[ti:Yellowstone: The World’s First National Park]
[by:www.21voa.com]
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[00:00.04]Yellowstone National Park
[00:03.24]in the western United States
[00:06.32]was the world's first national park.
[00:11.28]Established in 1872,
[00:14.96]it is famous for its geothermal activity
[00:18.96]and wild animals.
[00:21.16]It includes beautiful mountains,
[00:24.80]deep canyons, lakes and rivers.
[00:29.40]Yellowstone is still one of
[00:32.44]the largest national parks in the U.S.
[00:36.60]It takes up almost 9,000 square kilometers.
[00:41.84]Most of the park lies within
[00:45.24]the western state of Wyoming.
[00:49.00]The park is unusual
[00:51.60]because of what lies underneath it.
[00:54.88]It sits on top of an ancient super volcano,
[00:59.68]known as the Yellowstone Caldera.
[01:03.24]The caldera remains an active volcano.
[01:08.72]A lake of hot liquid rock
[01:11.32]is about six kilometers under the park.
[01:15.64]Experts say this lake
[01:17.72]is under huge amounts of pressure.
[01:21.08]The pressure and heat cause geysers
[01:25.00]to shoot hot water out of the ground
[01:28.44]and mud to boil at Yellowstone.
[01:31.96]The park is home to more than 300 geysers.
[01:37.00]There are more geysers
[01:39.44]and hot springs in Yellowstone
[01:42.32]than any other place on Earth.
[01:46.28]"Old Faithful" is the name of
[01:49.00]the park's most famous geyser
[01:51.64]because it erupts about every 90 minutes.
[01:56.96]Yellowstone is on a high plateau
[02:00.24]with an average height of 2,400 meters
[02:04.68]above sea level.
[02:07.04]This makes the weather very cold in winter,
[02:10.84]with January temperatures
[02:13.92]averaging between -18 degrees
[02:17.60]and -7 degrees Celsius.
[02:21.84]However, some areas of the park
[02:24.88]remain open to visitors throughout the year.
[02:29.16]Yellowstone Canyon is abou
[02:32.08]t 365 meters deep.
[02:35.04]The Yellowstone River runs through it
[02:37.96]and drops 93 meters in the Lower Falls.
[02:42.20]Visitors can walk on a path
[02:45.52]that brings them very close
[02:47.88]to the top of the falls.
[02:49.76]There, they can see and hear the powerful falls.
[02:54.80]In summer of 1988,
[02:58.12]forest fires burned large areas of the park.
[03:03.08]Most of those areas are now
[03:05.72]covered with plants and young trees.
[03:08.88]Yellowstone is home to the largest
[03:12.40]group of wild animals
[03:14.08]in the lower 48 United States.
[03:17.76]These include bison, grizzly bear,
[03:21.68]elk, deer, moose, fox,
[03:27.04]beaver, coyote and wolves.
[03:31.88]In 2024, park officials estimated
[03:36.16]the bison population to be about 4,500 animals.
[03:42.20]That makes it the largest group
[03:45.00]of wild bison in the world.
[03:48.88]There is still a wild west in America
[03:53.12]...and its name is Yellowstone.
[03:57.28]I'm Andrew Smith. 更多听力请访问21VOA.COM