旅游英语：尼亚加拉瀑布介绍
尼亚加拉瀑布是世界第一大跨国瀑布，位于加拿大安大略省和美国纽约州的尼亚加拉河上，是北美东北部尼亚加拉河上的大瀑布，也是美洲大陆最著名的奇景之一。平均流量约5720m³/s，与伊瓜苏瀑布、维多利亚瀑布并称为世界三大跨国瀑布。尼亚加拉瀑布一直吸引人们到此度蜜月、走钢索横越瀑布或者坐木桶漂游瀑布。
Niagara Falls has become a tired old tourist sight. But if you look it over in an airplane， it becomes something completely new. You realize that it is not tired; only our way of looking at it is tired. Most visitors go as close to the falls as possible， and watch the waters thundering down. It is fascinating， in a stupefying way. You stand there， hyptonized by the sheer force， the untiring action that goes on and on. But afterward you have a feeling - "So what， really? The water comes to the cliff and， naturally， it falls down." But at altitude you see it all at once. You see Lake Ontario on one side and Lake Erie on the other， and linking them the 34-mile Niagara River. Then， coming down lower， you see the falls themselves， along a front almost a mile wide， plunges over a 182-foot cliff and flows off through a deep， narrow gorge. And right away， with a flash of understanding， you see the main fact about the Niagara Falls. The falls are moving， the seven-mile-long gorge is merely the track the falls have made as they move along. This instantly reverses all your ideas. On the ground it seemed that the water fell because there was this low place for it to fall into the gorge. Now you see it is the other way round. The falls are the cause， and the gorge is the result. Niagara Gorge looks like the track eaten into an apple by a worm. Niagara differs from the waterfalls you find in mountains， where a thin stream of water comes down a mountainside， half-flying. Some of them are much higher than Niagara， and perhaps more beautiful， but they lack mass and cutting power. Niagara belongs to the heavyweights - where a whole solid river plunges bodily over a cliff The real sight from above is the gigantic movement of the falls themselves， digging the gorge. The falls are still moving today. However， our century has tamed it a bit. A lot of water that used to plunge down now goes through the electric power stations， both American and Canadian. Above in the air， you will understand the real difference between the American and Canadian falls. The American Falls get only about 10% of the water， while the Canadian Falls get 90%. Because the volume of water is greater， the Canadian Falls are eroding far more rapidly. Unlike the mountains and canyons of the West， Niagara is a short- time glory that was here yesterday and will be gone tomorrow.
尼亚加拉瀑布介绍
尼亚加拉大瀑布已成了老得没牙的旅游景点。但是，如果你从飞机上鸟瞰的话，它就成了全新的景观。你会意识到，老得没牙的并不是尼亚加拉，而是我们观赏它的方法已属陈旧。
大部分游客总是尽可能靠近瀑布，看着水流轰鸣而下。这让人着魔，呆若木鸡。游客站在那里，被奔腾不息的激流及其强大的力量所折服。但此后你会有这样的感觉"那又怎么样?水流到了悬崖边，当然要往下淌落了。“
但在高空你会马上看个一清二楚。你看到瀑布的一边是安大略湖，另一边是伊利湖，把这两个源连接起来的是34英里长的尼亚加拉河。当飞机稍往下飞行时，你会看到瀑布本身，沿着湖滨约有1英里宽的人行道，水从182英尺高的悬崖直冲下来，然后流入既深又窄的峡谷。你会顿悟你已看到了尼亚加拉瀑布的真面目：瀑布在运动着，而7英里长的峡谷只是瀑布在运动时冲出来的轨迹。这一事实马上使你的想法完全改变。从地面上看，水往下冲入峡谷的原因似乎是因为下面有低地。而现在你会明白，事实正好相反：瀑布才是起因，而峡谷是结果。尼亚加拉峡谷看上去像是虫在苹果上咬出来的斑痕。
尼亚加拉瀑布与人们在山上看到的瀑布有所不同。山上看到的瀑布是一条飞下山腰的细流;有的高于尼亚加拉瀑布，也许比它美丽，但它们却没有尼亚加拉瀑布的那种气势和爆发力。尼亚加拉瀑布属于重量级——一股巨流全部从悬崖上冲泻下来。
从上往下看到的现实景像是瀑布自身的强烈运动在凿峡谷。这是个很有意思的景观。
今天，瀑布依然一泻千里。不过，本世纪人们开始利用它了。过去常常往下冲的大量的水，现在都流过美国和加拿大的发电站。
在空中，你会理解美国与加拿大瀑布的实际差别。在美国境内的瀑布只占总水量的10%，而加拿大境内的瀑布占90%.加拿大境内的瀑布由于水量更大，所以它向上游移动得更快。和美国西部的大峡谷和山脉不同的是，尼亚加拉瀑布的壮观是短期的——昨天它还在此地，明天也许会消失。
注释：
1. all at once：突然。同at once(立刻)相似。只是语气上更加强调是“豁然开朗”，一下子全明白了。
2. a flash of understanding：突然间明白。Flash是“闪电”，明白的速度像闪电一般的快，可见是很形象的说法了。
3. much higher than：比……高多了。像much、far这样的词，后面接形容词要接比较级，而不能接原级。记住，我们常说的much better就是一个典型的例子。
