(单词翻译:单击)
听力文本
About ten hundred, Europe was beginning a period of great change. One reason was the religious wars known as the crusades. These wars were efforts by Europeans who were mainly Roman Catholic Christians. They wanted to force Muslims out of what is now the Middle East. The crusades began at the end of the eleventh century. They continued for about two hundred years. The presence of European armies in the Middle East increased trade, which was controlled by businessmen in Venice and other Italian city-states. The businessmen were earning large profits by transporting and supplying the warring armies. When the European crusaders returned home, they brought with them some new and useful products. The products included spices, perfumes, silk cloth, steel products and drugs. Such products became highly valued all over Europe. Increased trade resulted which led to the growth of towns. It also created a large number of rich European businessmen. The European nations were growing. They developed armies and governments. These had to be paid for by taxes from the people. By the fifteenth century, European countries were ready to explore new parts of the world.
The first explorers were the Portuguese. By fourteen hundred, they wanted to control the Eastern spice trade. European businessmen did not want to continue paying Venetian and Arab traders for their costly spices. They wanted to set up trade themselves. If they could sail to Asia directly for these products, the resulting trade would bring huge profits. The leader of Portugal's exploration efforts was Prince Henry, a son of King John the first. He was interested in sea travel and exploration. So he became known as Henry the Navigator. Prince Henry brought experts to his country and studied the sciences involved in exploration. He built an observatory to study the stars. Portuguese sea captains led their ships around the west coast of Africa hoping to find a path to India and East Asia. They finally found the end of the African continent, the area called the Cape of Good Hope. It took the Portuguese only about fifty years to take control of the spice trade. They established trading colonies in Africa, the Persian Gulf, India and China. Improvements in technology helped them succeed. One improvement was a new kind of ship.
It could sail more easily through ocean storms and winds. Other inventions like the compass permitted them to sail out of sight of land. The Portuguese also armed their ships with modern cannon. They used these weapons to battle Muslim and East Asian traders. The other European nations would not permit Portugal to control this trade for long, however. Spain's Queen Isabella and King Ferdinand agreed to provide ships, crew and supplies for an exploration by an Italian seaman, Christopher Columbus. Columbus thought the shortest way to reach the East was to sail west across the Atlantic Ocean. He was right. But he also was wrong. He believed the world was much smaller than it is. He did not imagine the existence of other lands and another huge ocean area between Europe and East Asia. Columbus and a crew of eighty-eight men left Spain on August third, fourteen ninety-two, in three ships. On October twelfth, they stood on land again on an island that Columbus named San Salvador. He explored it, and the nearby islands of what is now known as Cuba and Hispaniola. He believed they were part of the coast of East Asia, which was called the Indies. He called the people he found there Indians.
Columbus left about forty men on the island to build a fort from the wood of one of the ships. He returned to Spain with captured natives, birds, plants and gold. Columbus was considered a national hero when he reached Spain in March, fourteen ninety-three. Columbus returned across the Atlantic Ocean to the Caribbean area five months later. This time, he had many more men and all the animals and equipment needed to start a colony on Hispaniola. He found that the protective fort built by his men had been destroyed by fire. Columbus did not find any of his men. Seven months later, Columbus sent five ships back to Spain. They carried Indians to be sold as slaves. Columbus also sailed back to Spain leaving behind some settlers who were not happy with conditions. Christopher Columbus made another trip in fourteen ninety-eight, with six ships. This time he saw the coast of South America. The settlers were so unhappy with conditions in the new colony, Columbus was sent back to Spain as a prisoner. Spain's rulers pardoned him. In fifteen-oh-two, Columbus made his final voyage to what some were calling the New World. He stayed on the island of Jamaica until he returned home in fifteen-oh-four. During all his trips, Columbus explored islands and waterways, searching for a passage to the Indies. He never found it. He also did not find spices or great amounts of gold.
Yet, he always believed that he had found the Indies. He refused to recognize that it was really a new world. Evidence of this was all around him -- strange plants that were not known in either Europe or Asia and a different people who did not understand any language spoken in the East. Columbus' voyages, however, opened up the new world. Others later explored all of North America. You may be wondering about the name of this new land. If Christopher Columbus was the first European to attempt to settle the new world, why is it called "America"? The answer lies with the name of an Italian explorer, Amerigo Vespucci. He visited the coast of South America in fourteen ninety-nine. He wrote stories about his experiences that were widely read in Europe. In fifteen-oh-seven, a German mapmaker read Vespucci's stories. He decided that the writer had discovered the new world and suggested that it be called America in his honor. So it was. Spanish explorers sought to find gold and power in the New World. They also wanted to expand belief in what they considered to be the true religion, Christianity. The first of these Spanish explorers was Juan Ponce de Leon. He landed on North America in fifteen thirteen.
