VOA · America's National Parks
Intermediate · B1–B2learner speed3:352025-03-07public domain
America's National Parks tours the great outdoors of the United States, from Yellowstone to the Everglades. Rich descriptive language about geography and nature, delivered at learner speed.
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01Yosemite National Park is one of the most famous parks in the United States.
02It has high waterfalls, huge trees, wild animals, and beautiful rivers.
03Yosemite is in the Sierra Nevada Mountains in California.
04It has valleys formed by ancient ice that cut deep into the earth millions of years ago.
05Water from high in the mountains falls in many places to the Green Valley far below.
06One of these waterfalls, Yosemite Falls, is the fifth highest on earth.
07In Yosemite's Mariposa Grove, visitors can see some of the tallest and oldest trees on earth, giant sequoia.
08One of them, known as the Grizzly Giant, is estimated to be almost 3,000 years old.
09In 1864, President Abraham Lincoln signed a bill that made Yosemite a state park of California.
10It was named a national park in 1890.
11There are several beautiful old hotels in Yosemite, as well as other housing for visitors.
12People can also camp in the park.
13More than 60 kinds of animals live in Yosemite.
14Deer are common.
15Black bears, coyotes, and mountain lions also live in Yosemite.
16People come from all over the world to climb the park's huge rock formations.
17The highest of these is El Capitan, at more than 900 meters.
18And the climb to the top is straight up.
19A team first climbed the rock face of El Capitan in 1957.
20It took them 45 days over 18 months to do it.
21Today, experienced climbers can do it in about three days.
22In 2017, American Alex Honnold became the first person to free solo climb El Capitan.
23Free solo is climbing without any ropes or protective equipment.
24Honnold reached the top in less than four hours.
25Photographers and painters also come to Yosemite to try to capture its beauty in their images.
26The most famous Yosemite photographer was American Ansel Adams.
27He took many black and white pictures of the park from the 1920s through the 1950s.
28Most people who come to Yosemite take pictures.
29Yosemite's extraordinary beauty will be marked in your memory forever.
30I'm Andrew Smith.
31I'm Andrew Smith.
32I'm Andrew Smith.
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35I'm Andrew Smith.
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