周游世界是很多人在“幼稚时期”的梦想，说“幼稚”是因为往往不去做，还常常把它们挂在嘴边。今天的托福阅读素材是关于一个周游了全世界的牛人的采访，托福小编因为文章长度原因，只摘了其中的两个采访问题。一起开始今天的托福阅读，看看自己可以从托福以及其他角度学到什么吧！
在阅读之前，学习一下文章中的疑难词：
Fantasize vt. 幻想；想像vi. 幻想
Thorny adj. 多刺的；痛苦的；令人苦恼的
Constitute vt. 组成，构成
Pinpoint n. 针尖；精确位置vt. 查明adj. 精确的；详尽的
expedition n. 远征；探险队
chantn. 圣歌；赞美诗vt. 唱；诵扬vi. 唱歌
janitor n. 看门人；守卫
stout adj. 结实的；勇敢的
开始阅读吧
How One Man Realized His Dream of Visiting Every Country
看一个人如何实现周游全世界的梦想
Albert Podell, a former editor of Playboy magazine, did what all of us fantasize about but very few achieve: He traveled to all 196 countries on Earth.
曾经是《花花公子》编辑的艾伯特·波德尔，实现了所有人都幻想过但是不能做到的事情：周游世界，走过196个国家。
It took him 50 years. On the way he was chased by water buffalo, broke a few bones, ate weird foods, and was arrested, robbed, and almost lynched. But he lived to tell the tale in a new book, Around the World in Fifty Years: My Adventure to Every Country on Earth.
这用了他50年的时间。在路途中，他被水牛追赶，伤了骨头；吃各种奇异的食物；被逮捕；被抢劫；甚至差点被私刑。但是他活下来了，还带来了充满了路途故事的新书：《50年周游世界：我的世界冒险》。
Talking from his home in New York, he addresses the thorny issue of what constitutes a country, pinpoints the best place to eat barbecued mice, explains why smartphones are making young people less adventurous, and tells us why his favorite place is still the United States.
从他的家乡纽约开始谈起，这本书讲述了什么是一个国家的棘手问题，准确定位了哪里是吃烧烤老鼠的最好地方，解释了为什么智能手机使年轻一代不再有冒险精神，还告诉我们为什么他最爱的地方还是美国。
Frank Zappa famously said, “You can’t be a country till you have a beer and an airline.” It’s not that simple, is it?
弗兰克·扎帕说过，“没有啤酒和航空公司，就不能称之为国家。”这句话意义非凡，是吗？
Frank Zappa’s quote also added that it helps to have a nuclear weapon, but the beer is the main thing.
弗兰克·扎帕的话告诉我们，有核武器会有用，但是啤酒更加重要。
So what is a country? The 1933 Montevideo Convention on the Rights and Duties of States lists five criteria for being a country. But what it really comes down to these days is what the five superpowers agree is a country. Everybody acknowledges that all members of the UN, all 193 of them, are countries.
但是国家是什么呢？1933年蒙得维的亚关于国家责任和义务的公约列了5个国家的标准。但是沿袭到今天的是:五个超级大国是什么样子，国家就是什么。所有人都承认所有193个联合国成员，都是国家。
Kosovo is a country, but again it’s not a UN member, because it’s been blocked by Russia. Vatican City, despite its small size and population, is a recognized country. However, the Holy See has decided that it can operate better diplomatically if it maintains its observer status at the UN, rather than full membership.
科索沃是一个国家，但是因为俄罗斯的阻碍，它没有被联合国承认。尽管梵蒂冈那么小的面积，那么稀少的人口，它确是一个被承认的国家。但是，罗马教廷认为如果可以保持联合国观察员的身份而不是正式成员，自己可以在外交上更加成功。
What was the single scariest moment you had during your travels?
在你的旅途中最可怕的时刻是什么？
No question. When I came within one minute of being hung in East Pakistan. My expedition had crossed into East Pakistan several hours before the war with India started in 1965. We got to Dhaka, the capital of what was then East Pakistan—now Bangladesh—and heard there was going to be a march by the Pakistanis against the the U.S. Information Agency because we had supplied a lot of military equipment to India.
好的。那是在东巴基斯坦自己差一点被绞死的时候。那是1965年，我们的队伍刚刚走进东巴基斯坦几个小时，它和印度的战争就开始了。我们去了当时还是东巴基斯坦(现在是孟加拉国)首都的达卡，听说巴基斯坦会有抵抗美国情报机构的行军，因为美国当时向印度提供了军用武器。
I wanted to take some photographs. There was this wonderful building situated catty-corner across the street with wide balconies and a balustrade I could hide behind to take photos. So I ran across the street, up four floors, got out on the balcony, and was about to start taking pictures when I was grabbed by two soldiers. It turned out the building was the Pakistani Ministry of Defense.
我当时想拍一些照片。正好看到有很好的藏身拍照之处—一个街边建筑的大阳台和栏杆。所以我穿过街道，走到了四层阳台，我正想开始拍照的时候就被两个士兵抓住了。原来这里是巴基斯坦国防部。
They dragged me into a room where there were about 40 civil defense workers chanting, “Indian spy! Indian spy! Hang him! Hang him!” Then the janitor went out. He came back with a stout rope, threw it over a rafter, fashioned a noose, and put the noose around my neck. That looked like it was going to be the end.
他们把我关进一个房间，那里有40多个民防工作人员大喊“印度奸细!绞死他!”然后守卫出去了，回来的时候手里拿着结实的绳子，把它扔在椽上，系成索套，套住我的脖子。当时我就觉得一切都完了。
学习一下文章中的长难句：
1.Albert Podell, a former editor of Playboy magazine, did what all of us fantasize about but very few achieve: He traveled to all 196 countries on Earth.
句子类型：同位语+宾语从句
句子拆分：
主干：Albert Podell did …
同位语：a former editor of Playboy magazine
宾语从句：what all of us fantasize about but very few achieve
句子翻译：曾经是《花花公子》编辑的艾伯特·波德尔，实现了所有人都幻想过但是不能做到的事情：周游世界，走过196个国家。
2.On the way he was chased by water buffalo, broke a few bones, ate weird foods, and was arrested, robbed, and almost lynched. But he lived to tell the tale in a new book
3.Talking from his home in New York, he addresses the thorny issue of what constitutes a country, pinpoints the best place to eat barbecued mice, explains why smartphones are making young people less adventurous, and tells us why his favorite place is still the United States.
这两个句子的共同特点是都是多个动词并列，用最少的单词表达出最丰富的内容，可以在托福写作中借鉴哦！
4.However, the Holy See has decided that it can operate better diplomatically if it maintains its observer status at the UN, rather than full membership.
句子类型：宾语从句
句子拆分：
主干：the Holy See has decided…
宾语从句：that it can operate better diplomatically if it maintains its observer status at the UN, rather than full membership. 中间有一个if引导的条件状语从句，和rather than结构。
翻译：但是，罗马教廷认为如果可以保持联合国观察员的身份而不是正式成员，自己可以在外交上更加成功。
好了，以上就是我们今天的托福阅读文章。(整体来说，可能相对于学习英语本身，文章主人公能用自己的50年去完成一个梦想更让我们震撼吧！)
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