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VOA慢速英语2010年-THIS IS AMERICA - Alaska and Hawaii Ma

时间:2010-04-01 02:55来源:互联网 提供网友:hollo   字体: [ ]
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VOICE ONE:

Welcome to THIS IS AMERICA in VOA Special English. I'm Barbara Klein.

VOICE TWO:

And I'm Steve Ember. The United States has had fifty states for fifty years. Alaska and Hawaii both joined the Union in nineteen fifty-nine. They were the first new states admitted since New Mexico and Arizona in nineteen twelve. And they are the subject of our program today.

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

Alaska and Hawaii are the only states not connected to the mainland, or "the lower forty-eight" as Alaskans call it. The Hawaiian Islands are in the Pacific Ocean almost four thousand kilometers west of California. Alaska is on the border of northwestern Canada, far enough north that part of it is within the Arctic Circle.

Alaska and Hawaii are very different states, but they shared attention last year during the presidential campaign. Hawaii is the birthplace of President Barack Obama. Alaska is the home of Governor Sarah Palin, the Republican candidate for vice1 president.

Alaska is the biggest of the fifty states by territory but one of the smallest by population. People have lived in Alaska for thousands of years. The population grew nine percent between two thousand and two thousand seven. Still, fewer than seven hundred thousand people live in Alaska.

VOICE TWO:

Like to fish? Alaska has more than three thousand rivers and three million lakes. It also has about one hundred thousand glaciers2, or slow-moving mountains of ice.

Mount McKinley in Alaska

Seventeen of the tallest mountains in the United States are in Alaska. They include the tallest mountain in North America. Mount McKinley is almost six thousand two hundred meters high.

And speaking of mountains, Alaska has more than seventy volcanoes that are potentially active, meaning that someday they could erupt.

Because of volcanic3 activity, Alaska also has a lot of earthquakes. The Alaska Volcano Observatory4 records five thousand a year. Most of the shaking is not very strong, but Alaska has had some of the biggest quakes ever recorded.

VOICE ONE:

Alaska is just across the Bering Strait from Russia. Russia took control of the territory in the seventeen hundreds. The United States bought it in eighteen sixty-seven for seven million dollars.

Many Americans criticized the purchase. But it was one of the best deals the country ever made. Alaska proved rich in oil and minerals.

Gold was found in the nearby Yukon area of Canada in the eighteen nineties. Thousands of gold seekers traveled to the Yukon through Alaska hoping to get rich. Most never did. But some of them decided5 to stay in Alaska. Mainly they earned their money as miners, fishermen, animal trappers and store owners.

VOICE TWO:

Alaska became an official territory of the United States in nineteen twelve. Four years later, the first Alaskan statehood bill was proposed in Congress. Opponents argued that Alaska was far away, disconnected from the other states and little populated. Only about fifty-eight thousand people lived there at the time.

Yet those were not the only concerns. Historians say Congress was also unsure about the loyalties6 of the Alaska natives -- the Aleuts, Indians and Eskimos. But during World War Two, national leaders recognized the importance of the territory to security in the Pacific.

The United States entered the war in December of nineteen forty-one after Japanese planes attacked the Navy base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. The surprise attack sank many ships. After that, Congress provided billions of dollars in defense7 spending for Alaska. Today, federal spending is one of the most important parts of the state economy.

VOICE ONE:

After the war, Alaskans were more serious than ever about statehood. They formed a Statehood Committee in nineteen forty-nine to work toward that goal.

Finally, in nineteen fifty-eight, Congress passed the Alaska Statehood Bill and President Dwight Eisenhower signed it into law. Alaskans accepted it, and on January third, nineteen fifty-nine, President Eisenhower declared Alaska the forty-ninth state.

VOICE TWO:

The Trans-Alaska Pipeline8

Today, Alaska's economy is tied to a large extent to the oil industry. Oil and gas was found in nineteen sixty-eight near Prudhoe Bay on the North Slope of Alaska. The discovery of the largest oil and gas field in North America led to the Alaska Pipeline. After the pipeline was built, the field began production in nineteen seventy-seven.

