VOA常速英语:Rocky Mountain Sigh as More People Move In

短语讲解：

1. Perhaps that’s because of the smog.

because of因为, 由于
例句：It was because of the job that he had taken the flat.
他因为工作的原因租了那套公寓。

2. Morning and evening - and on weekends - around many mountain towns, you can watch an endless string of sport-utility vehicle lights snake through what used to be unspoiled hills and ravines.

used to过去一向,过去时常;过去曾(而现在不再)做
例句：I used to go to work by underground when I was in London. 
我在伦敦时,通常乘地铁上班。

3. Gigantic housing tracts cropped up among the ponderosa pines.

crop up裸露在地面各处
例句：Be careful when you walk in this field; there are lots of rocks cropping up.
你在这块地行走时要小心, 地面上有许多露出来的石头。

4. Other folks snapped up meadow parcels with a mountain view - “ranchettes,” as they’re called.

snap up抢购
例句：I snapped up the coat at that cheap price.
在价格便宜时我买下了这件大衣。

5. Commuters have no “rush hour” on Interstate 25 between Denver and Colorado Springs because, they say, the highway is one long parking lot.

rush hour 高峰期
例句：Traffic jam is common in the rush hour.
高峰期经常会出现交通堵塞。

6. So rampant was Denver’s suburbanization before the recent U.S. economic downturn that Northern Colorado ranchers by the hundreds sold out to developers and moved operations up into remote Wyoming.

sell out脱销, 卖掉
例句：The shop sold out all its shirts.
那家商店把所有的衬衫都卖光了。

7. All because of the western version of Americans’ search for a simpler life, close to nature.

search for搜索, 搜寻
例句：They searched all the drawers for the missing paper.
他们翻了所有的抽屉找寻那份遗失的文件。

8. The magnificent Rocky Mountains have inspired songs such as “Springtime in the Rockies” and “Rockin’ in the Rockies.”

such as像, 例如
例句：We dislike people such as him.
我们不喜欢像他这号人。