美国国家公共电台 NPR Before Cars Come In, Bikes Accompany Bison In Yellowstone

 

LOURDES GARCIA-NAVARRO, HOST:

If you want to go for a spectacular bike ride this weekend, you might consider heading to Yellowstone National Park. Every spring, 50 miles of the main thoroughfares are open to bicycles only. And Montana Public Radio's Eric Whitney went for a spin.

ERIC WHITNEY, BYLINE¹: I've ridden about two miles into the park, and I've just pulled over for a minute and left my bike by the side of the road. Walked about 20 yards over to the edge of the river here, and I'm watching a herd² of bison on the other side of the river in a brown meadow that's spiked³ with rocks and silver sagebrush. There's some snow on the ground, a backdrop of evergreen⁴ trees and a couple of really huge bull bison. It's so quiet. The only sound is the water in the river.

JULIE HANNAFORD: We think of quietness as a resource here. Silence is a resource.

WHITNEY: Julie Hannaford is a park ranger⁵ who's worked at Yellowstone for 24 years.

HANNAFORD: Those quieter experiences - just to provide an opportunity to have them, we're pleased to be able to do that.

WHITNEY: But Hannaford also wants to make sure that quiet-seeking visitors know what they're getting into. Riding a bicycle into Yellowstone this time of year isn't something to be taken lightly.

HANNAFORD: It's not a zoo. This is a wilderness⁶ area that just happens to have a road through it. It's a wild place where the animals and the weather and the environment are in their natural state. And so you have to be flexible and capable and willing to change your plans any time because things will change.

WHITNEY: Flexible and adaptable⁷ pretty much describes the family I met after more than an hour of riding inside Yellowstone without seeing another soul.

RANDALL GRIZZLE: My name is Randall Grizzle. And this...

VALERIE GRIZZLE: Valerie Grizzle.

TROY GRIZZLE: Troy Grizzle.

SIERRA GRIZZLE: Sierra Grizzle.

TROY: I'm 10. She's 12.

WHITNEY: They're from Boise on spring break and had planned to drive through Yellowstone.

R. GRIZZLE: At first, I was like dang it. But we happened to have our bikes, and so, like, this is one of the most epic⁸ days of my life. Just to be out here in, like, this whole park to ourselves is an amazing feeling.

SIERRA: It was awesome⁹. We've seen some really cool animals.

TROY: There's some bison over there that we just checked out.

V. GRIZZLE: Just huge - kind of surreal and scary at the same time.

TROY: We have everything we need just in case we get stuck here.

WHITNEY: And you got the bear spray? You got bear spray?

V. GRIZZLE: (Laughter).

SIERRA: Bear spray and the gun.

V. GRIZZLE: Prepared.

WHITNEY: And a gun, too.

R. GRIZZLE: Yeah, we're from Idaho.

V. GRIZZLE: (Laughter).

R. GRIZZLE: So that's just kind of normal.

WHITNEY: It's legal to have guns in the park but not fire them. The park says bear spray, which is a kind of pepper spray, is a lot more effective than guns at deterring¹⁰ Grizzlies¹¹. Bears are just now starting to emerge from hibernation¹² and can be a little cranky. But most visitors never see one in Yellowstone. The Grizzle family rides off hoping to do 14 miles round trip today.

SIERRA: All right, bye.

TROY: Bye.

WHITNEY: As the weather warms up, more cyclists will take advantage of this brief car-free window in Yellowstone - up to a few hundred a day on weekends. And then on April 21, the park will throw the gates open to cars again for the summer season. For NPR News, I'm Eric Whitney, in West Yellowstone, Mont.

(SOUNDBITE OF EL TEN ELEVEN SONG, "TRIANGLE FACE")

1 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

2 herd   

n.兽群，牧群；vt.使集中，把…赶在一起

参考例句：

• She drove the herd of cattle through the wilderness.她赶着牛群穿过荒野。
• He had no opinions of his own but simply follow the herd.他从无主见，只是人云亦云。

3 spiked   

adj.有穗的；成锥形的；有尖顶的

参考例句：

• The editor spiked the story. 编辑删去了这篇报道。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• They wondered whether their drinks had been spiked. 他们有些疑惑自己的饮料里是否被偷偷搀了烈性酒。 来自辞典例句

4 evergreen   

n.常青树；adj.四季常青的

参考例句：

• Some trees are evergreen;they are called evergreen.有的树是常青的，被叫做常青树。
• There is a small evergreen shrub on the hillside.山腰上有一小块常绿灌木丛。

5 ranger   

n.国家公园管理员，护林员；骑兵巡逻队员

参考例句：

• He was the head ranger of the national park.他曾是国家公园的首席看守员。
• He loved working as a ranger.他喜欢做护林人。

6 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。

7 adaptable   

adj.能适应的，适应性强的，可改编的

参考例句：

• He is an adaptable man and will soon learn the new work.他是个适应性很强的人，很快就将学会这种工作。
• The soil is adaptable to the growth of peanuts.这土壤适宜于花生的生长。

8 epic   

n.史诗，叙事诗；adj.史诗般的，壮丽的

参考例句：

• I gave up my epic and wrote this little tale instead.我放弃了写叙事诗，而写了这个小故事。
• They held a banquet of epic proportions.他们举行了盛大的宴会。

9 awesome   

adj.令人惊叹的，难得吓人的，很好的

参考例句：

• The church in Ireland has always exercised an awesome power.爱尔兰的教堂一直掌握着令人敬畏的权力。
• That new white convertible is totally awesome.那辆新的白色折篷汽车简直棒极了.

10 deterring   

v.阻止，制止( deter的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• However, investors say are a number of issues deterring business. 然而，投资者表示，有很多问题让他们却步。 来自互联网
• It's an effective way of deterring potential does online, the logic goes. 逻辑上这是抑制潜在线上威胁的有效方法。 来自互联网

11 grizzlies   

北美洲灰熊( grizzly的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The Suns beat the Memphis Grizzlies 127-113 earlier Tuesday night. 在周二晚上早些时候，太阳以127：113击败孟菲斯灰熊。
• Whatever you do, do not blink.They're like grizzlies. 无论你做什么，别眨眼。他们跟熊有点相象。

12 hibernation   

n.冬眠

参考例句：

• Bears wake up in the spring after a winter of hibernation.熊经过一个冬天的冬眠后在春季苏醒。
• The tortoise spends the winter months in hibernation.乌龟在冬眠中度过寒冬季节。