THIS IS AMERICA - Finding Nature in America's National Park

THIS IS AMERICA - Finding Nature in America's National Park System
By Jerilyn Watson

Broadcast: Monday, August 01, 2005

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VOICE ONE:

Welcome to THIS IS AMERICA in VOA Special English. I'm Doug Johnson.

VOICE TWO:

And I'm Faith Lapidus. This week on our show, we explore America's national parks.

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VOICE ONE:

The National Park Service began in nineteen sixteen. That year, three hundred fifty-eight thousand people went to national parks. In two thousand four, the National Park System had two hundred seventy-six million visitors.

Visitors have a wide choice of places. The National Park System has about four hundred protected areas. These include parks, monuments, historic¹ places, rivers, trails, seashores and lakeshores. They cover about thirty four-million hectares.

VOICE TWO:

Yellowstone was the first national park in the world. Most of it is in the state of Wyoming, in the West.

Yellowstone was established in eighteen seventy-two. But the idea of protecting areas from development was proposed years earlier. American painter George Catlin offered the idea during the eighteen thirties.

Once Yellowstone opened, it became a place where animals and other natural resources could be protected. Today millions of people visit Yellowstone National Park, most of them during summer.

VOICE ONE:

A businessman from Chicago, Illinois, became the first director of the National Park Service in nineteen sixteen. Stephen Mather was very important to the success of the agency. He retired² in nineteen twenty nine. At that time, national parks covered more than two times as much land as they had when the park service began.

Other major expansions took place in the nineteen thirties and around the middle of the twentieth century.

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VOICE TWO:

The National Park Service is part of the United States Department of the Interior³. The park service has two main jobs. One is to protect America's national parks. The other is to help visitors enjoy them. Some people think these two jobs conflict.

They say some of the problems of the parks are the result of too many people visiting them. For example, the many vehicles in national parks cause pollution and road damage.

VOICE ONE:

Some national parks cost money to enter, but not very much. Parks that charge entry fees must share the money with parks that do not. That means they cannot keep all the money for things like repairs and improvements.

VOICE TWO:

Private groups help support the National Park System. So do individuals and businesses that give money to the parks through the National Park Foundation. Congress established this organization in nineteen sixty-seven. The job of the foundation is to gather private support for America's national parks.

There is also the National Parks Conservation Association. This private group wants Congress to provide millions more dollars to improve conditions in parks. The association also tries to protect parks from what it sees as threats. For example, its electronic newsletter recently warned against a proposal for exploratory drilling for oil and gas.

VOICE ONE:

The proposed drilling would take place in the Glen Canyon⁴ National Recreation Area in Arizona and Utah. The newsletter said the drilling would harm the red rocks of the Glen Canyon area and could harm its bighorn sheep. The newsletter suggested that people study the issue and offer comments to officials about the proposal.

Another concern is dirty air in some parks, such as the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. That park is on the border of Tennessee and North Carolina. The association points out that sixty percent of people say they do not want to visit parks with air pollution.

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VOICE TWO:

The National Park System includes beautiful areas of nature. Visitors also can see monuments and historic areas like battlefields. They can take part in open-air sports and other activities at the parks.

Now, let us take you to a few of America's national parks. We begin at some islands in the Midwestern state of Wisconsin.

VOICE ONE:

Your tour boat takes you over the waves of Lake Superior to the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore. The islands are known for their rocky coastlines and, especially, for their lighthouses. The Apostle Islands were named a national lakeshore in nineteen seventy.

The Ojibwe Indians believe they were the first settlers of this area. Some still live there. Over the years they fished, killed game and worked the land. Later, white settlers also fished and farmed on the islands. And they dug and processed stone from the earth.

In the middle and late eighteen hundreds, lighthouses began guiding sailors on the dangerous waters of Lake Superior. Lighthouse keepers operated the signals. Today, three of the lighthouses still guide and warn sailors. But machines do the signaling.

VOICE TWO:

You might like to sail in a small kayak while visiting the Apostle Islands. Swimming and fishing are other activities. Or you might want to explore the thick forests of pine and other trees on the islands. There is a lot of wildlife to see. You might even get a look at a black bear. It probably should be a quick look, though.

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VOICE ONE:

From the Midwest we travel to the middle of the Atlantic coast to a big home in Arlington, Virginia. Arlington House, the Robert E. Lee Memorial, is near Washington, D.C. General Lee commanded the armies of the South against the Union during the Civil War in the eighteen sixties.

Arlington House is on a hill overlooking⁵ the national burial grounds at Arlington Cemetery⁶.

Walking through Arlington House, you can see the room where Lee wrote his letter of resignation⁷ from the United States Army. After joining the cause of the South, Lee took command of its armies. After the South lost the war, Robert E. Lee tried to help heal the bitterness felt by both sides.

VOICE TWO:

The portico⁸ of the huge home looks like a Greek temple. Tall columns of brick mark the entrance. If you stand on the portico and look east, you can get a fine look at the Potomac River and the Washington skyline.

