Words & Phrases
[L90P1 & L90P2]

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Lesson [L90P1]

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Translation[L90P1]

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Lesson [L90P2]

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Translation[L90P2]

Index9

English USA
Lesson 90, Part 1

  音 L90P1J.MP3[620KB]

 

MARTIN:

I think Americans love cowboys.

 

 

 

GRANT:

That's good. I'm a cowboy.

 

 

 

MARTIN:

Are you? But you own the ranch, don't you, Mr. Grant?

 

 

 

GRANT:

I'm a rancher. I'm a businessman too. But I like being on my horse best. I like what cowboys do.

 

 

 

MARTIN:

Are there still cowboys?

 

 

 

GRANT:

Yes, but they aren't like the cowboys in the Old West.

 

 

 

MARTIN:

Do you know about the Old West?

 

 

 

GRANT:

Yes. My family was a part of it.

 

 

 

MARTIN:

Tell me about it.

 

 

 

GRANT:

Of course, the Indians were here first. The first white men were the hunters and trappers. There weren't many. They were called mountain men. They weren't settlers. They weren't cattlemen and farmers.

 

 

 

MARTIN:

When were the mountain men?

 

 

 

GRANT:

Some time between eighteen twenty and eighteen forty. A lot of people moved west in eighteen forty-nine and later. That was when gold was discovered in California.

 

 

 

MARTIN:

None of those men were cowboys.

 

 

 

GRANT:

The cowboys came a little later. Some came after the Civil War--in the eighteen sixties and seventies.

 

 

 

MARTIN:

Why?

 

 

 

GRANT:

The first railroad was finished in eighteen sixty-nine.

 

 

 

MARTIN:

You mean the first railroad all the way across America.

 

 

 

GRANT:

That's when there was a need for cowboys.

 

 

 

MARTIN:

Please explain.

 

 

 

GRANT:

The West was a good place to raise cattle. But all the people lived in the East.

 

 

 

MARTIN:

So the cattle were raised here in the West. Then they were sent to the East on the new railroad.

 

 

 

GRANT:

Right. The cowboys took care of the cattle. Then they took them to the railroad. The cattle were miles and miles away from the railroad.

 

 

 

MARTIN:

That's when the cowboys drove the cattle for days.

 

 

 

GRANT:

Yes, it was. The Old West was about cows and cowboys.

 

 

 

MARTIN:

And here we are.

 

 

 

GRANT:

That's what ranching is about today. Cows.

 

 

 

MARTIN:

Tell me about the cattle drives in the old days.

 

 

 

GRANT:

Many men came west after the Civil War. They were poor. There were no jobs. No work.

 

 

 

MARTIN:

Were there jobs here?

 

 

 

GRANT:

No. But there were cattle. All they needed to work was a horse. A few men got together. They rounded up the cattle. Then they drove them to the railroad.

 

 

 

MARTIN:

And they sold the cattle there?

 

 

 

GRANT:

Right. Some of them got rich.

 

 

 

MARTIN:

But some of them didn't. What happened to them?

 

 

 

GRANT:

Many of them went back and tried again. They got together with some more men. They rounded up more cattle. They drove them to the railroad. They sold them.

 

 

 

MARTIN:

It was a hard life.

 

 

 

GRANT:

It was a great life.

 

 

 

MARTIN:

I want to hear more.

 

 

 

 

 

 

MARTIN:

Mr. Grant, I'm very interested in your family. Could you tell me something about their history?

 

 

 

GRANT:

I'd be happy to.

 

 

English USA L90P1J
Courtesy of Voice of America