4. lack：缺少。Lack这个词作动词时，可以直接接宾语。但作名词时，就要加介词of，然后再接缺少的东西。这就是动词lack和名词lack的区别。
5. our century has tamed it a bit：这句话就不能从字面上直接理解了。Our century实际上是指本世纪，a bit是有点的意思，引申为逐渐。这句话实际上是说本世纪人类已经开始逐渐征服他了。
文章二
Niagara Falls comprises three distinct cataracts. The tallest are the American and Bridal Veil fallson the American side, separated by tiny Luna Island and plunging over jagged rocks in a 180ftdrop; the broad Horseshoe Falls which curve their way over to Canada are probably the mostimpressive. They date back a mere twelve thousand years, when the retreat of melting glaciersallowed water trapped in Lake Erie to gush north to Lake Ontario. Back then the falls wereseven miles downriver, but constant erosion has cut them back to their present site. The fallsare colorfully lit up at night, and many say they're most beautiful in winter, when the groundsare covered in snow and the waters turn to ice.
The best views on the American side are from the Prospect Point Observation Tower (daily; 50￠), and from the area at its base where the water rushes past; Terrapin Point on GoatIsland in the middle of the river has similar views of Horseshoe Falls. The nineteenth-centurytightrope-walker Blondin crossed the Niagara repeatedly near here, and even carried passengersacross on his back; other suicidal fools over the years have taken the plunge in barrels. Onesurvivor among the many fatalities was the Englishman Bobby Leach, who went over in a steelbarrel in July 1911 and had to spend the rest of the year in hospital. That practice has sincebeen banned (though a couple of maniacs did it in summer 1995 and came away with minorbruises), for reasons which become self-evident when you approach the towering cascade onthe not-to-be-missed Maid of the Mist boat trip from the foot of the observation tower(summer Mon-Fri 10am-5pm, Sat & Sun 10am-6pm; $8.50; 716/284-4233). From GoatIsland, the Cave of the Winds tour leads down to the base of the falls by elevator to withinalmost touching distance of the water (mid-May to late Oct; $5.50). A combination pass forthese and other attractions costs $16. Rainbow helicopter tours (716/284-2800) are a moreexpensive proposition at $40 per person for a ten-minute ride. To check the view out fromNiagara Falls, Ontario, it's a twenty-minute walk across the Rainbow Bridge to the Canadian side(25￠ each way; bring ID, and check with US Immigration officials before heading across),where you get an arguably better view, bigger crowds and even more tawdry ing across is inadvisable: the toll for a car is just 75￠, but parking on the other side isupwards of $15.
As you look on in awe, reflect that you're seeing only about half the volume of water - the restis diverted to hydroelectric power stations. The full story of this engineering feat is related atthe free Niagara Power Project Visitors Center in nearby Lewiston (July & Aug daily 9am-6pm; Sept-June daily 10am-5pm; 716/285-3211). With your own transportation it's alsopossible to trace the inhospitable Niagara Gorge two miles along the dramatic Robert MosesParkway to the Whirlpool Rapids, a violent maelstrom swollen by broken trees and otherflotsam.
Ten miles east of Niagara Falls, the town of LOCKPORT takes its name from the series of locksthat raise and lower boats some 65ft at the western end of the Erie Canal. You can see theimpressive flight of locks from the Pine Street Bridge, or up close on canal boat tours (May -Nov daily at 12.30 & 3pm, also 10am on Sat; $9; 716/693-3260).
