国家地理]精美图片 （六十）

1501. <BR>　　 "In the heart of Ranchos de Taos, New Mexico, stands an adobe church, recently restored to commemorate the town's Spanish colonial heritage. Founded in the early 18th century as a Roman Catholic mission, the church of St. Francis of Assisi retains many of its original paintings, altar screens, pieces of silverwork, and Santos—wooden statues carved by the Spanish settlers." <BR>　　(Text from and photograph shot on assignment for, but not published in, the National Geographic book The Majestic Rocky Mountains, 1976)<BR>　　 <BR>　　<BR><BR><IMG src="http://lava.nationalgeographic.com/pod/pictures/lg_wallpaper/01958_141.jpg"><BR><BR>

1502. Stretching to the dark skyline of the ponderosa-clad Black Hills, Buffalo Gap National Grassland showcases prairie recovering from near destruction by overgrazing and soil depletion. <BR>　　(Text adapted from and photograph shot on assignment for, but not published in, "Big, Bad, and Beautiful," May/June 1996, Traveler magazine) <BR>　　 <BR><BR><IMG src="http://lava.nationalgeographic.com/pod/pictures/lg_wallpaper/T0474_26.jpg"><BR>
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1503. Surrounded by shrubs, Manobier Castle appears to fit perfectly into the Welsh countryside. In the past, castles were effective for defense but not exactly comfortable. Often all the residents—the lord, his family, and all his knights, soldiers, and serfs—lived in one large room, the great hall. With few windows and little ventilation, life in a castle was dank, dark, and dirty. <BR>　　(Text adapted from and photograph shot on assignment for, but not published in, the National Geographic Book Discovering Great Britain and Ireland, 1985) <BR>　　<BR><BR><IMG src="http://lava.nationalgeographic.com/pod/pictures/lg_wallpaper/BS075_50291.jpg"><BR>
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　1504. Seen from famed Route 66, storm clouds darken a desert landscape. The highway stretches from Chicago to Los Angeles. It is about 2,448 miles (3,939 kilometers) long and crosses eight states and three time zones. <BR>　　(Photograph shot on assignment for, but not published in, "Route 66," September 1997, National Geographic magazine) <BR>　　<BR><BR><IMG src="http://lava.nationalgeographic.com/pod/pictures/lg_wallpaper/06398_82.jpg"><BR>
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1505. Six stories high, with portholes for eyes and a spiral staircase in each hind leg, the elephant-shaped building known as Lucy has towered over Margate City, New Jersey, since 1881. A real estate developer built Lucy to lure customers by offering them pachyderm-top views of land for sale. Since then the structure, modeled after an Asian elephant, has served as a home, a tavern, and梐s seen here in 1932梐 privately owned tourist curiosity. Lucy was relocated to a nearby park in 1970. <BR>　　From "Flashback," August 2004, National Geographic magazine <BR>　　<BR><BR><IMG src="http://lava.nationalgeographic.com/pod/pictures/lg_wallpaper/NGM200408_Flash.jpg"><BR>
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