低调的英文英语国家概况译文

2021年1月19日发(作者：吓)
CHAPTER ONE

LAND AND PEOPLE

Different Names for Britain and its Parts





When people refer
to
Britain,
they
often use
different
names
such
as
Britain,
Great
Britain,
England, the British Isles, the United Kingdom or the U. K. Do they mean the same thing?




当人们提及英国时，常用不同的名称，如不 列颠、英格兰、不列颠群岛、联合王国，以及缩写的
U.K
…
这些不同的称呼是不是指 向相同的事物？






Strictly speaking, the British Isles, Great Britain and England are all geographical names. They
are not the official name of the country.
The British Isles are made up of the two large islands
—
Great Britain and Ireland and hundreds of small ones. The two large islands are Great Britain and
Ireland.
Britain, or Great Britain, is the larger of the two islands. It forms the United Kingdom with
Northern Ireland
——
the northern part of Ireland.
So the official name of the United Kingdom is
the United Kingdom of Great
Britain and Northern Ireland.
But it is too much of a mouthful to say
such a long name for a country, so people just say
Britain, the United Kingdom or simply U. K. This
is one country on
the
British Isles and its capital is
London.
There
is
another country called
the
Republic of Ireland or Eire on the British Isles. It takes up the reminder of Ireland
——
the southern
part of Ireland. It has been an independent republic since 1949 and its capital is Dublin.
严格地说，不列颠群岛、大不列颠群岛和英格兰都是地理名称。它们并不是这个国家的官方名称。英
伦 群岛由两个大点的岛屿大不列颠和爱尔兰及上百个小岛屿组成。两个大岛是大不列颠和爱尔兰群岛。不
列 颠或称大不列颠是这两个岛屿中较大的那一个。它与爱尔兰岛的北部——北爱尔兰——组成联合王国。
因 此，联合王国的正式名称叫大不列颠及北爱尔兰联合王国。但是一口气说出这样长的一个国家的名称太
拗 口，因此人们只说不列颠、联合王国，或者更简单地称
U.K
…它是大不列颠群岛上的一个国家 ，首都是
伦敦。
岛上还有另外一个叫做爱尔兰共和国或称爱尔兰的国家。
占据了爱尔兰 的其余部分——爱尔兰南部。
1949
年始成为读丽共和国，首都是都柏林。

There are three political divisions on the island of Great Britain: England, Scotland and Wales.

England
is
the
largest,
most
populous, and generally
the richest
section.
So
people
tend
to use

or
the
Welsh
who
do
not
regard
themselves
as
English
and
who
have
a
culture
and
even
a
language of their own.
大不列颠岛上有三个政治区：英格兰，苏格兰和威尔士。英格兰是最大的，最人 口多的，一般来说也是最
富裕的部分。因此人们常用“英格兰”指代“英国”
，
“英格 兰人”指代“英国人”
。有时这种情况使苏格兰
人或威尔士人很生气，他们不认为自己是英格兰 人，他们有自己的文化，甚至有自己的语言。


British has been one of the most important countries in the world. About a hundred years ago, as
a result of its
imperialist
expansion, Britain ruled
an
empire
that
had
one
fourth
of the
world
’
s
people and one fourth of the world
’
s land area.

It had colonies not only in North America, but
also
in
Asia,
Africa
and
Australia
.
However,
the
two
world
wars
greatly
weakened
Britain.
The
British colonies became independent one after another. The British Empire gradually disappeared
and it was replaced by
the British Commonwealth
or
the Commonwealth of Nations
in 1931.




大不列颠成为世界最重要的国家之一。大约一百年前，帝国 主义的扩张使得大不列颠统治了世界的四
分之一的人口和土地。它所拥有的殖民地不仅在北美，当然也在 亚洲、非洲以及澳洲。然而，第二次世界
大战大大削弱了大不列颠。大不列颠的殖民地也一个接着一个地 独立了。大英帝国逐渐地消失了，在
1931
年，它被
英联邦
或
大英 国协
取而代之。





The
Commonwealth
(of
Nations)
is a
free
association
of
independent
countries
that
were
once
colonies of
Britain.
Member
nations
are
joined
together
economically
and
have
certain
trading
arrangements.
The
Commonwealth
has
no
special
powers.
The
decision
to
become
a
member of the Commonwealth is left to each nation.
At present there are 50 member countries
within the Commonwealth (1991).





