VOA慢速英语2009年-THIS IS AMERICA - National Parks: An Idea

VOICE ONE:

Welcome to THIS IS AMERICA in VOA Special English. I'm Steve Ember.

VOICE TWO:

And I'm Shirley Griffith. This week on our program, we look at the subject of a six-part series being shown on public television in the United States. The new film, directed by Ken¹ Burns, is called "The National Parks: America's Best Idea."

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VOICE ONE:
　
Yellowstone National Park

The United States established its first national park in eighteen seventy-two. Yellowstone, in the western state of Wyoming, was not only the first national park in America. It was the first in the world.

Since then, about one hundred nations have followed that example. They have established over one hundred thousand national parks and protected areas, for the enjoyment² of people today and for generations to come.

VOICE TWO:

Last year, almost two hundred seventy-five million people visited the national park system in the United States. Visitors can hike in the woods. Climb mountains. Photograph animals. Explore Civil War battlefields. Go swimming or river-rafting. Ride horses. Or just enjoy a day outdoors with the beauty of nature.

The places under the care of the National Park Service are not all refuges of peace and quiet, however. Some are historic sites in the middle of busy cities.

VOICE ONE:

The National Park Service manages a total of three hundred ninety-one "units," as it calls them. These include national parks, historical sites, monuments, buildings and battlefields. They also include recreation areas, seashores, rivers, trails and parkways. Almost thirty-four million hectares of land in all.

Rules differ from place to place. For example, activities like hunting are not permitted in national parks. But they may be permitted in areas established as national preserves, recreation areas, seashores or lakeshores.

VOICE TWO:

The National Park Service was created in nineteen sixteen. President Woodrow Wilson signed an act making it part of the Interior Department.

The act said the purpose was to "conserve³ the scenery and the natural and historic objects and the wild life therein and to provide for the enjoyment of the same in such manner and by such means as will leave them unimpaired for the enjoyment of future generations."

Congress has the power to establish national parks and other protected areas. But a law called the Antiquities⁴ Act gives presidents the power to declare national monuments.

VOICE ONE:
　
Theodore Roosevelt

An early champion of the national parks was Theodore Roosevelt. He was president at the start of the twentieth century. He was also a distant relation of Franklin Roosevelt, who became president later.

Teddy Roosevelt was a hunter and outdoorsman. As president he signed legislation that established five national parks. And in nineteen hundred and six he signed the Antiquities Act.

It gave presidents the power to declare federally owned landmarks⁵, structures and "other objects of historic or scientific interest" as national monuments. Teddy Roosevelt himself declared eighteen national monuments. Many of the monuments declared by presidents have been named national parks or given other titles by Congress.

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VOICE TWO:

The National Park Service has two main jobs. One is to protect the national parks. The other is to help visitors enjoy them. Sometimes these two jobs may seem to conflict. For example, large numbers of visitors can mean large numbers of vehicles that cause pollution and road damage.

Spokesman Jeffrey Olson says the Park Service is taking steps to reduce environmental damage. He points out that some parks operate bus systems so visitors do not drive through protected areas.

This also results in a better visitor experience, he says. People do not have to worry about their vehicles. And those who would have been driving can look at the scenery instead of the road.

VOICE ONE:

But the Park Service does not have control over everything. Jeffrey Olson says climate change is changing the landscape. For example, he says glaciers⁷ are melting in Alaska as a result of higher temperatures. And animals that normally live in some national parks have had to search elsewhere for food.
　
Joshua Tree National Park

Plants, too, are affected⁸. Some areas of Joshua Tree National Park in California, for example, can no longer support the trees that the park is named for.

Jeffrey Olson says experts do not know what will take the place of the plants and animals that are lost, or how wildlife will survive in a changed environment.

VOICE TWO:

For the Park Service, another problem has been money. But Congress has put more into the budget of the national park system in the past three years. That has made it possible for the Park Service to hire three thousand seasonal⁹ workers. And Jeffrey Olson says federal stimulus¹⁰ money this year has made it possible to fix roads and complete maintenance projects.

Money also comes from the National Park Foundation. Congress established the foundation in nineteen sixty-seven to raise private support for the park system.

