美国国家公共电台 NPR--Joy Ryan, 93, is the oldest woman to visit every U.S. national park

Joy Ryan, 93, is the oldest woman to visit every U.S. national park

Transcript¹

A 93-year-old grandmother and her 42-year-old grandson just finished a tour of all 63 U.S. national parks. They became internet celebrities² along the way.

A MART?NEZ, HOST:

Ninety-three-year-old Joy Ryan has set a world record.

JOY RYAN: I'm the oldest old lady to ever visit every national park.

MART?NEZ: All 63 national parks. And she did it with her grandson, Brad, who's 42. Here's NPR's Ari Daniel.

ARI DANIEL, BYLINE³: Joy and Brad Ryan gingerly walk along a path in the rain forest beneath a cathedral of flowers and green vines. Joy's in sandals. And Brad's right beside her.

BRAD RYAN: All right. Hold on to my hand.

J RYAN: Had to get over that root. Look at those big leaves. I never saw anything like it in my whole born days.

DANIEL: This is the National Park of American Samoa in the South Pacific, some 6,700 miles from their home in Duncan Falls, Ohio, and the last part to secure Joy that world record.

B RYAN: Look at that. And then everything gets bright again.

DANIEL: Massive stone arches stand along the island's north side, where the Pacific crashes ashore⁴.

J RYAN: Isn't that magnificent?

B RYAN: It's amazing. Yeah.

J RYAN: Oh, it's so pretty, just like it's a dream.

DANIEL: This journey that culminated⁵ here - it began 20-odd years ago, when Brad's parents got divorced and he became estranged⁶ from his grandma, Joy. It wasn't until his sister's wedding that he saw her again.

B RYAN: She came into the church, and she was gaunt, unsteady. It was hard to see this woman that was so important to me in my formative years on the cusp of dying, knowing that there was so much anger and distance between us.

DANIEL: But over a period of months, Joy recovered, and Brad worked up the courage to suggest they make raisin-filled cookies together.

B RYAN: But there was a little too much awkwardness for my liking⁷. You can't pick up where you left off. I learned that quickly.

DANIEL: Still, they stayed in touch. Then in 2015, when Brad was in vet⁸ school, he found himself in a dark place.

J RYAN: Brad was feeling depressed⁹ and not very happy with hisself, and so he called, you know, if I wanted to go down to the Smoky Mountains and stay in a tent. And I said, yes. I'll try it.

B RYAN: There's a lot of things I've gotten wrong in my life. The best thing I ever did was to call her that day.

DANIEL: Grandma Joy was 85. She'd never even seen a mountain before, but she and Brad set out to summit one of the park's peaks. It was 2 1/2 miles to the top.

B RYAN: She was very, very wobbly. Her balance and coordination¹⁰ were very poor.

J RYAN: And when I got to the top, there was this big group of college kids, and they all gave me a rousing cheer (laughter).

DANIEL: Joy and Brad were hooked. They visited one national park after another, and Joy kept getting stronger. They went zip lining¹¹ in West Virginia.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

B RYAN: Woo-hoo.

J RYAN: I had these handsome men give me a hug, and down there we went.

DANIEL: Whitewater rafting in Alaska.

J RYAN: Good gravy¹². What a trip.

DANIEL: Joy even rolled down a sand dune¹³ in Colorado.

B RYAN: And I said, you are going to break a hip¹⁴. And she goes, kiss my grits¹⁵.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

B RYAN: Have fun getting back up.

DANIEL: Brad and Joy have had little dust-ups along the way. But this tour of the national parks - it healed their rift¹⁶.

J RYAN: You can't hold grudges¹⁷ forever.

DANIEL: At times, the park spoke¹⁸ to them personally, like when they hiked amongst the towering California redwoods, feeling two inches tall, and Joy looked up and noticed something.

J RYAN: They've been struck by lightning. And you think, that takes courage, after you've been struck by lightning to say, I'm going to keep on growing.

DANIEL: For NPR News, I'm Ari Daniel.

