美国各州的别名(3)
字幕：LRC 来源：Words and Their Stories 更新:January 9,2024
Words and Their Stories: State Nicknames, Part 3
Now, the VOA Special English program, WORDS AND THEIR STORIES.
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Today, we tell about more interesting nicknames of American states.
The mid-Atlantic state of Maryland is called the Free State. A Baltimore newspaper first called it that during the nineteen twenties when the manufacture and sale of alcohol were banned for a time. Maryland said it wanted to be free from this prohibition.
Mississippi is The Magnolia State. It is named for a tree with big, beautiful white flowers that grows in that hot, southern state.
The midwestern state of Missouri is called The Show Me State. The people of that frontier state were once famous for not believing everything people told them.
If you visit the western mountain and plains state of Montana you will know why it is known as Big Sky Country.
Nebraska is the only state to have a nickname that honors sports teams! The state university's athletic teams are nicknamed Cornhuskers in recognition of one of the area's chief crops. The state borrowed the Cornhusker nickname from the university.
The western desert state of Nevada is called The Silver State. It was once home to many silver mines and towns that grew up around them. Today, most of them are empty “ghost towns.”
New Hampshire, in the northeast area called New England, is The Granite State because of that colorful rock.
New Jersey is between the big cities of New York, New York and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It got its nickname, The Garden State, because New Jersey truck farms once provided vegetables to those big cities.
New York, which always thinks big, was called The Empire State because of its natural wealth. The most famous Manhattan skyscraper got its name from the state. It is, of course, the Empire State Building.
If you get a chance to see a red sunset over the Sangre de Cristo Mountains of New Mexico, you will know why that southwestern state is called The Land of Enchantment.
North and South Carolina were one colony until seventeen twenty-nine. South Carolina's nickname is the easier of the two: It is The Palmetto State because of a fan-leafed palm tree that grows there. North Carolina is the Tar Heel State. That is because many of the men who worked to gather substances from trees wore no shoes. They would make turpentine from tar and get the black, sticky tar on the heels of their feet.
Next week, we will finish telling about the colorful nicknames of American states.
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This VOA Special English program was written by Ted Landphair. I'm Barbara Klein. You can find more WORDS AND THEIR STORIES at voaspecialenglish.com.
这里是VOA慢速英语词语典故栏目。
今天我们要接着讲述更多美国各州的有趣别名。
大西洋中部马里兰州的别名是“自由之州”。20世纪20年代，这里曾一度禁止酒类的生产和销售，巴尔的摩一家报纸首先这样有意称呼该州。马里兰州知道它这是想解除该禁令。
密西西比州被叫做“木兰之州”，因为这个炎热的南部州生长有一种开着又大又漂亮的花朵的木兰树。
中西部的密苏里州的别名是“索证之州”。这个边境州的人们曾因不相信别人所说的任何事情而闻名于世。
如果你游览一下遍布高山和平原的西部之州蒙大拿，你便会明白它为什么被叫做“长空之乡”。
内布拉斯加州是唯一采用体育运动队别名的州。为了嘉奖这一地区的主要作物，这个州立大学的运动队别名叫做“剥玉米壳人”。内布拉斯州从这所大学借来了这个别名。
西部沙漠的内华达州被称为“产银之州”。这里曾经有很多银矿，而且当时在银矿周围发展了许多小镇。今天，这些大部分小镇是空空如也的“鬼城”。
东北部新英格兰地区的新罕布什尔州被叫做“花冈岩州”，这里有五颜六色的花岗岩。
新泽西州位于大都市纽约、费城和宾夕法尼亚之间。新泽西州之所以被称为“花园之州”，因是为这里的农场曾向这些大城市供应蔬菜。
人们总认为纽约很大，而且自然资源丰富，因此叫它“帝国之州”。最著名的曼哈顿摩天大楼的大名“帝国大厦”自然取自该州别名。
如果你有机会看到新墨西哥州基督圣血山脉上的嫣红落日，你会明白为什么人们称这个西南部州为“迷人之地”。
南北卡罗莱纳州在1729年之前一直是殖民地。南卡罗莱纳的别名较为简单，叫做“棕榈州”，因为这里生长着许多长着扇叶的棕榈树。而北卡罗莱纳被叫做“焦油脚根之州”，因为许多在树上采集的人从来都不穿鞋。他们用焦油制造松节油，因此他们的脚上会沾满黑色黏稠的焦油。
下周，我们对美国各州别名的讲述便将告一段落。