EXPLORATIONS - Colorado National Monument

EXPLORATIONS - Colorado National Monument
By Paul Thompson

Broadcast: Wednesday, April 07, 2004

(THEME)

VOICE ONE:

This is Faith Lapidus.

VOICE TWO:

And this is Steve Ember with EXPLORATIONS in VOA Special English. Come with us today as we visit a National Park in the western state of Colorado.

 
The Colorado National Monument.
We also tell about one man who made sure the beautiful natural area would be protected for all time. He did this by working to make it part of the National Park System. Today we visit the Colorado National Monument.

(THEME)

VOICE ONE:

The Colorado National Monument is not as famous as some other National Parks. It does not get as many visitors as the Grand Canyon¹, Yosemite or the Yellowstone National Parks. However the Colorado Monument has a strange and exciting beauty all its own.

 
Colorful layers of rocks.
It is similar to a great painting drawn² by nature on to living rock. Minerals in the area helped nature create a painting that is black, light brown, dark brown and many different colors of red. Often the colors seem to change as clouds block the sun. At other times the sun makes the many different colors seem to burn brightly.

VOICE TWO:

The Colorado National Monument is an area of great extremes. The ground rises very sharply³ from the surrounding flat desert area. The mountains here are part of the western Rocky Mountains. It is an area of huge rock formations⁵ created during more than one-thousand-million years. Volcanoes⁶, great rivers, wind, rain, ice and the birth and death of huge mountains formed this beautiful area.

It is not possible to see this extremely beautiful area and not feel the power of nature. Giant mountains seem to have been cut sharply with a huge knife. Their sides are smooth and clean. Other areas of the same mountain seem to have been torn apart in some violent struggle. These areas are filled with huge piles of broken rock.

 
Finger-like rocks in the Colorado National Monument.
Walls of rock are twisted and have huge holes pushed into their sides. There are tall finger- like rocks that reach far into the sky. Many of these tall objects look as if they will fall down any minute. Other parts of the same area seem to have long, straight lines cut into the rock. It is possible to count these lines. Each line represents a time long ago when these mountains were at the bottom of an ancient ocean.

Each line was formed by dirt, mud and sand that gathered at the bottom of the ancient ocean. Then, as time passed, the bottom of this ancient ocean floor was pushed high into the air by huge pressures deep in the Earth.

VOICE ONE:

Scientists have found seashells high in these mountains and the fossil⁷ remains⁸ of ancient ocean creatures. Near the Colorado National Park researchers have found the huge fossil remains of ancient reptiles¹⁰ called dinosaurs¹². One fossil skeleton¹³ found early last century was the largest fossil dinosaur¹¹ ever found at that time. It was huge and surprised scientists around the world. Scientists are still busy looking for remains of these creatures that died millions of years ago.

However, not all of the animals found in or near the park are fossils¹⁴. Because the area is desert, it is easy to believe that nothing is living here.

But if you are very quiet and stay very still you can see much life in the park. Mountain lions live here. It is very difficult to see them. However, visitors sometimes see the foot marks these big cats leave in the soft sand.

VOICE TWO:

If you look closely¹⁵, you can see small rabbits serching for food or water early in the morning. On hot days you might see deer resting in the shade of the juniper trees. The deer are protected from hunters. Often they show little fear of people.

Visitors must be careful not to surprise a small reptile⁹ called the midget faded rattlesnake. The bite of this snake can be very painful and make a victim very sick.

At first, the Colorado National Monument seems to be nothing more than huge and very colorful rocks shaped by nature. But if you spend a few hours walking slowly on its many paths, you soon learn that it is very much alive.

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

The forces of nature created the Colorado National Monument. But a man named John Otto was responsible for making sure this beautiful area became part of the United States National Park System. John Otto recognized the great natural beauty of this place and wanted it to be protected.

John Otto was an unusual man. He lived alone much of the time in what later became the park. He did not build a house. He moved from place to place and lived in a temporary cloth home.

In a letter written in nineteen-oh-seven, Mister¹⁶ Otto told a friend the area made him feel like it was the heart of the world. He told his friend he was going to stay and build paths and work to inform people about this beautiful work of nature. Some people thought he was insane¹⁷.