(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)

1 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

2 celebrities   

n.（尤指娱乐界的）名人( celebrity的名词复数 )；名流；名声；名誉

参考例句：

• He only invited A-list celebrities to his parties. 他只邀请头等名流参加他的聚会。
• a TV chat show full of B-list celebrities 由众多二流人物参加的电视访谈节目

3 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

4 ashore   

adv.在(向)岸上，上岸

参考例句：

• The children got ashore before the tide came in.涨潮前，孩子们就上岸了。
• He laid hold of the rope and pulled the boat ashore.他抓住绳子拉船靠岸。

5 culminated   

v.达到极点( culminate的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• a gun battle which culminated in the death of two police officers 一场造成两名警察死亡的枪战
• The gala culminated in a firework display. 晚会以大放烟火告终。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 estranged   

adj.疏远的，分离的

参考例句：

• He became estranged from his family after the argument.那场争吵后他便与家人疏远了。
• The argument estranged him from his brother.争吵使他同他的兄弟之间的关系疏远了。

7 liking   

n.爱好；嗜好；喜欢

参考例句：

• The word palate also means taste or liking.Palate这个词也有“口味”或“嗜好”的意思。
• I must admit I have no liking for exaggeration.我必须承认我不喜欢夸大其词。

8 vet   

n.兽医，退役军人；vt.检查

参考例句：

• I took my dog to the vet.我把狗带到兽医诊所看病。
• Someone should vet this report before it goes out.这篇报道发表之前应该有人对它进行详查。

9 depressed   

adj.沮丧的，抑郁的，不景气的，萧条的

参考例句：

• When he was depressed,he felt utterly divorced from reality.他心情沮丧时就感到完全脱离了现实。
• His mother was depressed by the sad news.这个坏消息使他的母亲意志消沉。

10 coordination   

n.协调，协作

参考例句：

• Gymnastics is a sport that requires a considerable level of coordination.体操是一项需要高协调性的运动。
• The perfect coordination of the dancers and singers added a rhythmic charm to the performance.舞蹈演员和歌手们配合得很好，使演出更具魅力。

11 lining   

n.衬里，衬料

参考例句：

• The lining of my coat is torn.我的外套衬里破了。
• Moss makes an attractive lining to wire baskets.用苔藓垫在铁丝篮里很漂亮。

12 gravy   

n.肉汁；轻易得来的钱，外快

参考例句：

• You have spilled gravy on the tablecloth.你把肉汁泼到台布上了。
• The meat was swimming in gravy.肉泡在浓汁之中。

13 dune   

n.(由风吹积而成的)沙丘

参考例句：

• The sand massed to form a dune.沙积集起来成了沙丘。
• Cute Jim sat on the dune eating a prune in June.可爱的吉姆在六月天坐在沙丘上吃着话梅。

14 hip   

n.臀部，髋；屋脊

参考例句：

• The thigh bone is connected to the hip bone.股骨连着髋骨。
• The new coats blouse gracefully above the hip line.新外套在臀围线上优美地打着褶皱。

15 grits   

n.粗磨粉；粗面粉；粗燕麦粉；粗玉米粉；细石子，砂粒等( grit的名词复数 )；勇气和毅力v.以沙砾覆盖（某物），撒沙砾于( grit的第三人称单数 )；咬紧牙关

参考例句：

• The sands [grits] in the cooked rice made my tooth ache. 米饭里的砂粒硌痛了牙。 来自辞典例句
• This process also produces homing and corn grits. 此法也产生玉米麸(homing)和玉米粗粉。 来自辞典例句

16 rift   

n.裂口，隙缝，切口；v.裂开，割开，渗入

参考例句：

• He was anxious to mend the rift between the two men.他急于弥合这两个人之间的裂痕。
• The sun appeared through a rift in the clouds.太阳从云层间隙中冒出来。

17 grudges   

不满，怨恨，妒忌( grudge的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• He never grudges money. 他从不吝惜金钱。
• They bear grudges against each other. 他俩有过节儿。

18 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。