科罗拉多大峡谷英语介绍

2016-11-08

科罗拉多大峡谷英语介绍

A famous American John Muir said in 1898: “The Grand Canyon… as unearthly in the color andgrandeur and quantity of its architecture as if you had found it after death on some otherstar.”

一位著名的美国人约翰?缪尔曾在1898年说过：“(科罗拉多河的)大峡谷……它的色彩和构造的宏伟多样是世上所无的，就像是人消亡以后在别的星球上发现的东西。”

Like Muir, those of us who stand along the rim are prompted to wonder about the unearthlinessand the forces that created and are still changing this place

和缪尔一样，站在大峡谷边缘的人们顿时对这里的超凡脱俗，对那种创造并仍在改变这个地方的神奇力量感到惊奇。

After more than 100 years of studies, many things are still obscure. Today visitors come by thethousands - the great and simple of the earth - all in a spirit of marvel. Travelers come fromevery state of the Union, from every country in Europe and Asia, pilgrims to a shrine that is thesame as the creed.

经过了100多年的研究，有许多事情仍是个谜。今天，数以千记的游客--不管是普通人还是大人物--都怀着一种好奇的心情来到这里。他们来自于美国的第一洲，来自于欧洲和亚洲的每一个国家，就像朝圣者一样虔诚地来到这座神殿。

From the depths of the canyon comes welling silence. Seldom can you hear the roar of theriver.You cannot catch the patter. Like applause, from the leaves of the cottonwoods on theshelf-like plateau below you. For all sounds are swallowed in this gulf of space. ‘It makes onewant to murmur.' A woman once whispered to her companion. This silence is not thesilence of death; rather, it is a presence. It is like a great piece of music. But music made ofman works up to a climax and ceases; the Grand Canyon is all climax, a chord echoing intoeternity.

峡谷深处静寂无声。我们很少听见河水的咆哮声或下面壁架式高原上三角叶杨树发出鼓掌般的劈啪声。因为这一切声音都在这深渊的空间被吞没了。一位女游客对同伴说，“它让人禁不住地低声细语。"这种寂静不是死一般的沉寂;相反，它是万物存在的宁静。它就像一曲伟大的乐章。人类创作的乐曲逐渐进入高潮，但也有终止的时候，而大峡谷则高潮迭起，是永远回荡不止的和音。

Perhaps the most spectacular feature of the Grand Canyon, its Redwall limestone cliff,stands about half way up the chasm and is practically vertical. Its average height is 550 feet --- almost exactly that of the Washington Monument. Though it is actually gray-blue limestone,the surface of the cliff has been stained to a sunset hue by iron salts washing out of the rocks.Above the Redwall come alternating layers of red sandstone and shale 1,000 feet thick, thencomes the next pale-blue layer. The topmost layers are a yellowish limestone.

也许，大峡谷最引人注目的风貌特色是“红墙”石灰石悬崖，它耸立在裂口半当中，几乎是垂直的。它的平均高度为550 英尺--几乎和华盛顿纪念碑一样高。虽然它实际上是灰蓝色的石灰石，但是从岩石里渗出的铁盐却把悬崖表面染上了晚霞般的色彩。在“红墙”的上方，是红色的沙岩和1 000 英尺厚的页岩交替层，然后是浅蓝色的沙岩层，最上层是淡黄色的石灰石。

Now, visitors to the South Rim alone may number 18,000 in a single day. Some of that numberwill travel by mule train down Bright Angel Trail to the canyon's floor, cross the raging river bya suspension bridge and amount to the North Rim.

现在，每天来大峡谷南缘观光的游客大概有18000名，其中有的会乘坐小型电动机车沿着"光明天使小道"来到谷底，穿过波涛汹涌的河道上方的吊桥，然后到达北缘。

Though the two rims face each other across only 12 miles, it is a journey of 214 miles by carfrom one to the other. Nor can you visit the North Rim except in summer; some 1,200 feethigher than the South Rim, it is snow covered much of the year except in July and August.

尽管南北两缘面对面相隔只有12英里，可是坐车从一边到另一边的距离却是214英里。北缘只能在夏天参观;它比南缘高出1 200英尺左右;除了7、8月外，其它大部分时间都为冰雪覆盖。

But there is no day that you may not visit the South Rim and find the sun warm on your faceand the air perfumed with the incense of smoke from an Indian hearth. The Grand Canyon isan unearthly sight. No wonder an American writer and journalist said, “I came here an atheist,and departed a devout believer.”

然而南缘任何时候都欢迎人们的来访。在那里温暖的阳光照在人们的脸上;空气中弥漫着印第安香炉中散发出的烟香气。大峡谷是一道超凡脱俗的风景。难怪一位美国作家兼记者说：“我来这里时还是个无神论者，离开时却是个虔诚的信徒了。”

科罗拉多大峡谷景观特色

亿万年来，奔腾的科罗拉多河从美国西部亚利桑那洲北部的堪帕布高原中，切割出这令人震撼的奇迹——科罗拉多大峡谷，只要登高远望，就可以清楚看到坦如桌面的高原上的一道大裂痕，那就是科罗拉多河在这片洪荒大地上的印记。无人能一眼看遍大峡谷的全貌。只有从高空俯瞰，才有可能完整地欣赏这条大地的裂缝。真正身临其境的人，只能从峡谷南缘或者北缘欣赏大峡谷的一部分。这倒是应了“不识庐山真面目，只缘身在此山中”的道理。全世界许多到过此地的人为之感叹：只有闻名遐迩的科罗拉多大峡谷才是美国真正的象征。

科罗拉多大峡谷是自然的奇迹，站在峡谷边缘，会惊异这片土地怎么就被鬼斧神工地辟开在你面前，露出里面斑斓的层层断面。峭壁下的深渊深不可测，尽管有护栏围着，但是来自那深渊的魔力仍然让人胆寒，不敢正视。你会疑心自己到了地狱门口，而冥王正笑着端详下一个猎物。仿佛自己已经走到了世界的尽头，孤单单地把整个世界抛在了身后。它带给你一种难以名状的震慑，所谓人类的历史，时间的流逝，在这道鸿沟面前似乎也只能归于一粒沙尘。

很多人选择骑骡子或骑马去谷底闯荡一遭。如果真的下到谷底，就会发现这里又是另一片天地。体验到的不过是当年西部牛仔驰骋荒原的生活。美国西部片里常出现的牛仔骑马挎枪，骑马飞奔在寸草不生的红土地上的情景就是当年大峡谷地区的写照。很多西部片都在这里取景，因为这里有最纯粹的西部风情。

大峡谷为访问者提供了无以伦比的机会从陡立丛生的悬崖边欣赏壮观的远古峡谷中狭长景色。它并不是世界上最深的峡谷，但是大峡谷凭藉其超乎寻常的体表和错综复杂、色彩丰富的地面景观而驰名。从地质角度上来看，它非常有价值因为裸露在峡谷石壁上的从远古保留下来的巨大石块因其坚硬和粗犷而美丽。这些石层无声地记载了北美大陆早期地质形成发展的过程。当然，这里也是地球上关于风蚀研究所能找到的最迷人的景点。