英语笔译实务3-Unit1

Maya: Away from Crowds
远离人群—去玛雅
Central America is home to many secret treasures for tourists who like to avoid the crowds, including numerous ancient Maya settlements.
中美洲蕴藏着大量的秘密宝藏，包括众多的古代玛雅遗址，等待着那些喜欢远离人群的旅行者去发现。

The seven countries of Central America--Guatemala, Panama, Belize, Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua and Costa Rica--are full of natural beauty and cultural treasures. Many of the regions natural reserves, ancient Maya settlements and colonial cities have been declared as world cultural heritage sites by the United Nations Educational Scientific and Culture Organization.
中美洲的七个国家—危地马拉、巴拿马、伯利兹、洪都拉斯、萨尔瓦多、尼加拉瓜和哥斯达黎加—遍布自然美景和文化宝藏。

本地区有许多自然保护区、古玛雅人遗址和殖民时期的城市已经被联合国教科文组织列入世界文化遗产。

There are lots of volcanoes and an exotic animal kingdom to explore, yet few people outside the region know of them. The view to the crater of the Masaya volcano in Nicaragua is a breathtaking experience, enlivened by the accompanying strong smell of sulphur and the loud screaming of parrots.
那里有太多的火山和珍禽异兽有待探寻，可是它们却鲜为外人所知。

当你往尼加拉瓜的马莎雅火山口望进去的时候，你会倒吸一口冷气，但是当你闻到那股浓烈的硫磺味，听到鹦鹉尖利的叫声时，你又会回过神来，惊叹它的壮美。

Yet the car park on the edge of the crater is nearly empty. This is a boon for daring travelers who can enjoy all the beauty without having to share it with hordes of other visitors.
然而火山口附近的停车场却几乎空无一人。

这是给勇敢者的一种奖赏，他们可以尽情独享这一切，而不必同比肩接踵的其他游客分赏美景。

El Salvador has a “road of flowers”, and Nicaragua has a “road of white villages” connecting villages from the colonial period. Honduras is developing a means of connecting the Native American communities in the Atlantic coast from the Garifuna, descendents of the Caribbean Indians and Africans, to the Miskito Indians in the jungle.
萨尔瓦多有一条“鲜花之路”，尼加拉瓜则有一条“白色村庄之路”，连接殖民时期留下来的各个村庄。

洪都拉斯也正开发一条信道，把大西洋沿岸的美洲土著人社区，如加勒比印第安和非洲人的后裔加里夫那人社区，和生活在丛林中的墨斯奇陶印第安人社区连接起来。

Geological enthusiasts could also follow a volcanic trail through Central America. There are many volcanoes in just a small area, some with perfectly cone-shaped peaks constantly emitting smoke from their craters. Some of them are partially accessible.
地质爱好者也可以沿着连接各座火山的小道穿越中美洲。

中美洲地域不大，但是火山众多。

有些火山呈完美的圆锥形，山口终年喷着烟雾。

有些火山因烟灰浓烈而难窥全貌。

A bus travels to the edge of the Masaya craters in Nicaragua, an active volcano just 500 meters high. For safety reasons, every tourist should get local information from the local tourism authority before climbing a volcano.
旅游汽车可以到达高度仅500米的尼加拉瓜玛莎雅火山口的边缘。

由于安全原因，每个旅游者登山前必须到当地旅游局了解有关信息。

The Arenal Volcano in northern Costa Rica terrified local inhabitants and tourists in August 2000 when it spouted hot gas and ash.
2000年8月，哥斯达黎加北部的阿雷纳尔火山突然喷出滚烫的气体和火山灰，令当地居民
和旅客猝不及防，魂飞魄散。

Individual travelers can easily find travel information. The long distance buses that connect all the countries in the region are very comfortable with air conditioning and TV.
旅游散客也很容易获取有关旅游资料。

