英语,学士学位自考书第三单元.docVIP

Unit Three Geography Text A The Grand canyon The Grand canyon in Arizona is one of the fargest and most beautiful of all canyons.It extends four hundred fifty kilometers.The surrounding area does not make you suspect the existence of such a great opening in the earth.You come upon the canyon suddenly,when you reach its edge.Then you are looking at a land like nothing else in the world.Walls of rock fall away sharply ar your feet.In some places,the canyon walls are more than a kilometer deep.Far below is the dark,turning line of the Colorado River.On the other side,sunshine lights up the naked rock walls in red,orange,and gold.The bright colors are the result of minerals in the rocks.Their appearance changes endlessly with the light,the time of year,and the weather.At sunset,when the sun has moved across the sky,the canyon walls give up their fiery reds and golds.They take on quieter colors of blue,purple,and green. A famous American John Muir said in 1898,”The Grand Canyon…as unearthly in the color and grandeur and quantity of its architecture as if you had found it after death on some other star.” (一位著名的美国人约翰·繆尔曾在1898年说过：“科罗拉多大峡谷…….它的色彩和构造的宏伟多样是世间所没有的，就像是人消亡以后在别的星球上发现的东西。了解as if的用法) Like Muir,those of us who stand along the rim are prompted to wonder ablout the unearthliness and the forces that created and still changing this place.After more than 100 years of studies,many things are still obscure.Today visitors come by the thousands-the great and simple of the earth-all in a spirit of marvel.Travelers come from every state of the Union,from every country in Europe and Asia,pilgrims to a shrine that is the same as the creed. From the depths of the canyon comes silence.Seldom can you hear the roar of the river（峡谷深处寂静无声。我们很少听见河水的咆哮声。了解倒装句的使用）.You cannot catch the patter.Like applause,from the leaves of the cottonwoods on the shelf-like plateau below you.For all sounds are swallowed in this gulf of space.“It makes one want to murmur.”a woman once whisper