Yellowstone A Place of Wild Wonders

Yellowstone, a place of wild wonders. Written by Mike Stark. Focus question. What is Yellowstone, and why do people visit there?

黄石公园，一片充满自然奇观的土地。 作者：迈克·斯塔克。 核心问题。 黄石公园是什么？人们为什么要去那里游玩？

Introduction, colorful pools and wild animals, streams of hot water that shoot out of the ground. People can see these things and more at Yellowstone, which became the world's first National Park in 1872. National parks are areas of special protected land.

引言： 色彩斑斓的水潭、野生动物，还有从地下喷涌而出的热水柱。 人们在黄石公园能看到这些景观，还有更多惊喜，黄石是世界上第一个 国家公园，设立于1872年。 国家公园是受到特殊保护的陆地区域。

A HOT SPOT Many people who go to Yellowstone want to see Old Faithful Geyser. A geyser is a hole in the ground that shoots steam and hot water into the air. Yellowstone has about 300 of them. Old Faithful shoots water 100 feet, 30 meters high, about every 90 minutes.

地热活跃带 很多去黄石公园的游客都想看老忠实间歇泉。 间歇泉是地面上的孔洞，会向外喷射蒸汽和热水。 黄石公园大约有300座间歇泉。 老忠实间歇泉大约每90分钟喷发一次，水柱高达100英尺（30米）。

Yellowstone is on top of a hot spot. Heat from Earth's center warms up rocks and rainwater in the ground. Then hot water and steam move up and shoot out of the ground. The hot spot has also made hot pools of smelly mud and many colorful hot springs.

黄石公园坐落在一处地热热点的上方。 地心的热量加热了地下的岩石和雨水。 随后热水和蒸汽向上移动，从地面喷涌而出。 这处地热热点还造就了冒着异味的热泥浆池，以及许多色彩绚丽的热泉。

Wildlife. Many kinds of animals live in Yellowstone. The biggest animals in Yellowstone are bison. They can weigh up to 2 ,000 pounds, 907 kilograms. Bison are hairy animals with a hump on their back. They roll in the dust to fight off flies and to get rid of their old fur.

野生动物。 黄石公园生活着多种多样的动物。 其中体型最大的是野牛。 它们的体重最高可达2000磅（907公斤）。 野牛浑身长毛，背上长着一个肉峰。 它们会在尘土里打滚，用来驱赶苍蝇，还能脱掉旧毛。

The next biggest animals are grizzly bears. They can weigh 800 pounds, 363 kilograms, and are fast for their size. In the winter, grizzly bears sleep in dens under the ground for months.

体型第二大的动物是灰熊。 它们的体重可达800磅（363公斤），别看它们块头大，跑起来可快了。 冬天的时候，灰熊会在地下的洞穴里睡觉，一睡就是好几个月。