THIS IS AMERICA - Visiting a Dude Ranch

THIS IS AMERICA – December 16, 2002: Visiting a Dude Ranch¹

By Paul Thompson
12 Dec 2002

(THEME)

VOICE ONE:

Thousands of holiday visitors come to the United States each year. Many visit cities like New York, Washington,
San Francisco or Miami. Others come to the United States to visit the American West. I’m Mary Tillotson.

VOICE TWO:

And I’m Steve Ember. We tell about holiday vacations in the American West on the Special English program,
THIS IS AMERICA.

VOICE ONE:

Here is a list of some eating and drinking places that have bands playing country
and western music. They are the ”Lone² Star Café,” the “Chuck Wagon,” and
the “Yellowstone.
”

If I asked where these places might be, you might guess Texas, Montana, Nevada or
some other western American state. Would you be suprised to learn that they are all
in the city of Tokyo, Japan?

If I said “Laredo,” you might know that Laredo is a city in the American state of Texas. Did you know there is
another small western town with the same name near London, England?

Lubbock is also a city in Texas. But you can find a Lubbock Town in the German province of Westphalia, not far
from the city of Cologne.

VOICE TWO:

The culture of the old American West is extremely popular in many parts of the world. American television
programs about the Old West are very popular. People who have read or seen movies about the West often want
to learn more.

Some people come together to form organizations that study the history and culture of the old American West.

In Europe, that interest began with the extremely popular books of German writer Karl May (MY). Karl May
wrote a series of books about the American West. The books followed the adventures of two men -- a Mescalaro
Apache named Winnnetou (VIN-AH-TOO) and his white friend, Old Shatterhand. Mister⁴ May finished his series
of Western adventures in eighteen-ninety-three. More than one-hundred-million of Karl May’s books have been
sold in more than thirty languages.

VOICE ONE:

Yet Karl May (MY) only visited the United States after he finished writing his series of books. And he never
traveled further west than the city of Buffalo⁵, New York.

Karl May made many mistakes in his books. He knew very little about the real American West. But the stories he
wrote were good and millions of readers do not care about the mistakes. Having read the popular books of Karl
May is one of the reasons that many people spend their holidays in the American West.

VOICE TWO:

Howdy!
(All photos - 1880sranch.com)

Those who visit the real American West often stay at places called dude ranches⁶. A ranch is a kind of western
farm. A dude ranch charges visitors money to stay and help work on the ranch. Or visitors can learn to ride and
care for a horse. They can dance to country and western music, eat western foods and explore the surrounding
areas.

Many visitors also buy western clothes to wear. They like to wear the famous American cowboy hat and cowboy
boots. A good cowboy hat and a good pair of boots can cost several hundred dollars each. You can even buy a
new cowboy hat that is made to look very old and well used.

VOICE ONE:

The Dude Ranchers’
Association⁷ is an organization of American ranches that provide a western holiday for
people who enjoy horse riding and learning⁸ about the western United States. Marcia Williams is the director of
the association. Mizz Williams says the association has one-hundred-twenty-four member ranches. They are in
most of the western United States.

Some ranches have as few as eight guests at one time while others have as many as one-hundred-twenty guests
each week. Some of these western ranches permit visitors all year while others have visitors only in the summer
months.

Mizz Williams says most foreign visitors who vacation at member ranches come from Britain. This is followed
by visitors from Germany and Italy. She says it is not unusual to see a person dressed like an American cowboy
and speaking English with a German or Italian accent.

VOICE TWO:

Dude ranch experts say about four-hundred ranches can provide the experience of living in the American West.
An example is the Eighteen-Eighties Ranch in the northwestern state of Montana. It is a new Dude Ranch and a
little different from many others. The Eighteen-Eighties Ranch is really a small town, very similar to several that
were found in the American West during the eighteen-eighties.

What is the ranch really like? Come with us for a few minutes while we visit this unusual place.

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

We are in Montana now. Montana is forever linked to the old culture of the American West. The Little Big Horn
battlefield is here. That is where General George Custer was defeated by the Lakota and the Cheyenne Indians.
Many other famous Indian tribes⁹ lived here too -- the Blackfeet, the Crow, the Shoshone. The mighty¹⁰ Missiouri
River crosses much of Montana. The famous Lewis and Clark exploration team used this river to first travel
through the American West.

The Eighteen-Eighties Ranch is high in the Rocky Mountains near the imaginary¹¹ line that divides the North
American continent. A nearby mountain is more than three- thousand meters tall. This is what is called “big sky
country”
in Montana. The air here is fresh and clean. You can smell the trees and grass. The sky is a sharp blue
color.

The Eighteen-Eighties Ranch includes a kind of hotel called a boarding house. Next door is a drinking place
called a saloon. Just down the street is a large Indian temporary cloth house called a tipi. Another place to stay is
an Indian house made of wood called a bark lodge¹².

One house is made of logs¹³ and is called a log³ cabin¹⁴. Another house is made of dirt
that is held together by grass that has been growing for hundreds of years. This kind
of very thick grass is called sod. The house is called a sod house or soddy.

Visitors to the Eighteen-Eighties Ranch can stay in any
of these places. Each may look like it is more than one-
hundred years old. But they all have modern equipment
inside, including electric power, water and modern


bathrooms.

VOICE TWO:

We have sent a request to the ranch to stay in the sod

house. American settlers in the West often built this

kind of house because it cost almost nothing. All it

took was extremely hard work. The dirt and grass sod is several meters thick. Each

piece had to be cut and lifted out of the ground. These pieces were cut and fit
together to make a warm, dry home. You could build a sod house any size you wanted. The one at the ranch is
small but comfortable.

