And this is Steve Ember with the VOA Special English program, EXPLORATIONS. Today we tell about the lighthouses that protect ships sailing along the coast of North Carolina.
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VOICE ONE:
Lighthouses are built along coasts to signal to passing ships. Lighthouses are tall buildings of wood or stone or brick with large bright lights on top. Every night they shine lights to warn ships about dangerous areas where there are rocks, low water levels, or strong currents. The lighthouses along North Carolina’s coast are recognized as signs of safety for travelers at sea.
Over the years, fierce ocean storms have sent many ships crashing into the North Carolina coast. Other boats have been lost in wars. During World War Two, for example, German submarines sank many allied transport ships in that area. History experts say more than six hundred ships have been wrecked near the Outer Banks of North Carolina. Storms still uncover the ruins of wrecked ships along the Outer Banks.
The lighthouses shine their signals to prevent more wrecks. Many ships and lives have been saved because of the United States Life Saving Service and workers at lighthouses along the coast.
VOICE TWO:
The Outer Banks is a group of narrow islands stretching along the North Carolina coast in the Atlantic Ocean. The islands shelter North Carolina’s inland water passages. For thousands of years, these barrier islands have survived severe weather. Every few years, an ocean storm in the North Atlantic Ocean will move through the Outer Banks with destructive force.
Each island of the Outer Banks has its own lighthouse with a special design and history. In addition, each lighthouse has its own signal, which boats see from a distance. The different light signals help sailors identify their position from the land. This helps them judge if they are close to dangerous water passages. Today, the light signals work on an electrical timing system. In the past, workers living in the lighthouses had to turn the lights on and off.
VOICE ONE:
North Carolina’s simplest lighthouse is on Ocracoke Island in the southern Outer Banks. Ocracoke Lighthouse was built in 1823. It is considered the oldest lighthouse on the Carolina coast. Its signal is a continuous white light, which can be seen almost twenty-five kilometers out at sea. Although the plans used to build Ocracoke lighthouse appear normal, the building was built off-center. As a result, it rises more sharply on one side.
Ocracoke Island is said to be the place where the pirate Blackbeard lost his head in the early seventeen hundreds. This famous ocean robber was killed in a battle with a British officer more than a century before Ocracoke Lighthouse was build. Lieutenant Robert Maynard was protecting England’s colonial interest in the New World. Historians say he tricked
