听力文本

The Fountain of Youth

BIRDS go south in the winter to get warm. Some people in the cold Northern States do the same. The farthest south they can go in the United States is to the corner State, shaped like a dog’s paw, called Florida, which means the land of flowers. On the automobiles that go to Florida you can read the tags of every one of the forty-eight States. People go to Florida in the winter to sit in the sunshine, to bathe in the sea in January, to get rid of shivers, sneezes, and handkerchiefs. It is a winter playground, as New England is a summer playground. I know a man who is supposed to live in Baltimore, but he spends his winters in Florida and his summers in New England, so he only lives in Baltimore a few weeks in between.

The first white people who came to America came to Florida, because they had been told there was a fountain of youth there. The fountain of youth was supposed to be a spring which was said to have magic powers. It was believed if old people bathed in it or drank its water they would become young again. But no one has ever found a fountain of youth in Florida or anywhere else, though many old people after they have spent the winter in Florida say they feel young again.

But not everybody in Florida plays all winter long. Many have to work. They have to run the hotels for the people who do come to Florida to play. And a great many others are busy raising “fresh early vegetables” to ship to the cold Northern States, where they would have only canned or frozen vegetables during the winter otherwise. Just as there is a top time, a kite time, a football time, and a baseball time, there used to be certain times or seasons for certain fruits and vegetables; but in most of Florida it is so warm they seldom or never have frost or snow or ice, so they can raise fruits and vegetables the year round. Farmers ship the vegetables they raise out of season to other States, so that people in the North can now have fresh strawberries at Christmas, and asparagus too, and lettuce and radishes every month in the year.

参考译文

青春泉

冬天鸟类飞到南方过冬取暖。美国北部冬天极冷，一些人也去南方过冬。在美国他们能去的最南方的地方是一个比较边远的州，叫做佛罗里达，形状像个狗爪子，“佛罗里达”的意思是“鲜花之地”。在开往佛罗里达州的那些汽车上，你可以识别有来自48个州各州的汽车牌照。冬天人们到佛罗里达州去享受阳光，一月份去洗海水浴，让寒战、喷嚏和擤鼻涕的手帕都见鬼去吧。佛罗里达州是冬季的度假胜地，就像新英格兰地区是夏季的度假胜地一样。我认识一个人，据称他家是在巴尔的摩市，但他冬天在佛罗里达州过冬，夏天就到新英格兰避暑，因此一年中只有其余的几个星期才住在巴尔的摩的家中。

最早一批到达美国的白人听说佛罗里达州有个青春泉，所以也来到这个边远地区。青春泉据称是一眼泉水，泉水据说有着神奇的魔力。人们都坚信老人用泉水沐浴或喝点泉水，就能返老还童。但从来就没有人在佛罗里达州或者其他什么地方找到过青春泉，不过很多老人在佛罗里达州度过一个冬天之后都说他们真的感觉变年轻了。

但是在佛罗里达州并不是每个人整个冬天都尽情玩乐。很多人都要工作。他们要经营旅馆，为来到佛罗里达州旅游的人提供服务。还有很多人忙于种植“新鲜的早熟蔬菜”运送到寒冷的北部各州，否则那儿的人在冬天就只能吃罐装或冷冻蔬菜。就像有陀螺季节、风筝季节、足球赛季和棒球赛季一样，某些水果和蔬菜也是有时令的；但是佛罗里达州大部分地区都四季如春，很少或者从来没有霜冻或冰雪，因此人们一年四季都可以种植水果和蔬菜。农民把他们种植的反季节蔬菜运送到其他各州，因此北部地区的人们就可以在圣诞节吃到新鲜的草莓和芦笋，一年中每个月都能吃到生菜和小萝卜。