VOICE ONE:

Some national parks charge visitors a small entrance fee, from five dollars to twenty-five dollars a car. Each entrance fee is good for seven days. Eighty percent of the money stays with the park. Twenty percent is put into a shared fund for use throughout the park system.
　
Mount Rainier National Park

The first park to charge a visitor fee was Mount Rainier in the northwestern state of Washington in nineteen hundred and eight. It was also the first park where visitors could enter with their cars.

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VOICE TWO:

Today the United States has fifty-eight national parks.

Celebrating its one hundredth anniversary this year is Zion National Park, in the western state of Utah. It was established as Mukuntuweap National Monument by President William Taft.

Zion National Park has desert canyons¹² and huge freestanding arches of red, pink and white rock. It also has a river, forests and other environments.

Zion is the eighth most visited national park. Almost three million people visited the park last year. Buses take visitors to areas where they can go on paths into the wilderness¹⁴.

VOICE ONE:

One easy hike takes visitors two kilometers to a clear pool of water and waterfalls. A more difficult hike is eight kilometers long and not for those afraid of heights. It ends at the top of a rock high above Zion Canyon¹¹.

One of the largest mountains in the park is called the Sentinel. Three mountains standing¹³ next to each other are called the Three Patriarchs -- Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. A visiting Christian¹⁵ minister gave the mountains these biblical names in nineteen sixteen.

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VOICE TWO:
　
Great Smoky Mountains National Park

The Great Smoky Mountains National Park is celebrating its seventy-fifth anniversary this year. The park is located in areas of two southeastern states, Tennessee and North Carolina. The Great Smoky Mountains National Park is America's most visited national park. More than nine million people went there last year.

The Great Smoky Mountains are part of the Blue Ridge¹⁶ and southern Appalachian mountains. A blue-gray haze¹⁷ from natural and now manmade sources hangs over them like smoke.

The park has more than one thousand kilometers of trails. Visitors can camp, fish, ride bicycles or drive through the park. There are more than one thousand six hundred kinds of flowering plants. The Park Service says the park has more kinds of flowering plants than any other national park in North America.

It also has animals including deer, elk¹⁸ and more than one thousand five hundred bears.

VOICE ONE:

The Great Smoky Mountains National Park was created by local citizens who wanted to protect the area. But they needed money to buy the land from farmers and other owners. The money came from the legislatures of Tennessee and North Carolina. It also came from individuals and groups including the Laura Spellman Rockefeller Foundation.

In nineteen thirty-four, Tennessee and North Carolina gave the federal government more than three hundred thousand hectares of land for the park.

The official dedication¹⁹ did not take place until nineteen forty, when President Franklin Roosevelt spoke⁶ at a ceremony in the park. The ceremony took place at the Rockefeller Monument, on the borderline between the two states that provided the land.

Earlier this month, officials rededicated the park at a ceremony held on that same spot. One of the guests was Dolly Parton. The country singer grew up in the Great Smoky Mountains, and wrote a fund-raising CD for the seventy-fifth anniversary. We leave you with Dolly Parton and a song called "My Mountains, My Home."

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VOICE TWO:

Our program was written by Nancy Steinbach and produced by Caty Weaver²⁰. I'm Shirley Griffith.

VOICE ONE:

And I'm Steve Ember. For links to national park Web sites, and for transcripts²¹ and podcasts of our programs, go to voaspecialenglish.com. Join us again next week for THIS IS AMERICA.

1 ken   

n.视野，知识领域

参考例句：

• Such things are beyond my ken.我可不懂这些事。
• Abstract words are beyond the ken of children.抽象的言辞超出小孩所理解的范围.