英联邦是一个由许多独立国家组成的自由组织，这些国家都 是大不列颠国以前的殖民地，成员国都是
出于经济原因结合在一起的并有固定的贸易往来。英关邦没有特 殊的权力。每一个成员国都可以自己决定
是否成为英联邦的成员。目前英联邦内部已有
50个成员国（
1991
）
。

Geographical Features





Britain is an island country. It is surrounded by the sea. It lies in the north Atlantic Ocean off the north
coast of Europe. It is separated from the rest of Europe by the English Channel in the south and the North Sea
in the east. The English Channel between England and France is quite narrow and the narrowest part is called
the Straits of Dover, which is only 33km across. In 1985 the British government and the France government
decided to build a channel tunnel under the Straits of Dover so that England and France could be joined
together by road.
After eight years of hard work this channel tunnel which is called
“
C
hunnel
”

was open to
traffic in May 1994.
Britain covers an area of 244,100 square km. It runs 1
,000 km from north to south and
extends,
at
the
widest
part,
about
500
kilometres.
So
no part
of
Britain
is very
far from
the
coast
and
it
provides a valuable resource.
The British coast is long and has good, deep harbours. Sea routes extend for
inland, providing cheap transportation.





大不列颠是一个岛国，四周环海。它位于大西洋北部，并与 欧洲北海岸隔海相望。它与欧洲的其它部
分被南部的英吉利海峡和东部的北海隔开。在英格兰与法国之间 的英吉利海峡十分狭窄，而这最狭窄的部
分就是仅有
33
千米宽的多佛海峡。
在
1985
年，
英国政府和法国政府决定建造一条位于多佛海峡下面的隧道，
以便于实现英法两国之间的公路相连。经过八年的艰苦工作，这条叫做“英吉利海峡隧道”隧道于
199 4
年
五月开放运行。大不列颠覆盖了一个
244
，
100
平 方公理的区域。从它的北部到南部的有
1
，
000KM
（
run要怎么翻？）
，而它最宽阔的地方也只大约在
500KM
，因此，它每一部分都离 海岸不远，并且拥有着有价
值的资源。英国海岸长
,
而且具有良好的、深港口。海上航 线延长至内陆
,
提供廉价的交通工具。





Britain
has,
for
centuries,
been
slowly
tilting
with
the
NorthWest
slowly
rising
and
the
South-East slowly sinking. The north and west of Britain are mainly highlands. In western parts of
Scotland this rise in the land has resulted in the formation of raised Beaches-flat areas of land in
an
otherwise
mountainous
area,
which
provide
the
main
farming,
settlements,
and
industrial
areas
as
well as routeways.
The
east
and
south- east
are
mostly
lowlands. They
are
part
of
the
Great
European Plain, with its level land and fertile soil. There is much good farmland especially in
the south and along the east coast of England.




几个世纪以来，英国一直在缓缓倾斜：西北部缓慢上升，东南部缓慢下沉。大不列 颠的北部和西部主
要是高地。
这个上涨已经导致了土地形成了苏格兰西部地区土地的上升形成了
beaches-flat
区域和？？另
外可提供主农业、居住、工业以及通道的多山 地区。它的东部和东南部主要是低地。它们是欧洲大平原的
一部分，有着水平地和肥沃的土壤。这里有多 良田，特别是在南部和沿着东部海岸部分。





During
the
Ice
Age
great
ice
covered
Great
Britain.
Ice
has
been
responsible
for
most
of
Britain's spectacular mountain scenery especially in Snowdonia, the Lake District, and the Scottish
Highlands.
It
left
Great
Britain
with
mountains
with
flat
tops,
hanging
valleys
with
waterfalls,
ribbon likes, flat valley floors, steep valley sides, boulder clay and fertile soil.




