VOA慢速英语 2007 1112b

THIS IS AMERICA - Alaska's Call of the Wild Leads Visitors to the Last Frontier
By Voice of America / Broadcast: Sun, 11 Nov 2007 16:00:00 UTC
VOICE ONE:

Welcome to THIS IS AMERICA in VOA Special English. I'm Barbara Klein.

VOICE TWO:

And I'm Steve Ember. Among the fifty states, California is the largest in population. But which state is the largest in area? Texas? No, another state is even bigger than Texas: Alaska.

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

Alaska is a state of wild beauty. It calls itself the Last Frontier. Alaska is on the border with northwestern Canada -- so far north, part of it is within the Arctic Circle.

It has a million and a half square kilometers of territory. It has forests to hike, mountains to climb and waters to sail or fish. Alaska is known for its salmon¹, crab² and other seafood³.

The travel season in Alaska is between May and September. Some areas, especially in the interior, get surprisingly warm in the summer.

The Alaska Climate Research Center says one rule has been found to work for most travelers in Alaska. Always be prepared for one season colder than the time you are traveling. This is true especially if you visit Alaska early or late in the travel season.

VOICE TWO:

Much of Alaskan life is shaped by ice and snow, especially in the Arctic north. Not surprisingly, then, climate change is an important issue for the state.

September marked the end of what scientists call the melt season for Arctic sea ice. The National Snow and Ice Data Center in Colorado says the sea ice fell this year to the lowest levels since satellite measurements began. That was in nineteen seventy-nine. If earlier ship and aircraft records are included, Arctic sea ice may have fallen by as much as half from levels in the nineteen fifties.

VOICE ONE:

In September, Alaska Governor Sarah Palin signed an order establishing an advisory⁴ group within her cabinet. The Climate Change Sub-Cabinet will prepare a plan for dealing⁵ with the expected effects of global warming.

In a statement, the governor said many scientists note that Alaska's climate is changing. She said Alaskans are already seeing effects like coastal⁶ erosion, melting ice and record forest fires.

The cabinet group will also look at ways to develop and expand programs for renewable energy from wind and other sources. In addition, the governor is seeking a natural gas pipeline⁷ that she says would help the nation by providing clean energy.

(MUSIC)

Saint Michael's Cathedral, a Russian Orthodox church in the town of Sitka

VOICE TWO:

Native groups have lived for thousands of years in Alaska. In the seventeen hundreds, Russia took control of the territory. Alaska is just across the Bering Strait from Siberia. The Russians traded with the local people and brought animal furs back home to Russia to sell.

Later, the Russians decided⁸ to sell the territory itself. The United States bought it in eighteen sixty-seven for seven million dollars. Alaska became a territory of the United States. The name came from Alyeska, an Aleut native word for great land.

Many Americans did not think Alaska was such a great land. They did not think it had valuable resources. In fact, it was one of the best deals the United States ever made.

VOICE ONE:

Today, Alaska's biggest industries are oil production, tourism and fishing. The state also has gold and copper⁹ mines and other mineral resources.

Around nineteen hundred, gold was found in the Yukon area. Many people went to Alaska hoping to get rich in the Yukon gold rush. Most of them did not succeed.

Finally, in nineteen fifty-nine, Alaska entered the Union as the forty-ninth state -- the forty-ninth star on the American flag. Later that same year Hawaii became the fiftieth. Alaska and Hawaii are the only states that are not physically¹⁰ connected to the others.

VOICE TWO:

Alaska has fewer people per square kilometer than any other state. But the population has been growing. The most recent estimate from the Census¹¹ Bureau shows there were six hundred seventy thousand people last year.

Most Alaskans live in central and southern Alaska. The climate is more moderate compared to the north and there is more daylight during winter.

Alaska's largest city is Anchorage, with about two hundred eighty thousand people. Fairbanks and Juneau, the capital, have about thirty thousand each.

The Alaska Native Heritage Center says Alaska Natives represent about sixteen percent of the state population. The Heritage Center says eleven native Alaskan cultures and twenty languages survive today.

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

Sled dogs are an important part of the history of Alaska. For many, many winters, sleds pulled by dogs provided the only transportation across the frozen territory.

Dog sled drivers are called mushers. The early ones in some cases even used wolves to pull their sleds.

Mushers and their dogs carried mail, food and other supplies to miners after the rivers were frozen and boat travel was blocked. Sometimes the sleds carried the miners' gold on the return trip.

In nineteen twenty-five, heavy snows blocked all the roads into the city of Nome. A serious disease, diphtheria, was spreading among children there. The nearest medicine was in Anchorage. Twenty dog sled teams took part in getting the medicine from Anchorage to Nome. They got it there in five and a half days.

Even as airplanes and snowmobiles came to replace dog sleds, that event has never been forgotten.

VOICE TWO:

A musher and his dog team in the 2005 Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race

In March of each year, the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race is held in Alaska. Organizers wanted to create an event that would preserve the memory of dog sleds. They chose a race over what had been the Iditarod Trail, one of the paths traveled by dog sleds.

The race from Anchorage to Nome, on the Bering Sea coast, is more than one thousand eight hundred fifty kilometers long. The first one took place in nineteen seventy-three.

The mushers travel from one rest area to another, much the same way mushers did many years ago as they took supplies to the miners. But the modern sleds travel much faster.

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

Alaska is a popular vacation place. One reason is its eight national parks. The best known is Denali National Park. Denali is home to North America's highest mountain. Mount McKinley is over six thousand meters high.

Denali National Park also has rivers and large glaciers¹². Wildlife in the park includes wolves, moose and grizzly¹³ bears.

