VOA慢速英语2016--谢南多厄国家公园
时间：2019-01-12 作者：英语课 分类：2016年VOA慢速英语(七)月
Shenandoah: A Western-Style Park in the East 谢南多厄国家公园
This week on our national parks journey, we visit a mountainous landscape on America’s east coast. Within the park are rocky peaks, rolling green hills, and spectacular waterfalls. It is also home to hundreds of black bears.
Welcome to Shenandoah National Park in the state of Virginia.
Shenandoah sits in the heart of Blue Ridge 1 Mountains. The mountains are part of the larger Appalachian Mountain range. The park’s hiking trails, waterfalls and wildlife appeal to nature-lovers and adventurers.
Driving on top of the mountain
Shenandoah National Park is perhaps best known for the road that goes through it: Skyline Drive.
Skyline Drive runs nearly 170 kilometers north to south. It is the only road in the park. There are more than 70 overlooks along the way, where people can pull their car off the road. These overlooks provide visitors with beautiful views of the Shenandoah Valley.
The road was built in the 1930s, at a time when the automobile 2 was becoming popular.
Shenandoah’s north entrance lies less than 120 kilometers from Washington, D.C. Early planners wanted a major national park like those in the American West here on the East Coast, close to big cities.
In fact, Shenandoah was described as “an Eastern park in the Western tradition.”
And, early park planners wanted Skyline Drive to be “the single greatest feature” of the park.
Denise Machado is a park ranger 3 at Shenandoah. She explains that the park soon became a place for people to escape the noise -- and heat -- of big cities.
“It was created just so people could kind of get away, a place to escape the big city hustle 4 and bustle 5. Pre-air-condition days, this was the place to be. The temperatures were about 10 degrees cooler up here on the mountain.”
But, Shenandoah’s history is not without controversy 6. To create the place that park planners envisioned, many families were forced to leave behind properties in the Blue Ridge Mountains.
Shenandoah National Park was formed from more than 3,000 individual land purchases. They were presented to the federal government by the Commonwealth 7 of Virginia. Shenandoah officially became a national park in 1936.
Today, most of the buildings and structures that once stood in the area are long gone. But, you can find some signs of the past. A log building called Corbin Cabin still stands. George Corbin, who built the log structure, was forced to leave the land in the late 1930s, just after the creation of the national park. Today, the cabin is operated by the Potomac Appalachian Trail Club. The club permits people to rent the cabin.
Hiking Shenandoah
Shenandoah National Park has more than 800 kilometers of hiking trails. They take visitors to rocky mountain peaks, grassy 8 meadows, and forested canyons 10. Hikers are especially drawn 11 to the park’s famous waterfalls.
“The waterfalls are definitely the most popular. We have nine waterfalls. Dark Hollow Falls is our most popular. It’s a beautiful waterfall, it's a 70-foot waterfall. It 1.4 mile hike round-trip. It follows along a stream. And you’re right at the base of the falls and you’re looking up and you can feel the spray. It’s a really great experience.”
Grace Williams hiked to Dark Hollow Falls with her daughter on her birthday.
“My daughter’s gift for me to bring me to the national park. And it’s on my bucket list. I always love falls, I like the sound. The water is refreshing 12. So, they did tell us it's kind of like a moderate hike. I do have knee problems, but I just wanted to challenge it, and I’m glad I came. It’s beautiful.”
Another of Shenandoah’s famous hikes is called Old Rag. It is almost 15 kilometers long.
To get to the top of Old Rag Mountain, hikers must scramble 13 up large rocks. It is a long and difficult hike. But, the views from the top bring hikers from all across the country and world.
Because it is close to many big cities, Shenandoah’s trails are often crowded with people. More than 1 million people visit the park each year.
Although Shenandoah was created to be an easy escape from big East Coast cities, today it sees visitors from all over the world.
“It's amazing how many people you meet that come from far-flung countries and corners of the world. We've had people from Africa. We get a lot of people from Germany, France, Sweden, Netherlands, so you just never know where they're going to come from."
Machado says summer and fall are the most popular times to visit the park. While summer is a good time to enjoy the waterfalls, the fall brings beautiful autumn colors. In the middle of October, the trees begin to lose their leaves. The leaves change from green to different shades of yellow, orange, and red as winter approaches.
On weekends in October it can take up to two hours just to get into the park.
Shenandoah’s black bears
Visitors to Shenandoah National Park have a good chance of seeing a black bear. The park is home to between 400 to 600 black bears. It has one of the densest 15 black bear populations of any national park.
Denise Machado knows a lot about these black bears. In fact, her nickname is “the bear lady.”
“Well, I am known in Shenandoah as the bear lady. I see a lot of bears every season. I'm in the park early in the morning and late in the evening. I see anywhere from 400 or so bears every year. And, it's wonderful to see. I never get tired of seeing them. They are all different and they are all special.”
