(单词翻译:单击)
These farm tools were as old as Time. The plow with which Great-grandfather McCormick broke his ground, and the sickles with which he cut his grain, were like the plows and sickles the farmers of Egypt over a thousand years before had used on their farms along the banks of the Nile River. The short scythes used on the McCormick place were almost exactly like the scythes used on the old farms of Rome.
这些农具年代久远。曾祖父麦考密克用犁破土，用镰刀割谷，就像一千多年前埃及农民在尼罗河畔的农田里使用的犁和镰刀。在麦考密克地区使用的短镰刀几乎和罗马旧农场使用的镰刀一模一样。
When Great-grandfather McCormick’s son grew up and wanted a farm of his own, there was little good land left on any of the rivers or streams near his father’s home. So Son McCormick took his tools and went off across the Indian trails running through the forest and over the hills and came out on the banks of the Shenandoah River in Virginia. Here there was still plenty of land to be had for nothing. He cut down trees, built himself a log house, then plowed and planted his newly cleared land with corn and wheat. The land was rich, and it grew splendid crops. Everything went well with the young McCormick family. As time went on, the family grew bigger and bigger. As the McCormick family grew, the farm spread out over more and more land.
曾祖父麦考密克的儿子长大后想要拥有自己的农场，但在他父亲家附近的河流或小溪上几乎没有留下什么好地。因此，儿子麦考密克拿起他的工具，穿过印第安人的小径，穿过森林，翻过小山，来到弗吉尼亚州谢南多厄河岸边。这里还有大量的土地可以免费使用。他砍倒树木，为自己建了一座木屋，然后犁地，在新开垦的土地上种上玉米和小麦。土地很肥沃，庄稼也长得很好。年轻的麦考密克家一切都很顺利。随着时间的推移，这个家庭变得越来越大。随着麦考密克一家的成长，农场扩展到越来越多的土地上。