配有空调和电视的长途客车连接着本地区的所有国家，是非常舒适的交通工具。

And if you travel through the villages in small local rundown buses, you will swiftly come into close contact with local inhabitants and their animals. You are just as likely to have a hen thrust into your lap as a small child.
要是你搭乘的是破旧的村际小客车，你很快就可以与当地居民和动物亲密接触。

随时随地会有一只母鸡像小孩一样撞到你的怀里。

Another early Native American tribe in what is now the southwestern part of the United States was the Anasazi. By A. D. 800 the Ansazi Indians were constructing multistory pueblos—massive, stone apartment compounds.
另外一个居住在现在美国西南部的早期土著美洲部落是阿纳萨茨。

到公园后800年，阿纳萨茨的印第安人就在建造多层的pueblo--巨大石房院落。

Each one was virtually a stone town, which is why the Spanish would later call them pueblos, the Spanish word for towns. These pueblos represent one of the Anasazis’ supreme achievements. At least a dozen large stone houses took shape below the bluffs of Chaco Canyon in northwest New Mexico.
事实上每个pueblo都是一个石镇，这也是为什么后来西班牙人叫它pueblo(西班牙语“城镇”)的原因。

这些印第安人村庄代表了阿纳萨茨部落的最高成就之一。

在新墨西哥西北部查口断崖下面至少有12座巨大的石房。

They were built with masonry walls more than a meter thick and adjoining apartments to accommodate dozens, even hundreds, of families. The largest, later named Pueblo Bonito(Pretty Town) by the Spanish, rose in five terraced stories, contained more than 800 rooms, and could have housed a population of 1,000 or more.
这些房子用一米多厚的石墙砌成，房间都是相连的，这样可以容纳几十，甚至几百个家庭。

最大的一座后来被西班牙人叫作Pueblo Bonito（美丽的城镇），它有五层楼且带有走廊，有800多间房子，能够容纳1000人甚至更多。

Besides living quarter, each pueblo included one or more kivas—circular underground chambers faced with stone. They functioned as sanctuaries where the elders met to plan festivals, perform ritual dances, settle pueblo affairs, and impart tribal lore to the younger generation.
每个村庄除了生活区外还有一至两个大地穴—即环形的石壁地下室。

它们的功能是作为圣殿使用。

村里年长者在那儿碰面商量过节计划，村民在那儿表演仪式舞蹈，解决村庄事务，给下一代传授部落知识。

Some of the kivas were enormous. Of the 30 or so at Pueblo Bonito, two measured 20 meters across. They contained niches for ceremonial objects, a central fire pit, and holes in the floor for communicating with the spirits of tribal ancestors.
有些大地穴特别大。

Pueblo Bonito有大约三十个，其中两个有20米宽。

它们里面有放仪式物品的壁龛，一个中心火坑，地板上还有用来跟部落祖先的神灵交流的洞。

Each pueblo represented an astonishing amount of well-organized labor. Using only stone and wood tools, and without benefit of wheels or draft animals, the builders quarried ton upon ton of sandstone from the canyon walls, cut it into small blocks, hauled the blocks to the construction site, and fitted them together with mud mortar.
每个村庄都代表了数量惊人、组织完善的劳动。

建筑工们没有轮子和拉车的牲口，只用石制和木制工具从谷壁上挖掘成吨的砂石，把它们切成小块拖到建筑工地，用灰泥把这些砂石垒在一起。

Roof beams of pine or fir had to be carried from logging areas in the mountain forests many kilometers away. Then, to connect the pueblos and to give access to the surrounding tableland, the architects laid out a system of public roads with stone staircases for ascending cliff faces.
做顶梁用的松木和杉树必须从很多公里以外的山林中运来。

然后，为了把村庄连接起来，建造通往周围台地的道路，建筑师设计了一个公共道路系统，建造石阶来登上悬崖。

In time, the roads reached out to more than 80 satellite villages within a 60-kilometer radius.
有时候，这些道路能延伸到方圆60公里80多个周围的村庄。