英语听力：自然百科 徒步南非：喀拉哈里大沙漠—11

 Long before this was a national park, it held the fascination¹ of a man who wrote this lovely old book, Mr. GA Farini and he fell in love with this place when it was undiscovered, wild frontier land. 

The Great Farini, otherwise known as William Hunt, was a famous Canadian showman, best known for crossing Niagara Falls on a high-wire in 1860. 

Having retired² from acrobatics³, the intriguing⁴ Farini continued his waterfall interests by coming here, an adventure that probably made him the first white man to cross the Kalahari. 

“My expedition has completely disproved the long-prevailing notion that the Kalahari is a barren wilderness⁵.” Well, I completely agree. Now there’s just a small matter of finding those falls and I think it’s gonna get a bit tougher.

Farini’s drive to explore the Kalahari on foot was revolutionary. Today, walkers come here all the time, but the area still has to be respected. The National Park’s designated three-day trail isn’t for the faint-hearted. You need to carry all your own equipment, food and water. And there’s no electricity or showers on hand. 

This walk is closed for five months of the year because of the heat. And today I can understand why. 

And the further you climb away from the only water in the park, the more you realize how little shelter there really is. But the climb leads me to a high point called A*, the best possible view of the Orange River.

What a gorgeous gorge⁶! She is a beauty! Definitely worth all that hard work to get up here.

1 fascination   

n.令人着迷的事物，魅力，迷恋

参考例句：

• He had a deep fascination with all forms of transport.他对所有的运输工具都很着迷。
• His letters have been a source of fascination to a wide audience.广大观众一直迷恋于他的来信。

2 retired   

adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的

参考例句：

• The old man retired to the country for rest.这位老人下乡休息去了。
• Many retired people take up gardening as a hobby.许多退休的人都以从事园艺为嗜好。

3 acrobatics   

n.杂技

参考例句：

• Acrobatics is hard to learn but beautiful to watch.杂技不好学，但很好看。
• We watched a performance which included a puppet show and acrobatics.我们观看了一场演出，内容有木偶和杂技。

4 intriguing   

adj.有趣的；迷人的v.搞阴谋诡计(intrigue的现在分词)；激起…的好奇心

参考例句：

• These discoveries raise intriguing questions. 这些发现带来了非常有趣的问题。
• It all sounds very intriguing. 这些听起来都很有趣。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 wilderness   

n.杳无人烟的一片陆地、水等，荒漠

参考例句：

• She drove the herd of cattle through the wilderness.她赶着牛群穿过荒野。
• Education in the wilderness is not a matter of monetary means.荒凉地区的教育不是钱财问题。

6 gorge   

n.咽喉，胃，暴食，山峡；v.塞饱，狼吞虎咽地吃

参考例句：

• East of the gorge leveled out.峡谷东面地势变得平坦起来。
• It made my gorge rise to hear the news.这消息令我作呕。