VOICE ONE:

Now we travel to a very different kind of protected land. In nineteen seventy-two, the government created a new kind of recreation area. It is not a wilderness⁹ area. Nor is it a single place. Instead, the Gateway¹⁰ National Recreation Area covers a huge area of New York City and northern New Jersey¹¹.

The Gateway National Recreation Area contains more than ten thousand hectares. It offers many activities for people to enjoy in their free time.

VOICE TWO:

You can watch professional sports teams or attend music concerts and plays in busy cities in the Gateway area. Or you can spend peaceful hours on the shores of Sandy Hook¹², New Jersey. Its beaches on the Atlantic Ocean are a thirty-minute boat ride from Manhattan island.

Sandy Hook is a good place to watch birds. The New Jersey Audubon Society established a bird observation center there in two thousand one. Hundreds of different kinds of birds and butterflies have been recorded from the Sandy Hook Bird Observatory¹³.

VOICE ONE:

For our last stop, we return to the West to see the Grand Canyon in Arizona. It extends four hundred forty-six kilometers along the Colorado River.

You can stand at the top of the Grand Canyon and look over the edge. The huge opening in the earth is more than one and one-half kilometers deep. People walk down or ride a mule¹⁴ into the canyon.

If you like action, consider a rafting trip on the fast-moving waters of the Colorado River. The Grand Canyon also has wildlife to enjoy.

It is a world in itself. American composer Ferde Grofe captured this world in the "Grand Canyon Suite¹⁵." We leave you with "Cloud Burst."

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VOICE TWO:

Our program was written by Jerilyn Watson and produced by Caty Weaver¹⁶. I'm Faith Lapidus.

VOICE ONE:

And I'm Doug Johnson. Please join us again next week for another THIS IS AMERICA in VOA Special English.

1 historic   

adj.历史上著名的，具有历史意义的

参考例句：

• This is a historic occasion.这是具有重大历史意义的时刻。
• We are living in a great historic era.我们正处在一个伟大的历史时代。

2 retired   

adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的

参考例句：

• The old man retired to the country for rest.这位老人下乡休息去了。
• Many retired people take up gardening as a hobby.许多退休的人都以从事园艺为嗜好。

3 interior   

adj.在内的，内部的，内地的，国内的；n.内部

参考例句：

• There is water in the interior of the cave.在山洞的内部有水。
• They went into the interior room.他们进了内室。

4 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。

5 overlooking   

v.忽视( overlook的现在分词 )；监督；俯视；（对不良现象等）不予理会

参考例句：

• The house is in an elevated position, overlooking the town. 这栋房子地势较高，可以俯瞰全城。
• The house sits high on a hill overlooking a lake. 房子高高地坐落在可以俯瞰湖水的小山上。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 cemetery   

n.坟墓，墓地，坟场

参考例句：

• He was buried in the cemetery.他被葬在公墓。
• His remains were interred in the cemetery.他的遗体葬在墓地。

7 resignation   

n.放弃，辞职，反抗

参考例句：

• He handed in his resignation right after the cabinet meeting.内阁会议一开完，他就提出了辞呈。
• They asked for his resignation with one voice.他们一致要求他辞职。

8 portico   

n.柱廊，门廊

参考例句：

• A large portico provides a suitably impressive entrance to the chapel.小教堂入口处宽敞的柱廊相当壮观。
• The gateway and its portico had openings all around.门洞两旁与廊子的周围都有窗棂。

9 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。

10 gateway   

n.大门口，出入口，途径，方法

参考例句：

• Hard work is the gateway to success.努力工作是通往成功之路。
• A man collected tolls at the gateway.一个人在大门口收通行费。

11 jersey   

n.运动衫

参考例句：

• He wears a cotton jersey when he plays football.他穿运动衫踢足球。
• They were dressed alike in blue jersey and knickers.他们穿着一致，都是蓝色的运动衫和灯笼短裤。

12 hook   

vt.钩住；n.钩子，钩状物

参考例句：

• The blacksmith forged a bar of iron into a hook.铁匠把一根铁条锻造成一个钩子。
• He hangs up his scarf on the hook behind the door.他把围巾挂在门后的衣钩上。

13 observatory   

n.天文台，气象台，瞭望台，观测台

参考例句：

• Guy's house was close to the observatory.盖伊的房子离天文台很近。
• Officials from Greenwich Observatory have the clock checked twice a day.格林威治天文台的职员们每天对大钟检查两次。

14 mule   

n.骡子，杂种，执拗的人

参考例句：

• A mule is a cross between a mare and a donkey.骡子是母马和公驴的杂交后代。
• He is an old mule.他是个老顽固。

15 suite   

n.一套(家具)；套房；随从人员

参考例句：

• She has a suite of rooms in the hotel.她在那家旅馆有一套房间。
• That is a nice suite of furniture.那套家具很不错。

16 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。