2 enjoyment   

n.乐趣；享有；享用

参考例句：

• Your company adds to the enjoyment of our visit. 有您的陪同，我们这次访问更加愉快了。
• After each joke the old man cackled his enjoyment.每逢讲完一个笑话，这老人就呵呵笑着表示他的高兴。

3 conserve   

vt.保存，保护，节约，节省，守恒，不灭

参考例句：

• He writes on both sides of the sheet to conserve paper.他在纸张的两面都写字以节省用纸。
• Conserve your energy,you'll need it!保存你的精力，你会用得着的！

4 antiquities   

n.古老( antiquity的名词复数 )；古迹；古人们；古代的风俗习惯

参考例句：

• There is rest and healing in the contemplation of antiquities. 欣赏古物有休息和疗养之功。 来自辞典例句
• Bertha developed a fine enthusiasm for the antiquities of London. 伯沙对伦敦的古迹产生了很大的热情。 来自辞典例句

5 landmarks   

n.陆标( landmark的名词复数 )；目标；（标志重要阶段的）里程碑 ~ (in sth)；有历史意义的建筑物（或遗址）

参考例句：

• The book stands out as one of the notable landmarks in the progress of modern science. 这部著作是现代科学发展史上著名的里程碑之一。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• The baby was one of the big landmarks in our relationship. 孩子的出世是我们俩关系中的一个重要转折点。 来自辞典例句

6 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。

7 glaciers   

冰河，冰川( glacier的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Glaciers gouged out valleys from the hills. 冰川把丘陵地带冲出一条条山谷。
• It has ice and snow glaciers, rainforests and beautiful mountains. 既有冰川，又有雨林和秀丽的山峰。 来自英语晨读30分（高一）

8 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

9 seasonal   

adj.季节的，季节性的

参考例句：

• The town relies on the seasonal tourist industry for jobs.这个城镇依靠季节性旅游业提供就业机会。
• The hors d'oeuvre is seasonal vegetables.餐前小吃是应时蔬菜。

10 stimulus   

n.刺激，刺激物，促进因素，引起兴奋的事物

参考例句：

• Regard each failure as a stimulus to further efforts.把每次失利看成对进一步努力的激励。
• Light is a stimulus to growth in plants.光是促进植物生长的一个因素。

11 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。

12 canyons   

n.峡谷( canyon的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• This mountain range has many high peaks and deep canyons. 这条山脉有许多高峰和深谷。 来自辞典例句
• Do you use canyons or do we preserve them all? 是使用峡谷呢还是全封闭保存？ 来自互联网

13 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

14 wilderness   

n.杳无人烟的一片陆地、水等，荒漠

参考例句：

• She drove the herd of cattle through the wilderness.她赶着牛群穿过荒野。
• Education in the wilderness is not a matter of monetary means.荒凉地区的教育不是钱财问题。

15 Christian   

adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒

参考例句：

• They always addressed each other by their Christian name.他们总是以教名互相称呼。
• His mother is a sincere Christian.他母亲是个虔诚的基督教徒。

16 ridge   

n.山脊；鼻梁；分水岭

参考例句：

• We clambered up the hillside to the ridge above.我们沿着山坡费力地爬上了山脊。
• The infantry were advancing to attack the ridge.步兵部队正在向前挺进攻打山脊。

17 haze   

n.霾，烟雾；懵懂，迷糊；vi.(over)变模糊

参考例句：

• I couldn't see her through the haze of smoke.在烟雾弥漫中，我看不见她。
• He often lives in a haze of whisky.他常常是在威士忌的懵懂醉意中度过的。

18 elk   

n.麋鹿

参考例句：

• I was close enough to the elk to hear its labored breathing.我离那头麋鹿非常近，能听见它吃力的呼吸声。
• The refuge contains the largest wintering population of elk in the world.这座庇护所有着世界上数量最大的冬季麋鹿群。

19 dedication   

n.奉献，献身，致力，题献，献辞

参考例句：

• We admire her courage,compassion and dedication.我们钦佩她的勇气、爱心和奉献精神。
• Her dedication to her work was admirable.她对工作的奉献精神可钦可佩。

20 weaver   

n.织布工；编织者

参考例句：

• She was a fast weaver and the cloth was very good.她织布织得很快，而且布的质量很好。
• The eager weaver did not notice my confusion.热心的纺织工人没有注意到我的狼狈相。

21 transcripts   

n.抄本（ transcript的名词复数 ）；转写本；文字本；副本

参考例句：

• Like mRNA, both tRNA and rRNA are transcripts of chromosomal DNA. tRNA及rRNA同mRNA一样，都是染色体DNA的转录产物。 来自辞典例句
• You can't take the transfer students'exam without your transcripts. 没有成绩证明书，你就不能参加转学考试。 来自辞典例句