(单词翻译:单击)
听力文本
Now, the VOA Special English program WORDS AND THEIR STORIES.
As we told you last week, every American state has a nickname. Here are some more of them.
Idaho is known as the Gem State. This is not because it has diamonds but because it believes it is the jewel of the western Rocky Mountains. Illinois is the Land of Lincoln. It is named for Abraham Lincoln, the sixteenth president who led the nation through the Civil War in the eighteen sixties. The Midwestern state of Indiana is called the Hoosier State, but nobody is quite sure why.
One story is that the word was used to mean poor farmers or uneducated people. No wonder the state legislature instead calls Indiana the Crossroads of America. Iowa’s nickname, the Hawkeye State, is in honor of Black Hawk, an Indian chief who spent most of his life in neighboring Illinois!
Kansas also has a "hawkish" nickname: the Jayhawk State. Jayhawkers were free-state guerrilla fighters opposed to the pro-slavery fighters in the years before the Civil War.
Kentucky is the Bluegrass State. Bluegrass is really bright green but looks bluish from a distance. Louisiana is the Bayou State. A bayou is a slow-moving stream. Hundreds of them flow through this southern state, and many are full of alligators!
Maine, in the nation’s northeast, is the Pine Tree State because it is covered in evergreen woods. And directly across the country, on the Pacific Coast, is the state of Washington. It also has lots of evergreen trees so, not surprisingly, it is the Evergreen State.
The eastern state of Massachusetts is the Bay State. This body of water separates most of the state from famous Cape Cod.
Six state nicknames are taken from native animals. Michigan is the Wolverine State. A wolverine is a small, fierce mammal. The badger is a similar and equally fierce creature and Wisconsin is the Badger State.
Neighboring Minnesota, the Gopher State, is named for a much nicer animal that builds hills and tunnels. However, the Land of Ten Thousand Lakes is written on Minnesota’s vehicle license plates.
North Dakota gets its nickname, the Flickertail State not from some bird, but from a little squirrel. South Dakota takes its nickname, the Coyote State, from an animal that thinks flickertails are good to eat!
And Oregon, the Beaver State, borrows its nickname from the large, flat-tailed rodent that uses trees to build dams.
Next week, we will tell you about more state nicknames, including one that is about people’s feet!
This VOA Special English program was written by Ted Landphair. I’m Barbara Klein. You can find more WORDS AND THEIR STORIES at learningenglish.voanews.com.
文本来自51voa，译文属可可原创，仅供学习交流使用，未经许可请勿转载
词汇解释
1.bluish adj. 带蓝色的；有点蓝的
Her eyes are bluish green.
她的眼睛绿中透蓝。
2.guerrilla n. 游击战；游击队
The security zone was set up to prevent guerrilla infiltrations.
设立了安全区以防止游击队员的渗入。
内容解析
1.ayhawkers were free-state guerrilla fighters opposed to the pro-slavery fighters in the years before the Civil War.
opposed to 反对；反对…的
The army was ideologically opposed to the kind of economic solution proposed.
军方从意识形态角度出发反对所提议的经济方案。
She was adamantly opposed to her husband travelling to Brussels.
她坚决反对丈夫前往布鲁塞尔。
参考译文
这里是美国之音慢速英语词汇典故。
我们上周告诉大家，美国每个州都有别名，下面是另外一些州的别名。
爱达荷州被成为宝石州，这并不是因为这里有宝石，而是因为该州自认为是洛杉矶山脉西部的一颗明珠。伊利诺州是林肯之地，其命名来自亚伯拉罕·林肯，也就是19世纪60年代领导美国进行内战的第16届总统。美国中西部的印第安纳州被成为“胡希尔州”，但没人知道其出处。
我们的说法是这个词以前用来指贫困的农民或文盲，无怪乎州法律改称印第安纳州为美国的十字路口。爱荷华州的别名是“鹰眼州”，是为了纪念在临近的伊利诺伊州贡献毕生的印第安纳首领黑鹰。
堪萨斯州也有一个很“鹰派”的别名：“废奴游击州”，Jayhawkers是指自由州的游击队员，他们是内战之前反对亲奴隶制的游击队战士。
肯塔基州被叫做“蓝草州”，蓝草实际上是绿色的，看从远处看起来是蓝色的。路易斯安那州的别名是“小河州”，bayou是指流动缓慢的小溪，数百条小溪流经这个南部州，很多里面都是鳄鱼。
缅因州位于美国东北部，因为到处覆盖着常绿森林，被称为“松树州”，直穿过该州一直到太平洋就是华盛顿州，该州到处都是常青树，所以无怪乎被称为“常青州”。
东部的马萨诸塞州被称为“海湾州”，海水将该州大部分与著名的科德角半岛分开来。
还有六个州的别名取自当地动物，密歇根州被成为“貂熊州”，貂熊是一种凶猛的小型哺乳动物，獾和貂熊类似，也很凶猛，威斯康星州被称为“獾州”。
临近的明尼苏达州被称为“田鼠州”，取自这种有趣的打洞动物。然而，明尼苏达州的车牌上写着“万湖州”。
北达科他州的别名“金花鼠州”并非来自一种同名鸟，而是来自一种小松鼠。南达科他州别名“土狼州”，土狼是一种爱吃金花鼠的动物。
俄勒冈州别名“海狸州”，海狸是一种大型、平尾啮齿类动物，喜欢在树下筑坝。
下周我们将讲述更多州的别名，其中一个与人的脚有关！
这次的美国之音慢速英语节目作者Ted Landphair，我是芭芭拉·克莱恩，你可登陆learningenglish.voanews.com获得更多词汇典故。
