               Unit 9

Text
    In 1976, during America's bicetennial celebration, a family decided to travel to the American West instead of joining the majority of people that were celebrating on the East Coast. They wanted to follow the trails that the pioneers had made when they began to settle the West. The family was looking forward to making their own discoveries.

         JOURNEY WEST
 
                         Jim Doherty
    We began our trip out West on June 19, 1976, a time when millions of other American families were preparing to crowd into the Bicentennial shrines of the East. We sized up America's 200th birthday celebration a bit differently. Although the Republic may have been born in the East, it had spent most of its time and energies since then moving west. So we resolved to head in the same direction in 1976, following the old pioneer trails and the famous rivers. Concentrating primarily on Wyoming and Montana, we would explore such legendary mountain ranges as the Big Horns, the Bitterroots and the Swan.
There was one problem though, I was sure our four kids -- educated about the West through the movies -- would be disappointed. As an environmental editor, I knew that strip mining was tearing up many scenic areas and that clear-cutting was causing widespread damage in the mountains. I was well aware that draining and damming were making a mess of many rivers and wetlands. The grasslands were overgrazed and coal-burning power were befouling the air. Wildlife was on the run everywhere and tourists were burning the national parks into slums.
I was prepared for the worst. But how to prepare the kids?
    The answer, we decided, was to undertake our journey not just as tourists on a holiday, but as reporters on the trail of "the real West." So all of us, from my kids to my wife, pledged to do our homework before we left and to record on the way everything we did, saw, hear, felt or thought.
    Predictably, we did not uncover any new truths about the West in three short weeks. But there were plenty of surprises on that 5,200-mile journey and the biggest one was this: I had been wrong. Some of the troubles we saw were every bit as bad as I had dreaded. But by and large, the country was as glorious, as vast and as overwhelmingly spectacular as those know-nothing kids had expected!
    Half the fun of going west is discovering, along the way, how much the past is still with us. Old wives'tales. Little old farm towns shaded from the summer heat by enormous maple trees on streets. White-haired folks reading the paper on their farmhouse porches at sunset. Worn-out windmills standing alone in pasture All in all, we did not see much evidence that small-town America is vanishing as we traveled through rural Wisconsin, Minnesota and South Dakota. It's true that many new homes are rising in many old cornfields. But for the most part, life in vast areas of the American heartland remains pretty much the same as it was 30 and 40 years ago.
    In the hilly farmlands of southern Wisconsin and Minnesota, we found the fields and forests green and the creeks still flowing. The farms, with their "eggs for sale" signs and enormous "grandma's gardens" in the front yards, looked prosperous and secure. Not much further north, though, a drought was threatening the land.
    In South Dakota, the situation was far worse. "Haven't seen anything like this since the dirty thirties," one farmer told us. Even in normal times, most of South Dakota is dry. Now it was being burned to a crisp. The water holes were dried up and we saw dead cattle lying here and there on the treeless, rolling range. Some farmers were hauling water out to their thirsty stock daily; others were trying to drill deep wells.
    We saw two distinctly different Wyomings. We crossed the first Wyoming between the Black Hills and the Big Horns. Wide-open grassland, fenced and colorless, with red rocks and sweet-smelling shrubs scattered about, it was typical of a hard-used land. Cattle grazed on it. Oil rigs pumped on it and power lines zigzagged all over it. Freight trains labored across it, hauling coal from strip mine to power plant, hauling uranium and other minerals to refineries. This Wyoming, clearly, was booming.
    The other Wyoming started some miles east of Buffalo, an unexpectedly graceful community in the foothills of the Big Horns. On one side of town, antelope abounded by fours and fives in the hills, and yellow wild flowers lined the roads. On the other side rose the Big Horns and nearly 10,000 feet up, Powder River Pass cut through them.
    The Big Horn canons were incredible, with four and five distinct layers of pine trees somehow clinging to the steep, rocky walls. Far, far below, Ten Sleep Creek was a thin, white torrent on the rampage. In some of the less wild terrain, we saw deer on the high green hillsides and, as we climbed up toward our picnic spot, we flushed two does and two fawns. That night, we fell asleep with the roar of Ten Sleep in our ears.
    We had picked by chance for our stopping place an area rich in western lore. At one time, Ten Sleep -- a small village at the western base of the Big Horns -- lay midway between two great Indian camps. In those days, the Indians measured distances by the number of sleeps and the halfway mark between those two camps was exactly ten sleeps.
    We crossed the Continental Divide for the first time on a cool morning, cutting through the Rockies in northwestern Wyoming at a place called Togwatee Pass (at a height of 9,656 feet). Our van had just leveled off and we were rounding a downhill bend when, all at once, there they were, stretched out before us in a spectacular procession of massive white peaks: the Tetons. My wife gasped and, behind us, the kids began to yell. In truth, it was a startling sight a sight none of us will ever forget.
    We had seen mountains before, but we had never experienced anything even remotely like that initial impact of the Tetons. It was exactly what we had in mind when we decided to take our first trip "out West."

