在阿肯色州的钻石坑州立公园，一个游客展示她找到的一颗8.52克拉的钻石。(Crater of Diamonds State Park via AP)

每日对话围绕一家人在美国50个州的旅行见闻展开。请来跟随他们一起体验地方风情和历史。这个对话系列适于中级或中级以上英语水平的学生使用。

今天，这家人来到阿肯色州（Arkansas）一个少见的公园——钻石坑州立公园（Crater of Diamonds State Park ）。

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.

让我们复习一些词语：

Crater of Diamonds State Park：钻石坑州立公园，位于阿肯色州，是世界上唯一个公众可以进入的钻石场。 A state park: 州立公园，通常有受到保护的自然风景或历史意义。州立公园由州政府管理。 而国家公园，a national park ，则是由联邦政府管理。

To keep one’s eyes peeled ：留神注意（某东西或人）

Volcanic soil：火山灰土壤。A volcano：火山。 volcanic eruption：火山爆发。volcanic ash:火山灰。Soil：土，土壤。

Beginner’s luck：新手的运气

Finders keepers：谁找到归谁所有

Erosion：侵蚀，风化