VOA慢速英语--大批游客涌入秘鲁的“彩虹山”

A Flood of Tourists to Peru’s ‘Rainbow Mountain’

Tourists struggle for breath as they climb for two hours to reach the top of a mountain in the Peruvian Andes. The mountain is 5,000 meters above sea level. The climbers are tired, but happy to see the beauty before them.

Lines of rich colors form what has become known as “Rainbow Mountain.” The colors come from many-colored rock remains¹ millions of years old. The minerals were pushed up in the crash of Earth’s tectonic plates.

The world learned³ of the existence of this natural wonder about five years ago. Now, many people want to see it for themselves.

“You see it in the pictures and you think it’s Photoshopped — but it’s real,” said Lukas Lynen, an 18-year-old tourist from Mexico.

About 1,000 people visit Rainbow Mountain every day. The tourism has provided⁴ much-needed economic help to this area. Many villagers are farmers who raise alpaca animals for wool. Environmentalists, however, fear the tourists could destroy the land. International mining companies are also interested in the mountain.

Dina Farfan is a Peruvian scientist who has studied threatened wildlife in the area. He points to a four-kilometer path to Rainbow Mountain. Tourists have worn down the area in the last 18 months, lessening⁵ the beauty of the mountain. Also, a wetland once popular with ducks has been made into a huge area for automobiles⁶.

There are more serious threats, too.

Camino Minerals Corporation⁷, a Canadian-based mining company, has asked for mining rights to the mountain. The Associated Press requested a comment from the company about its plans but it did not answer.

The large tourism business has provided jobs and money for the Pampachiri native community. The local people suffer from high rates of alcoholism and malnutrition⁸. And wool prices are falling. Many took dangerous gold mining jobs in the Amazon.

Now, they charge tourists three dollars each to enter their land. The community earns about $400,000 a year from the entrance fees. The money has led to a conflict over taxes with a nearby community.

Pampachiri community leader Gabino Huaman says he is not sure his group is ready for the responsibility of the business. He said it requires good care of the environment and the tourists.

“We don’t know one word in English,” he said. “Or first aid.”

About 500 villagers have returned in the last couple of years to take up their traditional Andes transport trade. The only difference now is that they move tourists instead of goods.

Isaac Quispe is a 25-year-old former gold miner². He left that work after the murders of six people he worked with. He returned home and bought a horse. Last year, he earned $5,200 taking people up Rainbow Mountain by horse.

Scientist Farfan said he hopes the Pampachiri learn from other successful tourism businesses in Peru, like that in nearby Chillca.

For much of the past 10 years, Chillca guides have been quietly taking small groups of tourists to Rainbow Mountain. The five-day walk travels around the melting Ausangate glacier⁹.

The guides in Chillca also operate four hotels with space for 16 tourists each.

I’m Susan Shand.

Words in This Story

tourist – n. a person who travels to a place for pleasure

rainbow – n. a curved¹⁰ line of different colors that sometimes appears in the sky when the sun shines through rain

tectonic plate – n. underground plates that rub¹¹ together to change the earth’s surface

wool - n. the soft, thick hair of sheep and some other animals

malnutrition – n. the unhealthy condition that results from not eating enough food or not eating enough healthy food

glacier – n. a very large area of ice that moves slowly down a slope or valley or over a wide area of land

1 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

2 miner   

n.矿工

参考例句：

• He was a miner all his working life.他一辈子都是矿工。
• I think it is dangerous to be a miner.我认为当矿工是很危险的。

3 learned   

adj.有学问的，博学的；learn的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• He went into a rage when he learned about it.他听到这事后勃然大怒。
• In this little village,he passed for a learned man.在这个小村子里，他被视为有学问的人。

4 provided   

conj.假如，若是；adj.预备好的，由...供给的

参考例句：

• Provided it's fine we will have a pleasant holiday.如果天气良好，我们的假日将过得非常愉快。
• I will come provided that it's not raining tomorrow.如果明天不下雨，我就来。

5 lessening   

减轻，减少，变小

参考例句：

• So however much he earned, she spent it, her demands growing and lessening with his income. 祥子挣多少，她花多少，她的要求随着他的钱涨落。 来自汉英文学 - 骆驼祥子
• The talks have resulted in a lessening of suspicion. 谈话消减了彼此的怀疑。

6 automobiles   

n.汽车( automobile的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• When automobiles become popular,the use of the horse and buggy passed away. 汽车普及后，就不再使用马和马车了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Automobiles speed in an endless stream along the boulevard. 宽阔的林荫道上，汽车川流不息。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

7 corporation   

n.公司，企业&n.社团，团体

参考例句：

• The company has gone into partnership with Swiss Bank Corporation. 这家公司已经和瑞士银行公司建立合作关系。
• The inflation did the corporation up. 通货膨胀使这个公司破产了。

8 malnutrition   

n.营养不良

参考例句：

• In Africa, there are a lot of children suffering from severe malnutrition.在非洲有大批严重营养不良的孩子。
• It is a classic case of malnutrition. 这是营养不良的典型病例。

9 glacier   

n.冰川，冰河

参考例句：

• The glacier calved a large iceberg.冰河崩解而形成一个大冰山。
• The upper surface of glacier is riven by crevasses.冰川的上表面已裂成冰隙。

10 curved   

a.弯曲的

参考例句：

• His lips curved in a barely perceptible smile. 他的嘴角弯了弯，露出一丝几乎察觉不到的笑容。
• The missile curved gracefully towards its target. 导弹呈优美的曲线状飞向目标。

11 rub   

n.摩擦，困难，障碍，难点，磨损处；vt.擦，搓，摩擦，惹怒；vi.摩擦，擦破

参考例句：

• Don't let the wire rub up against the pipe.别让电线碰到管子上。
• He used to rub up against many famous movie stars.他过去经常偶然碰到许多有名的影星。