But twenty years ago, in March of nineteen eighty-nine, the tanker9 ship Exxon Valdez created a huge oil spill along the Alaskan coast. That disaster led Congress to pass new measures to prevent oil pollution.

Today environmental groups are fighting proposals to open protected areas of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska to oil drilling. But supporters of drilling say America needs it to reduce its dependence10 on foreign oil.

VOICE ONE:

Another important industry in Alaska is tourism, much of it involving cruise ships. The Alaska Travel Industry Association says tourism directly pumps a billion and a half dollars a year into the state economy. Nine percent of Alaska's total employment is in tourism.

State economists11 say Alaska had twenty-one years of economic growth through two thousand eight. But now those economists are unsure of the future. There are more questions than answers, they say, about how the worldwide economic downturn will affect Alaska.

Oil prices have collapsed12 from their record highs of last year. But that is not the only problem. Because of the recession, people are traveling less. Not good, as Alaska heads toward its busiest time of year, the summer vacation season.

(MUSIC)

VOICE TWO:

Travel is even more important to Hawaii. The tropical weather and beaches bring people from all over the world. But Hawaii is also experiencing problems from the downturn.

Last year was the first year since two thousand four that Hawaii has had fewer than seven million visitors. The state had six million eight hundred thousand arrivals in two thousand eight. That was a decrease of ten percent from the year before.

State officials expect a decrease this year of another two percent. And they expect no growth in the economy through most of the year.

VOICE ONE:

Kilauea erupting in 2008

Around one million three hundred thousand people live in Hawaii. The state has eight major islands. Most people live on the four largest.

The Hawaiian Islands were formed starting millions of years ago by hot liquid rock flowing from undersea volcanoes. Visitors can still watch the process take place on the largest island, which like the state is named Hawaii. People usually just call it the Big Island. On the Big Island, red-hot lava13 has been flowing from the Kilauea volcano since the early nineteen eighties.

VOICE TWO:

Experts say Polynesian people first sailed to Hawaii about two thousand years ago. A king ruled the islands when the eighteenth-century British explorer James Cook arrived. At first, Hawaiians treated Captain Cook like a god. But in the end, he was killed on the Big Island in seventeen seventy-nine.

Britain gave the islands their independence in eighteen forty-three. Then, fifty years later, a group of American businessmen ousted14 the ruler and established the Republic of Hawaii. It became an American territory in nineteen hundred.

That was three years after the United States established a naval15 base at Pearl Harbor, on the island of Oahu. Oahu served as the command base for American operations in the Pacific during World War Two.

Hula dancers perform for visitors in Waikiki

After the war, two-thirds of the people of Hawaii supported statehood. In Congress, though, there was resistance from southern states because of Hawaii's non-white native population. But Congress passed the Hawaii Statehood Bill in nineteen fifty-nine. Hawaiians accepted it, and on August twenty-first, President Eisenhower declared Hawaii the fiftieth state.

Today, Hawaiians are thinking about their future. Hawaii wants to re-invent itself as more than a "sun, sand and surf destination," in the words of David Young, a state information specialist.

A report last month from a government committee, the Sustainability Task Force, outlined goals for Hawaii's future. These include increasing affordable16 housing and strengthening public education. Other goals are creating better transportation between the islands and controlling development to preserve the state's natural beauty.

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

Our program was written by Nancy Steinbach and produced by Caty Weaver17. I'm Barbara Klein.

VOICE TWO:

And I'm Steve Ember. Join us again next week for THIS IS AMERICA in VOA Special English.

