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美国各州的绰号之三

今天，我们继续给你介绍更多有趣的美国各州的绰号。

马里兰州又被称为“自由州”，二十世纪二十年代，当时酒的生产和销售一度被禁止时，一份巴尔的摩报纸第一次这么叫马里兰州，马里兰州说它们想要逃避酒的禁令。

  密西西比州的绰号是“木兰州”，这一绰号得名于一种有着大朵的、漂亮的白花的木兰树，这种树生长在这个炎热的南方之州。

中西部的密苏里州又称为“索证之州”，当地原住居民因其不相信别人告诉他们的任何事情而闻名。

如果你到西部有山又有平原的蒙大纳州旅行的话，你就能知道为什么这个州被人称为是“大天空之乡”了。

内布拉斯加州是美国唯一一个以体育运动队的名称作为该州绰号的州，这个州的州立大学运动队因该州一种主要农作物玉米而给自己取了一个绰号叫“剥玉米皮的乡巴老”，于是，这个州也就向这所大学借用了这个绰号。

西部沙漠的内华达州又被称为“银州”，这里曾经是许多银矿的所在地，在银矿周围出现了许多小镇。如今，这些小镇中绝大多数已经是空无一人了。

位于东北的新罕布什尔州，又叫新英格兰，它的绰号是“花岗岩之州”，因为这里盛产色彩丰富的花岗岩。

新泽西州位于两大城市――纽约州的纽约市和宾夕法尼亚州的费城之间，它给自己取了一个叫“花园之州”的绰号，因为新泽西州的农场曾经给这两个大城市供给蔬菜。

纽约州，人们总是想到这个州很大，它被人称为“帝国之州”，这是因为它有丰富的自然宝藏，最著名的曼哈顿摩天大楼就是以这个州的绰号命名的――帝国大厦。

如果你有机会站在新墨西哥州的基督圣血山观看红红的落日的话，你就能知道新墨西哥州为什么又叫“迷人之州”了。

北卡罗莱纳州和南卡罗莱纳州在1729年前一直是一个殖民地。南卡罗莱纳州的绰号是这两个绰号中比较容易理解的一个，它叫“扇榈之州”，因为这里生长着有宽大叶子的扇榈树。而北卡罗莱纳州的绰号是“黑油脚后跟之州”，这是因为原先这里的人们光着脚从树上收集松节油，他们从松树上采松节油，脚后跟就沾上了黑黑的粘粘的松节油。

下周，我们将向你讲完有趣的美国各州绰号的系列节目。

简评：

真的很有趣，这些美国州的绰号，起的都很随意，也很风趣。这就像我们中国人给小孩取小名叫什么“狗剩”、“狗子”、“三伢子”、“喜儿”一样。

Nicknames: America's 50 States (Third of Four Parts)

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, Pennyslvania.  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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