四级考试阅读能力提高推荐文章（6）

　　American Revolution

　　The American Revolution was not a revolution in the sense of a radical or total change. It was not a sudden and violent overturning of the political and social framework, such as later occurred in France and Russia, when both were already independent nations. Significant changes were ushered in, but they were not breathtaking. What happened was accelerated evolution rather than outright revolution. During the conflict itself people went on working and praying, marrying and playing. Most of them were not seriously disturbed by the actual fighting, and many of the more isolated communities scarcely knew that a war was on. Americas War of Independence heralded the birth of three modern nations. One was Canada, which received its first large influx of English-speaking population from the thousands of loyalists who fled there from the United States. Another was Australia, which became a penal colony now that America was no longer available for prisoners and debtors. The third newcomer -- the United States -- based itself squarely on republican principles.

　　Yet even the political overturn was not so revolutionary as one might suppose. In some states, notably Connecticut and Rhode Island, the war largely ratified a colonial self-rule already existing. British officials, everywhere ousted, were replaced by a home-grown governing class, which promptly sought a local substitute for king and Parliament.

　　美国革命

　　美国革命其实并不算是一场革命，因为它并未导致完全的和彻底的变化。 这次革命并不是对政治和社会框架的一次突然和猛烈的颠覆，象后来在已经是独立国家的法国和俄国所爆发的革命那样。 革命带来了重大的变化，但并非翻天覆地，所发生的只是进化的加速，而不是一场彻底的革命;在冲突期间，人们仍然上班、做礼拜、结婚、玩耍。 多数人并没有受到实际战斗的严重影响。 许多较闭塞的社区对这场战争几乎一无所知。美国独立战争宣布了三个现代国家的诞生，其中一个是加拿大。 加拿大的第一大批讲英语的流入人口来自于成千上万英王的效忠者， 这些人从美国逃到了加拿大。 另一个国家是澳大利亚，因为美国不再是容纳罪犯和欠债者的国度了，澳大利亚就变成了一个惩治罪犯的殖民地。 第三个国家就是美国，它完全建立在共和原则基础上。即使政治上的颠覆也不如人们可能想象的那样具有革命性。 在一些州，特别是康涅狄格和罗德岛，战争基本上只是承认了已经存在的殖民地的自治。 四处被驱逐的英国官员都被本土的统治阶级所替代，这个统治阶级迅速地以地方权力机关来替代国王和议会。