Cette série de conversations en anglais suit une famille qui part en voyage aux États-Unis. Allez avec elle à la découverte des passe-temps et de l’histoire associés aux lieux qu’elle visite. Ces conversations s’adressent à des personnes ayant un niveau d’anglais intermédiaire, voire plus avancé.
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Dans cette conversation, la famille va à la découverte de l’Arkansas et d’un parc aux richesses très particulières : le Crater of Diamonds State Park.
Cliquez sur le lien audio et écoutez la conversation tout en la lisant ci-dessous. Les mots importants sont expliqués à la fin, en anglais, de façon à favoriser une immersion totale dans la langue. Certains sont suivis d’une brève traduction ou explication en français.
Sam: How long are we going to spend here? I want to stay until I find a diamond.
Gina: We’ll spend the day here, so keep your eyes peeled for diamonds.
Claudine: Is it really likely that we’ll find something?
Paul: The park opened 45 years ago, and since then, visitors have found more than 30,000 diamonds.
Claudine: Wow! That’s a lot. I’ve never looked for diamonds in volcanic soil before, so maybe I’ll have beginner’s luck and find one. And we don’t have to give diamonds we find to the park?
Paul: No, it’s finders keepers.
Sam: Why are there diamonds here? I didn’t know there were diamonds in the U.S. — except at the store, of course.
Gina: There was a volcanic eruption about 100 million years ago. Because of the eruption, rocks and minerals were brought to the surface. Over time, erosion has removed a lot of the soil, and the heavier stuff — like diamonds — remains.
Sam: That’s lucky for us! Now let’s start looking.
Un peu de vocabulaire
Crater of Diamonds State Park is a state park in Arkansas and has the world’s only diamond site that the public can access. A state park is a protected area, usually created to protect and keep an area known for its beauty, historic importance, etc. State parks are managed by the government of each U.S. state. In contrast, a national park is managed by the national government.
To keep one’s eyes peeled means to watch carefully for something or someone. (Faire attention ; ouvrir l’œil)
Volcanic soil is from the volcanic ash from a volcano. A volcano is a mountain with a large hole at the top. Hot liquid rock, gases, steam and dust come out of the hole in the volcano. This is called a volcanic eruption. The gray or black powder that is left after the eruption is called volcanic ash. The volcanic ash then forms volcanic soil. (Soil is the top layer of earth. Plants, flowers, trees, etc., grow in soil.)
Beginner’s luck is unexpected success by someone who is doing an activity for the first time. (La chance du débutant)
Finders keepers means that the person who finds something can keep it. (Expression idiomatique : celui qui découvre un trésor en devient le propriétaire. Notez que finder est dérivé du verbe to find signifiant trouver, et keeper du verbe to keep signifiant garder.)
Erosion is the gradual destruction of the surface of something by natural forces, such as water or wind.
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