VOA慢速英语2012 People in America - John Wesley Powell, 1834-1902: Famous Explorer of the American West

People in America - John Wesley Powell, 1834-1902: Famous Explorer of the American West

SHIRLEY GRIFFITH: I'm Shirley Griffith.

RAY FREEMAN: And I'm Ray Freeman with the VOA Special English program People in America. Every week at this time we tell the story of someone important in the history of the United States. Today we tell about explorer, John Wesley Powell. He was also a scientist, land reformer, and supporter of native American rights.

(MUSIC)

SHIRLEY GRIFFITH: The date is May twenty-fourth, eighteen sixty-nine. The place is Green River, Wyoming, in the western United States. The Green

River flows in a curving¹ path south through Utah and Colorado until it joins the great Colorado River.

The Colorado, in turn, flows through a huge deep canyon². Years from now, that formation³ will be called the Grand Canyon.

Ten men are putting supplies and scientific equipment into four small boats. They are about to leave on a dangerous, exciting exploration. The leader of the group is John Wesley Powell.

RAY FREEMAN: Powell writes in his journal⁴: "The good people of Green River City turn out to see us start. We raise our little flag, push the boats from shore, and the current carries us down. Wild emptiness is stretched out before me. Yet there is a beauty in the picture."

So begins John Wesley Powell's story of his trip on the Green and Colorado Rivers. It was one of the greatest trips of discovery in the history of North America. He and his men were the first whites to travel in that area. Until then, the land had been known only to Indians and prehistoric⁵ tribes⁶.

SHIRLEY GRIFFITH: John Wesley Powell was thirty-five-years-old. He had served in the American Civil War. He had lost an arm in that war. He was an unknown scientist, temporarily away from his job at a museum in Illinois.

John's parents had come to the United States from England. They settled in New York State, where John was born in eighteen thirty-four. They later moved to Ohio. Mister⁷ Powell made clothes for other people, and farmed a little, too. He also taught religion. His teaching⁸ duties often took him away from home. Missus Powell believed young john needed the guidance and protection of a man. So she asked a friend, George Crookham, for help.

RAY FREEMAN: George Crookham was a rich farmer. He also was a self-taught scientist. He kept a small museum at his home. It contained examples of plants and minerals. Native animals and insects. Remains⁹ of Indian tools and weapons.

From George Crookham, John Wesley Powell received a wide, but informal, education. The boy learned¹⁰ many things about the natural sciences, philosophy and history.

SHIRLEY GRIFFITH: In eighteen forty-six, the Powell family moved again. This time, they settled even farther¹¹ west, in Wisconsin. John wanted to go to school to study science. His father said that if John were to be sent to college, it would be to study religion...not something as unimportant¹² as science.

The argument continued for three years. Then John decided¹³ to leave home to seek an education.

He soon discovered that he knew more about science than any teacher he met. He realized that the only good scientific education in the country came from colleges in the east, like Harvard and Yale. But he was too poor to go to them.

RAY FREEMAN: John Wesley Powell got work as a school teacher in Illinois. Whenever possible, he went on scientific trips of his own.

In April, eighteen sixty-one, civil war broke out in the United States. John joined the Union forces of the North. At the battle of Shiloh, a cannon¹⁴ ball struck him in the right arm. The arm could not be saved.

Although John was disabled, he returned to active duty under General Ulysses S. Grant¹⁵. Grant would later serve as Secretary of War and President. Powell's friendship with Grant would help win him support for his explorations of the west.

After the war, John Wesley Powell taught science at two universities in Illinois. He also helped establish the Illinois Historical Society. He urged state lawmakers to provide more money for the Society's museum. His efforts were so successful that he was given responsibility for the museum's collections.

One of the first things he did after getting the job was to plan an exploration of the Rocky Mountains.

SHIRLEY GRIFFITH: Powell got help from the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C. The Smithsonian gave him scientific equipment. He got help from the army. The army promised to protect the explorers in dangerous areas. And he got help from the railroads¹⁶. The railroads agreed to let the explorers ride free as far as possible.

Powell's group brought back enough information to satisfy those who supported it. A second, similar trip took place the following year. Then Powell centered his efforts on the plan that would make him famous: exploration of the Green River and the Colorado River.