                New Words
    bicentennial 
a.  happening once in 200 years; of a 200th anniversary
n.  200th anniversary

    shrine
n.  a building or place associated with sth. or sb. deeply respected ʥ

    resolve
vt. make up one's mind (to do sth); decide ģ

    trail 
n.  a path across rough country made by the passing  of people or animals СС
 
    legendary
a.  of, like or told in a legend 棨ƣ

    mountain range
    a row of connected mountains ɽ

    disappointed 
a.  sad at not getting what was hoped for ʧ

    environmental 
a.  having to do with environment 

    environment n.

    editor
n.  ༭

    strip mine
n.  a mine which is operated from the surface by removing the overlying layers of earth ¶
vt. take (a mineral or ore) from a strip mine ¶쿪ɣ

    scenic
a.  of or having to do with natural scenery Ȼ羰

    clear-cut
vt. cut all the trees in (a given area or forest) ľ

    drain 
vt. carry away the surface water of ţˮȣ

    dam
n.  a wall or bank built to keep back water ӣˮբ
vt. build a dam across

    mess
n.  staate of confusion, dirt or disorder ҡ

    wetland 
n.  land or areas containing much soil moisture; swamp 

    grassland
n.  land covered with grass, esp. wild open land for cattle to feed on ݵأ

    overgraze
vt. allow animals to graze to the point of damaging the grass cover ڡϹȷ

    power plant
    糧

    befoul
vt. make dirty Ū

    wildlife 
n.  animals and plants which live ad grow in natural conditions Ұֲ

    tourist
n.  a person making a tour for pleasure ο

    slum
n.  (often pl.) street, alley, or building in a crowded, run-down, dirty part of a city or town, where the poorest people live ƶ

    undertake 
vt. take up (a duty, etc.); start on (work) е

    pledge
vt. make a solemn promise or agreement ģ֤

    predictably 
ad. as one may predict

    uncover
vt. remove a cover from; find out, discover ҿӣ

    know-nothing
a.  ignorant
n.  ignoramus

    shade
vt. shelter from direct light or heat 

    maple
n.  

    folk (AmE folks) 
n.  people

    worn-out
a.  used until no longer fit for use; very tired ƾɵģƣ

    windmill 
n.  a mill operated by the action of the wind on sails which revolve 糵

    pasture
n. grassland for cattle; grass on such land 

    rural
a.  of or relating to the country, country people or life, or agriculture ũ

    cornfield 
n.  (AmE) (BrE)С

    heartland
n.  any area or region that is the center of, or vital to , a country شĵش

    hilly
a.  full of hills

    grandma
n.  (informal) grandmother

    secure
a.  safe; having no doubt, fear, or anxiety ȫ

    drought
n.  a long period of dry weather, when there is not enough waterɺ

    crisp
a.  dry; hard; easily broken ģ
n.  something crisp

    rolling
a.  rising and falling in long gentle slopes 

    haul
vt. pull or drag with force ҷ

    stock
vt. farm animals, usu. cattle 

    distinctly
ad. clearly

    graze 
v.  feed on growing grass (in) ԣģ

    rig
n.  

