Jasmine English Corner: TOEFL 閱讀-路易斯安那購地(上)

托福的閱讀範圍很廣，如果沒有基本的單字與美國相關的知識背景，想拿高分，並不是一件很容易的事情，尤其考生必須在很短的時間內，掌握文章大意，這些文章絕大部分，是我們高中甚至大學都沒有讀過的冷門領域的文章。

所以今天，我們來讀一下，美國歷史中著名的路易斯安那(The Louisiana Purchase)購地的文章，會分成兩部分介紹，以免大家一次讀完頭很大，另外斜線部分是最基本一定要會的單字，我也有參考Yahoo奇摩字典的例句，整理出來供大家學習，而文章是摘錄于維基百科的內容。

更多的內容大家參考文章地下的網站連結，雖然都是英文網站，但有助於我們學習相關背景知識，有助於我們在托福閱讀中，取得高分，大家加油！

The Louisiana Purchase was the acquisition by the United States of America in 1803 of 828,000 square miles (2,140,000 km2) of France's claim to the territory of Louisiana. The U.S. paid 50 million francs ($11,250,000) plus cancellation of debts worth 18 million francs ($3,750,000), for a total sum of 15 million dollars (less than 3 cents per acre) for the Louisiana territory ($233 million in 2011 dollars, less than 42 cents per acre).

1. Acquisition (n.) =obtaining, getting, gaining 取得、獲得

He devotes his time to the acquisition of knowledge.

2. Claim (n.) =demand, require 根據權利提出的要求、宣稱、對所有物的所有權

這篇文章中的claim to 意思為對土地的所有權

What claim does he have to the property?

3. Acre (n.) 英畝

4. Territory (n.) =land, region, area, zone 領土、版圖、領地

如果文章中territory 大寫的意思是，未正式成為州的地區

They recaptured the lost territory.

所以第一段的大意指出，美國1803年向法國購買相當於2,140,000平方公里的路易斯安那領地，美國給付相當於$11,250,000美元，並抵銷法國欠美國相當於$3,750,000美元的債務，總計近額約1,500萬美元的金額。

接者我們看一下這項購買協議的歷史背景：

The city of New Orleans controlled the Mississippi River due to its location; other locations for ports were attempted, but did not succeed. New Orleans was already important for shipping agricultural goods to and from the parts of the United States west of the Appalachian Mountains. Pinckney's Treaty, signed with Spain on October 27, 1795, gave American merchants "right of deposit" in New Orleans, granting them use of the port to store goods for export. Americans used this right to transport products such as flour, tobacco, pork, bacon, lard, feathers, cider, butter, and cheese. The treaty also recognized American rights to navigate the entire Mississippi River, which had become vital to the growing trade of the western territories

1. Attempt (v.) =try, endeavor, undertake, strive 企圖做、嘗試

They attempted to finish the task before July.

2. Agricultural (adj.) 農業的

There is a great demand for agricultural machinery in this country.

3. Pinckney’s Treaty (n.) 平克尼條約，美國與西班牙簽署此條約讓美商取得存貨權，允許美商存放商品於港口。

Treaty (n.) =agreement, pact, compact, contract條約、協定

The government has signed a treaty with Washington.

4. Right of deposit (n.) 存貨權，簽屬平克尼條約後，美商可以使用密西西比河港口，存放貨物及運貨。

Deposit (n.) =lay, place, leave, store 存放、存款

You can deposit your bags at the counter.

He deposits 5,000 dollars in the bank.

5. Navigate (v.) =sail, cruise, guide 航行、飛行於、也有通過法案的意思

The large ship could not navigate the river.

在這裡的文章中，navigate 是可以在密西西比河行駛船艘運貨

此段大意是，紐奧良的密西西比河港口，因為地理位置的優勢，無法被其他港口所取代，在當時已經是美國阿巴拉契亞山脈以西的重要農業運輸渠道。美國與西班牙於1975年10月27日簽屬平克尼條約，讓美商取得存貨權，進而使用港口出口貨物，譬如麵粉、香菸、豬肉、培根、豬油、羽絨、蘋果汁、奶油與起士。此條約讓美國有權使用密西西比河，有助於擴張美國西岸的貿易。所以大家可想而知結局，美國為何想買整個路易斯安那的領土，擔心失去密西西比河的使用權利，因為這已經是重要商業運輸的渠道了。