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VOA慢速英语2012 EXPLORATIONS - The Missouri is America’s Longest River

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EXPLORATIONS - The Missouri is America’s Longest River

This is Shirley Griffith.

And this is Steve Ember with the VOA Special English program, EXPLORATIONS. Today, we tell about another important American river, the Missouri. It is the longest river in the United States.

The first American Indians to live along the Missouri River called the river the Mine Sose. It means the muddy river. Even today, the Missouri is called "the Big Muddy" by many people. This is because it carries huge amounts of dirt from the land through which it flows. The dirt makes the river a brown color for much of its length.

The Missouri begins in the Rocky Mountains of North America. It is formed by three rivers that come together in what is the north central state of Montana. The three rivers are the Jefferson, Madison, and Gallatin Rivers. They become the Missouri River in the southwestern part of Montana, more than one thousand two hundred meters above sea level. The river is clear and flows rapidly as it begins its travels east and south. It moves more slowly as it flows down to the waters of the Mississippi River, about ten kilometers north of the modern-day city of Saint1 Louis.

The Missouri travels four-thousand kilometers from the high mountains in the north to the low lands of the south. It flows along the borders of seven states: Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Iowa, Nebraska, Kansas, and finally Missouri.

The first Europeans who reported seeing the river were at the mouth of the Missouri where it empties into the Mississippi. They were French explorers Jacques Marquette and Louis Jolliet. In Sixteen-Seventy-Three, they were traveling down the Mississippi in a small wooden boat when they heard a great noise of water moving at great speed. Father Marquette wrote that he felt great fear. He saw large trees floating into the Mississippi River. They were carried in violently moving muddy water. The muddy water was the Missouri River which emptied into the western side of the Mississippi.

The Missouri was a violent river, making travel along it difficult. Yet explorers and settlers used it as a way to move west. In the early Seventeen-hundreds, French fur traders began to travel along the Missouri to the lands of the great American west.

The first non-natives to explore the river, from its mouth to its beginnings, did so in Eighteen-Oh-Five and Eighteen-Oh-Six. President Thomas Jefferson sent Meriwether Lewis and William Clark to explore the area.

The United States government had bought from France a large area of land called the Louisiana Territory. This land extended2 from the Gulf3 of Mexico northwest to the Pacific coast. The story of Lewis and Clark's travels up the Missouri River and on to the Pacific Northwest is one of the great stories of American exploration.

President Jefferson sent the two men to explore the little-known river to learn all about the land on both sides of it. Lewis and Clark completed the trip in two years. The explorers were the first Americans to cross the Missouri lands to the Pacific Northwest.

Lewis and Clark brought back to Washington a detailed4 report about the plants, trees, animals, climate they found on their travels. Many different scientists have long studied these facts.

The two men also returned with a lot of information about the different Indian nations of the West. Since then, the Indian names have become well known through the many stories and books written about them. The Mandans, the Nez Perce, the Sioux, the Blackfeet, the Chickasaws, the Pawnees and the Crows were some of these nations.

Most of the Indians Lewis and Clark met along the way were a great help to them. One of the most famous was a woman named Sacagawea. She was a Shoshone Indian who had been captured5 by the Mandan tribe6. The two explorers knew that the Shoshone Indians who lived near the Rocky Mountains had good horses. Since the two explorers began their trip, they had been traveling up the Missouri River by boat. They knew that they would need horses to help them in the next part of their exploration over land.

So, Lewis and Clark took Sacagawea with them. She could help them deal with the Shoshone tribe when they left the river and crossed over the tall, rough mountains. Today, the image of Sacagawea is on the American dollar coin. It honors7 her part in helping8 Lewis and Clark explore what became the western United States.

Soon after Lewis and Clark explored the territory, settlers began moving west along the Missouri River. They began their western travels on boats that took them from Saint Louis to either Kansas City or Saint Joseph in western Missouri. Then they took wagons9 to Oregon and California on the coast of the Pacific Ocean. It was the Missouri River that started them on their way to new homes in new lands.

A large part of the river became the border between two kinds of land, and two ways of life. On the east side were beautiful woodlands and lakes. On the west side were great open plains, stretching all the way to the high western Rocky Mountains.

The two sides of the river were different when the first European explorers traveled the Missouri. On the east side of the river, the explorers found Indian woodsmen living in tents hidden among trees. These tribes10 hunted deer. They fought their enemies by surprise attacks from hidden places.

On the west side of the river, the explorers found strong Indian buffalo11 hunters and fighters on horses. These Indians attacked out in the open and wanted no cover to protect themselves only the backs of racing12 horses.

There are similar differences today. On the eastern side of the Missouri are farms and tall corn. On the western side are horses and cows and cowboys.

It is said that you need to look in the middle of the Missouri River to find where the American West begins. The state of Missouri is in the center of the United States. It is named after the great river that flows from west to east through its center.

The city of Independence is in the western part of the state. It is considered the geographical13 center of the continental14 United States.

One of the city's most famous citizens was Harry15 Truman, who was the Thirty-Third President of the United States. He was president from Nineteen Forty-Five until Nineteen-Fifty-Three. When he left office, Truman returned to his home in Independence, on the shores of the Missouri River.

For many years after Lewis and Clark's exploration, only fur traders used the river to carry the goods they wanted to sell. They carried their furs in small boats that were light on the water and did not hit the bottom.