But John Otto began his campaign to protect the area by writing letters. He acted as a guide for people who read his letters and came to see the great natural beauty for themselves. He asked everyone who visited for their support in his campaign to have the federal¹⁸ government protect the area.

VOICE TWO:

In nineteen-eleven, President William Taft signed the documents making the area a national monument. It would forever be part of the National Park System and protected by the government.

President Taft also appointed Mister Otto as the new park's first top official. John Otto was only paid one dollar a year for this work. He was not expected to really work at the park, just deal with administrative¹⁹ duties, which were few.

However, John Otto did work in the park. By nineteen-twenty-one he had finished building one of the first major paths. This made it much easier for people to visit the area. He built it using simple tools and without much help. It is called the Trail of the Serpent. He was also very careful to build the trail without damaging any of the area's natural beauty. It was one of the first roads into the park that could be used by an automobile²⁰.

VOICE ONE:

High up in the Colorado National Monument is a steel sign that honors²¹ John Otto. It has been placed into the wall of a rock formation⁴ that John Otto loved. The marker says: "In recognition²² of John Otto, trail builder, promoter, and first custodian²³ of Colorado National Monument, established May twenty-fourth, nineteen-eleven." John Otto would have liked that.

(MUSIC)

VOICE TWO:

The Colorado National Monument is almost eight-thousand-three-hundred hectares. It is near the city of Grand Junction²⁴, Colorado, not far from the state border with Utah. The area is known for its mountains and the beauty of the desert. It is also here that the last of the Rocky Mountains begin to drop away to flat land.

 
A very sharp turn on one of the roads in the Park.
Although the Colorado National Monument is smaller than most National Parks, about five-hundred-thousand visitors come each year. Most visitors drive on the interstate highway system.

Interstate Highway Seventy is only a few kilometers from the park. When a visitor leaves the road, the path becomes much smaller and begins to rise into the mountains. Signs urge safety. Other signs urge the driver of the vehicle to slow down.

VOICE ONE:

The small road begins to turn left, then sharply to the right, then left again. At the same time it moves up and up many meters at a time with each turn.

At first, mountains surround the road on both sides of the car. Then, without warning, the little road moves into the clear and visitors can see hundreds of meters down into the valley. For a little more than six kilometers the road twists and turns high into the park.

At the top of the little road visitors reach the National Park Visitors Center. The modern building provides information about the park. It has a small store where visitors can buy gifts. The Visitors Center also includes a small museum with fossils, photographs and the story of John Otto.

VOICE TWO:

When visitors have collected the information or gifts they want, most continue through the building to an observation area in back of the building. Slowly they walk to the very edge of the mountain.

In this great open space, the finger-like rocks seem to reach for the sky. Far below is the great natural beauty that took more than one- thousand-million years for nature to create.

And, it is here they can begin to understand why John Otto loved this place so much and why he worked so hard to protect it.

(THEME)

VOICE ONE:

This program was written by Paul Thompson. It was produced by Mario Ritter. This is Faith Lapidus.

VOICE TWO:

And this is Steve Ember. Join us again next week for another EXPLORATIONS program in VOA Special English.

1 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。

2 drawn   

v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的

参考例句：

• All the characters in the story are drawn from life.故事中的所有人物都取材于生活。
• Her gaze was drawn irresistibly to the scene outside.她的目光禁不住被外面的风景所吸引。

3 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。

4 formation   

n.形成，组成；形成物，结构；队形，排列

参考例句：

• This is the formation of a new government.这是新政府的构成。
• The aircraft are flying in formation.飞机编队飞行。

5 formations   

n.形成( formation的名词复数 )；构成；形成物；编队

参考例句：

• Clouds are formations of condensed water vapour. 云是由凝聚的水蒸气构成的。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• New word formations have not regularity. 新词的构成没有规律。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 volcanoes   

n.火山( volcano的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Volcanoes and geysers erupt. 火山和间歇喷泉均能喷发。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He has been able to tell us more about active volcanoes than any man alive. 他现在比任何人都能更多地向我们讲述有关活火山的情况。 来自《用法词典》

