The Boiling River 1 

As a boy in Lima, my grandfather told me a legend of the Spanish conquest of Peru. 

ps:小时候在利马，祖父给我讲了一个西班牙征服秘鲁的传说。

Lima利马; 狐贝属，利马，莱马

grandfather祖父; 爷爷; 外公

told讲; 讲述

legend传说; 传奇故事; 传奇人物; 图例，说明，解释

Spanish西班牙的; 西班牙语

conquest征服; 占领; 占领的地区; 被俘虏的人

Peru秘鲁; 秘鲁褐

Atahualpa, emperor of the Inca, had been captured and killed. Pizarro and his conquistadors had grown rich, and tales of their conquest and glory had reached .

ps:印加皇帝阿塔瓦尔帕被俘虏并杀害。皮萨罗和他的征服者变得富有，他们的征服和荣耀的故事已经流传开来。

emperor皇帝

captured俘虏; 俘获; 捕获; 用武力夺取; 攻取; 攻占; 夺得; 赢得; 争得; capture的过去分词和过去式

killed杀死; 弄死; 导致死亡; 毁灭; 破坏; 扼杀; 使停止; 使痛苦; 使疼痛; 使受折磨; kill的过去分词和过去式

Pizarro皮扎罗

conquistadors(16世纪侵占墨西哥和秘鲁的)西班牙征服者; conquistador的复数

grown成熟的; 成年的; 长大的; 扩大; 增加; 增强; 长大; 长高; 发育; 成长; 生长; grow的过去分词

tales故事; 历险记; 讲述，叙述; tale的复数

conquest征服; 占领; 占领的地区; 被俘虏的人

Spain and was bringing new waves of Spaniards, hungry for gold and glory. 

ps:西班牙带来了新一波的西班牙人，他们渴望黄金和荣耀。

Spain西班牙

bringing带…到某处; 带来; 取来; 提供; 供给; 导致; 引起; bring的现在分词

new waves新浪潮; 新潮流音乐(流行于20世纪70年代的一种摇滚乐); new wave的复数

Spaniards西班牙人; 西班牙裔人; Spaniard的复数

hungry for渴望

gold金; 金币; 金饰品; 黄金制品; 金色; 金黄色; 金色的

glory荣誉; 光荣; 桂冠; 赞颂，赞美，崇拜; 壮丽; 辉煌; 灿

They would go into towns and ask the Inca, "Where's another civilization we can conquer? Where's more gold?"

And the Inca, out of vengeance, told them, "Go to the Amazon. 

ps:印加人出于复仇，告诉他们，“去亚马逊

vengeance 英 [ˈvendʒəns] 美 [ˈvendʒəns] n. 报复;报仇;复仇 记忆技巧：venge 惩罚，引申为“报仇” + ance 表状态 → 报仇

You'll find all the gold you want there. 

In fact, there is a city called Paititi -- El Dorado in Spanish -- made entirely of gold."

The Spanish set off into the jungle, but the few that return come back with stories, stories of powerful shamans, of warriors with poisoned arrows, of trees so tall they blotted out the sun, spiders that ate birds, snakes that swallowed men whole and a river that boiled.

ps:西班牙人出发进入丛林，但回来的少数人带着故事回来，故事是关于强大的萨满巫师、带着毒箭的战士、高得遮住太阳的树木、吃鸟的蜘蛛、吞下人类的蛇和沸腾的河流。

set off动身; 出发; 启程; 引爆; 拉响; 引发; 触发; 激起

come back回忆起; 回想起来; 重新流行; 再度时兴

shamans萨满; shaman的复数

poisoned毒死; 毒害; 下毒; 在…中放毒; 毒化; 败坏; 使恶化; poison的过去分词和过去式

arrows箭; 箭号; 箭头; arrow的复数

blotted吸干液体; 把墨水溅到; blot的过去分词和过去式

spiders蜘蛛; spider的复数

snakes蛇; 曲折前行; 蛇行; 蜿蜒伸展; snake的第三人称单数和复数

swallowed吞下; 咽下; 做吞咽动作; 吞没; 淹没; 侵吞; swallow的过去分词和过去式

boiled沸腾; 煮沸; 烧开; 里面的水烧开; 用沸水煮; 被煮; boil的过去分词和

All this became a childhood memory. 

And years passed. 

I'm working on my PhD at SMU, trying to understand Peru's geothermal energy potential, when I remember this legend, and I began asking that question.

ps:我在SMU攻读博士学位，试图了解秘鲁的地热能潜力，当我记起这个传说时，我开始问这个问题。

working on致力于；作用于；继续工作

PhD哲学博士学位，博士学位(全写为 Doctor of Philosophy，授予完成某学科研究者的高级学位)

trying令人厌烦的; 难对付的; 试图; 想要; 设法; 努力; 试; 试用; 试做; 试验; 审理; 审讯; 审判; try的现在分词

Peru秘鲁; 秘鲁褐

geothermal energy地热能

legend传说; 传奇故事; 传奇人物; 图例，说明，解释

began开始; 启动; 起始; 开始存在; 起初是; 本来是; begin的过去式

asking问; 询问; 要求; 请求; 恳求; 征求; ask的现在分词

恳求; 征求; ask的现在分词

 Could the boiling river exist?

