬(wàn)菲律賓人。很多移民生活在夏威夷，超過(guò)三分之二的夏威夷居民自稱(chēng)為亞洲人和波利尼西亞人的后裔。
8. Once a nation of farmers, the United States has become increasingly urban since the turn of the last century. Today three out of four Americans live in towns, cities or suburbs. Two-thirds of all families live in separate households, and 65 percent own their homes.
8、美國(guó)一度曾是農(nóng)場(chǎng)主的國(guó)家，自進(jìn)入上世紀(jì)以來(lái)日益城市化。如今，四分之三的美國(guó)人居住在城鎮(zhèn)、城市及市郊。三分之二的家庭獨(dú)立成戶(hù)，百分之六十五的家庭擁有自己的住宅。
9. Americans are always on the move. Each year, one in every five Americans leaves home and job to find new ones somewhere else. The population is shifting ever westward. California recently passed New York as the most populous state, although New York City （population: 8 million） and Chicago （3 million） are still larger than California's largest city, Los Angeles.
9、美國(guó)人口的流動(dòng)性很大。每年，每五個(gè)美國(guó)人中就有一個(gè)離開(kāi)家和工作到別處去安家和找新的工作。人口總是流向西部。加利福尼亞州最近已超過(guò)紐約州成為美國(guó)人口最多的一個(gè)州，雖然紐約市（人口為800萬(wàn)）和芝加哥市（300萬(wàn)）的人口仍然多過(guò)加利福尼亞州最大的城市洛杉磯。
10. The nation's capital, Washington, is ninth in size, with a population of over 700,000. Laid out by French architect Pierre L'Enfant in the late 18th century, it was the world's first city especially planned as a center of government. From Facts & Figures USA by USICA
10、美國(guó)首都華盛頓的面積在全國(guó)的城市中為第九位，人口70余萬(wàn)。它在18世紀(jì)末由法國(guó)建筑師皮埃爾·朗方設(shè)計(jì)，是世界上專(zhuān)門(mén)作為一個(gè)政府中心而規(guī)劃設(shè)計(jì)的第一個(gè)城市。選自美國(guó)國(guó)會(huì)新聞署《美國(guó)的事實(shí)與數(shù)字》。
