VOA标准英语2011--Natural Spectacle Blooms in Texas

Spring has just sprung in the Northern Hemisphere, and that means an annual natural spectacular is just a couple of weeks away, deep in the heart of Texas.
There are no other natural wonders in the rugged¹ Texas Hill Country. No awe-inspiring canyons², no snow-covered peaks or rain forests or raging mountain streams. Most of the time, the appeal of this tapestry³ of cedar⁴ and oak trees, lazy streams, and low limestone⁵ cliffs is more modest.
But there's nothing modest about a Hill Country spring. In 1991, George Oxford⁶ Miller⁷ published a book of photographs of the region. In the text, the environmental photojournalist wrote that "excitement comes in small packages." He found what he described as "air unadulterated with human additives⁸, stars undimmed by city lights, the uninterrupted sounds of nature, and fields of flowers unblemished by footprints."
Four hundred species of flowers, including Indian paintbrushes, prickly poppies, flowering herbs, and the most compelling blossom of all - the bluebonnet, the Texas state flower.
Ann Oldroyd, Flickr Creative Commons
The lovely bluebonnet is the Texas state flower.
"Everybody that I know of, and probably 90 percent of all Texans, have got a picture of either their dog or their child or somebody in the bluebonnet fields," John Thomas told us. He founded Wildseed Farms, the largest flower-seed-producing operation in the nation in the Hill Country town of Fredericksburg.
The area is also known as Tex-Deutsch country. Fredericksburg was founded by German settlers when the area was still open prairie.
You'll still find German architecture, oom-pah bands, German dresses and lederhosen - even Mexican-style tacos stuffed with sausage and sauerkraut.
But the big spectacle is reserved for spring, when thousands of tourists, 80 per cent of them Texans, come to see the hillsides ablaze⁹ in wildflowers - especially the bluebonnet.

1 rugged   

adj.高低不平的，粗糙的，粗壮的，强健的

参考例句：

• Football players must be rugged.足球运动员必须健壮。
• The Rocky Mountains have rugged mountains and roads.落基山脉有崇山峻岭和崎岖不平的道路。

2 canyons   

n.峡谷( canyon的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• This mountain range has many high peaks and deep canyons. 这条山脉有许多高峰和深谷。 来自辞典例句
• Do you use canyons or do we preserve them all? 是使用峡谷呢还是全封闭保存？ 来自互联网

3 tapestry   

n.挂毯，丰富多采的画面

参考例句：

• How about this artistic tapestry and this cloisonne vase?这件艺术挂毯和这个景泰蓝花瓶怎么样？
• The wall of my living room was hung with a tapestry.我的起居室的墙上挂着一块壁毯。

4 cedar   

n.雪松，香柏(木)

参考例句：

• The cedar was about five feet high and very shapely.那棵雪松约有五尺高,风姿优美。
• She struck the snow from the branches of an old cedar with gray lichen.她把长有灰色地衣的老雪松树枝上的雪打了下来。

5 limestone   

n.石灰石

参考例句：

• Limestone is often used in building construction.石灰岩常用于建筑。
• Cement is made from limestone.水泥是由石灰石制成的。

6 Oxford   

n.牛津（英国城市）

参考例句：

• At present he has become a Professor of Chemistry at Oxford.他现在已是牛津大学的化学教授了。
• This is where the road to Oxford joins the road to London.这是去牛津的路与去伦敦的路的汇合处。

7 miller   

n.磨坊主

参考例句：

• Every miller draws water to his own mill.磨坊主都往自己磨里注水。
• The skilful miller killed millions of lions with his ski.技术娴熟的磨坊主用雪橇杀死了上百万头狮子。

8 additives   

n.添加剂( additive的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• chemical additives in petrol 汽油中的化学添加剂
• It'says on the packet that these crisps contain no additives. 包装上说这些炸薯片不含添加剂。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 ablaze   

adj.着火的，燃烧的；闪耀的，灯火辉煌的

参考例句：

• The main street was ablaze with lights in the evening.晚上，那条主要街道灯火辉煌。
• Forests are sometimes set ablaze by lightning.森林有时因雷击而起火。