在冰河世纪时，大不列颠被冰雪覆盖。冰雪是绝大多数的不列颠特殊风景，特别是斯诺登峰、湖泊地区以及苏格兰高的形成原因。


1. England
England
occupies
the
largest,

southern
part
of
Great

Britain
with
Wales
to
its
west

and
Scotland to its north. It has an area of more than 130,000 square kilometres which takes up nearly
60%
of
the
whole
island.
The
south-west
and
west

except
for
the
Severn
valley
and
the
Cheshire-Lancashire plain
(round
Liverpool) are largely
a
plateau,
with
rolling
plains,downs
and
occasional
moors.
The
Pennines,
a
range
of hills
running
from
North
Midlands to
the
Scottish
border, are the principal mountain chain. But
the highest peak of England, Scafell (978m)
, is in the
Lake
District
in
north-west
England.
The
east of
England
is
mainly
an
open
cultivated
plain
,
narrowing in North Y
orkshire to a passage (V
ale of York) between coastal moors and the Pennines,
and in Northumberland to a coastal strip.
英格兰占地最大，位于大不列颠的南部，西至威尔士北至苏格兰。其占据了大不列颠
60%
的土 地，面
积超过
130,000
平方公里。西南和西部除了塞文河流域和柴郡、兰开夏郡 平原（环绕着利物浦海港）其余
大部分是高原，


2. Scotland


Scotland has an area of 78,760 square kilometres. It is in the north of Great Britain with many
mountains
,
lakes
and
islands.
There
are
three
natural
zones:
the
Highlands
in
the
north
,the
central Lowlands, and the southern Uplands.
The Highlands (300m over 1,200m) are
a wild , rocky,
mountainous
plateau
with
a
coastline
deeply
indented,
especially
in
the
west,
Ben
Nevis,
the
highest mountain in Britain(1343m)
is located here. The western part of Highlands and the islands
of Hebrides are a very beautiful region. Great sea-lochs, or fiords, alternate with wild and empty
hills, and on some of the lochs there are farms which can only be reached by boat. The Lowlands
in the centre comprise mostly the Forth and Clyde valleys, coal and iron fields and dairy pasture .
This is the most important area in Scotland which contains most of the industry and population.
The
southern
Uplands
,
a
rolling
moorland
(mainly
240m-600m),
are
cut
by
small
fertile
river
valleys.
Scotland
has
about
800
islands
including
the
Orkneys
，

Shetlands
and
Hebrides
and
hundreds of lakes. Edinburgh is the capital of Scotland.
苏格兰占地
78,760
平方公里。位于大不列颠的北部，有很 多山、湖和群岛。苏格兰从地理上被分为三
部分：北部高地，中部低地和南部高原。北部高地（
300
米到
1200
米）是一个荒凉、很多岩石的山地高原，
海岸线深深交错 着，特别是在西边，不列颠最高的山本尼维斯山就在坐落在那里。西部高地和赫布里底群
岛都是风景优美 的地方。大海或海湾，在荒凉的空山之间流转着，有一些湖泊是一些只能坐船才能到达的
农田。
中心低地大多由四部分组成克莱德山谷、煤田和乳牛用草地。
（这句不知道怎么翻译，
the
forth
是
什么意思？）
这里有很多产业和人口，是苏格兰最重要的区域。 南部高地，是起伏的高沼地（主要有
240
米到
600
米）
，被肥沃 的河谷切开。苏格兰八百多个群岛中包括有奥克尼群岛、设得兰群岛赫布里底群岛和
一百多个湖泊。其首 都是爱丁堡。


3. Wales


Wales is in the west of Great Britain, It has an area of 20,761 square kilometres which takes up
less than 9% of the whole island. Most of Wales is mountainous:the hills rise steeply from the sea
and are rather flat on top. 6% of Wales is covered with forest and much of the country is pasture
——
land for sheep and cattle. Only 12%of the land is arable. Wales forms a massif with a lowland
fringe widest along the English border and south coast. The massif is largely between 180m and
600m,rocky in
the
north
and
coal
bearing in the
south. Snowdonia
(1,085m) in the
northwest is
the highest mountain in Wales. The capital of Wales is Cardiff.
威尔士是在大 不列颠的西边，占地
20,761
平方公里占了整个大不列颠的
9%
不到。威 尔士大部分都是
高山：
这些山都是耸立在海边而不是平坦的。
威尔士
6%被森林覆盖，
其他部分大多都是草原——用于牧羊、
牛。只有
12%
的土 地适于耕种。威尔士由一个最宽大的低地边缘沿着英国边境和南海行程了一个山丘。这
山丘大都在
180
米和
600
米之间，
北边有丰富的岩石而南边是产煤地。
位 于威尔士最西边的斯诺登尼亚是威
尔士最高的山峰。威尔士的首都是加的夫。


