EXPLORATIONS - Wonders of the World, Part 2 - Natural Wonder

EXPLORATIONS - Wonders of the World, Part 2 - Natural Wonders
By Paul Thompson

Broadcast: Wednesday, September 01, 2004

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VOICE ONE:

This is Faith Lapidus.

VOICE TWO:

And this is Steve Ember with EXPLORATIONS in VOA Special English. Today we bring you the second of three programs about beautiful and unusual places in our world. Last week, we told about structures built hundreds or thousands of years ago. Today we tell about some of the great natural Wonders of the World. We do not have time to visit all these places, but here are a few from several different countries.

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VOICE ONE:

We begin our program today high in the southeastern mountains of Venezuela. Water falls from a mountain called Auyan-tepui (au-YAN tay-PWEE) or Devil Mountain. The water falls from a height of nine hundred seventy-nine meters. It ends in an area called Devil's Canyon². The water begins to fall in a tightly³ controlled stream. However it ends in a beautiful white cloud of water spray.

This waterfall is the highest in the world. The local native people called it the Churun Meru. It is now called Angel Falls. An American pilot named Jimmy Angel saw the beautiful waterfall for the first time in the nineteen-thirties. He was flying alone in a small airplane looking for gold when he saw water falling from a great height. Some time later several friends said the waterfall should be named after Jimmy Angel.

VOICE TWO:

A small airplane is still the best way to enjoy this beautiful sight. You can also visit the area under the falls after a three-and-a-half-hour boat ride and a one-hour walk through the jungle. And you can see Jimmy Angel's little airplane if you visit Venezuela. It is considered a national treasure.

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VOICE ONE:

From a waterfall in Venezuela, we travel to another mountain. This one is in Japan. It is one of the most photographed mountains in the world. It is Mount¹ Fuji on the island of Honshu. The Japanese call it Fujisan and they say it with love and honor.

 
Mount Fuji, Japan
Mount Fuji is a sleeping volcano about three thousand seven hundred meters high. It is the tallest mountain in Japan. Since ancient times, the Japanese people have considered it a holy mountain. It has also been the favorite subject of thousands of artists. Its picture has even appeared on Japanese money.

VOICE TWO:

Mount Fuji is an almost perfectly⁴ shaped volcano. A crown of white snow covers the top of the mountain most of the year. Mount Fuji seems to rise sharply⁵ out of the ground into the shape most recognized as a volcano.

A large area is missing from the side of the mountain. This is a result of its most recent explosion in seventeen-oh-seven. But the missing part of the mountain does nothing to decrease its beauty.

Mount Fuji is much easier to enjoy than Angel Falls in Venezuela. On a clear day people can see it from both the major cities of Tokyo and Yokohama. The easiest way to see the famous mountain is on a train from Tokyo to Osaka. Or you could climb the mountain to get an even better look. Thousands of people climb Fujisan each summer.

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VOICE ONE:

Next, we travel to the desert of the southwestern United States. In fifteen forty, Spanish explorer Garcia Lopez de Cardenas was searching this desert area for gold. The desert area is almost flat, like a table.

His exploration team had been traveling north from Mexico for several weeks. Suddenly one morning he and his group came to an area that stopped their exploration. They could not continue. In front of them was a huge hole cut in the ground.

Most of this canyon was more than one thousand two hundred meters deep. It was more than three hundred kilometers long. This huge deep canyon extended as far as the explorers could see. It was very beautiful. The sunlight made deep shadows and seemed to change the shape of things every minute. The colors also changed with the movement of the sun and clouds. Often, some areas of the deep canyon appeared bright red. Other times they were a deep brown or purple.

The exploration team tried for three days to reach the river far down in the canyon. They failed. They could also see no way to move around the huge canyon. A lack of supplies forced Captain Garcia Lopez de Cardenas to return to Mexico.

VOICE TWO:

 
Grand Canyon, United States 
That beautiful deep canyon is the Grand Canyon. It is a National Park that includes an area of almost five hundred thousand hectares. It is one of the most studied natural areas in the world. The high canyon walls are a record of the past written in rock. Explorers have found fossils⁶ of ancient creatures near the bottom of the Grand Canyon.

People can see many kinds of animals in or near the great canyon. These include large deer. They do not fear the people who come to visit the Grand Canyon. The canyon, its animals, plants and rocks are protected in this special place.

VOICE ONE:

The Colorado River is at the bottom of the Grand Canyon. The river took several million years to cut the deep canyon into the face of the Earth. It is still doing this today.

Visitors today do not have a problem reaching the bottom of the Grand Canyon and the great Colorado River. Many people take long exciting trips in rubber boats on the river.

Millions of people from around the world visit the Grand Canyon National Park each year. Many stay for less than a day. However, people leave with the memory of this beautiful natural wonder that will stay with them for the rest of their lives.

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VOICE TWO:

Next we travel across the Pacific Ocean. Our next natural Wonder of the World is the Great Barrier Reef⁷ in Australia. It extends more than two thousand kilometers along Australia's northeast coast. It is the largest group of coral reefs⁸ in the world.

A reef is a limestone⁹ formation that is usually under water or just above it. The coral that forms the reef is made of the hardened remains¹⁰ of dead sea animals called polyps. Thousands of millions of living coral polyps and plants are attached to the reef. The coral is many different colors. The water near the reef is usually clear and visitors can see far down into the ocean.

