口译时事：美国的州名从何而来

2013-05-21 00:00:00来源：可可英语

　　People who visit the United States sometimes wonder how the states got their names. Some of the most interesting names came from American Indian (印第安人) languages.

　　访问美国的人们常常想知道各个州的名称是从何而来的。一些最有趣的名字来源于(美州)印第安人的语言。

　　For example, Illinois was named for the Indians who used to (过去常常) live in that part of the country. In their language, Illinois means "Brave (勇敢的) Men". Connecticut means "At the Long River Mouth" in the language of the Indians who used to live there.

　　例如伊利诺州是因过去住在这一带的印第安人而得名的。在他们的语言中伊利诺是"勇士"的意思。康乃狄格(州)在过去住在那里的印第安人的语言中,表示"在长河的河口"。

　　Twenty-five of the states have Indian names, but other names were taken from different languages. Georgia and Pennsylvania have names which were taken from the Latin (拉丁语的) language. Florida and Colorado were named by Spanish (西班牙) people. States like New Hampshire and New Jersey were named after (以…命名) places in England.

　　有25个州用印第安人的名称命名,另外一些州的名字则从没的语言中得来。乔治亚和宾夕法尼亚洲的名字源于拉丁文。佛罗里达和科罗拉多是由西班牙人命名的。像新罕布什尔和新泽西这样的州名是按英国的地名命名的。

　　The two newest states have names which did not come from any of those languages. Hawaii got its name from a word in the Hawaiian language which means "homeland" (家乡). Alaska was named by the Russians, from whom Alaska was bought in 1867.

　　最新的两个州的名字不是来自于那些语言。夏威夷是按夏威夷语中的一个词命名的,意思是"家乡"。阿拉斯加州是1867年从俄国人手里买来的,而它的名字也是由俄国人命名的。

　　参加口译考试的同学们在平时要积累大量素材，尤其是像上文这样的双语时事内容。帮助同学们练习。

本文关键字: 美国文化