VOA标准英语2012--Rangers Watch Over America's Protected Sites

Rangers¹ Watch Over America's Protected Sites

国家公园管理员照管美国的历史遗迹

It was called “The Yellowstone Act,” a law passed by Congress in 1872 that created America’s first national park.

在1872年国会通过的被称为“黄石法”的这项法案创造了美国第一个国家公园。

With its iconic, steam-spouting geysers, including one called “Old Faithful,” Yellowstone in Wyoming was the first park in the world to be set aside for protection by a national government. Now there are about 1,200 such protected places around the globe.

包括“老忠实”喷泉在内的标志性间歇泉使怀俄明州的黄石国家公园成为世界上第一个由国家政府专供保护的公园。现在大约有1200个这样的保护地方遍布全球。

In this country, rangers watch over much more than our 394 spectacular national parks and battlefields.

在这个国家, 国家公园管理员照管着比我们的壮观的394个国家公园和战场还多的地方。

The National Park Service umbrella spreads across hundreds of seashores, rivers, cemeteries², trails, monuments, and historic sites as well - even an ocean reef in the U.S. Virgin³ Islands, a tallgrass prairie in Kansas, and an active volcanic⁴ field in Hawaii in which molten lava⁵ flows into the sea each day.

国家公园管理局蔓延数以百计的海岸、河流、陵园、步道、纪念碑和历史遗迹等——甚至是美国维尔京群岛的一处礁石,堪萨斯的一片大草原,夏威夷的火山活跃区域,每一天这里的熔岩都会流入大海。

You’ll get tours from Park Service rangers in places that don’t have a single mountain or memorial. An old Minuteman missile range in South Dakota, for instance. A big trainyard full of steam engines and vintage railroad cars in Pennsylvania.

你会在连一座山或者纪念堂都没有的地方从公园服务人员那里得到帮助。比如在南达科他州的民兵导弹国家历史遗址就是这样的地方。而在宾西法尼亚州一个满是蒸汽引擎和老式铁路车辆的训练场也是如此。

The spot in the high Utah desert where a golden spike⁶ was driven in May of 1869, as rail lines from the east and west came together to create the Transcontinental Railroad.

还有犹他州，1869年5月，“金色道钉”被钉入枕木从而宣告一条从东到和西横贯大陆的铁路完工。

And not all our great memorials are clustered on the National Mall in Washington. For example, rangers oversee⁷ somber⁸ memorials in Oklahoma, marking the site where a domestic terrorist blew up a federal building in 1995, killing⁹ 168 people; and the memorial to those aboard United Airlines Flight 93, who perished when foreign terrorists plunged¹⁰ it into a Pennsylvania cornfield on September 11, 2001. 

并不是所有我们伟大的纪念堂都集中在华盛顿的国家广场。例如,管理人员监督着俄克拉何马州一处纪念1995年因国内恐怖分子于引爆一栋联邦大楼而丧生168人的纪念堂；还有纪念2001年9月11日美国联合航空公司93号航班的罹难者的纪念堂,这架航班落入恐怖分子之手,最终坠入宾夕法尼亚州的玉米田。

If you’re looking for an uplifting memorial - literally¹¹ - the Park Service runs one amid the dunes¹² of North Carolina, where the Wright Brothers first took powered flight in 1903. 

如果你正在寻找一处令人振奋的纪念堂—在北卡罗莱那州的沙丘中就有这样的地方, 1903年在那里莱特兄弟进行了第一次机动飞行试验。

These national treasures can’t go anywhere, of course, but some people call them our most popular export. Our wide-open and historic places intrigue¹³ the world and bring so many foreign visitors to the United States that brochures at several national sites are printed in three, four - as many as seven - languages.

这些国家珍宝不会去任何地方,当然,但是一些人称它们是我们最受欢迎的出口。我们的开放和历史遗迹让世界为之着迷而且很多外国游客前往美国,而一些国家景点的小册子则往往会使用三、四种，甚至多达七种语言。

1 rangers   

护林者( ranger的名词复数 )； 突击队员

参考例句：

• Do you know where the Rangers Stadium is? 你知道Rangers体育场在哪吗？ 来自超越目标英语 第3册
• Now I'm a Rangers' fan, so I like to be near the stadium. 现在我是Rangers的爱好者，所以我想离体育场近一点。 来自超越目标英语 第3册

2 cemeteries   

n.（非教堂的）墓地，公墓( cemetery的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• It's morbid to dwell on cemeteries and such like. 不厌其烦地谈论墓地以及诸如此类的事是一种病态。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• In other districts the proximity of cemeteries seemed to aggravate the disease. 在其它地区里，邻近墓地的地方，时疫大概都要严重些。 来自辞典例句

3 virgin   

n.处女，未婚女子；adj.未经使用的；未经开发的

参考例句：

• Have you ever been to a virgin forest?你去过原始森林吗？
• There are vast expanses of virgin land in the remote regions.在边远地区有大片大片未开垦的土地。

4 volcanic   

adj.火山的；象火山的；由火山引起的

参考例句：

• There have been several volcanic eruptions this year.今年火山爆发了好几次。
• 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。

5 lava   

n.熔岩，火山岩

参考例句：

• The lava flowed down the sides of the volcano.熔岩沿火山坡面涌流而下。
• His anger spilled out like lava.他的愤怒像火山爆发似的迸发出来。

6 spike   

n.长钉，钉鞋；v.以大钉钉牢，使...失效

参考例句：

• The spike pierced the receipts and held them in order.那个钉子穿过那些收据并使之按顺序排列。
• They'll do anything to spike the guns of the opposition.他们会使出各种手段来挫败对手。

7 oversee   

vt.监督，管理

参考例句：

• Soldiers oversee the food handouts.士兵们看管着救济食品。
• Use a surveyor or architect to oversee and inspect the different stages of the work.请一位房产检视员或建筑师来监督并检查不同阶段的工作。

8 somber   

adj.昏暗的，阴天的，阴森的，忧郁的

参考例句：

• He had a somber expression on his face.他面容忧郁。
• His coat was a somber brown.他的衣服是暗棕色的。

9 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

10 plunged   

v.颠簸( plunge的过去式和过去分词 )；暴跌；骤降；突降

参考例句：

• The train derailed and plunged into the river. 火车脱轨栽进了河里。
• She lost her balance and plunged 100 feet to her death. 她没有站稳，从100英尺的高处跌下摔死了。

11 literally   

adv.照字面意义，逐字地；确实

参考例句：

• He translated the passage literally.他逐字逐句地翻译这段文字。
• Sometimes she would not sit down till she was literally faint.有时候，她不走到真正要昏厥了，决不肯坐下来。

12 dunes   

沙丘( dune的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The boy galloped over the dunes barefoot. 那男孩光着脚在沙丘间飞跑。
• Dragging the fully laden boat across the sand dunes was no mean feat. 将满载货物的船拖过沙丘是一件了不起的事。

13 intrigue   

vt.激起兴趣，迷住；vi.耍阴谋；n.阴谋，密谋

参考例句：

• Court officials will intrigue against the royal family.法院官员将密谋反对皇室。
• The royal palace was filled with intrigue.皇宫中充满了勾心斗角。