30 Alaska Wild and Free

Welcome to Alaska WHERE IS ALASKA? HOW BIG IS IT? WHO LIVES THERE? Eskimos first lived in Alaska more than 7,000 years ago. Today, about 16% of all Alaskans are Eskimos. These people are really three groups: the Inupiaq, the Yupik, and the Alutiiq. These groups are not very different, but they speak different languages. Alaska was a part of Russia for a long time. Then in 1867, the United States bought it from Russia for $7.2 million. Many people thought this was too much money. But in the late 1840s, the Americans found gold in Alaska. Then in 1901, they found some oil there. Later, in the 1950s, they found lots of oil. Alaska is a very big place. It's the biggest state— more than twice as big as Texas, the next biggest state. But not many people live there. Over 8 million people live in New York City, but only 730,000 live in all of Alaska. And about half of them live in the city of Anchorage. Alaska has many mountains and glaciers. A glacier is like a river of ice. The Matanuska glacier is one of the most beautiful. The winters are freezing with a lot of snow storms. In winter it is also very dark because there is no sun in the far northern part of the state, and in other areas it comes out for only two to seven hours every day.

欢迎来到阿拉斯加阿拉斯加在哪里？ 它有多大？谁住在那里？ 爱斯基摩人最早在7000多年前居住在阿拉斯加。 今天，大约16%的阿拉斯加人是爱斯基摩人。 这些人实际上是三个群体：因努皮克人，尤皮克人和阿鲁提克人。 这些群体差别不大，但他们说不同的语言。 阿拉斯加在很长一段时间内是俄罗斯的一部分。 然后在1867年，美国以20万美元的价格从俄罗斯购买了它。 许多人认为这笔钱太多了。 但在19世纪40年代末，美国人在阿拉斯加发现了黄金。 1901年，他们在那里发现了一些石油。 后来，在20世纪50年代，他们发现了大量的石油。 阿拉斯加是一个很大的地方。 它是美国最大的州，面积是第二大州德克萨斯州的两倍多。 但住在那里的人并不多。 纽约市有800多万人，但整个阿拉斯加只有73万人。 其中大约一半住在安克雷奇市。 阿拉斯加有许多山脉和冰川。 冰川就像一条冰河。 马塔努斯卡冰川是最美丽的冰川之一。 冬天很冷，有很多暴风雪。 冬天也很黑，因为在该州最北部没有太阳，而在其他地区，它每天只出来两到七个小时。

CHAPTER 2 Visit Kodiak Island THERE IS A LOT OF OUTDOOR FUN ON KODIAK ISLAND. Kodiak Island is in the southern part of Alaska. It is the second largest island in the United States, but it has less than 160 kilometers of roads. There are lots of high mountains, green forests, rivers, and lakes. About 30,000 visitors come to Kodiak every year. They come to climb mountains, catch fish, watch whales jump in the sea, and go camping. Bear watching is also very popular. The island gets its name from the big Kodiak bear. There are over 3,500 of these wonderful animals living in the forests. But you must be very quiet if you want to see one! About 13,000 people live on Kodiak Island all year, and half of them live in Kodiak City. The others live in small villages by the sea. The Alutiiq people were the first to live on the island. They came 7,500 years ago and they stayed. Today, about 17 percent of all the people on Kodiak Island are Alutiiqs. They speak English and Alutiiq. In 2010 only 50 people spoke the Alutiiq language! But now schools are teaching the language because they don't want it to die. The most important businesses here are fishing and tourism. There are seven hotels, 17 places to eat, and many shops in Kodiak City. The shops sell things made on the island.

第二章参观科迪亚克岛科迪亚克岛上有许多户外活动。 科迪亚克岛位于阿拉斯加的南部。 它是美国第二大岛，但它的公路长度不到160公里。 有许多高山，绿色的森林，河流和湖泊。 每年约有3万名游客来到科迪亚克。 他们来爬山，捕鱼，看鲸鱼在海里跳，去露营。 看熊也很受欢迎。 这个岛的名字来源于大科迪亚克熊。 有超过3500只这种奇妙的动物生活在森林里。 但是如果你想看的话，你必须非常安静！全年约有1.3万人居住在科迪亚克岛上，其中一半居住在科迪亚克市。 其他人住在海边的小村庄里。 阿鲁提克人是最早居住在岛上的人。 他们七千五百年前就来了，而且一直待在这里。 今天，科迪亚克岛上大约17%的人是阿鲁提克人。 他们说英语和阿拉伯语。 2010年，只有50人说阿鲁提克语！但现在学校开始教授这种语言，因为他们不想让它消亡。 这里最重要的产业是渔业和旅游业。 科迪亚克城有7家旅馆，17个吃饭的地方，还有许多商店。 商店出售岛上制造的东西。

