美加边境毫无逻辑（但这是故意的）：英语精读讲义

Canada and the United States share the longest, straightest, possibly boringest border in the world. 用詞

加拿大和美国有着世界上最长、最直，可能也是最无聊的边境线。

But look closer and there's plenty of bizarreness to be found.

但仔细观察，你会发现这里有许多奇特之处。

While these sister nations get along fairly well, 講解

虽然这两个兄弟国家相处得相当融洽，

they both want to make it really clear whose side of the continent is whose.

但它们都想清楚地标明，这片大陆的哪一边是谁的。

And they've done this by carving a 20 ft wide space along the border,

为此，它们沿着边界开辟出一条20英尺宽的空地，

all 5 and 1/2 thousand mi of it.

绵延整整5500英里。

With the exception of the rare New England town that predates national borders 短語搭配

除了少数早于国界线建立的新英格兰小镇，

or the odd airport that needed expanding,

或是偶尔需要扩建的机场之外，

this space is the no touching zone between the countries.

这个空间就是两国之间的“互不接触区”。

And they're super serious about keeping it clear.

它们非常认真地保持这片区域的畅通。

It matters not if the no touching zone runs through hundreds of miles of virtually uninhabited Alaskan Yukon wilderness, 語法

无论这个“互不接触区”是否穿过数百英里几乎无人居住的阿拉斯加育空荒野，

those border trees will not stand.

边界上的这些树都不能留。

Which might make you think this must be the longest, straightest, deforested place in the world.

这可能会让你觉得，这一定也是世界上最长、最直的砍伐区。

But it isn't.

但其实不然。

Deforested, yes, 表達脈絡

砍伐区是真的，

but straight, not at all.

但最直，一点也不。

Sure, it looks straight on a map

当然，它在地图上看起来很直，

and the treaties establishing the line say it's straight.

而且确立这条边界线的条约也说它是直的。

But in the real world,

但在现实世界中，

the official border is 900 lines that zigzag from the horizontal by as much as several hundred feet. 短語搭配

官方的边界线是由900条呈锯齿状偏离水平线多达数百英尺的线组成的。

How did this happen?

怎么会变成这样？

Well, imagine you're back in North America in the 1800s. 表達脈絡

那么，想象你回到了19世纪的北美。

The 49th parallel, one of those horizontal lines you see on a globe, 文化背景

北纬49度线，就是你在地球仪上看到的那些水平线之一，

has just been set as the national boundary.

刚刚被设定为国界。

And it's your job to make it real.

你的工作就是让它在现实中落地。

You are handed a compass and a ball of string

给你一个指南针和一团细线，

and told to carefully mark off the next two thirds of a continent. 短語動詞

让你小心翼翼地把这片大陆剩下的三分之二标出来。

Don't mind that uncharted wilderness in your way,

别管前方那些未知的荒野，

just keep the line straight.

只要保持直线就行。

Yeah, good luck with that. 語氣意圖

是的，祝你好运。

The men who surveyed the land did the best they could 短語搭配

当时勘测土地的人们尽力了，

and built over 900 monuments.

并建了900多个界碑。

They're in about as straight a line as you could expect a pre-GPS civilization to make, 語法

它们已经排成了GPS出现之前的文明所能排出的最直的线了，

but it's not the kind of spherical planar intersection that would bring a mathematician joy.

但这绝不是那种会让数学家感到欣慰的球面平面相交线。

Nonetheless, these monuments define the border

尽管如此，这些界碑定义了边界，

and the no touching zone plays connect the dots with them. 習語

而“互不接触区”就像是在玩连线游戏。

Oh, and while there are about 900 markers along this section of the border,

哦，顺便说一句，虽然边界的这一段大约有900个界标，

there are about 8,000 in total that define the shape of the nations.

但定义这两个国家轮廓的界标总共有大约8000个。

Despite this massive project,

尽管工程如此浩大，

Canada and the United States still have disputed territory.

加拿大和美国仍然存在领土争议。

There's a series of islands in the Atlantic

大西洋上有个群岛，

that the United States claims are part of Maine

美国声称它是缅因州的一部分，

and Canada claims are part of New Brunswick.

而加拿大则声称它是新不伦瑞克省的一部分。

Canada, assuming the islands are hers, 語法

加拿大理所当然地认为这些岛屿是自己的，

built a lighthouse on one of them.

在其中一个岛上建了一座灯塔。

And the United States, assuming the islands are hers,

而美国也理所当然地认为这些岛屿是自己的，

pretends the lighthouse doesn't exist.

就假装那座灯塔不存在。

It's not a huge problem

这不是什么大问题，

as the argument is mostly over tourists who want to see puffins 用詞

因为争议主要集中在想看海鹦的游客

and fishermen who want to catch lobsters,

和想抓龙虾的渔民身上，

but let's hope the disagreement gets resolved before someone finds oil under that lighthouse. 表達脈絡

但愿这个分歧能在有人在那座灯塔下发现石油之前得到解决。

Even the non-disputed territory has a few notably weird spots,

即使是无争议地区也有一些特别奇怪的地方，

such as this tick of the border upward into Canada.

