Geography of USA
美国地理概况
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、美利坚合众国的辽阔地域，从高度工业化、遍布大都市的大西洋沿岸，延伸至中部平原肥沃平坦的农场，越过洛矶山脉，到达富饶的西海岸，然后横跨半个太平洋到达气候温和的由群岛组成的夏威夷州。来美国观光的人无不赞叹这块土地幅员广阔、多姿多彩。美国大陆（不包括远离本土的阿拉斯加和夏威夷）从大西洋沿岸到太平洋海岸的距离为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 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国的最北部，在全国50个州（在很多国家叫做省）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、除许多森林（达3、11亿公顷）、荒芜的沙漠、多高峰的山脉（麦金莱山海拔6300米）和深深的峡谷以外，美国还有很多河流和湖泊。为很多民歌和传说所传颂的宽阔的密西西比河水系，从加拿大蜿蜒曲折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。北部的一条运河将世界上最长的内河航线—密西西比河同世界上最大的淡水群—五大湖连接在一起。
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、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。现在美国的耕地达1、21亿公顷。美国农场主在寒冷的西部平原上种植春小麦，在中部平原上种植玉米、饲养良种肉牛，在气候湿热的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，凉爽多雨的东北各州则以苹果、梨、莓和蔬菜而著称。
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、丰富的地下矿藏是美国工业的坚实基础。美国历史虽然曾对加利福尼亚州和阿拉斯加州的淘金热以及内华达州银矿的发现作过动人的描绘，然而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）都大大低于石油（250亿美元）、铜、铁、煤及其他开采的金属。得克萨斯州是西南部主要的产油州，仅该州的石油总产值就占美国矿产品产值的五分之一。
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、美国历来以“熔炉（各种族融合的国家）”而著称，因为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，据信是一万余年前从西伯利亚宋的。现今印第安人约有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，其余的人已“融入”全美国的近2、2亿人口中。、
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、欧洲这个移民的主要来源在17世纪初就开始输送殖民地开拓者来到美洲。从1880年到第一次世界大战，有几千万人从欧洲涌上美洲海岸。美国第二大族群的祖先可追溯到非洲；黑人现在占美国人口的百分之十一。这个多种族融合的国家还吸收了近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为亚洲人和波利尼西亚人的后裔。
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、美国一度曾是农场主的国家，自进入上世纪以来日益城市化。如今，四分之三的美国人居住在城镇、城市及市郊。三分之二的家庭独立成户，百分之六十五的家庭拥有自己的住宅。
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、美国人口的流动性很大。每年，每五个美国人中就有一个离开家和工作到别处去安家和找新的工作。人口总是流向西部。加利福尼亚州最近已超过纽约州成为美国人口最多的一个州，虽然纽约市（人口为800万）和芝加哥市（300万）的人口仍然多过加利福尼亚州最大的城市洛杉矶。
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、美国首都华盛顿的面积在全国的城市中为第九位，人口70余万。它在18世纪末由法国建筑师皮埃尔·朗方设计，是世界上专门作为一个政府中心而规划设计的第一个城市。选自美国国会新闻署《美国的事实与数字》。