The walls of the little sod house have been painted white inside. Our room is bright and clean. This little house is
extremely unusual. Once, thousands of sod houses could be seen across the old American West. The little sod
house at the Eighteen-Eighties Ranch may be one of the last. It is truly a piece of American history.

VOICE ONE:

Now we will go to the store to buy a cowboy hat and western clothes. It takes only a few minutes to buy what we
need. After changing clothes in our sod house, we look like real American cowboys or cowgirls. Now, with our
new hats and clothes, we can ride horses into Montana’s high country.

We can choose among many different trails. We can ride far back into the surrounding mountains to the high
mountain lakes. Or we can stay close to the ranch in nearby Levengood Gulch¹⁵. Or we can ride to Lost Creek¹⁶
Trail.

We can ride and explore thousands of hectares of land. When the day is done, we return to the ranch. Dinner
tonight will be a western barbecue. That is beef cooked over a fire, the way it was done in the old West.

We planned to stay at the Eighteen-Eighties Ranch for a week. The price we paid includes horse riding, three
meals each day, entertainment and transportation to and from the airport in Butte, Montana.

Our visit has ended and we experienced¹⁷ a little of what it was like to be a cowboy in the eighteen-hundreds. The
unusual buildings at the Eighteen-Eighties Ranch provided¹⁸ us with a history lesson. We learned¹⁹ to ride and care
for a horse. And, best of all, we lived deep in the beautiful Rocky Mountains. We will always remember the big
sky country of Montana and the American West.

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

This VOA Special English program was written by Paul Thompson. It was produced by Cynthia Kirk. I’m
Mary Tillotson.

VOICE TWO:

And I’m Steve Ember. Join us again next week for another program about life in the United States on the
Special English program THIS IS AMERICA.

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1 ranch   

n.大牧场，大农场

参考例句：

• He went to work on a ranch.他去一个大农场干活。
• The ranch is in the middle of a large plateau.该牧场位于一个辽阔高原的中部。

2 lone   

adj.孤寂的，单独的；唯一的

参考例句：

• A lone sea gull flew across the sky.一只孤独的海鸥在空中飞过。
• She could see a lone figure on the deserted beach.她在空旷的海滩上能看到一个孤独的身影。

3 log   

n.记录，圆木，日志；v.伐木，切，航行

参考例句：

• They log for a living.他们以伐木为生。
• And then what do you do with that log?然后你要拿那些记录做什么呢？

4 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”。

5 buffalo   

n.(北美)野牛；(亚洲)水牛

参考例句：

• Asian buffalo isn't as wild as that of America's. 亚洲水牛比美洲水牛温顺些。
• The boots are made of buffalo hide. 这双靴子是由水牛皮制成的。

6 ranches   

大农场， （兼种果树，养鸡等的）大牧场( ranch的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• They hauled feedlot manure from the ranches to fertilize their fields. 他们从牧场的饲养场拖走肥料去肥田。
• Many abandoned ranches are purchased or leased by other poultrymen. 许多被放弃的牧场会由其他家禽监主收买或租用。

7 association   

n.联盟，协会，社团；交往，联合；联想

参考例句：

• Our long association with your company has brought great benefits.我方和贵公司的长期合作带来了巨大的利益。
• I broke away from the association ten years ago.我10年前就脱离了那个团体。

8 learning   

n.学问，学识，学习；动词learn的现在分词

参考例句：

• When you are learning to ride a bicycle,you often fall off.初学骑自行车时，常会从车上掉下来。
• Learning languages isn't just a matter of remembering words.学习语言不仅仅是记些单词的事。

9 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》

10 mighty   

adj.强有力的；巨大的

参考例句：

• A mighty force was about to break loose.一股巨大的力量即将迸发而出。
• The mighty iceberg came into view.巨大的冰山出现在眼前。

11 imaginary   

adj.想象中的，假想的，虚构的，幻想的；虚数的

参考例句：

• All the characters in this book are imaginary.此书中的所有人物都是虚构的。
• The boy's fears were only imaginary.这小孩的恐惧只是一种想象。

12 lodge   

v.临时住宿，寄宿，寄存，容纳；n.传达室，小旅馆

参考例句：

• Is there anywhere that I can lodge in the village tonight?村里有我今晚过夜的地方吗？
• I shall lodge at the inn for two nights.我要在这家小店住两个晚上。

13 logs   

n.练习用球瓶；原木，木材，木料( log的名词复数 )；航海[飞行]日志

参考例句：

• logs for the fire 烧火用的木材
• The logs were knocked together as they floated down the stream. 圆木顺流而下时互相碰撞着。 来自《简明英汉词典》

14 cabin   

n.(结构简单的)小木屋；船舱，机舱

参考例句：

• They threw up a new cabin in a couple of hours.在几小时之内他们就建起了一座新的小屋。
• It's very hot in the cabin;let's go on deck.舱室内很热，我们到甲板上去吧。

15 gulch   

n.深谷，峡谷

参考例句：

• The trail ducks into a narrow gulch.这条羊肠小道突然下到一个狭窄的峡谷里。
• This is a picture of California Gulch.这是加利福尼亚峡谷的图片。

16 creek   

n.小溪，小河，小湾

参考例句：

• He sprang through the creek.他跳过小河。
• People sunbathe in the nude on the rocks above the creek.人们在露出小溪的岩石上裸体晒日光浴。

17 experienced   

adj.有经验的；经验丰富的，熟练的

参考例句：

• Experienced seamen will advise you about sailing in this weather.有经验的海员会告诉你在这种天气下的航行情况。
• Perhaps you and I had better change over;you are more experienced.也许我们的工作还是对换一下好，你比我更有经验。

18 provided   

conj.假如，若是；adj.预备好的，由...供给的

参考例句：

• 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。

19 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。