VOA慢速英语--Yosemite: A Park of Extremes

Yosemite: A Park of Extremes

Today, we visit one of the most famous national parks in America. You can find it high in the Sierra Nevada Mountains of the western state of California. It is one of the most stunning¹ places in the country. Its name is Yosemite.

Yosemite National Park is a place of extremes. It has high mountains. It has valleys formed by ancient ice that cut deep into the Earth millions of years ago. Water from high in the mountains falls in many places to the green valley far below. There are thirteen waterfalls in Yosemite Valley. One of these waterfalls, Yosemite Falls, is the fifth highest on Earth.

Up in the mountains are clear lakes, fast-moving rivers, and huge rock formations² . One rock is called Half Dome³. It rises more than 2,700 meters into the air.

More than 60 kinds of animals live in the park. Deer are very common. You might even see a large black bear. More than 200 kinds of birds live in Yosemite.

In a place called the Mariposa Grove⁴, visitors can see some of the largest, tallest and oldest living things on Earth.

These are the giant Sequoia⁵ Trees. One of these trees is called Grizzly⁶ Giant. It is more than 1,800 years old. It is almost 63 meters tall. At its base, it is 28 meters around. The old trees can make visitors feel quite small.

The Creation⁷ of Yosemite

The story of the Sierra Nevada Mountains and the area that is Yosemite National Park begins about 500 million years ago, when the area was at the bottom of an ancient sea.?

Scientists believe strong earthquakes forced the bottom of the sea to rise above the water. After millions of years, it was pushed up into the air to form land and mountains. At the same time, hot liquid rock from deep in the Earth pushed to the surface. This liquid rock slowly cooled. This cooling liquid formed a very hard rock known as granite⁸.

Years and years of rain caused huge rivers to move violently through this area. Over time, these rivers cut deep into the new mountains. During the great Ice Age, millions of tons of ice cut and shaped the cooled granite to form giant rocks.

Millions of years later these would become the giant rocks like Half Dome and El Capitan in Yosemite National Park.

Humans have lived in the area of Yosemite for more than 4,000 years. The first people who lived there were hunters. Most were members of a tribe⁹ of Native Americans called the Miwok.

A famous hunter and explorer named Joseph Walker passed through the area in the 1830s. He reported about the massive¹⁰ rock formations.

In 1864, a United States senator¹¹ called for legislation¹² to give the Yosemite Valley to the state of California as a public park. The legislation said the valley should be preserved and protected. President Abraham Lincoln signed the bill.

This event marked the first time that a government had approved a law to preserve and protect land because of its great beauty. The land was to be kept for the public to enjoy. Yosemite became the first state park. It was the first real park in the world. Then, in 1890, it became a national park.

The National Park Service is responsible for the park today.

Visiting Yosemite

Yosemite is about 320 kilometers east of San Francisco. The roads leading to the park pass over lower parts of the huge mountains. Then the road goes lower and lower into the Yosemite Valley.

Visitors to Yosemite Park can say in several kinds of places in Yosemite Park. Beautiful old hotels are near the park. Some are very costly¹³. Many people bring tents and camp in the park. It costs only a few dollars a day to place a tent in the approved areas.

Visitors can walk through the beautiful valley and the mountains. There are more than 1,100 kilometers of walking paths. Some short trails take only a few minutes to walk. Others can take days to complete.

Rock climbing adventures

People come from all over the world to climb the rock formations at Yosemite. The most famous of these is called El Capitan. Climbers call it "El Cap" for short. Climbing El Cap is only for rock climbing experts. It is difficult and dangerous.

The climb is straight up the face of a rock wall. People say it can take about three days to climb to the top of El Cap. Climbers must look for cracks in the rock. They place their hands and feet in the cracks and then work their way up. They also use ropes and special equipment.

From the bottom of the valley to the top of El Cap is about 1,100 meters. The climbers on El Cap must rest and sleep during the climb. They hang cloth beds, or hammocks, on the rocks.

In 2015, two American rock climbers made history by becoming the first people to "free climb" El Cap's Dawn Wall. It is considered one of the hardest climbs in the world. Free climbing means climbing with little special equipment and ropes. It took them 19 days to climb all the way to the top.

One of America's most popular parks

In summer, Yosemite Park is filled with visitors. Large buses bring people from San Francisco to spend the day. Other visitors come by car. Some even come by bicycle.

About 4 million people visit the park every year.

