英语博客：Umtanum.

 　　Yakima is a small city located an hour and a half's drive(1) from Wenatchee. It is a wide valley, famous for its grapes and apples. We were there last weekend for a baseball tournament, the first of the season(2). One interesting fact about Yakima is that its name is taken from the Yakama indians who are from this area. There are actually indian names in many areas of the state. When the baseball tournament was over and we were leaving Yakima, we drove past a barren(3), rocky few miles and crossed over a bridge. Immediately after the bridge, I saw a sign 'Umtanum Canyon¹'. The name sparked my interest(4). "Now, that must be an indian name," I thought to myself. When I got home, I looked up the name on the internet. I found quite a few pages about Umtanum, but no translation of its name. Reading about the canyon made me even more eager to find out its name, because the land is geographically² interesting, and has a wealth(5) of wildlife. Hunters would love it because there are big horn sheep, deer, and coyotes, aswell as pheasants and all kinds of rodents(6). Most of these creatures come to the creek⁴, which is a small river, to drink. The predators⁵ obviously take advantage of this being the only water source for all the animals nearby. The canyon walls are steep and rocky, which are perfect for big horn sheep who are expert climbers. The banks of the creek are grassy⁶ with wildflowers, a perfect place for ground squirrels, marmots, and rabbits. They have to watch out for the coyotes all year round, and the rattlesnakes in the summer. Infact, it's recommended that hiking parties go during the autumn, winter, and spring, and avoid the snakes in the summer. Umtanum, I would say(7), is typical of eastern Washington. There are many such large expanses of land that look seemingly(8) empty, lifeless, dry, even boring. But, when you get out of the car, and walk deeper into the countryside, you find that it is full of life.

　　1. An hour and a half's drive. When the duration of something is between one and two hours, we use an apostrophe s to show possession.

　　a. It's a two hour walk. It's a three day hike. It's a four hour swim.

　　b. The mall is an hour's drive from here. It's an hour and a quarter's wait until the next bus.

　　Note that it is used mainly with one hour or when 'half' an hour is being used.

　　2. The first of the season is easily understood. I am emphasizing this because it is a very natural sounding add-on to a sentence that will make you seem more native.

　　a. On May 2nd there is a country dance, the first of the season.

　　b. We waited to see the main ballerinas, the best of the dance troupe⁷.

　　c. The politician answered the questions, the most difficult ones he has been asked.

　　3. Barren is a word often used for being lifeless, bare, or childless. It is quite poetic⁸, and often used for bare landscapes.

　　a. The land looked like a barren wasteland.

　　4. To spark someone's interest means to get someone's attention and create curiosity. You can also spark anger.

　　a. The sudden movement of something in the dark sparked the cat's curiosity.

　　b. The conversation sparked his anger.

　　5. A wealth of wildlife. 'A wealth of' is used to describe a large quantity. It implies something positive.

　　a. On that beach, you'll find a wealth of different crabs⁹.

　　b. My grandmother and her friends are a wealth of knowledge and experience.

　　6. 'Rodent³' is the general name for mice, rats, rabbits, and other small ground creatures.

　　7. 'I would say' is a little phrase that expresses opinion. Sometimes 'you could say' is used in its place. It's rare now for people to use 'one could say' or 'one would say'.

　　a. Elizabeth, you could say, has the destiny of becoming a star.

　　b. I would say that growing wheat on that barren land is a rough, tough job.

　　8. Seemingly means to have an appearance of. It comes from the verb 'to seem' and, as you can see, it implies that perhaps reality is not what is seen.

　　a. The house was run down, lightless, and seemingly deserted¹⁰. But then, from a distance they heard music coming from the upstairs.

　　b. When I spoke¹¹ to him he didn't respond, was quiet, and seemingly uninterested.

　　Let's hear the paragraph once more.

1 canyon   

n.峡谷，溪谷

参考例句：

• The Grand Canyon in the USA is 1900 metres deep.美国的大峡谷1900米深。
• The canyon is famous for producing echoes.这个峡谷以回声而闻名。

2 geographically   

adv.地理学上，在地理上，地理方面

参考例句：

• Geographically, the UK is on the periphery of Europe. 从地理位置上讲，英国处于欧洲边缘。 来自辞典例句
• All these events, however geographically remote, urgently affected Western financial centers. 所有这些事件，无论发生在地理上如何遥远的地方，都对西方金融中心产生紧迫的影响。 来自名作英译部分

3 rodent   

n.啮齿动物；adj.啮齿目的

参考例句：

• When there is a full moon,this nocturnal rodent is careful to stay in its burrow.月圆之夜，这种夜间活动的啮齿类动物会小心地呆在地洞里不出来。
• This small rodent can scoop out a long,narrow tunnel in a very short time.这种小啮齿动物能在很短的时间里挖出一条又长又窄的地道来。

4 creek   

n.小溪，小河，小湾

参考例句：

• He sprang through the creek.他跳过小河。
• People sunbathe in the nude on the rocks above the creek.人们在露出小溪的岩石上裸体晒日光浴。

5 predators   

n.食肉动物( predator的名词复数 )；奴役他人者（尤指在财务或性关系方面）

参考例句：

• birds and their earthbound predators 鸟和地面上捕食它们的动物
• The eyes of predators are highly sensitive to the slightest movement. 捕食性动物的眼睛能感觉到最细小的动静。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 grassy   

adj.盖满草的；长满草的

参考例句：

• They sat and had their lunch on a grassy hillside.他们坐在长满草的山坡上吃午饭。
• Cattle move freely across the grassy plain.牛群自由自在地走过草原。

7 troupe   

n.剧团，戏班；杂技团；马戏团

参考例句：

• The art troupe is always on the move in frontier guards.文工团常年在边防部队流动。
• The troupe produced a new play last night.剧团昨晚上演了一部新剧。

8 poetic   

adj.富有诗意的，有诗人气质的，善于抒情的

参考例句：

• His poetic idiom is stamped with expressions describing group feeling and thought.他的诗中的措辞往往带有描写群体感情和思想的印记。
• His poetic novels have gone through three different historical stages.他的诗情小说创作经历了三个不同的历史阶段。

9 crabs   

n.蟹( crab的名词复数 )；阴虱寄生病；蟹肉v.捕蟹( crab的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• As we walked along the seashore we saw lots of tiny crabs. 我们在海岸上散步时看到很多小蟹。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The fish and crabs scavenge for decaying tissue. 鱼和蟹搜寻腐烂的组织为食。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 deserted   

adj.荒芜的，荒废的，无人的，被遗弃的

参考例句：

• The deserted village was filled with a deathly silence.这个荒废的村庄死一般的寂静。
• The enemy chieftain was opposed and deserted by his followers.敌人头目众叛亲离。

11 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。