4. Northern Ireland
Northern
Ireland
is
a
fourth
region of
the United Kingdom.
It

takes up
the
northern
fifth
of
Ireland
and
has an
area of
14,147
square kilometres.
It

has
a
rocky and
wild
northern
coastline,
with
several
deep
indentations.
In
the
north-east

lie
the
uplands
of
County
Antrim,
while
the
mountains in the south-east gradually give way to the central lowlands of the Lough Neagh basin.
Belfast is the capital of Northern Ireland.

北爱尔兰是英国第四个区域。
位于爱尔兰的北 部，
占据了爱尔兰五分之一土地，
占地
14,147
平方公里。
有一 条都是岩石且很荒凉的海岸线，
上面还有几条深深的凹痕。
位于东北边高地的安特里姆县……北 爱尔兰
的首都是贝尔法斯特。

Rivers and Lakes
Rivers
in
Britain
do
not
freeze
in
winter.
They play a
very
important
role
in
the
country's
economy. The great ports of London, Liverpool and Glasgow are all connected to the sea by rivers.
Besides, the Tweed, the Tyne, the Tees, and the Thames rivers on the east coast all face North Sea
ports on
the
European
continent.
They
are also close
to rich
fishing grounds. On
the west coast

the
Clyde,
the
Mersey,
and
the
Severn
rivers
carry
raw

materials
to
busy
manufacturing
cities
inland. The rivers in Britain are not very large. The longest river is the Severn River which is only
338
kilometres
long.
It
rises
in
central
Wales and
flows
in
a
semicircle
through
West
Central
England
to
the
Bristol
Channel.
The
second
largest
and
most
important
river
in
Britain
is
the
Thames River. It is 366 kilometres long. It rises in the Cotswolds in southwest England and flows
through the Midlands of England to London and out into the North Sea. The Thames flows rather
slowly, which is very favourable for water transportation. Ocean-going ships can sail up it as far as
London and small ships can sail up it for a further 138 kilometres. Oxford is also on the Thames .
River Clyde is the most important river in Scotland. It rises in Dumfries and rums 171 kilometres,
passing through Glasgow
, and enters the Firth of Clyde. It is an important commercial waterway.

不列颠的河流在冬天不会冻结。它们在国家的 经济上扮演着很重要的角色。伦敦最大的港口，利物浦
和格拉斯哥都是用河流和大海连接在一起的。除此 之外，位于东海岸的邓恩
河、泰河、迪斯河和泰晤士河
都是迎向对欧洲大陆开放的北海港。它们 与丰富渔业有着密切的关系。在西边的干口克莱德河，默西河和
塞文河都用于运载原生材料去使得内陆城 市工业的兴旺。不列颠的这些河流都不是很大。最长的塞文河也
只有
338
公里长。它 的源头在威尔士中部，以英格兰为中心在左边绕成一个半圆通向布里斯托尔海峡。不
列颠第二大也是最重 要的河流是泰晤士河。它有
366
公里长。位于英格兰西南方的克茨沃尔德，流经英格
兰中部到伦敦最后流向北海。泰晤士河流动得相当慢，十分有利于水路运输。远洋船可以再上面溯流而上
直达伦敦，而小船则可以往前再开
138
公里。牛津大学也是在泰晤士河边上。邓恩河是苏格兰 最重要的河
流。它位于敦夫里斯郡流经
171
公里，经过格拉斯哥港口并流入了五分之 一。这是十分重要的商业航道。

There are many lakes in Britain especially in northern Scotland, the Lake District in north west

England
and North
Wales.
However,
the largest
lake in Britain
is the
Lough
Neagh
in
Northern