Cruises ship coming into port in Juneau, Alaska

There are hotels in the park, but some visitors like to set up tents and sleep outdoors. Most visitors come in the summer months. During winter, the road into the park is closed except for visitors using skis, snowshoes or dog sleds.

Tourists in Alaska do not have to go camping to see glaciers. Many people go on cruise ships that sail past these slow-moving mountains of ice. Another way to experience Alaska is by train. There are railroad tours that are several days long.

VOICE TWO:

In nineteen seventy-three the United States was facing a Middle East oil crisis. Congress passed legislation that President Richard Nixon signed into law to permit the building of an oil pipeline across Alaska. The Trans-Alaska Pipeline is almost one thousand three hundred kilometers long. It extends from the oil fields of Alaska's North Slope to the port of Valdez.

Oil brings money for Alaska, but also risks. Almost twenty years ago, Alaska experienced an environmental disaster that killed fish, birds, seals and other animals.

In nineteen eighty-nine, the tanker¹⁴ ship Exxon Valdez tore open on underwater rocks and created a huge oil spill along the coast. The clean-up took a long time and led Congress to pass legislation to try to reduce the danger of oil pollution.

Today environmental groups are fighting calls to open protected areas of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska to oil drilling. Drilling supporters say the oil is needed to reduce America's dependence¹⁵ on foreign oil. Opponents say it would defeat the purpose of a wildlife refuge.

VOICE ONE:

One thing cannot be disputed. Alaska's biggest industries -- oil, tourism and fishing -- all depend on its natural resources. That includes the wild and wide-open beauty that every year brings more than one million visitors to the Last Frontier.

(MUSIC)

VOICE TWO:

Our program was produced by Caty Weaver¹⁶. I'm Steve Ember.

VOICE ONE:

And I'm Barbara Klein. Join us again next week for THIS IS AMERICA in VOA Special English.

1 salmon   

n.鲑，大马哈鱼，橙红色的

参考例句：

• We saw a salmon jumping in the waterfall there.我们看见一条大马哈鱼在那边瀑布中跳跃。
• Do you have any fresh salmon in at the moment?现在有新鲜大马哈鱼卖吗？

2 crab   

n.螃蟹，偏航，脾气乖戾的人，酸苹果；vi.捕蟹，偏航，发牢骚；vt.使偏航，发脾气

参考例句：

• I can't remember when I last had crab.我不记得上次吃蟹是什么时候了。
• The skin on my face felt as hard as a crab's back.我脸上的皮仿佛僵硬了，就象螃蟹的壳似的。

3 seafood   

n.海产食品，海味，海鲜

参考例句：

• There's an excellent seafood restaurant near here.离这儿不远有家非常不错的海鲜馆。
• Shrimps are a popular type of seafood.小虾是比较普遍的一种海味。

4 advisory   

adj.劝告的，忠告的，顾问的，提供咨询

参考例句：

• I have worked in an advisory capacity with many hospitals.我曾在多家医院做过顾问工作。
• He was appointed to the advisory committee last month.他上个月获任命为顾问委员会委员。

5 dealing   

n.经商方法，待人态度

参考例句：

• This store has an excellent reputation for fair dealing.该商店因买卖公道而享有极高的声誉。
• His fair dealing earned our confidence.他的诚实的行为获得我们的信任。

6 coastal   

adj.海岸的，沿海的，沿岸的

参考例句：

• The ocean waves are slowly eating away the coastal rocks.大海的波浪慢慢地侵蚀着岸边的岩石。
• This country will fortify the coastal areas.该国将加强沿海地区的防御。

7 pipeline   

n.管道，管线

参考例句：

• The pipeline supplies Jordan with 15 per cent of its crude oil.该管道供给约旦15%的原油。
• A single pipeline serves all the houses with water.一条单管路给所有的房子供水。

8 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

9 copper   

n.铜；铜币；铜器；adj.铜(制)的；(紫)铜色的

参考例句：

• The students are asked to prove the purity of copper.要求学生们检验铜的纯度。
• Copper is a good medium for the conduction of heat and electricity.铜是热和电的良导体。

10 physically   

adj.物质上，体格上，身体上，按自然规律

参考例句：

• He was out of sorts physically,as well as disordered mentally.他浑身不舒服，心绪也很乱。
• Every time I think about it I feel physically sick.一想起那件事我就感到极恶心。

11 census   

n.(官方的)人口调查，人口普查

参考例句：

• A census of population is taken every ten years.人口普查每10年进行一次。
• The census is taken one time every four years in our country.我国每四年一次人口普查。

12 glaciers   

冰河，冰川( glacier的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Glaciers gouged out valleys from the hills. 冰川把丘陵地带冲出一条条山谷。
• It has ice and snow glaciers, rainforests and beautiful mountains. 既有冰川，又有雨林和秀丽的山峰。 来自英语晨读30分（高一）

13 grizzly   

adj.略为灰色的，呈灰色的；n.灰色大熊

参考例句：

• This grizzly liked people.这只灰熊却喜欢人。
• Grizzly bears are not generally social creatures.一般说来，灰熊不是社交型动物。

14 tanker   

n.油轮

参考例句：

• The tanker took on 200,000 barrels of crude oil.油轮装载了二十万桶原油。
• Heavy seas had pounded the tanker into three parts.汹涌的巨浪把油轮撞成三载。

15 dependence   

n.依靠，依赖；信任，信赖；隶属

参考例句：

• Doctors keep trying to break her dependence of the drug.医生们尽力使她戒除毒瘾。
• He was freed from financial dependence on his parents.他在经济上摆脱了对父母的依赖。

16 weaver   

n.织布工；编织者

参考例句：

• She was a fast weaver and the cloth was very good.她织布织得很快，而且布的质量很好。
• The eager weaver did not notice my confusion.热心的纺织工人没有注意到我的狼狈相。