英语六级阅读理解精炼

31. The Women Pirates1
Many people know of such names as Henry Morgan, Edward“Blackbeard ”Teach, Barbarossa, Jean Lafitte , and William Kidd2, the pirates of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. But few have heard of the women pirates Catalina de Eranzo, Mary Read, and Anne Bonney. Each of these women was a rough and rugged pirate captain.
Catalina de Eranzo was a Spanish noble woman. The only daughter of a rich ship owner, she was a spoiled child. She learned a great deal from her brothers. Navigation was easy for her. She learned to sail any kind of vessel. Besides being a fine rider3, she was also a good shot with a pistol4 , and could handle a blunderbuss5, a sword6, or a dagger. 7
When her father’s second wife made her go into a convent, Catalina revolted . She clipped8 her hair, put on men’s clothes, and hopped over9 the convent10 wall.
Catalina made her way11 to the coast where she found a ship going to Brazil. She signed on as a navigator. When a mutiny12 broke out, she was able to take over the vessel.
After a trip of several months’piracy, the ship was wrecked on the coast of Peru. Dressed as a pirate , Catalina went to see her brother Michael, who was a captain in the army. She couldn’t tell him who she was. She was afraid of what the Inquisition might do to him for hiding her. Instead, she joined her brother’s company and served under him for three years.
Later, she signed on a pirate ship as navigator. When the captain was killed, she took over and led the crew.
Catalina de Eranzo was finally captured. She and her crew were sentenced to hang. She was saved at the last minute when it was proved she never attacked Spanish ships, but helped when they were in trouble .
. .. The days of pirates and buried treasure are gone. We remember those days as a colorful time in history, but no one is sorry that piracy is a thing of the past.

阅读自测
Ⅰ. The following a re the explanations of the words in the passage , and try to fin d the correct words:
1 . person on a ship who attacks and robs other ships at sea ———
2 . rebellion against lawful authority, especially by soldiers or sailors———
3 . people work on a ship, an aircraft, etc ———
4 . ( of a person) move by jumping on one foot———
5 . ship or boat, especially a large one———
Ⅱ. Question :
Do you think the days of pirates are exciting? Try to say something about it.

参考答案及讲解

参考答案
Ⅰ. 1. pirate 2. mutiny 3. crew 4. hop 5. vessel Ⅱ. ( 略)

参考译文
女海盗的沉浮
大 多数人都听说过亨利· 摩根、爱得华·“ 黑胡子”· 蒂奇、巴尔巴罗萨、让· 拉菲特、 威廉· 基德。这些人都是17 和18 世纪的海盗。但是, 几乎无人听说过女海盗凯特琳娜· 德· 伊兰索、玛莉· 里德和安妮· 邦妮。她们个个都是粗野的海盗头儿。
凯特琳娜· 德· 伊兰索原本是西班牙贵族小组。她是一位富有船主的唯一的女儿, 从 小就被宠坏了。她跟着哥哥们学了许多本领。航海对她而言是轻而易举的事。凯特琳娜 学过驾驶各种各样的船只。她不仅是优秀的舵手, 也是神枪手, 会熟练地使用手枪、老式大 口径短枪、剑及匕首。
她父亲的第二任妻子送她去做修女, 凯特琳娜反抗了。她剪短头发, 穿上男装, 翻墙逃 出了修道院。
凯特琳娜径直来到海边, 在那里发现一艘去巴西的船。她签约当了领航员。一场叛乱 爆发了, 之后她控制了那艘船。
经过几个月的海盗旅程后, 这艘船在秘鲁海域失事。一身海盗打扮的凯特琳娜去看望哥 哥迈克尔。她哥哥在军队里当上尉。她不能把自己的身份告诉哥哥, 害怕宗教法庭会因 为哥哥窝藏她而对他做出什么裁决。可她却参加了哥哥所在的连队, 并在他手下服了 三年役。
后来, 她又签约做了一艘海盗船上的领航员。船长被杀之后, 她接管并领导了所有船 员。 凯特琳娜· 德· 伊兰索最终被捕, 她和船员都被判处了绞刑。临刑前, 事实证明她根 本就没有袭击西班牙船只, 而是在他们陷入困境时施以援手, 她这才得救。 ⋯ ⋯ 海盗及藏宝的时代已一去不复返。人们只是将历史上那段多彩的时光留在了记忆中, 但是谁也不会因海上劫掠已成往事而感到遗憾。

阅读导评
凯特琳娜———一朵带刺的玫瑰: 一面是个长着一头鲜艳的红头发的年轻女海盗, 另一 面是位勇敢且美丽的西班牙少女。乔·托马斯曾说:“ 女性并不只是代表柔弱, 在她们的内心里, 仍然保留着一种娇柔和坚强相混合的情感。”她的性格恰恰体现了这一点, 海盗生活 给予许多人无限的遐想, 而女海盗的经历, 更是遐想中的奇葩。

阅读导释
1. pirate 可以指“ 海盗, 海盗船”, 还可以指“剽窃者, 盗版, 非法翻印者”。大家平时常说的“ 盗版磁带或唱片”就是pirate label。下文出现的piracy 是它的名词形式。
2. 这里提到的人都是当时很有名的江洋大盗, 如: 亨利·摩根( 1635—1688) , 威尔士海盗, 劫掠西属加勒比殖民地的著名冒险家之一, 被英王查理二世敕封为爵士( 1674) , 并被委 派为驻牙买加副总督。爱得华·蒂奇( ? —1718) , 绰号“黑胡子”, 英国著名海盗, 活动 于加勒比海及大西洋北美沿海一带, 被英国皇家海军剿灭, 枭首示众。威廉·基德 ( 1645—1701) , 又名“船长基德”, 英国劫掠船船长, 被控杀害自己船上的炮手并进行五 次劫掠, 被判处绞刑, 他的海盗生涯成为西方某些传奇小说的题材。让· 拉菲特 ( 1780—1825) , 美国路易斯安那的私掠船和走私船队头目, 在新奥尔良战役( 1815) 中协 助美国对英军作战有功, 受到安德鲁·杰克逊将军的嘉奖, 战后重操旧业, 劫掠西班牙 船只。
3 - 7. 这里有一些生词, 阅读时需要注意。rider 是“骑马人, 骑手”, 这里指“ ( 驾驶各种船只 的) 舵手”。pistol 指“ 手枪”; blunderbuss 是“ 老式大口径短枪”; sword 是“ 剑”, 而dagger 指“ 匕首”。
8 - 10. 这里的clip 和cut 意思相同, 均为“ 剪”。hop 原指“( 人) 单足跳跃, 单足跳行”, 因 此, 体育项目中的三级跳远就是hop, step and jump。这里指“ 快跳行走, 跳, 弹跳”, 如: hop on a bus ( 跳上公共汽车) ; hop out of bed ( 一跃起床) 。convent 指“女修道院”。
11. 这个词组的意思是“去, 前进, 前往”。还可以指“ 发迹, 飞黄腾达, 获得成功”, 如: He made his way by scholarship through Oxford. ( 他靠奖学金上完了牛津大学的课程。)
12. 这个词的意思是“ 水手、士兵等对上级的反叛, 叛变, 哗变, 叛乱”。