比如边界线向上凸进加拿大这一小块。

Zoom in and it gets stranger as the border isn't over solid land,

放大来看，你会发现更奇怪的是，边界不在坚固的陆地上，

but runs through a lake to cut off a bit of Canada before diving back down to the US. 短語動詞

而是穿过一个湖，切下了加拿大的一角，然后再回到美国。

This spot is home to about 100 Americans

这个地方住着大约100名美国人，

and is a perfect example of how border irregularities are born. 表達脈絡

它完美地展示了边界不规则现象是如何产生的。

Back in 1783,

回到1783年，

when the victorious Americans were negotiating with the British who controlled what would one day be Canada, 語法

当时胜利的美国人正在与控制着后来成为加拿大的英国人进行谈判，

they needed a map.

他们需要一张地图。

And this map was the best available at the time.

而这张地图是当时能找到的最好的。

While the east coast looks pretty good,

虽然东海岸看起来相当不错，

the wester it goes, 語法

但越往西，

the sparser it gets.

细节就越稀疏。

Under negotiation was the edge of what would one day be Minnesota and Manitoba. 語法

正在谈判的是未来明尼苏达州和马尼托巴省的边界。

But unfortunately,

但不幸的是，

that area was hidden underneath an inset on the map.

那个区域被隐藏在地图的插图中。

So the Americans and the British were bordering blind. 習語

所以美国人和英国人是在盲目地划定边界。

Seriously.

说真的。

They guessed the border should start from the northwestern part of this lake

他们猜测边界应该从这个湖的西北部开始，

and go in a horizontal line until it crossed the Mississippi somewhere.

呈水平线一直延伸，直到它在某处穿过密西西比河。

But somewhere turned out to be nowhere 表達脈絡

但这个“某处”变成了“无处”，

as the mighty Mississippi stops short of that line, 短語搭配

因为浩瀚的密西西比河根本没有延伸到那条线，

which left the border vague until 35 years later

这使得边界线变得模糊不清，直到35年后，

when a second round of negotiations established the aforementioned 49th parallel.

第二轮谈判才确定了前面提到的北纬49度线。

But there was still a problem

但仍然存在一个问题，

as the lake mentioned earlier was both higher and less circular than first thought, 語法

因为前面提到的那个湖比最初想象的要高，也更不圆，

putting its northwesterly point here.

它的最西北点在这里。

So the existing border had to jump up to meet it 習語

所以现有的边界线必须向上跳跃与它相遇，

and then drop straight down to the 49th,

然后直线下跌到北纬49度线，

awkwardly cutting off a bit of Canada

尴尬地切下了加拿大的一角，

before heading west to the remainder of the continent.

然后向西延伸至大陆的剩余部分。

And it turns out you can't just draw a straight-ish line for hundreds of miles

事实证明，你不能只是在几百英里的范围内画一条近似直线的线，

without causing a few more problems,

而不引发更多问题，

one of which was luckily spotted in advance.

其中一个问题幸运地被提前发现了。

Vancouver Island,

温哥华岛，

which the 49th would have sliced through, 語法

北纬49度线本来会穿过它，

but both sides agreed that would be dumb.

但双方一致认为这很蠢。

So the border swoops around the island.

所以边界线绕过了这个岛。

However,

然而，

next door to Vancouver Island is Point Roberts, 習語

在温哥华岛旁边就是罗伯茨角，

which went unnoticed and thus today the border blithely cuts across. 講解

它被忽视了，因此如今边界线漫不经心地从它中间切过。

It's a nice little town,

这是一个不错的小镇，

home to over a thousand Americans,

住着一千多名美国人，

but has only a primary school.

但只有一所小学。

So its older kids have to cross international borders four times a day

所以这里的大孩子每天必须跨越四次国际边界，

to go to school in their own state.

才能在自己国家的州上学。

In a pleasing symmetry, 表達脈絡

令人欣慰的是，东西海岸完美对称，

the east coast has the exact opposite situation

东海岸有着完全相反的情况，

with a Canadian island whose only land route is a bridge from the United States.

有一个加拿大岛屿，其唯一的陆地路线是一座连接美国的桥梁。

And these two aren't the only places where each country contains a bit of the other.

这两个地方并不是唯一一个国家包含另一个国家一部分的地方。

There are several more easily spotted in satellite photos by the no touching zone.

在卫星照片上，通过“互不接触区”很容易发现还有好几个。

Regardless of if the land in question is just an uninhabited strip in the middle of a lake 短語搭配

无论相关土地是不是仅仅是偏远地区湖心的一条无人居住的地带，

in the middle of nowhere, 習語

在人迹罕至的地方，

the border between these sister nations must remain clearly marked. 表達脈絡

这两个兄弟国家之间的边界都必须保持清晰的标记。