让我们一起倾听大自然的声音_大学英语阅读

让我们一起倾听大自然的声音

When Hempton talks about natural silence, he’s not talking about the absence of all sound, just of man-made sound. Natural silence can be surprisingly loud, as anyone who’s been to the Oregon coast, visited a rain forest, or heard an elk bugling on a crisp fall morning can attest.[10]

My sister parks the car and I strap[11] my son onto my back. Then we cross a bridge and wind up a hill. My sister stops to snap photos of salmonberries[12] and snails, and I close my eyes. I can hear a waterfall, birds, and an animal scampering through the undergrowth.[13]

“Big truck!” Ezra squeals, as a logging truck rumbles down a nearby road.[14]

Back in Eugene I surf through real estate[15] websites from the tiny Colorado mountain town where I grew up. When I moved to the city for college, I told someone where I was from, and she replied, “Oh yes, I go there to listen to the silence.” When I temporarily moved back a few years later, I appreciated what she meant. The evenings were notably quiet in my neighborhood. Most of the houses were dark by 9, few cars passed, and it was more than a mile to the closest highway, which wasn’t exactly teeming with traffic most nights.[16]

I start planning a visit with just one thing on the itinerary: sitting outside in the evenings and staring at the stars – just me and the crickets, hoot owls, and the occasional barking dog.[17] I call my parents to announce we’re coming and to lament that I’m thinking of wearing earplugs from now on.[18]