CHAPTER 3 Enjoy Outside Sports DO YOU LOVE DOING SPORTS OUTSIDE? THEN ALASKA IS THE PLACE FOR YOU. Many tourists come to Alaska to enjoy walking outside in the clean, cold air. And they come to do extreme sports— sports that are exciting but also dangerous. Some people come to Alaska to climb Mount McKinley in Denali National Park. This mountain is 6,194 meters high, the highest in North America. It isn't easy to climb to the top of Mount McKinley. It takes about three weeks! It's really cold when you get to the top, so most people stay there for only a short time. You need very warm clothes. And you must be careful. Between 1932 and 2012, 120 climbers died on the mountain. In June 2012, four Japanese climbers died in an avalanche. Whitewater rafting is also a popular sport. The Nenana River, also in Denali National Park, is very fast in some places. Mount Alyeska is a good place to go paragliding. Don't worry if you don't know how to paraglide. A teacher goes on the paraglider with you so you can enjoy the beautiful mountain and forests below you.

第三章享受户外运动你喜欢户外运动吗？ 那么阿拉斯加就是适合你的地方。 许多游客来阿拉斯加是为了享受户外清新、寒冷的空气。 他们来做极限运动——既刺激又危险的运动。 有些人到阿拉斯加登德纳里国家公园的麦金利山。 这座山高6194米，是北美最高的山。 爬上麦金利山的山顶并不容易。 大约需要三个星期！当你到达山顶的时候真的很冷，所以大多数人只在那里呆很短的时间。 你需要非常暖和的衣服。 你一定要小心。1932年至2012年间，有120名登山者在山上遇难。 2012年6月，四名日本登山者死于雪崩。 激流漂流也是一项受欢迎的运动。 同样位于德纳里国家公园内的纳纳河在某些地方流速非常快。 阿列斯卡山是玩滑翔伞的好地方。 如果你不会滑翔伞也不用担心。 一位老师和你一起乘坐滑翔伞，这样你就可以欣赏到脚下美丽的山林。

Skiing is popular in Alaska. There is a lot of snow and there are many good places to ski. Eagle Crest, only 20 kilometers from the state capital. Juneau, is an excellent mountain for skiing. There are many other interesting things to do in Alaska. Some of these are less exciting than paragliding or whitewater rafting, but they are great fun: look for gold in the rivers in the Kenai Peninsula fly over the glaciers in a plane or a helicopter visit the Sea Life Center in Seward. You can see wonderful sea animals only a meter from where you are standing. Some people enjoy traveling across Alaska as well. In 2010, Andrew Skurka traveled 7,600 kilometers across Alaska and the Yukon in 176 days. That's 43 kilometers a day! Most of the time he walked. He used six pairs of boots! But he also went on rivers on a raft, and he skied, too. He slept in a tent. When Andrew skied in Denali Park, he was very worried about avalanches and snow storms. He didn't see any avalanches, but one night, there was a really bad storm and his tent blew away! Andrew has traveled 48,000 kilometers in his life, and he doesn't want to stop. When he isn't working, he writes books about his travels.

滑雪在阿拉斯加很受欢迎。 雪很多，有很多滑雪的好地方。 鹰冠，距离州首府只有20公里。 朱诺是滑雪的好地方。 在阿拉斯加还有许多其他有趣的事情可做。 其中一些不如滑翔伞或激流漂流那么刺激，但它们非常有趣：在基奈半岛的河流中寻找黄金，乘坐飞机或直升机飞越冰川，参观苏厄德的海洋生物中心。 你站在离你一米远的地方就能看到奇妙的海洋动物。 有些人也喜欢穿越阿拉斯加旅行。 2010年，安德鲁·斯库卡（Andrew Skurka）在176天内穿越阿拉斯加和育空地区，旅行了7600公里。 那是一天43公里！大部分时间他都是走路。 他用了六双靴子！但他也乘木筏到河上，他也滑雪。 他睡在帐篷里。当安德鲁在德纳里公园滑雪时，他非常担心雪崩和暴风雪。 他没有看到任何雪崩，但是有一天晚上，发生了一场非常严重的风暴，他的帐篷被吹走了！安德鲁一生已经旅行了48000公里，他不想停下来。 当他不工作的时候，他写关于他旅行的书。