This natural formation supports many different kinds of fish, sea turtles, crabs¹¹, giant clams¹², birds and other wild life.

Millions of visitors from around the world come every year to enjoy the Great Barrier Reef. Many people visit in boats that have glass bottoms so they can see the fish and the colorful coral. Others swim among the fish using underwater breathing equipment.

Swimming along the reef is fun. But it can also be dangerous. The huge great white shark is one of the creatures that swims near the reef.

VOICE ONE:

Scientists believe the Great Barrier Reef is about thirty million years old. However, in recent years, people have caused problems for the reef. Some took coral from the reef. And boats dumped garbage or human waste.

Now the reef is protected by the Great Barrier Reef Marine¹³ Park Authority, an agency of the Australian government. Visitors are told it is against the law to collect any of the limestone or coral or to damage the reef in any way.

Laws prevent oil companies from drilling for oil anywhere near the reef. The Australian government has also worked to make sure nothing is placed in the ocean that would harm the great reef. Scientists are working to make sure that Australia's Great Barrier Reef remains healthy and a true Wonder of the World for years to come.

VOICE TWO:

We would have liked to have enough time to tell about other great wonders of the world -- Victoria Falls, for example. This huge waterfall in southern Africa is on the border between Zambia and Zimbabwe. Another great waterfall brings visitors to the border area between the United States and Canada. They come to see the famous Niagara Falls.

We also wanted to tell about the huge volcano that exploded near the Island of Krakatoa in Indonesia. And the tallest mountain in the world, Mount Everest in Nepal, should be on any list of natural Wonders of the World.

It is easy to visit most of these great natural wonders if you have a computer. If your computer can link with the Internet system you too can enjoy these beautiful sights. Have fun exploring.

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VOICE ONE:

This program was written by Paul Thompson. It was produced by Jill Moss¹⁴. This is Faith Lapidus.

VOICE TWO:

And this is Steve Ember. Join us again next week when we bring you the third part of our Wonders of the World series on EXPLORATIONS in VOA Special English.

1 mount   

n.山峰，乘用马，框，衬纸；vi.增长，骑上（马）；vt.提升，爬上，装备

参考例句：

• Their debts continued to mount up.他们的债务不断增加。
• She is the first woman who steps on the top of Mount Jolmo Lungma.她是第一个登上珠穆朗玛峰的女人。

2 canyon   

n.峡谷，溪谷

参考例句：

• 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。

3 tightly   

adv.紧紧地，坚固地，牢固地

参考例句：

• My child holds onto my hand tightly while we cross the street.横穿马路时，孩子紧拉着我的手不放。
• The crowd pressed together so tightly that we could hardly breathe.人群挤在一起，我们几乎喘不过气来。

4 perfectly   

adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The witnesses were each perfectly certain of what they said.证人们个个对自己所说的话十分肯定。
• Everything that we're doing is all perfectly above board.我们做的每件事情都是光明正大的。

5 sharply   

adj.锐利地，急速；adv.严厉地，鲜明地

参考例句：

• The plane dived sharply and rose again.飞机猛然俯冲而后又拉了起来。
• Demand for personal computers has risen sharply.对个人电脑的需求急剧增长。

6 fossils   

n.化石( fossil的名词复数 )；老顽固；食古不化的人；老古董（老人）

参考例句：

• fossils over two million years old 两百多万年的化石
• The geologist found many uncovered fossils in the valley. 在那山谷里，地质学家发现了许多裸露的化石。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 reef   

n.礁，礁石，暗礁

参考例句：

• The ship and its crew were lost on the reef.那条船及船员都触礁遇难了。
• The ship was wrecked on a coral reef.这条船在珊瑚暗礁上撞毁了。

8 reefs   

礁体

参考例句：

• The motorboat cut across swift currents and skirted dangerous reefs. 汽艇穿过激流，绕过险滩。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• Fish are abundant about the reefs. 暗礁附近鱼很多。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 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。

10 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• 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。

11 crabs   

n.蟹( crab的名词复数 )；阴虱寄生病；蟹肉v.捕蟹( crab的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• As we walked along the seashore we saw lots of tiny crabs. 我们在海岸上散步时看到很多小蟹。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The fish and crabs scavenge for decaying tissue. 鱼和蟹搜寻腐烂的组织为食。 来自《简明英汉词典》

12 clams   

n.蛤；蚌，蛤( clam的名词复数 )v.（在沙滩上）挖蛤( clam的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• The restaurant's specialities are fried clams. 这个餐厅的特色菜是炸蚌。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• We dug clams in the flats et low tide. 退潮时我们在浅滩挖蛤蜊。 来自辞典例句

13 marine   

adj.海的；海生的；航海的；海事的；n.水兵

参考例句：

• Marine creatures are those which live in the sea. 海洋生物是生存在海里的生物。
• When the war broke out,he volunteered for the Marine Corps.战争爆发时，他自愿参加了海军陆战队。

14 moss   

n.苔，藓，地衣

参考例句：

• Moss grows on a rock.苔藓生在石头上。
• He was found asleep on a pillow of leaves and moss.有人看见他枕着树叶和苔藓睡着了。