Beginning in eighteen thirty, the American Fur Company began to use steam boats to carry goods up and down the Missouri. This trade began to disappear in eighteen fifty-nine. It was then that a railroad16 was completed between Hannibal, on the Mississippi River in the east, and Saint Joseph, on the Missouri River in the western part of the state of Missouri. It was easier to move goods and people by train.

After World War Two ended, the United States government approved a major plan to develop the areas along the Missouri River. The plan included flood control and development along the river. Now a series of six huge dams in the middle area of the river control the flow of the Missouri. More than one-hundred smaller dams are on smaller rivers that flow into the Missouri. The dams contain the water from the melting snows in the north. They reduce the flooding that once happened down river almost every spring.

Today, boats continue to carry goods and people up and down the Missouri River as they have for centuries.


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1 saint yYcxf     
n.圣徒;基督教徒;vt.成为圣徒,把...视为圣徒
参考例句:
  • He was made a saint.他被封为圣人。
  • The saint had a lowly heart.圣人有谦诚之心。
2 extended Utcz1H     
adj.延伸的;伸展的;延长的;扩大的v.延伸(extend的过去式和过去分词);伸展;延长
参考例句:
  • an extended lunch hour 延长了的午餐时间
  • France has greatly extended its influence in world affairs. 在世界事务中,法国的影响已大大地扩大了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
3 gulf 1e0xp     
n.海湾;深渊,鸿沟;分歧,隔阂
参考例句:
  • The gulf between the two leaders cannot be bridged.两位领导人之间的鸿沟难以跨越。
  • There is a gulf between the two cities.这两座城市间有个海湾。
4 detailed xuNzms     
adj.详细的,详尽的,极注意细节的,完全的
参考例句:
  • He had made a detailed study of the terrain.他对地形作了缜密的研究。
  • A detailed list of our publications is available on request.我们的出版物有一份详细的目录备索。
5 captured 2f77656f4c6180990cee5ce65bdefe74     
俘获( capture的过去式和过去分词 ); 夺取; 夺得; 引起(注意、想像、兴趣)
参考例句:
  • Allied troops captured over 300 enemy soldiers. 盟军俘虏了300多名敌方士兵。
  • Most of the rebels were captured and disarmed. 大部分叛乱分子被俘获并解除了武装。
6 tribe XJ2zS     
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。
7 honors 2c250cb8374a2f7f18ab42ccf1291801     
n.礼仪;荣典;礼节; 大学荣誉学位;大学优等成绩;尊敬( honor的名词复数 );敬意;荣誉;光荣
参考例句:
  • He aims at honors. 他力求名誉。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • We did the last honors to his remains. 我们向他的遗体告别。 来自《简明英汉词典》
8 helping 2rGzDc     
n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的,辅助的
参考例句:
  • The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
  • By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。
9 wagons ff97c19d76ea81bb4f2a97f2ff0025e7     
n.四轮的运货马车( wagon的名词复数 );铁路货车;小手推车
参考例句:
  • The wagons were hauled by horses. 那些货车是马拉的。
  • They drew their wagons into a laager and set up camp. 他们把马车围成一圈扎起营地。
10 tribes f3d6790faa976a2695d01a08f7b2ba64     
n.部落( tribe的名词复数 );(动、植物的)族;(一)帮;大群
参考例句:
  • tribes living in remote areas of the Amazonian rainforest 居住在亚马孙河雨林偏远地区的部落
  • In Africa the snake is still sacred with many tribes. 非洲许多部落仍认为蛇是不可冒犯的。 来自《简明英汉词典》
11 buffalo 1Sby4     
n.(北美)野牛;(亚洲)水牛
参考例句:
  • Asian buffalo isn't as wild as that of America's. 亚洲水牛比美洲水牛温顺些。
  • The boots are made of buffalo hide. 这双靴子是由水牛皮制成的。
12 racing 1ksz3w     
n.竞赛,赛马;adj.竞赛用的,赛马用的
参考例句:
  • I was watching the racing on television last night.昨晚我在电视上看赛马。
  • The two racing drivers fenced for a chance to gain the lead.两个赛车手伺机竞相领先。
13 geographical Cgjxb     
adj.地理的;地区(性)的
参考例句:
  • The current survey will have a wider geographical spread.当前的调查将在更广泛的地域范围內进行。
  • These birds have a wide geographical distribution.这些鸟的地理分布很广。
14 continental Zazyk     
adj.大陆的,大陆性的,欧洲大陆的
参考例句:
  • A continental climate is different from an insular one.大陆性气候不同于岛屿气候。
  • The most ancient parts of the continental crust are 4000 million years old.大陆地壳最古老的部分有40亿年历史。
15 harry heBxS     
vt.掠夺,蹂躏,使苦恼
参考例句:
  • Today,people feel more hurried and harried.今天,人们感到更加忙碌和苦恼。
  • Obama harried business by Healthcare Reform plan.奥巴马用医改掠夺了商界。
16 railroad ATIxl     
n.铁路;vi.由铁路运输
参考例句:
  • The railroad connects two cities,namely,New York and Chicago.这条铁路连接两个城市,即纽约与芝加哥。
  • My brother is working on the railroad.我兄弟在铁路系统工作。

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