Rocky Mountain National Park

Rocky Mountain National Park. Written by Sean McCollum. Focus Question. Where is Rocky Mountain National Park and what can visitors see and do there?

落基山国家公园。 作者：肖恩·麦科勒姆。 思考问题。 落基山国家公园在哪里？游客能在那里观赏风光、体验什么项目呢？

The Best of the Rockies Rocky Mountain National Park, RMNP, in Colorado shows off the best of the Rocky Mountains. The park includes 415 square miles, 668 square kilometers of natural beauty. The air is fresh and clean. It features mountain lakes that mirror high peaks above them. The park is home to mountain lions, moose, marmots, and many other wild animals. Its sites are within reach of nature lovers, whether they are traveling by car or walking in hiking boots.

落基山精华：位于美国科罗拉多州的落基山国家公园（简称RMNP），向人们展现了落基山脉最动人的魅力。 公园占地415平方英里（668平方公里），处处都是纯天然美景。 这里的空气清新干净。 这里最具特色的是山间湖泊，湖面像镜子一样倒映着高耸的山峰。 这座公园是美洲狮、驼鹿、土拨鼠，以及许多其他野生动物的家园。 无论你是开车游览还是徒步出行，自然爱好者都能轻松到达心仪的景点。

Young Mountains Rocky Mountain National Park is a small part of the Rocky Mountain Range. The Rockies, as they are called, stretch 3 ,000 miles 4 ,828 kilometers from Canada to New Mexico. Compared to other mountain ranges, the Rockies are young. They were pushed up between 165 million years ago. Later on, glaciers moved downhill and carved out their peaks.

年轻的山脉：落基山国家公园只是落基山脉的一小部分。 人们俗称的落基山，从加拿大一直延伸到新墨西哥州，全长3000英里，即4828公里。 和其他山脉相比，落基山还非常“年轻”。 它们在1.65亿年前开始抬升形成。 后来，冰川顺坡移动，雕琢出了如今的山峰轮廓。

The Rocky Mountains form much of the Continental Divide. This is a rocky spine that runs along North America and divides the way water flows. Water on the western side of the divide flows west toward the Pacific Ocean. Water on the eastern side flows toward the Atlantic Ocean.

落基山脉的大部分山体构成了大陆分水岭。 它就像一道贯穿北美大陆的岩石脊梁，分隔了水流的流向。 分水岭西侧的水流向西汇入太平洋。 分水岭东侧的水流则向东汇入大西洋。

from moose to marmots. Rocky Mountain National Park has several different environments. It has wet areas and forests of pine and aspen trees. Mountain wildflowers dot grassy meadows with bright colors in summer. The trees stop growing at about 11 ,500 feet, 3 ,505 meters. This is called the tree line. Higher than this, the weather is too stormy and the soil too rocky for trees to grow. Different areas in RMNP provide homes for different animals. Elk and deer feed along forest edges. Moose wade in watery places and chomp plants there. Bobcats and mountain lions live in the park too, along with a few black bears.

从驼鹿到土拨鼠，各类动物应有尽有。 落基山国家公园拥有多种不同的生态环境。 这里有湿地，还有松树与山杨构成的森林。 夏天，高山野花点缀着草地，色彩缤纷明亮。 大约在海拔11500英尺（3505米）的位置，树木就停止生长了。 这个位置被称为林线。 林线以上的区域天气多风暴、土壤多石砾，不适合树木生长。 落基山国家公园的不同区域为不同动物提供了栖息地。 麋鹿和鹿在林边觅食。 驼鹿淌进水区，大口啃食那里的植物。 短尾猫、美洲狮，还有少量黑熊，也生活在这座公园里。

Some animals live above the tree line. They include bighorn sheep, Colorado's state animal. Marmots are one of the largest members of the squirrel family. They can be spotted on warm, sunny rocks, squeaking loudly if danger is near. In rocky places, pika dash around. They look like big hamsters, but are related to rabbits.

有些动物就生活在林线以上。 其中就包括科罗拉多州的代表动物——大角羊。 土拨鼠是松鼠家族体型最大的成员之一。 天气温暖晴朗时，能看到它们趴在岩石上，靠近危险就会大声 squeak 叫警报。 鼠兔在岩石间四处蹦窜。 它们看起来像大号仓鼠，但其实和兔子是近亲。