VOA慢速英语2015 美国国家公园管理局为100周年做准备

AS IT IS 2015-04-03 US National Park Service Preparing for 100th Anniversary 美国国家公园管理局为100周年做准备

Next year the U.S. National Park service turns 100. The centennial will be celebrated¹ across the nation and in the 407 parks and historical sites maintained by the U.S. government.

Sally Jewell is Secretary of the Interior². Part of her job is overseeing the National Park Service. She was in New York City kicking off a new program called “Find Your Park,” and she spoke³ with VOA by phone.

Secretary Jewell said being outside helps both children and adults in today’s computer-driven world.

“In this fast-paced society, where we’ve got instant information at our fingertips, and things to distract⁴ our brains, there is little to distract our bodies and that’s why parks and open spaces are so important and even more important with each passing year.”

From beautiful wild lands and majestic⁵ mountains to historical and cultural sites, the national parks can be found in all 50 states across the U.S. 

Yellowstone in Wyoming, Yosemite in California and the Grand Canyon⁶ in Arizona are examples of the natural beauty found in the national parks.  Independence National Historical Park in Philadelphia and Pullman National Monument in Chicago are two examples of the parks that preserve places where important historical events took place in the nation’s history.

The parks had nearly 293 million visits in 2014.  The Golden Gate Park in San Francisco was the most popular with 15 million visits. There are 28 different kinds of national parks, and just this week, the 407th park was dedicated⁷.  Honouliuli, in Hawaii, remembers the Japanese Americans who were held there during World War II.

Secretary Jewell said each park and site has an important story to tell.

“When you start to look at what those, each of those sites represent it paints a rich tapestry⁸ of our history and our culture. And we are doing a much better job in recent years of telling the whole history of our country.”

Secretary Jewell has gathered some famous Americans to help promote the anniversary. First Lady Michelle Obama, and former First Lady Laura Bush are honorary co-chairs of the National Parks Centennial Celebration. Both first ladies share the experience of having lived in a national park, because the White House is one of the country’s national parks. 

In a statement, Mrs. Obama said she looks forward to celebrating the National Park's 100th anniversary. She is “encouraging people across the country to ‘Find Your Park,’ whether it’s in your backyard, or your hometown, or in one of our beautiful national parks.”

Some well-known Americans have filmed their own personal national park story and they can be seen on the National Park Foundation blog. Bill Nye, known as “The Science Guy,” and actress Bella Thorne are two of the people who share their personal national park stories.  

The program wants the public to share park experiences and memories at FindYourPark.com. The interactive⁹ website helps people find a park near their home, not just national parks, but local parks as well.

“It’s really an opportunity and an inspirational message to get people out to get them moving, get them recognizing what parks and public lands have to offer.” 

The U.S. Congress established the first national park, Yellowstone, in the then-territories of Montana and Wyoming in 1872. President Woodrow Wilson formed the National Park Service in 1916 to “protect the wild and wonderful landscapes” in the United States. There were 35 national parks and monuments when President Wilson created the park service.

The United States was the first country in the world to set aside land for everyone to enjoy, and to keep its natural state. Now more than 100 countries have some national park or similar land set aside for preservation¹⁰.

Words in This Story

maintain – v. to keep something in good condition

majestic – adj. large and very beautiful

dedicated – v.  to officially make (something) a place for honoring or remembering a person or an event

preservation – n. the act of keeping something in its original state or in good condition 

1 celebrated   

adj.有名的，声誉卓著的

参考例句：

• He was soon one of the most celebrated young painters in England.不久他就成了英格兰最负盛名的年轻画家之一。
• The celebrated violinist was mobbed by the audience.观众团团围住了这位著名的小提琴演奏家。

2 interior   

adj.在内的，内部的，内地的，国内的；n.内部

参考例句：

• There is water in the interior of the cave.在山洞的内部有水。
• They went into the interior room.他们进了内室。

3 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。

4 distract   

vt.分散注意力，转移注意力，使分心

参考例句：

• Don't distract my attention.不要分散我的注意力。
• It was all a ploy to distract attention from his real aims.那纯粹是障眼法,用以分散人们对他真正意图的注意力。

5 majestic   

adj.雄伟的，壮丽的，庄严的，威严的，崇高的

参考例句：

• In the distance rose the majestic Alps.远处耸立着雄伟的阿尔卑斯山。
• He looks majestic in uniform.他穿上军装显得很威风。

6 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。

7 dedicated   

adj.一心一意的；献身的；热诚的

参考例句：

• He dedicated his life to the cause of education.他献身于教育事业。
• His whole energies are dedicated to improve the design.他的全部精力都放在改进这项设计上了。

8 tapestry   

n.挂毯，丰富多采的画面

参考例句：

• How about this artistic tapestry and this cloisonne vase?这件艺术挂毯和这个景泰蓝花瓶怎么样？
• The wall of my living room was hung with a tapestry.我的起居室的墙上挂着一块壁毯。

9 interactive   

adj.相互作用的，互相影响的，（电脑）交互的

参考例句：

• The psychotherapy is carried out in small interactive groups.这种心理治疗是在互动的小组之间进行的。
• This will make videogames more interactive than ever.这将使电子游戏的互动性更胜以往。

10 preservation   

n.保护，维护，保存，保留，保持

参考例句：

• The police are responsible for the preservation of law and order.警察负责维持法律与秩序。
• The picture is in an excellent state of preservation.这幅画保存得极为完好。