I asked colleagues from universities, the government, oil, gas and mining companies, and the answer was a unanimous no. 

ps:我问了大学、政府、石油、天然气和矿业公司的同事，得到的答案是一致的反对。

asked问; 询问; 要求; 请求; 恳求; 征求; ask的过去分词和过去式

colleagues同事; 同僚; 同人; colleague的复数

universities大学; 高等学府; university的复数

oil石油; 原油; 燃油; 润滑油; 食用油; 给…加润滑油

gas气体; 气体燃料; 煤气; 天然气; 麻醉气; 用毒气杀伤; 使吸入毒气; 闲聊; 空谈; 瞎扯

unanimous 英 [juˈnænɪməs] 美 [juˈnænɪməs] adj. (决定或意见)一致的，一致同意的;(团体)意见一致的，一致同意某事的 派生词： unanimously adv.

mining采矿; 采矿业; 开矿，采矿; 埋雷于; 布雷于; 用雷炸毁; mine的现在分词

companies公司; 商号; 商行; 剧团; 演出团; 陪伴; 做伴; company的复数

answer答复; 回答; 答案，正确答案; 解决办法，答案; 适合; 符合; 比得上; 相配

unanimous一致的，一致同意的; 意见一致的，一致同意某事的

no.号码; 北方; 北部

And this makes sense. 

You see, boiling rivers do exist in the world, but they're generally associated with volcanoes.

ps:你看，沸腾的河流确实存在于世界上，但它们通常与火山有关。

boiling炽热的; 很热的; 沸腾; 煮沸; 烧开; 里面的水烧开; 用沸水煮; 被煮; boil的现在分词; 一次烹煮量; <俚>一群; 全体

rivers河; 江; 涌流; river的复数

exist in存在于…中

world世界; 地球; 天下; 某地域的人类社会; 星球，天体

they他们; 她们; 它们; 用以代替he或she，指性别不详的人; 人们，人人，众人

generally普遍地; 广泛地; 一般地; 通常; 大体上; 笼统地; 概括地; 大概

associated with参加；与…有关；与…相联系

volcanoes火山; volcano的复数

 You need a powerful heat source to produce such a large geothermal manifestation. 

ps:你需要一个强大的热源来产生如此巨大的地热。

powerful有权势的; 有影响力的; 强有力的; 力量大的; 很有效的; 有强烈作用的，效力大的

heat source热源

produce生产; 制造; 生长; 出产; 繁育; 制作，造出; 产品; 农产品

such这样的，那样的，类似的; 这样的，下述一类的; 这样，非常，如此程度

large大的; 大规模的; 大量的; 大型号的; 广泛的; 众多的

geothermal 英 [ˌdʒiːəʊˈθɜːml] 美 [ˌdʒiːoʊˈθɜːrml] adj. 地热的

manifestation 英 [ˌmænɪfeˈsteɪʃn] 美 [ˌmænɪfeˈsteɪʃn] n. 显示;表明;表示;(幽灵的)显现，显灵

And as you can see from the red dots here, which are volcanoes, we don't have volcanoes in the Amazon, nor in most of Peru. So it follows: We should not expect to see a boiling river.

ps:从这里的红点上你可以看到，这里是火山，亚马逊地区和秘鲁大部分地区都没有火山。因此，它如下：我们不应该期望看到沸腾的河流。

dots点; 小点; 小圆点; 在加点; 星罗棋布于; 遍布; 布满; 点缀; dot的第三人称单数和复数

volcanoes火山; volcano的复数

Amazon亚马孙族女战士; 悍蚁

most of大多数

Peru秘鲁; 秘鲁褐

follows跟随; 跟着; 在…后发生，因…而发生; 在…后做; follow的第三人称单数

should not不应该; 不应当; 不宜

expect to期待

boiling炽热的; 很热的; 沸腾; 煮沸; 烧开; 里面的水烧开; 用沸水煮; 被煮; boil的现在

Question

1.why did he start his speech by describing  the legend of the Spanish conquest of Peru?

 to introduce the myth of the boiling river.

2.what happened when the Spanish went to the amazon?

many of them died ,only a few of them survived.

3.Why shouldn't people expect to see a boiling river in Amazon?

There are no volcanoes in the Amazon.

4.What did the Spanish expect to find in the Amazon?

a city of gold

5.If an opinion is unanimous, it is agreed upon by everyone.

6.To blot out something means to cover or hide it.

Fill in the blanks:

Pizarro and his conquistadors had grown rich, and tales of their conquest and glory had reached.Spain and was bringing new waves of Spaniards, hungry for gold and glory. 

Put the sentences into correct order：

As a boy in Lima, my grandfather told me a legend of the Spanish conquest of Peru. Atahualpa, emperor of the Inca, had been captured and killed. Pizarro and hisconquistadorshad grown rich, and tales of their conquest andgloryhad reached Spain and was bringing new waves of Spaniards, hungry for gold and glory. They would go into towns and ask the Inca, "Where's another civilization we can conquer? Where's more gold?"

Repeat and read the sentences：

1.Boiling rivers do exist in the world, but they're generally associated with volcanoes.

2.Tales of their conquest and glory had reached Spain and was bringing new waves of Spaniards, hungry for gold and glory.