Home to the Andes mountains, the world-famous Lake Titicaca and splendid rain forests, Bolivia is a unique country with a fascinating history and vibrant culture. Come take a closer look at Bolivia.
坐擁安地斯山脈、舉世聞名的提提喀喀湖與豐沛雨林，玻利維亞擁有豐富的歷史與活躍文化。讓我們一同來探索玻利維亞。
A closer look 說古論今
The west of Bolivia is mountainous while the eastern lowlands have stunning rain forests. The country has been settled for around 13,000 years. The area saw the rise and fall of the Tiwanakan and Incan empires.
Two American Indian groups, the Aymara and the Quechua, are still the two largest ethnic groups and make up more than half of the country's population.
The Spanish invaded the area that later became Bolivia in the 1520s as part of their conquest of the Incan empire. Spain began mining large amounts of silver from the country. The Aymara, Quechua and other Native Americans were used as labor in these efforts. Spain left important, lasting influences: most of Bolivia is Roman Catholic and Spanish is the first language of 80 percent of the population, though native
languages still thrive.
Bolivians declared independence in 1809, but the battle lasted until 1825, when the Republic of Bolivia was established. The early history of the country was rocky, seeing wars with several neighbors. Bolivia is landlocked because it lost its coastal access in a war with Chile in the 1879 War of the Pacific.
Bolivia is the second poorest country in the Western hemisphere, but it is rich in silver, iron, magnesium and natural gas. Two in three people are subsistence farmers.
The most famous festival in Bolivia is the Carnaval de Oruro, which sees dancing, costumes and musical performances. Football and foosball are common pastimes.
玻利維亞西部多山，東部低地多豐沛雨林，整個地區已開發約一萬三千年，目睹蒂瓦納庫帝國與印加帝國的興衰起落。
阿依馬拉族與克丘亞族兩支印第安部族仍是境內兩大族群，佔逾半數人口。
西班牙在一五二○年代打敗印加帝國，侵略這塊後來成為玻利維亞的土地，開採境內大批銀礦。阿依馬拉族、克丘亞族與美洲其他原住民多淪為開採勞工。西班牙留下深遠的影響︰玻利維亞多為羅馬天主教徒，有八成人口講主要語言西班牙語，但本土方言依舊盛行。
玻利維亞在一八○九年宣布獨立，但抗爭直到一八二五年才建立玻利維亞共和國，早期的歷史紛擾不斷，與鄰國戰事連連。一八七九年，玻利維亞在太平洋戰爭中對智利戰敗，喪失海岸地區，成為內陸國。
玻利維亞是西半球第二貧窮的國家，但銀、鐵、鎂礦與天然氣礦產豐富。三分之二的人口為僅能維生的農人。
玻利維亞最富盛名的節日為奧魯洛嘉年華會，舞蹈、服裝與音樂表演隨處可見。足球與手足球為常見消遣。（翻譯︰賴美君）
WHO KNEW? 你知道嗎?
A major Bolivian crop is the coca leaf. People there chew it, somewhat like betel nut is chewed in Taiwan. It is also used in rituals, medicine and other products. For example, the traditional way to ask someone to marry you is to take a coca leaf to him or her. The leaf is also used as a tea for altitude sickness.
However, since coca leaves are used to make the illegal drug cocaine, the United States (where much of that cocaine goes) pushes a "zero coca" policy.
Coca farmers do not wish to make farming the leaf illegal. They would like to see coca made a legal export so it can be used in creams and other products. The final status of coca will probably not be decided for a long time.
玻利維亞主要的農作物為古柯葉。當地人嚼食這種葉子，跟台灣人嚼的檳榔有點類似。古柯葉也應用於儀式、醫藥與其他產品。例如，傳統的求婚方式就是拿一片古柯葉給對方。古柯葉也可拿來泡茶治療懼高症。
然而，由於古柯葉能用來製造非法的古柯鹼，美國（古柯鹼主要輸入國）遂推動「零古柯」政策。
古柯葉農民不希望種植這種植物變成非法行為，而是希望可以合法出口古柯葉，將之應用於乳製品與其他產品。最後該如何定奪古柯葉的命運，可能要歷時良久。
A LOOK AT CONTEXT 思前想後猜字義
1. Mining coal is very dangerous work, because the underground shafts can collapse while digging because the air gets dirty.
To mine means ...
a. to create in a lab.
b. to dig into and take out of the ground.
c. to crush into the ground.
d. to fill a hole in the ground with something.
RSS