The Women Pirates
Many people know of such names as Henry Morgan,EdwardBlackbeard Teach, Barbarossa, Jean Lafitte ,and William Kidd , the pirates of the seventeenthand eighteenth centuries. But few have heard of thewomen pirates Catalina de Eranzo, Mary Read, andAnne Bonney. Each of these women was a roughand rugged pirate captain.
Catalina de Eranzo was a Spanish noble woman. The only daughter of a rich ship owner, shewas a spoiled child. She learned a great deal from her brothers. Navigation was easy for her.She learned to sail any kind of vessel. Besides being a fine rider , she was also a good shotwith a pistol , and could handle a blunderbuss, a sword, or a dagger.
When her father’s second wife made her go into a convent, Catalina revolted . She clipped herhair, put on men’s clothes, and hopped over the convent wall.
Catalina made her way to the coast where she found a ship going to Brazil. She signed on asa navigator. When a mutiny broke out, she was able to take over the vessel.
After a trip of several months’piracy, the ship was wrecked on the coast of Peru. Dressed as apirate , Catalina went to see her brother Michael, who was a captain in the army. She couldn’ttell him who she was. She was afraid of what the Inquisition might do to him for hiding her.Instead, she joined her brother’s company and served under him for three years.
Later, she signed on a pirate ship as navigator. When the captain was killed, she took over andled the crew.
Catalina de Eranzo was finally captured. She and her crew were sentenced to hang. She wassaved at the last minute when it was proved she never attacked Spanish ships, but helpedwhen they were in trouble .
The days of pirates and buried treasure are gone. We remember those days as a colorfultime in history, but no one is sorry that piracy is a thing of the past.
阅读自测
Ⅰ. The following a re the explanations of the words in the passage , and try to fin d the correctwords:
1 . person on a ship who attacks and robs other ships at sea ———
2 . rebellion against lawful authority, especially by soldiers or sailors———
3 . people work on a ship, an aircraft, etc ———
4 . ( of a person) move by jumping on one foot———
5 . ship or boat, especially a large one———
Ⅱ. Question :
Do you think the days of pirates are exciting? Try to say something about it.
参考答案:
Ⅰ. 1. pirate 2. mutiny 3. crew 4. hop 5. vessel Ⅱ. (略)
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