学位英语

The Cherokee Nation

Long before the white man came to the America, the land belonged to the American Indian nations. The nation of the Cherokees lived in What is now the southeastern part of the United States.

After the white man came, the Cherokees copied many of their ways. One Cherokee named Sequoyah saw how important reading and writing was to the white man. He decided to invent a way to write down the spoken Cherokee language. He began by making word pictures. For each word he drew a picture. But that proved impossible-there were just too many words. Then he took the 85 sounds that made up the language. Using this own imagination and an English spelling book, Sequoyah invented a sign for each sound. His alphabet proved amazingly easy to learn. Before long, many Cherokees knew how to read and write in their own language. By 1828, they were even printing their own newspaper.

In 1830, the U.S. Congress passed a law. It allowed the government to remove Indians from their lands. The Cherokees refused to go. They had lived on their lands for centuries. It belonged to them. Why should they go to a strange land far beyond the Mississippi River?

The army was sent to drive the Cherokees out. Soldiers surrounded their villages and marched them at gunpoint into the western territory. The sick, the old and the small children went in carts, along with their belongings. The rest of the people marched on foot or rode on horseback. It was November, yet many of them still wore their summer clothes. Cold and hungry, the Cherokees were quickly exhausted by the hardships of the journey. Many dropped dead and were buried by the roadside. When the last group arrived in their new home in March 1839, more than 4,000 had died. It was indeed a march of death.

词汇：

belong 属于；归类于 territory 领土；版图；领域；范围

amazingly 令人惊讶地，十分，非常 belongings 所有物，财产，财物

march 迫使……行进；走过，通过

注释：

1.The Cherokee Nation：（北美印第安人的）彻罗基部落

2.long befor：在……很久以前；在……以前已有很长时间。例如：Our ancestors had been living on this island long before the colonists came.在殖民者到来前我们的祖先已在这个岛上生活了很长时间。注意：before long的意识是“不久以后”，例如：The work will be finished before long.这项工作不久就会完成。

3.…that made up the language：构成那种语言的。make up这里表示“组成，构成”，类似的例子还有：Teams from Europe and South American make up the majority of all the participating teams in the Worl-Cup Final.来自欧洲和南美洲的球队占世界杯决赛全部 参赛队的大多数。

4.the U.S.Congress：美国国会，由参议院（Senate）和众议院（the House of Representative）构成。

5.the Mississippi River：密西西比河（美国）

6.at gunpoint：在枪口的威胁下

7.the sick，the old：病人和老人。英语中，定冠词the后跟一个形容词，表示该形容词所描述的一类人，整个词组可作主语或宾语。又如：the dead（死者），the young（年轻人），the rich（富人），the poor（穷人）等。

8.Cold and hungry，the Cherokees were quickly exhausted by the hardships of the journey：寒冷、继而，彻罗基人很快便被艰苦的行程折磨得精疲力竭。这里的cold and hungry是形容词词组，放在主句前面，充当状语。像这样的前置形容词词组往往可表示伴随状况、因果关系等。例如：Tired and thirsty，he arrived at the campsite at last.他又累又渴，终于抵达营地。Somewhat embarrassed，Mr.Jackson left the room in silence.杰克逊先生感觉有些难堪，悄悄地离开了房间。

练习：

1. The Cherokee Nation used to live

A) on the American continent.

B) in the southeastern part of the US.

C) beyond the Mississippi River.

D) in the western territory.

2. One of the ways that Sequoyah copied from the white man is the way of

A) writing down the spoken language.

B) Making word pictures.

C) Teaching his people reading.

D) Printing their own newspaper.

3. A law was passed in 1830 to

A) allow the Cherokees to stay where they were.

B) Send the army to help the Cherokees.

C) Force the Cherokees to move westward.

D) Forbid the Cherokees to read their newspaper.

4. When the Cherokees began to leave their lands.

A) they went in carts.

B) They went on horseback.

C) They marched on foot.

D) All of the above.

5. Many Cherokees died on their way to their new home mainly because

A) they were not willing to go there.

B) The government did not provide transportation

C) They did not have enough food and clothes.

D) The journey was long and boring.

答案与题解：

1.B 答案可在第一段最后一句中找到。The nation of the Cherokees lived in whatis now the southeastern part of the United States.选项A的范围太广，选项C和D指的是他们后来迁移至的地方。

2.A 课文第二段讲述的是Sequoyah从白人那里学到的是将口头语言写下来的方法，即运用字母符号记录发音。选项B是用图形表示单词，选项C是教会人们如何阅读，选项D是如何印刷报纸的方法，这些都不 准确。因此选项A是正确答案。

3.C 本题询问1930年通过的法律是什么内容，选项A说让彻罗基人留在他们原来的地方，这显然是不对的；选项B说派军队去帮助彻罗基人，这与第四段中的“marched them at gunpoint”（用枪口威逼他们迁移）相矛盾，选项D说禁止彻罗基人阅读报纸，这在课文中没有提到。只有选项C“逼迫彻罗基人向西迁移”最符合文章内容。

4.D 本题问彻罗基人是如何向西迁移的。文章第四段提到了有关内容，病人、老人、小孩坐马车，其余人步行，有些骑马。因此选项（all of the above）最全面。

5.C 众多彻罗基人在往西迁移中丧生，其原因可在第四段中找到。选项A说是因为他们不愿离开家乡，尽管这是事实，但这不是许多人死亡的主要原因。选项B说是因为政府没有提供交通工具，这在课文中没有提及。选项D说的是因为路途遥远，而且令人乏味，但这似乎也非主要原因。因此选项C说他们没有足够的食物和衣服，比较接近原文的意思，是正确的答案。

译文：彻罗基部落

在白人到来之前的很长一段时间里，美洲这片土地是属于美洲印第安部落的。彻罗基部落就 生活在现在美国的东南部地区。

白人到来后，彻罗基人学习了他们的很多方法。一个叫赛史伊荷的彻罗基人看到了读书、写 字对白人的重要性。他决心创造一种方法来书写口头的彻罗基语言。他开始是制作单词图形，他 为每一个单词都画了图。但事实证明那是行不通的——单词太多了！接着他记下构成这门语言的 85种声音。根据自己的想象和英语拼读书籍，他为每一个声音创造了一个符号。他的字母表是极 其容易学的。不久彻罗基人知道了怎样用他们自己的语言去读、去写。到1828年的时候，他们已 经在印刷他们自己的报纸了。

1830年，美国议会通过了一条法令，它允许政府把印第安人从他们现在的土地上迁走。但彻 罗基人拒绝离开，他们已经在这里生活了几个世纪，这片土地是属于他们的，为什么他们要到一 个远离密西西比河的陌生地方去？

军队被派来驱赶彻罗基人了，士兵包围了他们的村庄，在枪口的威胁下，他们被押往西部地 区。病人、老人和孩子坐在运送物品的大车上，剩下的人则步行或骑马。当时正值11月份，可他 们中的好多人还穿着夏天的衣服。寒冷、饥饿，彻罗基人很快便被艰苦的行程折磨得精疲力竭， 好多人倒地而死被掩埋在路旁。当1839年3月最后一批人被赶到他们的新家时，已经死了 4000 多人。这实在是一次死亡之旅。

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