He explored the eastern coast of what is now the southern state of Florida. He was searching for a special kind of water that people in Europe believed existed. They believed that this water could make old people young again. Ponce de Leon never found it. Also in fifteen thirteen, Vasco Nunez de Balboa crossed the Isthmus of Panama and reached the Pacific Ocean. In fifteen nineteen, Hernan Cortes landed an army in Mexico and destroyed the empire of the Aztec Indians. That same year Ferdinand Magellan began his three-year voyage around the world. And in the fifteen thirties, Francisco Pizarro destroyed the Inca Indian empire in Peru. Ten years later, Francisco Vasquez de Coronado had marched as far north as the central American state of Kansas and west to the Grand Canyon. About the same time, Hernan de Soto reached the Mississippi River. Fifty years after Columbus first landed in San Salvador, Spain claimed a huge area of America. The riches of these new lands made Spain the greatest power in Europe. But other nations refused to accept Spain's claim to rights in the new world. Explorers from England, France and Holland also were traveling to North America. That will be our story next week.
重点解析
1.searching for 搜寻
Note: You can find it by searching for "4797" within this file.
注意:可以通过在文件中搜索 "4797" 来找到这一行 。
2.known as 被认为是
He told them that in our area, we are known as a refuge; we treat all victims of the conflict equally, no matter what side they’re on.
他告诉他们,我们这个地区的人都知道这里是一个避难所;我们对所有的冲突的受害者一视同仁,不论他们属于哪一方 。
3.landed in 飞抵
Two years earlier, amid a civil war, foreign invaders had landed in the north.
两年以前,印加不但发生了内战,还有外国侵略者从北方登陆 。
4.in his honor 为对他表示敬意
Members of the local government and descendants of the sage took turns at an altar in his honor.
许多当地的政府官员和圣人的后裔轮流来到为其荣誉而建造的圣坛祭拜 。
5.led to 导致
Many were simply led to the edge of what would imminently be their grave.
许多人只是被带到这个会即刻成为他们坟墓的大坑的边缘 。
参考译文
一千年前左右,欧洲开始了大变革
亨利王子把航海专家带到自己的国家,并研究了涉及航海探索的科学知识
。亨利王子建了一座天文台来研究恒星 。葡萄牙船长带领着他们的船只在非洲西海岸航行,希望找到一条通往印度和东亚的道路 。最终,他们发现了非洲大陆的尽头——好望角 。葡萄牙人只用了大约50年就控制了香料贸易 。他们在非洲、波斯湾、印度和中国建立了贸易殖民地 。技术的进步帮助葡萄牙人取得了成功,他们研究改进了一种新型船只 。这种船只面对海洋风暴和海风更加游刃有余 。其他发明比如指南针,则让他在看不到陆地情况下能够航行 。葡萄牙人也用先进的大炮来武装他们的船只,利用这些新武器来对付穆斯林和东亚的商人 。然而欧洲的其他国家不会让葡萄牙长期控制这项贸易 。西班牙的王后和国王同意提供船只、船员和物资给一个意大利海员哥伦布 。哥伦布认为到达东方最快的方法是西渡大西洋 。他是对的,但也不对,他以为世界只有他想象的那么大 。他没有意料到其它的陆地和在亚洲和欧洲之间的另外一个大洋的存在 。1492年8月3日,哥伦布和88名船员乘三艘船离开了西班牙10月12日,哥伦布和他的船员们再次登岛,哥伦布将这座岛命为圣萨尔瓦多 。他探索了该岛,以及附近几个岛屿,也就是现在得古巴和伊斯帕尼奥拉岛 。他认为这座岛是东亚海岸的一部分,即传说中的东印度群岛,他们把当地人称作印第安人
。哥伦布留下了大约40个人在岛上,用其中一艘船的木头建造一座堡垒 。哥伦布带着俘获的土著人、植物和黄金回到了西班牙1493年3月,哥伦布到达西班牙,被认为是民族英雄 。五个月之后,哥伦布跨过大西洋回到加勒比海 。这次,他带了更多的人,以及所需的所有动物和设备,准备在伊斯帕尼奥拉开始建立殖民地 。哥伦布发现他们之前的船员建的堡垒已经被破坏,而且没有找到他们中的任何一个 。七个月之后,哥伦布把五艘船送回了西班牙,他们把印第安人当作奴隶贩卖 。哥伦布也回到了西班牙,留下一些对环境不满的移居者 。1498年,克里斯托弗·哥伦布驾驶六只船只又作了一次旅行,这次他到达了南美洲的海岸 。移居者对新殖民地的条件非常不满,哥伦布作为囚犯被送回西班牙,西班牙统治者原谅了他 。1502年,哥伦布开始了他的最后一次航行,到达了称为新大陆的地方 。他一直住在牙买加岛上,直至1504年才回到家乡 。在他航行期间,哥伦布还探索了岛屿和水域,寻找通向印度的通道 。他一直没能找到,他也没有找到香料或者黄金,然而,但是他一直相信他找到的是印度 。他拒绝承认那是个新世界 。证据到处都是---亚洲欧洲人都不认识的奇异的植物还有不懂任何东方语言的人们 。然而,哥伦布的航行却开放了一个新世界,后来的人才得以探索整个北美
译文为可可英语翻译,未经授权请勿转载!