VOA慢速英语--大批游客涌入秘鲁的“彩虹山”
时间:2019-01-03 作者:英语课 分类:2018年VOA慢速英语(五)月
A Flood of Tourists to Peru’s ‘Rainbow Mountain’
Tourists struggle for breath as they climb for two hours to reach the top of a mountain in the Peruvian Andes. The mountain is 5,000 meters above sea level. The climbers are tired, but happy to see the beauty before them.
Lines of rich colors form what has become known as “Rainbow Mountain.” The colors come from many-colored rock remains 1 millions of years old. The minerals were pushed up in the crash of Earth’s tectonic plates.
The world learned 3 of the existence of this natural wonder about five years ago. Now, many people want to see it for themselves.
“You see it in the pictures and you think it’s Photoshopped — but it’s real,” said Lukas Lynen, an 18-year-old tourist from Mexico.
About 1,000 people visit Rainbow Mountain every day. The tourism has provided 4 much-needed economic help to this area. Many villagers are farmers who raise alpaca animals for wool. Environmentalists, however, fear the tourists could destroy the land. International mining companies are also interested in the mountain.
Dina Farfan is a Peruvian scientist who has studied threatened wildlife in the area. He points to a four-kilometer path to Rainbow Mountain. Tourists have worn down the area in the last 18 months, lessening 5 the beauty of the mountain. Also, a wetland once popular with ducks has been made into a huge area for automobiles 6.
There are more serious threats, too.
Camino Minerals Corporation 7, a Canadian-based mining company, has asked for mining rights to the mountain. The Associated Press requested a comment from the company about its plans but it did not answer.
The large tourism business has provided jobs and money for the Pampachiri native community. The local people suffer from high rates of alcoholism and malnutrition 8. And wool prices are falling. Many took dangerous gold mining jobs in the Amazon.
Now, they charge tourists three dollars each to enter their land. The community earns about $400,000 a year from the entrance fees. The money has led to a conflict over taxes with a nearby community.
Pampachiri community leader Gabino Huaman says he is not sure his group is ready for the responsibility of the business. He said it requires good care of the environment and the tourists.
“We don’t know one word in English,” he said. “Or first aid.”
About 500 villagers have returned in the last couple of years to take up their traditional Andes transport trade. The only difference now is that they move tourists instead of goods.
Isaac Quispe is a 25-year-old former gold miner 2. He left that work after the murders of six people he worked with. He returned home and bought a horse. Last year, he earned $5,200 taking people up Rainbow Mountain by horse.
Scientist Farfan said he hopes the Pampachiri learn from other successful tourism businesses in Peru, like that in nearby Chillca.
For much of the past 10 years, Chillca guides have been quietly taking small groups of tourists to Rainbow Mountain. The five-day walk travels around the melting Ausangate glacier 9.
The guides in Chillca also operate four hotels with space for 16 tourists each.
I’m Susan Shand.
Words in This Story
tourist – n. a person who travels to a place for pleasure
rainbow – n. a curved 10 line of different colors that sometimes appears in the sky when the sun shines through rain
tectonic plate – n. underground plates that rub 11 together to change the earth’s surface
wool - n. the soft, thick hair of sheep and some other animals
malnutrition – n. the unhealthy condition that results from not eating enough food or not eating enough healthy food
glacier – n. a very large area of ice that moves slowly down a slope or valley or over a wide area of land
- 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。
- He was a miner all his working life.他一辈子都是矿工。
- I think it is dangerous to be a miner.我认为当矿工是很危险的。
- 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。
- Provided it's fine we will have a pleasant holiday.如果天气良好,我们的假日将过得非常愉快。
- I will come provided that it's not raining tomorrow.如果明天不下雨,我就来。
- So however much he earned, she spent it, her demands growing and lessening with his income. 祥子挣多少,她花多少,她的要求随着他的钱涨落。 来自汉英文学 - 骆驼祥子
- The talks have resulted in a lessening of suspicion. 谈话消减了彼此的怀疑。
- When automobiles become popular,the use of the horse and buggy passed away. 汽车普及后,就不再使用马和马车了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
- Automobiles speed in an endless stream along the boulevard. 宽阔的林荫道上,汽车川流不息。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
- The company has gone into partnership with Swiss Bank Corporation. 这家公司已经和瑞士银行公司建立合作关系。
- The inflation did the corporation up. 通货膨胀使这个公司破产了。
- In Africa, there are a lot of children suffering from severe malnutrition.在非洲有大批严重营养不良的孩子。
- It is a classic case of malnutrition. 这是营养不良的典型病例。
- The glacier calved a large iceberg.冰河崩解而形成一个大冰山。
- The upper surface of glacier is riven by crevasses.冰川的上表面已裂成冰隙。
- His lips curved in a barely perceptible smile. 他的嘴角弯了弯,露出一丝几乎察觉不到的笑容。
- The missile curved gracefully towards its target. 导弹呈优美的曲线状飞向目标。