世界五大自然奇观

余圣莲

Almost everywhere you go on Earth, natural beauty catches your eye. Each continent boasts many awesome wonders. Snow-covered mountains and huge rock formations soar up into bright blue skies. Waterfalls plunge hundreds of feet to pools below. Dark, ancient forests shelter an amazing variety of life.

We have chosen what we believe to be the five most spectacular natural wonders—those that are the biggest, longest or most impressive of their kind. These natural wonders inspire awe in everyone who views them.

Mt. Everest

Mt. Everest, which straddles the border between China and Nepal, is the worlds highest mountain. It measures 29,035 feet. And the mountain is still growing! Geological forces push it up a few millimeters each year.

Sit Edmund Hillary and Sherpa Tenzing Norgay first reached the peaks summit in 1953. Since then more than 1,000 people have reached the top—and at least 100 have died trying. Why climb Everest? Briton George Mallory, part of the first expedition to climb the mountain in 1921, famously answered that question: “Because it is there.”

Grand Canyon

Visitors to the Grand Canyon of the Colorado River in Arizona admire its breathtaking colors, rock formations and cliffs. No picture can adequately capture its beauty. The canyon is 277 miles long and any where from 4 to 18 miles wide, rim to rim.

A national park protects the canyons most spectacular section. Visitors can either hike or ride a mule from the rim to the canyon floor 5,280 feel below. The Colorado River flows through the canyon. The river created several other canyons, but the Grand Canyon is the most beautiful.

Great Barrier Reefs

The Great Barrier Reefs extends 1,200 miles along Australias northeast coast through the Coral Sea. It is the largest coral formation in the world and is visible from space! Actually, it is not one reef but a chain of thousands.

More than 10,000 species live on the Great Barrier Reefs. These reef inhabitants include more than 1,500 kinds of fish and 200 kinds of birds. The beauty of the reefs also attracts thousands of human visitors each year. They dive or see the reefs by glass-bottom boat.

Victoria Falls

Victoria Falls stretch across the Zambezi River between Zimbabwe and Zambia. Locals call the falls “Mosioa Tunya,” or “The Smoke that Thunders.” The roar of the water can be heard long before the mist from the falls comes into view. During peak flood season, the falls form the largest curtain of falling water in the world. The mile-wide falls plunge 330 feet over a cliff into a narrow gorge. From February to May, nearly 120 million gallons of water a minute make the plunge into the gorge.

Amazon Rain Forest

The Amazon Rain Forest covers more than a billion acres of northern South America. If this rain forest were a country, it would be the ninth largest in the world!

Some scientists call the area the “lungs of our planet.” The area produces more than 20 percent of the worlds oxygen. Millions of animal and plant species live in the Amazon, including one third of the worlds bird species!

无论你走到世界何处，都会有吸引你的自然美景。每个大洲均有许多令人敬畏的奇观。积雪覆盖的高山和巨大的岩体直入耀眼的蓝天。瀑布轰然跌入数百英尺下的深潭。苍郁的古老森林，荫蔽着种类惊人的生物。这些令人叹为观止的自然奇观，激起了每个观众的敬畏之心。

珠穆朗玛峰

跨越中国和尼泊尔边陲的珠穆朗玛峰是世界第一高峰。它有29，035 英尺高，而且还在持续增长中！地质作用力每年会将它推高几毫米。

1953年，爱德蒙·希拉里爵士和夏尔巴人丹增·诺吉首度成功登顶。自那时起，有1，000多人成功攀至峰顶——而至少100人在尝试登顶过程中长眠于此。为什么要攀登珠穆朗玛峰呢？1921年首个攀登珠穆朗玛峰的远征队成员之一——英国人乔治·马洛里--给了一句著名的答案：“因为它在那里。”

大峡谷

前往亚利桑纳州欣赏科罗拉多河大峡谷的观光客，无不被它令人惊艳的颜色、岩层和峭壁所倾倒。没有照片足以捕捉它的美。大峡谷长277英里，峡谷两侧边缘之间宽度从4英里到18英里不等。

一座国家公园保护着峡谷最壮观的地区。游客可以徒步旅行，或者骑着骡子从山缘走到下面5，280英尺深的谷底。科罗拉多河流经整个峡谷。这条河还创造了其他一些峡谷，但大峡谷是其中最壮丽的一个。

大堡礁

大堡礁长1，200 英里，沿着澳大利亚东北海岸的珊瑚海而列。它是全世界最大的珊瑚结构，即使在太空中也看得到！事实上，它不是一个礁脉，而是由数千个相连的礁脉所组成。

有1万多种生物生活在大堡礁上。在这些礁脉中生活的有1，500多种鱼类和200多种鸟类。大堡礁的美景每年也吸引了成千上万的观光客。他们潜水或乘玻璃底游船来观赏珊瑚礁。

维多利亚瀑布

维多利亚瀑布跨越了津巴布韦和赞比亚之间的赞比西河。当地人称这一个瀑布为“莫西奥图尼亚”，也就是“雷鸣的烟霞”。早在瀑布的水雾映入眼帘之前，就能听到轰隆的水声。在洪水高峰期，瀑布会形成全世界最大的落水帷幔。宽达1英里的瀑布自330 英尺高的峭壁冲泻而下，直落狭窄的峡谷。从2月到5月，每分钟有将近1亿2千万加仑的水泻入峡谷之中。

亚马逊雨林

亚马逊雨林覆盖了南美洲北部10亿多英亩的地区。如果这片雨林是一个国家，它会是世界第9大国！

有些科学家称这片区域为“地球之肺”。这里生成全球20%以上的氧气。数百万的动植物物种栖息在亚马逊，其中有全世界1/3的鸟类！