VOA慢速英语206 黄石：美国首个国家公园

Yellowstone: America's First National Park 黄石：美国首个国家公园

This week, America celebrated¹ the National Park Service’s 100th birthday.

本周，美国庆祝国家公园管理局成立一百周年。

Yellowstone National Park became America’s first national park in 1872.The National Park Service was formed 44 years later in 1916.

1872年，黄石国家公园成为美国第一个国家公园。44年后国家公园管理局于1916年成立。

Yellowstone, which is mostly in the state of Wyoming, is considered an example of the success of the National Park System.

黄石公园大部分位于怀俄明州，被视为国家公园体系的成功案例之一。

Humans have been present in Yellowstone for more than 11,000 years.

11000多年前人类就在黄石区域活动。

The first organized exploration of the area which lies close to the continental² divide of North America took place in 1870.

对坐落于北美大陆分水岭的黄石进行的第一次有组织的探索是在1870年。

Those first organized explorers must have seen right away how special the land was.

第一批有组织的探险家们一定当时就看出了这片土地是多么的特别。

Yellowstone contains beautiful mountains, deep canyons³, lakes and rivers.

黄石公园有美丽的山脉，幽深的峡谷，湖泊和河流。

The name Yellowstone comes from the river running through the area. At first known as Rock Yellow River, it became known as the Yellowstone River.

黄石这一名字取自于流经该区域的一条河流。最初这条河流叫Rock Yellow River，之后更名为Yellowstone River（黄石河）。

Yellowstone is host to many different species of plants.However, the park is most special because of what lies underneath⁴ it.It sits on top of an ancient super volcano, known as The Yellowstone Caldera.The caldera is 48 by 72 kilometers.And it remains⁵ an active volcano.

黄石公园是多种不同植物的生长地。然而该公园最独特之处在于它下面坐落的火山。黄石公园坐落于古老的大火山之上，火山名叫Yellowstone Caldera（黄石火山）。火山口大小为48乘72公里。它仍然是一座活火山。

It is believed that the last time the volcano exploded or erupted was one half million years ago.The area has had three major eruptions⁷ in the last three million years.

据说该火山上一次爆发是在50万年前。在近三百万年间，该区域爆发过三次大火山。

Experts say it may erupt again in another 1,000 to 10,000 years. But each year, there are thousands of earthquakes at Yellowstone. Most are too small to be felt by people visiting the park.

专家表示，火山下次喷发可能在一千年到一万年之后。但是每年黄石都会发生上千次地震。但震级很低，游客们都感觉不到。

Yellowstone is filled with the beauty of many thermal⁸ or hot water springs.Of all the geothermal places in the world, half are in Yellowstone.

黄石公园到处都是美丽的温泉。全世界一半的地热温泉都在黄石。

In places of geothermal activity, hot water and gasses are trapped under the earth’s crust. In places like Yellowstone, they rush to the surface in the form of hot water and steam to form geysers.

地热活动活跃的地方，热水和热汽都困于地壳之中。在黄石，它们以热水或蒸汽的形式从地面喷涌而出，形成间歇喷泉。

There are more geysers and hot springs in Yellowstone than anywhere else on Earth.The most famous geyser is Old Faithful.It erupts about every hour or hour and a half. The eruption⁶ can last from one and a half minutes up to 5 minutes.The amount of hot water it expels in that time can be as much as 31,000 liters or more.

黄石的间歇喷泉和温泉比世界上任何一处地方都多。最著名的间歇喷泉是老忠实泉。它每小时或每一个半小时喷发一次。每次喷发时长为一分半到五分钟。在此期间涌出的热水量可以达到31000升，甚至更多。

In addition to its beauty and wonder, Yellowstone is an animal sanctuary⁹.It is home to the largest group of wild animals in the lower 48 United States.As you travel through the park, you can sometimes see them in their natural habitat and hear their calls to mate and defend themselves.Listen to this elk’s bugle¹⁰.

黄石不仅有这些美景和奇观，它还是一个动物圣殿。黄石是美国本土48个州中最大的野生动物群栖息地。当你穿过公园，你可以看到他们在自然栖息地活动，听到他们呼唤交配的声音，听到他们抵御外敌时战斗的声音。我们听听麋鹿的叫声。

There is still a wild west in America and its name is Yellowstone.

这里是美国的西大荒，它的名字叫黄石。

Words in This Story

continental divide - n. the watershed¹¹ of North America made of the line of highest points of land separating the waters flowing west from those flowing north or east matching with various ranges of the Rockies, extending from Canada to South America

sanctuary - n. a place where someone or something is protected or given shelter

habitat – n. the place or type of place where a plant or animal naturally or normally lives or grows

bugle – n. the call of the bull elk

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 continental   

adj.大陆的，大陆性的，欧洲大陆的

参考例句：

• A continental climate is different from an insular one.大陆性气候不同于岛屿气候。
• The most ancient parts of the continental crust are 4000 million years old.大陆地壳最古老的部分有40亿年历史。

3 canyons   

n.峡谷( canyon的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• This mountain range has many high peaks and deep canyons. 这条山脉有许多高峰和深谷。 来自辞典例句
• Do you use canyons or do we preserve them all? 是使用峡谷呢还是全封闭保存？ 来自互联网

4 underneath   

adj.在...下面，在...底下；adv.在下面

参考例句：

• Working underneath the car is always a messy job.在汽车底下工作是件脏活。
• She wore a coat with a dress underneath.她穿着一件大衣，里面套着一条连衣裙。

5 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。

6 eruption   

n.火山爆发；（战争等）爆发；（疾病等）发作

参考例句：

• The temple was destroyed in the violent eruption of 1470 BC.庙宇在公元前1470年猛烈的火山爆发中摧毁了。
• The eruption of a volcano is spontaneous.火山的爆发是自发的。

7 eruptions   

n.喷发，爆发( eruption的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• There have been several volcanic eruptions this year. 今年火山爆发了好几次。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Over 200 people have been killed by volcanic eruptions. 火山喷发已导致200多人丧生。 来自辞典例句

8 thermal   

adj.热的，由热造成的；保暖的

参考例句：

• They will build another thermal power station.他们要另外建一座热能发电站。
• Volcanic activity has created thermal springs and boiling mud pools.火山活动产生了温泉和沸腾的泥浆池。

9 sanctuary   

n.圣所，圣堂，寺庙；禁猎区，保护区

参考例句：

• There was a sanctuary of political refugees behind the hospital.医院后面有一个政治难民的避难所。
• Most countries refuse to give sanctuary to people who hijack aeroplanes.大多数国家拒绝对劫机者提供庇护。

10 bugle   

n.军号，号角，喇叭；v.吹号，吹号召集

参考例句：

• When he heard the bugle call, he caught up his gun and dashed out.他一听到军号声就抓起枪冲了出去。
• As the bugle sounded we ran to the sports ground and fell in.军号一响，我们就跑到运动场集合站队。

11 watershed   

n.转折点，分水岭，分界线

参考例句：

• Our marriage was at a watershed.我们的婚姻到了一个转折关头。
• It forms the watershed between the two rivers.它成了两条河流的分水岭。