RAY FREEMAN: It was a voyage never attempted by white men. Indians who knew the area said it could not be done. But John Wesley Powell believed it could. And he believed it would provide a wealth of scientific information about that part of America.

Once again, Powell turned for help to the Smithsonian, the army and the railroads. He got what he wanted.

SHIRLEY GRIFFITH: The explorers left Green River, Wyoming, on May twenty-fourth, eighteen-sixty-nine. All along the way, Powell measured distances, temperatures, heights, depths and currents. He examined soils, rocks and plant life. Since the explorers were mapping unknown territory, they named the places they passed as they went along.

The trip was just as dangerous as expected, perhaps more. The rivers were filled with rocky areas and waterfalls. Sometimes, the boats overturned¹⁷. One of the boats broke in two against a big rock. The explorers suffered from a hot sun, and cold rain. They lost many of their supplies. Yet they pushed on.

RAY FREEMAN: On August thirteenth, eighteen-sixty-nine, they reached the mouth of a great canyon. Its walls rose more than a kilometer above them. Powell wrote in his journal:

"We are now ready to start on our way down the great unknown.

What waterfalls there are, we know not. What rocks lie in the

River, we know not. We may imagine many things. The men talk as happily as ever. But to me, there is a darkness to the joy."

The trip through the great canyon was much the same as the earlier part of the trip. For a time, the Colorado River widened¹⁸. The explorers were able to travel long distances each day. Then the canyon walls closed in again. Once more, the group battled rapids, rocks and waterfalls.

Conditions grew so bad that three of the men left to try to reach civilization overland. Two days later, the rest of the group sailed out of the dangers of the Grand Canyon.

SHIRLEY GRIFFITH: The story of the brave explorers was printed in newspapers all over the country. John Wesley Powell became famous.

Powell's explorations led to the creation¹⁹ of the United States Geological²⁰ Survey in eighteen seventy-nine. The survey became responsible for all mapping and scientific programs of American lands.

Powell's interests, however, were becoming wider than just the geology²¹ of the land. He found himself growing deeply interested in the people who lived on the land. On every future trip, he visited Indian villages. He talked to the people, and learned about their culture and history. He helped establish a bureau²² of American ethnology within the Smithsonian Institution to collect information about the Indian cultures. Powell headed the bureau for more than twenty years.

In a message to Congress²³, Powell explained why he felt the bureau was so important:

"Many of the difficulties between white men and Indians are unnecessary, and are caused by our lack of knowledge relating to the Indians themselves. The failure to recognize this fact has brought great trouble to our management of the Indians."

RAY FREEMAN: John Wesley Powell's scientific studies of western lands shaped his ideas of how those lands should be used. He proposed²⁴ programs to control both crop farming and cattle raising. He was especially concerned about water supplies.

Many of John Wesley Powell's ideas were far ahead of his time.

Congress rejected Powell's proposals²⁵ for land and water use. He died in nineteen-oh-two. Years later his ideas were signed into law.

(MUSIC)

SHIRLEY GRIFFITH: This is Shirley Griffith.

RAY FREEMAN: And this is Ray Freeman. Join us again next week at this time for another People in America program in Special English on the Voice of America.

1 curving   

adj. 弯曲的 动词curve的现在分词形式

参考例句：

• "Mountain-ranges, toward the east, Appear to be curving and flowing like rivers;" 连山若波涛，奔凑如朝东。 来自英汉 - 翻译样例 - 文学
• Curving ramps connect across pool to sculptural eye and box. 旋转的坡道连接水池和眼睛形状的大楼。

2 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。

3 formation   

n.形成，组成；形成物，结构；队形，排列

参考例句：

• This is the formation of a new government.这是新政府的构成。
• The aircraft are flying in formation.飞机编队飞行。

4 journal   

n.日志，日记；议事录；日记帐；杂志，定期刊物

参考例句：

• He kept a journal during his visit to Japan.他在访问日本期间坚持记日记。
• He got a job as editor of a trade journal.他找到了一份当商业杂志编辑的工作。

