【词汇讲解】
1. slavery n. 奴隶身份；奴隶制度
Its people were thus reduced to slavery.
就这样它的人民都沦为奴隶了。
He struck a blow against slavery.
他反对奴隶制度。
2. rebel n. 反政府的人; 反叛者; 造反者
Few people knew exactly what the rebels planned to do.
没有人知道叛军究竟打算做什么。
3. headstone n. 墓石,基石
Even if ML's bones were not at Old Beaverdam, he was in his place with the simple granite headstone and now the ring I had returned to his family.
虽然曼梯·里的遗骸并不在这个墓地里，但他也可说是叶落归根并和这块朴素的花岗岩墓碑以及现在我交还给他家的这枚戒指安眠在一起了。
4. injustice n. 不公平; 非正义
They complained of injustice in the way they had been treated.
他们抱怨受到不公平的对待。
5. small pox 天花
6. pastime n. 消遣, 娱乐
Play-ing chess is his favourite pastime.
下棋是他最喜爱的消遣。
7. curator n. 管理者, 管理人, 图书馆馆长
8. memento n. 纪念品, 令人回忆的东西
He keeps a lock of her hair as a memento.
他保留著她的一束头发作纪念。
9. souvenir n. 纪念品
The local shopkeepers sell souvenirs to the tourists.
当地的店主向旅游者出售纪念品。
10. inauguration n. 就职典礼,开幕式
The inauguration of a president of the United State takes place on January 20.
美国总统的就职典礼于一月二十日举行。
11. critic n. 批评家, 评论家
That would put blood in the eye of his critics.
那会使得批评他的人更加恼火。
【短语和语法】
And why is the current president, Barack Obama, sometimes compared to the sixteenth president, Abraham Lincoln?
compare to 和 compare with英语在使用当中可以对于我们而言相差不大，但其实意思上区别很大。这里涉及到语言的使用习惯、感知能力
1. compare…with意为“把……与……相比”，侧重指两者间的区别。
如：Compare this car with that one, and you will find the differences between them．
把这辆汽车与那辆汽车相比较，你就会发现它们之间的区别。
2. compare…to…意为“把……比作……”，着重注意两者间的相似点。
如：
This song compares our country to a big family．这首歌把我们的国家比作一个大家庭。
3. compare既可以单独用作及物动词，也可用作不及物动词。用作不及物动词时，以compare with…形式出现，表示“与……相比”。
如：
Living here can't compare with living in Shanghai．在这儿生活不能和在上海（生活）相比。
If you compare the two words, you can tell the difference between them.
如果你比较这两个单词，你就会辨别出它们之间的不同。
4. compared with…和compared to…都可用作状语，意义基本相同，可互换。如：
Compared to/with him, you are lucky. 与他相比，你是幸运的。
It was a small town then, compared to/with what it is now. 和现在比起来，那时它还是个小镇。