Machado gives visitors advice for what to do if they see a black bear.
“So, if you see a bear, you want to clap your hands, you wanna say ‘Hey bear! Hey bear!’ They really don’t like to be startled. You don’t want to try to sneak 16 up on them to get a photo or anything. You want to make sure that they are totally aware you are there.”
Malachi and his older brother Brent visited Shenandoah National Park with their parents. The family traveled here from Cincinnati, Ohio. The family hiked the Little Stony 17 Man Trail. Along the way, they came upon a black bear.
“I really liked how we could see the animals. We saw a really big bear. And he was really friendly and he didn’t do anything. And he was just eating.”
The park’s bears and other wildlife are a big part of what attracts so many visitors to Shenandoah. Carol Bair and her husband visited the park from York, Pennsylvania. She said visiting Shenandoah is “like a breath of fresh air.”
“It's just quieter. You hear the birds. You look at trees different. The wind blowing through the fields, it's just really neat.”
Words in This Story
peak - n. the pointed 18 top of a mountain
spectacular - adj. causing wonder and admiration 19
hustle and bustle - expression. busy and noisy activity
meadow - n. a usually flat area of land that is covered with tall grass
canyon 9 - n. a deep valley with steep rock sides and often a stream or river flowing through it
bucket list - n. a number of experiences that a person hopes to do in their lifetime
moderate - adj. average in the level of difficulty
scramble - v. to move or climb over something quickly especially while also using your hands
recreation - n. activities done for enjoyment 20
dense 14 - adj. having many of something in a certain area
startle - v. to surprise or frighten suddenly
sneak up - phrasal verb. to approach (someone) quietly and secretly in order to avoid being noticed
- We clambered up the hillside to the ridge above.我们沿着山坡费力地爬上了山脊。
- The infantry were advancing to attack the ridge.步兵部队正在向前挺进攻打山脊。
- He is repairing the brake lever of an automobile.他正在修理汽车的刹车杆。
- The automobile slowed down to go around the curves in the road.汽车在路上转弯时放慢了速度。
- 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。
- It seems that he enjoys the hustle and bustle of life in the big city.看起来他似乎很喜欢大城市的热闹繁忙的生活。
- I had to hustle through the crowded street.我不得不挤过拥挤的街道。
- The bustle and din gradually faded to silence as night advanced.随着夜越来越深，喧闹声逐渐沉寂。
- There is a lot of hustle and bustle in the railway station.火车站里非常拥挤。
- That is a fact beyond controversy.那是一个无可争论的事实。
- We ran the risk of becoming the butt of every controversy.我们要冒使自己在所有的纷争中都成为众矢之的的风险。
- He is the chairman of the commonwealth of artists.他是艺术家协会的主席。
- Most of the members of the Commonwealth are nonwhite.英联邦的许多成员国不是白人国家。
- They sat and had their lunch on a grassy hillside.他们坐在长满草的山坡上吃午饭。
- Cattle move freely across the grassy plain.牛群自由自在地走过草原。
- 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。
- 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
- All the characters in the story are drawn from life.故事中的所有人物都取材于生活。
- Her gaze was drawn irresistibly to the scene outside.她的目光禁不住被外面的风景所吸引。
- I find it'so refreshing to work with young people in this department.我发现和这一部门的青年一起工作令人精神振奋。
- The water was cold and wonderfully refreshing.水很涼，特别解乏提神。
- He broke his leg in his scramble down the wall.他爬墙摔断了腿。
- It was a long scramble to the top of the hill.到山顶须要爬登一段长路。
- The general ambushed his troops in the dense woods. 将军把部队埋伏在浓密的树林里。
- The path was completely covered by the dense foliage. 小路被树叶厚厚地盖了一层。
- Past Botoi some of the densest jungle forests on Anopopei grew virtually into the water. 过了坊远湾，岛上的莽莽丛林便几乎直长到水中。
- Earth is the densest of all of these remaining planets. 地球是所剩下行星中最致密的星球。
- He raised his spear and sneak forward.他提起长矛悄悄地前进。
- I saw him sneak away from us.我看见他悄悄地从我们身边走开。
- The ground is too dry and stony.这块地太干，而且布满了石头。
- He listened to her story with a stony expression.他带着冷漠的表情听她讲经历。
- He gave me a very sharp pointed pencil.他给我一支削得非常尖的铅笔。
- She wished to show Mrs.John Dashwood by this pointed invitation to her brother.她想通过对达茨伍德夫人提出直截了当的邀请向她的哥哥表示出来。
- He was lost in admiration of the beauty of the scene.他对风景之美赞不绝口。
- We have a great admiration for the gold medalists.我们对金牌获得者极为敬佩。