7 fossil   

n.化石，食古不化的人，老顽固

参考例句：

• At this distance of time it is difficult to date the fossil.时间隔得这么久了，很难确定这化石的年代。
• The man is a fossil.那人是个老顽固。

8 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。

9 reptile   

n.爬行动物；两栖动物

参考例句：

• The frog is not a true reptile.青蛙并非真正的爬行动物。
• So you should not be surprised to see someone keep a reptile as a pet.所以，你不必惊奇有人养了一只爬行动物作为宠物。

10 reptiles   

n.爬行动物，爬虫( reptile的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Snakes and crocodiles are both reptiles. 蛇和鳄鱼都是爬行动物。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Birds, reptiles and insects come from eggs. 鸟类、爬虫及昆虫是卵生的。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

11 dinosaur   

n.恐龙

参考例句：

• Are you trying to tell me that David was attacked by a dinosaur?你是想要告诉我大卫被一支恐龙所攻击？
• He stared at the faithful miniature of the dinosaur.他凝视著精确的恐龙缩小模型。

12 dinosaurs   

n.恐龙( dinosaur的名词复数 )；守旧落伍的人，过时落后的东西

参考例句：

• The brontosaurus was one of the largest of all dinosaurs. 雷龙是所有恐龙中最大的一种。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Dinosaurs have been extinct for millions of years. 恐龙绝种已有几百万年了。 来自《简明英汉词典》

13 skeleton   

n.骨骼，框架，骨干，梗概，提要

参考例句：

• A long illness made a skeleton out of him.长期的卧病使他骨瘦如柴。
• Her notes gave us just the bare skeleton of her theory.她的笔记只给我们提供了她的理论的梗概。

14 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》

15 closely   

adv.紧密地；严密地，密切地

参考例句：

• We shall follow closely the development of the situation.我们将密切注意形势的发展。
• The two companies are closely tied up with each other.这两家公司之间有密切联系。

16 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”。

17 insane   

adj.蠢极的，荒唐的，精神错乱的，疯狂的

参考例句：

• Insane people are sometimes dangerous.精神病人有时非常危险。
• The letter made her insane with jealousy.那封信使她妒忌得发疯。

18 federal   

adj.联盟的；联邦的；(美国)联邦政府的

参考例句：

• Switzerland is a federal republic.瑞士是一个联邦共和国。
• The schools are screaming for federal aid.那些学校强烈要求联邦政府的援助。

19 administrative   

adj.行政的，管理的

参考例句：

• The administrative burden must be lifted from local government.必须解除地方政府的行政负担。
• He regarded all these administrative details as beneath his notice.他认为行政管理上的这些琐事都不值一顾。

20 automobile   

n.汽车，机动车

参考例句：

• He is repairing the brake lever of an automobile.他正在修理汽车的刹车杆。
• The automobile slowed down to go around the curves in the road.汽车在路上转弯时放慢了速度。

21 honors   

n.礼仪；荣典；礼节； 大学荣誉学位；大学优等成绩；尊敬( honor的名词复数 )；敬意；荣誉；光荣

参考例句：

• He aims at honors. 他力求名誉。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• We did the last honors to his remains. 我们向他的遗体告别。 来自《简明英汉词典》

22 recognition   

n.承认，认可，认出，认识

参考例句：

• The place has changed beyond recognition.这地方变得认不出来了。
• A sudden smile of recognition flashed across his face.他脸上掠过一丝笑意，表示认识对方。

23 custodian   

n.保管人，监护人；公共建筑看守

参考例句：

• Benitez believes his custodian is among the top five in world football.贝尼特斯坚信他的门将是当今足坛最出色的五人之一。
• When his father died his uncle became his legal custodian.他父亲死后，他叔叔成了他的法定监护人。

24 junction   

n.连接，接合；交叉点，接合处，枢纽站

参考例句：

• There's a bridge at the junction of the two rivers.两河的汇合处有座桥。
• You must give way when you come to this junction.你到了这个路口必须让路。