In the winter, heavy snow falls in the Sierra Nevada Mountains and Yosemite. The snow usually begins in November. Heavy snow forces some of the roads into Yosemite to close during the winter months. The National Park Service works¹⁴ hard to keep most of the roads open.

Winter visitors enjoy a special beauty at Yosemite. Many come to spend their time skiing at Badger¹⁵ Pass. It has a ski school for those who want to learn the sport.

Some of the highest mountain peaks keep their snow until the last hot days of summer.

But, whenever visitors come to Yosemite, they experience great natural beauty in one of America’s first parks.

Words in This Story

stunning - adj. very beautiful or pleasing

granite - n. a very hard type of rock

massive - adj. very large and heavy

trail - n. a path through a forest or up a mountain

1 stunning   

adj.极好的；使人晕倒的

参考例句：

• His plays are distinguished only by their stunning mediocrity.他的戏剧与众不同之处就是平凡得出奇。
• The finished effect was absolutely stunning.完工后的效果非常美。

2 formations   

n.形成( formation的名词复数 )；构成；形成物；编队

参考例句：

• Clouds are formations of condensed water vapour. 云是由凝聚的水蒸气构成的。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• New word formations have not regularity. 新词的构成没有规律。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 dome   

n.圆屋顶，拱顶

参考例句：

• The dome was supported by white marble columns.圆顶由白色大理石柱支撑着。
• They formed the dome with the tree's branches.他们用树枝搭成圆屋顶。

4 grove   

n.林子，小树林，园林

参考例句：

• On top of the hill was a grove of tall trees.山顶上一片高大的树林。
• The scent of lemons filled the grove.柠檬香味充满了小树林。

5 sequoia   

n.红杉

参考例句：

• The sequoia national forest is at the southern end of the sierra nevada range.红杉国家公园位于内华达山脉南端尽头处。
• The photo shows the enormous general Sherman tree in California's sequoia national park.照片显示的是加利福尼亚州红杉国家公园内巨大的谢尔曼将军树。

6 grizzly   

adj.略为灰色的，呈灰色的；n.灰色大熊

参考例句：

• This grizzly liked people.这只灰熊却喜欢人。
• Grizzly bears are not generally social creatures.一般说来，灰熊不是社交型动物。

7 creation   

n.创造，创造的作品，产物，宇宙，天地万物

参考例句：

• Language is the most important mental creation of man.语言是人类头脑最重要的产物。
• The creation of new playgrounds will benefit the local children.新游戏场的建立将有益于当地的儿童。

8 granite   

adj.花岗岩，花岗石

参考例句：

• They squared a block of granite.他们把一块花岗岩加工成四方形。
• The granite overlies the older rocks.花岗岩躺在磨损的岩石上面。

9 tribe   

n.部落，种族，一伙人

参考例句：

• This is a subject tribe.这是个受他人统治的部落。
• Many of the tribe's customs and rituals are as old as the hills.这部落的许多风俗、仪式都极其古老。

10 massive   

adj.巨大的，大规模的，大量的，大范围的

参考例句：

• A massive sea search has failed to find any survivors.经过大规模的海上搜救仍未找到幸存者。
• He drank a massive amount of alcohol.他喝了大量的烈酒。

11 senator   

n.参议员，评议员

参考例句：

• The senator urged against the adoption of the measure.那参议员极力反对采取这项措施。
• The senator's speech hit at government spending.参议员的讲话批评了政府的开支。

12 legislation   

n.立法，法律的制定；法规，法律

参考例句：

• They began to draft legislation.他们开始起草法规。
• The liberals band together against the new legislation.自由党员联合一致反对新的立法。

13 costly   

adj.昂贵的，价值高的，豪华的

参考例句：

• It must be very costly to keep up a house like this.维修这么一幢房子一定很昂贵。
• This dictionary is very useful,only it is a bit costly.这本词典很有用，左不过贵了些。

14 works   

n.作品，著作；工厂，活动部件，机件

参考例句：

• We expect writers to produce more and better works.我们期望作家们写出更多更好的作品。
• The novel is regarded as one of the classic works.这篇小说被公认为是最优秀的作品之一。

15 badger   

v.一再烦扰，一再要求，纠缠

参考例句：

• Now that our debts are squared.Don't badger me with them any more.我们的债务两清了。从此以后不要再纠缠我了。
• If you badger him long enough,I'm sure he'll agree.只要你天天纠缠他，我相信他会同意。