    pump
vt. force (water, etc.) out by using a pump 

    zigzag
vi. go in a zigzag ߣ
n.  a line shaped like a row of z's

    freight
n.  the goods carried from place by water or by land 

    fright train
n.  (AmE) goods train

    uranium
n.  

    refinery
n.  a building and apparatus for refining sth. (metals, oil, or sugar) 

    boom
vi. grow rapidly; develop rapidly in population and importance Ѹٷչʢ

    graceful 
a.  (of shape or movement) pleasing to the eye ŵ

    grace  n.

    foothill
n.  a low hill at the foot of a mountain ɽ´С

    antelope
n.  a deer-like, fast-running animal with thin legs 

    abound
vi. have or exist in great numbers or quantities ḻ

    canyon
n.  a deep narrow steep-sided valley (usu. with a river flowing through) Ͽ

    distinct
a.  easily seen, heard, understood; plain; clearly different or separate Եģͬ

    pine
n.  ľ

    cling
vi  hold tightly; remain close ţճ

    steep 
a. rising or falling sharply or at a large angle ͵

    torrent
n.  a violently rushing stream of water 

    rampage
n.  excited and violent behavior ֱײо

    terrain
n.  a stretch of land, esp. when considered in relation to  its nature ش

    hillside
n.  the sloping side of a hill ɽ

    picnic
n.  Ұ

    roar
n.  a deep loud sound as of a lion, or thunder, etc. У

    western
a.  of, in, from, characteristic of the west.

    lore
n.  tradition and knowlege, esp. handed down from past times ͷ˵

    midway
a.& ad. in a middle position

    continental
a.  (typical) of a very large mass of land; (AmE) of or in the North American continent ½ԣģ½

    van
n.  a covered motor-vehicle for carrying goods and sometimes people ͻó

    level
v.  bring or come into a horizontal plane

    downhill
a.  (sloping or going) towards the bottom of a hill 

    stretch 
v.  (cause to) become wider or longer; spread out 

    procession
n.  a line of people, vehicles, etc. moving forward in an orderly way У

    massive
a.  large, heavy  and solid; huge ִģ޴

    gasp 
v.  struggle for breath with open mouth, esp. because of surprise, chock, etc. Ϣ
n.   catching of the breath through surprise, pain, etc.

    yell
v.  make a loud sharp cry or shout, as of pain, excitement, etc.; say or shout loudly

    remotely
ad. to a very small degree; far away ٵأСأңԶ

    remote  a.

    initial
a.  occurring at the beginning; first ģʼ

    impact
n.  a strong effect; the striking of one thing against another Ӱ죻

          Phrases & Expressions
  size up
  form an opinion or judgment about ƣƷ

  a bit
  to some degree; rather е൱

  tear up
  destroy completely by tearing ˺٣ٵ

  make a mess of 
  disorder, spoil or ruin ѡŪࣻѡŪ

  on the run
  running or hurrying from place to place; in flight ţ

  do one's homework
  make necessary preparations before taking part in an important activity Ҫ׼

  by and large
  on the whole; in general

  all in all
  (informal) on the whole

  here and there
  scattered about; in various places Ƿɢڸ

  burn to a crisp
  burn black or dry 

  cut through
  ͸

  cling to 
  keep a firm hold on ץס

  be/go on the / a rampage
  go about in an excited, mad and violent manner ֱײ

  by chance
  unintentionally; by accident żȻأ

  at one time
  formerly ǰ

  level off/out
  move horizontally (after climbing); remain steady (after a rise) ߺˮƽƶ󣩴ﵽƽ

  stretch out
  extend prolong  죬

  in truth
  truly; really ȷ

  have in mind 
  be considering, intend ǣ

           Proper Names
  Wyoming
  

  Montana
  ɴã

  the Big Horns
  ɽɽ

  the Bitterroots 
  ³ɽɽ

  the Swan
  ˹ɽɽ

  Wisconsin
  ˹ǣ

  South Dakota
  ϴƵأ

  the Black Hills
  ɽɽ

  Buffalo
  ޣ

  Powder River
  ºӣ

  Ten Sleep Creek
  ʮߺӣ

  the Rockies
  ɽɽ

  Togwatee Pass
  иߵ̹أ

  the Tetons 
  ɽɽ
