7wondersinAmerica.docVIP

By Caty Weaver2008-11-18 VOICE ONE: Im Steve Ember. VOICE TWO: And Im Barbara Klein with Explorations in VOA Special English. We received a special request in a letter from a listener in Nagano, Japan. Atsumi Shimoda asked for a report about what the Special English writers thought were the seven natural wonders of the United States. (MUSIC) VOICE ONE: So now we will visit these natural wonders. Some are huge. Some are powerful. And some are even a little frightening! But, we will keep a safe distance. The first stop is a natural wonder that the United States shares with Canada. (SOUND) Niagara Falls That thundering crash is the tens of thousands of cubic feet of water that flow each second over Niagara Falls which includes the American Falls and Horseshoe Falls. The American Falls in New York State extends more than three hundred twenty meters across part of the Niagara River. The American Falls is more than fifty meters high. Canada owns the larger Horseshoe Falls. It is about eight hundred meters wide and almost fifty meters high. It is shaped like the letter U, or a horses shoe. VOICE TWO: Niagara Falls formed about twelve thousand years ago when huge melting sheets of ice formed the Great Lakes. The land was uneven with several drops in level, some very sharp. Water from Lake Erie began to flow north to Lake Ontario as a result of the loss of the ice barrier. In modern times, several people have gone over Niagara Falls, most of them on purpose. Most also survived. But, we think the beauty and power of Niagara Falls is best experienced from near the water, not in it. Now we travel southeast to the state of Florida. We will visit the area once called the liquid heart of that state -- the Everglades. (MUSIC) VOICE ONE: Hundreds of birds fly in a sunny blue sky. The only sounds are bird calls and the soft noise made by tall grasses as the water slowly moves them. Hidden in the grasses, dark green alligators move at the edge of the water, like part of the Ea