 


点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 vice NU0zQ     
n.坏事;恶习;[pl.]台钳,老虎钳;adj.副的
参考例句:
  • He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
  • They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。
2 glaciers e815ddf266946d55974cdc5579cbd89b     
冰河,冰川( glacier的名词复数 )
参考例句:
  • Glaciers gouged out valleys from the hills. 冰川把丘陵地带冲出一条条山谷。
  • It has ice and snow glaciers, rainforests and beautiful mountains. 既有冰川,又有雨林和秀丽的山峰。 来自英语晨读30分(高一)
3 volcanic BLgzQ     
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。
4 observatory hRgzP     
n.天文台,气象台,瞭望台,观测台
参考例句:
  • Guy's house was close to the observatory.盖伊的房子离天文台很近。
  • Officials from Greenwich Observatory have the clock checked twice a day.格林威治天文台的职员们每天对大钟检查两次。
5 decided lvqzZd     
adj.决定了的,坚决的;明显的,明确的
参考例句:
  • This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
  • There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。
6 loyalties 2f3b4e6172c75e623efd1abe10d2319d     
n.忠诚( loyalty的名词复数 );忠心;忠于…感情;要忠于…的强烈感情
参考例句:
  • an intricate network of loyalties and relationships 忠诚与义气构成的盘根错节的网络
  • Rows with one's in-laws often create divided loyalties. 与姻亲之间的矛盾常常让人两面为难。 来自《简明英汉词典》
7 defense AxbxB     
n.防御,保卫;[pl.]防务工事;辩护,答辩
参考例句:
  • The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
  • The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。
8 pipeline aNUxN     
n.管道,管线
参考例句:
  • The pipeline supplies Jordan with 15 per cent of its crude oil.该管道供给约旦15%的原油。
  • A single pipeline serves all the houses with water.一条单管路给所有的房子供水。
9 tanker xqawA     
n.油轮
参考例句:
  • The tanker took on 200,000 barrels of crude oil.油轮装载了二十万桶原油。
  • Heavy seas had pounded the tanker into three parts.汹涌的巨浪把油轮撞成三载。
10 dependence 3wsx9     
n.依靠,依赖;信任,信赖;隶属
参考例句:
  • Doctors keep trying to break her dependence of the drug.医生们尽力使她戒除毒瘾。
  • He was freed from financial dependence on his parents.他在经济上摆脱了对父母的依赖。
11 economists 2ba0a36f92d9c37ef31cc751bca1a748     
n.经济学家,经济专家( economist的名词复数 )
参考例句:
  • The sudden rise in share prices has confounded economists. 股价的突然上涨使经济学家大惑不解。
  • Foreign bankers and economists cautiously welcomed the minister's initiative. 外国银行家和经济学家对部长的倡议反应谨慎。 来自《简明英汉词典》
12 collapsed cwWzSG     
adj.倒塌的
参考例句:
  • Jack collapsed in agony on the floor. 杰克十分痛苦地瘫倒在地板上。
  • The roof collapsed under the weight of snow. 房顶在雪的重压下突然坍塌下来。
13 lava v9Zz5     
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。
14 ousted 1c8f4f95f3bcc86657d7ec7543491ed6     
驱逐( oust的过去式和过去分词 ); 革职; 罢黜; 剥夺
参考例句:
  • He was ousted as chairman. 他的主席职务被革除了。
  • He may be ousted by a military takeover. 他可能在一场军事接管中被赶下台。
15 naval h1lyU     
adj.海军的,军舰的,船的
参考例句:
  • He took part in a great naval battle.他参加了一次大海战。
  • The harbour is an important naval base.该港是一个重要的海军基地。
16 affordable kz6zfq     
adj.支付得起的,不太昂贵的
参考例句:
  • The rent for the four-roomed house is affordable.四居室房屋的房租付得起。
  • There are few affordable apartments in big cities.在大城市中没有几所公寓是便宜的。
17 weaver LgWwd     
n.织布工;编织者
参考例句:
  • She was a fast weaver and the cloth was very good.她织布织得很快,而且布的质量很好。
  • The eager weaver did not notice my confusion.热心的纺织工人没有注意到我的狼狈相。
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