CHAPTER 4 The Iditarod IN THE PAST, ALASKANS NEEDED TO USE DOGS AND SLEDS TO TRAVEL. NOW THEY DON'T. BUT IN 1973, A DOGSLED RACE BEGAN, THE IDITAROD. The Iditarod is a really hard race. The dogsled teams have to travel about 1,600 kilometers, from Anchorage to Nome. And the weather can be very bad, with freezing temperatures of -20C and dangerous snow storms. Each team has one person, called a musher, and 12 to 20 dogs. The mushers have to think about many things. When is the best time to travel, at night or in the day? What clothes are best to wear? What food is best for the dogs? When is the best time to put the boots on the dogs? If the dogs don't wear boots, the ice can cut their feet. It usually takes 10 to 15 days to finish the Iditarod. The team that gets to Nome first wins! John Baker did the Iditarod in the fastest time in 2011— 8 days and 19 hours. Carl Huntington did the slowest time in 1974— 20 days and 15 hours. The Iditarod is very popular. It's an important part of Alaskan life. Before the race starts, there's a big party in Anchorage. Then, thousands of people watch the race. Many more people follow it for days on TV, the Internet, or in newspapers. In the first Iditarod there were 34 teams. Now every year in March about 55 teams do the race. Why is it so popular? Maybe because the winner gets a lot of money— about $50,000!

在过去，阿拉斯加人需要用狗和雪橇来旅行。 现在他们没有了。但在1973年，狗拉雪橇比赛开始了。 艾迪塔罗德是一场非常艰苦的比赛。 狗拉雪橇队必须从安克雷奇到诺姆旅行大约1600公里。 天气可能非常糟糕，零下20摄氏度的冰点和危险的暴风雪。 每支队伍有一个人，叫做拉车员，和12到20条狗。 牧场主必须考虑很多事情。 什么时候旅行最好，晚上还是白天？ 什么衣服最好穿？ 什么食物对狗最好？ 什么时候给狗穿上靴子最好？ 如果狗不穿靴子，冰会划破它们的脚。 完成艾迪塔罗德通常需要10到15天。 最先到达诺姆的队伍获胜！约翰·贝克在2011年以8天19小时的最快速度完成了艾迪塔罗德赛。 卡尔·亨廷顿在1974年创造了最慢的时间——20天15小时。 艾迪塔罗德很受欢迎。 这是阿拉斯加生活的重要组成部分。 在比赛开始之前，安克雷奇会有一个盛大的派对。 然后，成千上万的人观看比赛。 更多的人在电视、网络或报纸上关注它好几天。 在第一届比赛中，有34支队伍。 现在每年3月大约有55支队伍参加比赛。 为什么它如此受欢迎？也许是因为中奖者会得到一大笔钱——大约10万美元！

CHAPTER 5 Green Tourism in Alaska TOURISTS CAN BE VERY GOOD FOR COUNTRIES. BUT TOURISTS CAN ALSO BRING PROBLEMS. Tourists spend a lot of money. They stay at hotels, eat in restaurants, and buy things in shops. This is good for Alaska and its people. but a lot of people in one place can make a lot of noise. And that can be difficult for Alaska's animals. And tourists leave trash in the forests and rivers, and in the sea. Animals and fish can eat this trash and get sick. The people at the Alaskan tourist office want the state to stay clean. They want the animals to be safe and to live their normal lives. This is why they want people to do "green tourism." Green tourism doesn't hurt the forests, the rivers, the sea, or the animals that live in them. Green tourists don't travel in big groups. They go around in small groups, so they don't disturb the animals. And the tourist office asks people to take their trash with them when they leave. Many tourists in Alaska take boat trips to see life in the sea. Whales are their favorite animal. The tourists go out on small boats and travel slowly and quietly. This way, they do not disturb the whales and the fish.

第五章阿拉斯加的绿色旅游旅游者可以为国家带来很大的好处。 但游客也会带来问题。 游客花了很多钱。 他们住旅馆，在餐馆吃饭，在商店买东西。 这对阿拉斯加和它的人民都有好处。 但是很多人在一个地方会产生很大的噪音。 这对阿拉斯加的动物来说很困难。 游客把垃圾扔进森林、河流和海里。 动物和鱼吃了这些垃圾就会生病。 阿拉斯加旅游局的工作人员希望该州保持清洁。 他们希望这些动物安全，过上正常的生活。 这就是为什么他们希望人们做“绿色旅游”。 绿色旅游不会伤害森林、河流、海洋或生活在其中的动物。 绿色游客不会成群结队地旅行。 他们会结伴而行，这样就不会打扰动物。 旅游局还要求人们离开时把垃圾带走。 许多到阿拉斯加旅游的人乘船去看海中的生物。 鲸鱼是他们最喜欢的动物。 游客们乘小船外出，缓慢而安静地旅行。 这样，他们就不会打扰鲸鱼和鱼。