unit-8课文翻译全文.doc

There was once a town in the heart of America where all life seemed to live in harmony with its surroundings. The town lay in the midst of a checkerboard of prosperous farms, with fields of grain and hillsides of orchards where, in spring, white clouds of bloom drifted above the green fields. In autumn, oak and maple and birch set up a blaze of colour that flamed and flickered across a backdrop of pines. Then foxes barked in the hills and deer silently crossed the fields, half hidden in the mists of the autumn mornings在美国的腹地曾有过这样一座小镇，那里所有的生灵都与周围环境和谐相处，小镇位于星罗棋布的富足的农场之中遍地是庄稼，满山腰都是果园。春天里一簇簇花朵像白云般漂浮在绿色的田野上，秋季到来时，橡树，枫树和白桦树五彩缤纷，在大片松林的衬托下如同一片火海。那时候狐狸在山中吠叫，鹿群默默地穿过田野，在秋天的晨雾中时隐时现。 Along the roads, laurel, viburnum and alder, great ferns and wild flowers, delighted the travellers eye through much of the year. Even in winter the roadsides were places of beauty, where countless birds came to feed on the berries and on the seed heads of the dried weeds rising above the snow. The countryside was, in fact, famous for the abundance and variety of its bird life, and when the flood of migrants was pouring through in spring and autumn people travelled from great distances to observe them. Others came to fish the streams, which flowed clear and cold out of the hills and contained shady pools where trout lay. So it had been from the days many years ago when the first settlers raised their houses, sank their wells and built their barns. 在路边，月桂、芙莲、桤木、大羊齿和各种野花几乎常年不绝，令行人目不暇接，即使在冬天路边也很美丽，数不清的鸟儿飞来觅食，寻找浆果和没有被积雪埋没的干旱籽穗。事实上，这里的乡村，是因为它那数量客观种类繁多的鸟类而闻名的。春天和秋季，成群的鸟儿飞来，许多人从大老远的地方赶来观赏。也有人在小溪，池塘，水塘边钓鱼。那里的水清澈加之从山上流下，又带着些许凉意。所以在很早以前，第一批住户就在这里建房，挖井，造牲畜棚。然而灾难降临了这个小镇，一切都变了。 Then a strange blight crept over the area and everything began to change. Some evil spell had settled on the community: mysterious maladies swept the flocks of chickens; the cattle and sheep sickened and died. Everywhere was a shadow of death. The farmers spoke of much illness among their families. In the town the doctors had become mor