5 prehistoric   

adj.（有记载的）历史以前的，史前的，古老的

参考例句：

• They have found prehistoric remains.他们发现了史前遗迹。
• It was rather like an exhibition of prehistoric electronic equipment.这儿倒像是在展览古老的电子设备。

6 tribes   

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》

7 mister   

n.(略作Mr.全称很少用于书面)先生

参考例句：

• Mister Smith is my good friend.史密斯先生是我的好朋友。
• He styled himself " Mister Clean ".他自称是“清廉先生”。

8 teaching   

n.教学，执教，任教，讲授；(复数)教诲

参考例句：

• We all agree in adopting the new teaching method. 我们一致同意采取新的教学方法。
• He created a new system of teaching foreign languages.他创造了一种新的外语教学体系。

9 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。

10 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。

11 farther   

adj.更远的，进一步的；adv.更远的，此外；far的比较级

参考例句：

• I can throw the ball farther than you can.这个球我能比你扔得远。
• The farther hill is five kilometres away.那座更远的小山在五公里以外。

12 unimportant   

adj.不重要的，无意义的

参考例句：

• Let's not quarrel about such unimportant matters.我们不要为这些小事争吵了。
• Money seems unimportant when sets beside the joys of family life.与天伦之乐相比，金钱显得微不足道。

13 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

14 cannon   

n.大炮，火炮；飞机上的机关炮

参考例句：

• The soldiers fired the cannon.士兵们开炮。
• The cannon thundered in the hills.大炮在山间轰鸣。

15 grant   

vt.同意给予，授予，承认；n.拨款；补助款

参考例句：

• If you grant my request, you will earn my thanks.如果你答应我的要求，就会得到我的感谢。
• He requested that the premier grant him an internview.他要求那位总理接见他一次。

16 railroads   

n.铁路，铁道( railroad的名词复数 )；铁路系统v.铁路，铁道( railroad的第三人称单数 )；铁路系统

参考例句：

• Water transportation was outmoded by railroads and good pikes. 水上运输已因铁路和良好的税道而变得过时了。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• A severe snowstorm blocked up railroads. 一场暴风雪使铁路中断。 来自《简明英汉词典》

17 overturned   

adj. 倒转的 动词overturn的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• The car skidded and overturned. 汽车打滑翻倒了。
• When a bird's nest is overturned, no egg can remain intact. 覆巢之下无完卵。

18 widened   

放宽，加宽， （使）变宽( widen的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Her eyes widened in surprise. 她惊讶地睁大了眼睛。
• The geographical scope of product markets has widened since the war. 战后产品市场的地理范围扩大了。

19 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。

20 geological   

adj.地质（学）的

参考例句：

• aeons of geological history 数以亿万年计的地质史
• The workers skirted the edge of the cliff on a geological survey. 工人们沿着崖壁作了一次地质勘察。 来自《简明英汉词典》

21 geology   

n.地质学，（某地）地质

参考例句：

• The students went to study the geology of that region.学生们去研究那个地区的地质情况。
• In his lecture on geology,he touched on the subject of climate.他在关于地质学的报告中，也涉及气候问题。

22 bureau   

n.提供或收集消息的机构；局，司，处；署

参考例句：

• The weather bureau makes daily reports on weather conditions.气象局每天报告天气状况。
• The Tourist Bureau arranged everything for our journey to Rome.旅游局已为我们去罗马旅行准备了一切。

23 Congress   

n.(代表)大会；(C-:美国等国的)国会，议会

参考例句：

• There were some days to wait before the Congress.大会的召开还有几天时间。
• After 18 years in Congress,he intented to return to private life.在国会供职18年后，他打算告老还乡。

24 proposed   

被提议的

参考例句：

• There is widespread discontent among the staff at the proposed changes to pay and conditions. 员工对改变工资和工作环境的建议普遍不满。
• an outcry over the proposed change 对拟议的改革所发出的强烈抗议

25 proposals   

n.提议( proposal的名词复数 )；推荐；求婚；赞成提案

参考例句：

• The director has given her assent to the proposals. 负责人已表示同意提案。
• The police gave the proposals their full backing. 警方对这些提案给予全力支持。