Secrets of the rainforest

BBC Learning English
6 Minute English
Secrets of the rainforest
Callum: Hello and welcome to 6 Minute English, I'm Callum Robertson and with me
today is Kaz, hello Kaz.
Kaz: Hello Callum.
Callum: Today we're going to be talking about the rainforest and in particular the
rainforest in Borneo. In 2007 there was an agreement to protect a large area of
rainforest and environmental scientists have just revealed some of the strange
and rare animals and insects that live there.
Kaz, have you ever been to Borneo or any other rainforests?
Kaz: I've been to rainforests and I've been lucky enough to have been to Borneo too.
I spent two years there.
Callum: Fantastic, right, well you'll be an expert on this topic. And I have a question for
you Kaz. It's estimated that there are about 10 million different species on the
planet. How many have so far been discovered? Is it:
a: 750,000
b: 1.7 million
c: 2.4 million
Kaz: Difficult one Callum, but I would probably say 2.4 million but I'm not sure, so
I might go with 1.7.
Callum: Make a decision!
Kaz: OK, let's say 2.4.
Callum: OK, We'll find out if you're right at the end of the programme.
David Norman from the World Wide Fund for Nature, the WWF, spoke¹ to the
BBC about the Borneo rainforest and the discoveries there. He talks about
rainforests being some of the most biologically diverse habitats on earth. Kaz,
what does he mean by a biologically diverse habitat?
Kaz: Well Callum, as I understand it, biologically diverse means that there are lots
and lots of different living things living in that particular area, that particular
ecosystem². So there are many different species living in the same place.
Callum: OK. Let's listen to David Norman. He mentions some of the diverse wildlife in
Borneo and specifically four different animals. What are they?
David Norman
These are some of the most biologically diverse habitats on the whole of the Earth. It's one of
only two places on Earth where you have elephants, and orang-utans and rhinoceros³ and
clouded leopards⁴ all living in the same territory. So it's really extraordinarily⁵ rich tropical
rainforest.
Callum: Kaz, what animals did he mention?
Kaz: He mentioned: elephants, orang-utans, which are large apes, rhinoceros and
clouded leopards.
Callum: And in your time in Borneo did you ever see any of these, these animals?
Kaz: In a protected area I saw orang-utans and that was in Sabah, that's the northern
part of Borneo. But in my wonderings around the rainforests of Borneo I saw
many birds, many insects and many different kinds of apes and monkeys,
gibbons in particular.
In the rainforest you tend to hear more than you see. And the rainforest sounds
a bit like this. This is a recording⁶ that I made at night. And the animals are
mainly frogs.
Rainforest recording
Callum: Fantastic, that's really, there's a lot of atmosphere there, isn't there?
Kaz: It's a very atmospheric⁷ place. And as I said you tend to hear things before you
see them.
Callum: David goes on to talk about some of the more unusual creatures that have been
discovered in the Borneo rainforest. Here he talks about two different species.
What are they, and what is particularly unusual about them?
David Norman
You know quite remarkable⁸ insects just found nowhere else on earth. There's the world's
longest insect has been discovered here. This is about half a metre long, so if this thing lands
on your head, its tail is somewhere down near your hand. It's amazing that only three
examples of this have ever been discovered, that's how rare it is, it's up in the forest canopy⁹.
There's a frog, for example, as well, that has no lungs, this is extraordinary. This is a creature
that has evolved to breathe entirely¹⁰ through its skin, so you know, extraordinary stories from
the natural world.
Callum: Extraordinary stories from the natural world indeed. What two discoveries did
he mention Kaz?
Kaz: He mentioned a frog that has no lungs. So, I have lungs, I breathe like this.
This frog, doesn't have lungs, it breathes through its skin. And he also
mentioned the world's longest insect at half a metre. Now just imagine that
landing on your head Callum!
Callum: I'd rather not! How about you Kaz, how do you feel about things like insects
and spiders?
Kaz: Well, insects and spiders, creepy-crawlies, I have no problem with them.
Callum: You don't mind touching¹¹ and holding creepy-crawlies?
Kaz: I don't mind them, in fact, as a young boy I used to keep stick insects at home.
Callum: Right, fascinating!
Kaz: But they weren't half a metre long, these were small, these were about four
inches long.
Callum: Well it's time to answer the question from the beginning of the programme. It's
estimated that there are about 10 million different species on the planet. How
many have so far been discovered? Kaz, you said …
Kaz: I thought 2.4 million.
Callum: To find the answer we're going to listen again to David Norman from WWF.
David Norman
There are about 10 million species perhaps on the planet and we've only discovered 1.7
million of those.
Callum: So the answer was 1.7 million. And you nearly got there, I kind of persuaded
you to choose one option.
Well, that's all from us today but do join us again for more 6 Minute English.
Thank you very much Kaz, Goodbye.
Kaz: Goodbye Callum.
 

1 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

2 ecosystem   

n.生态系统

参考例句：

• This destroyed the ecosystem of the island.这样破坏了岛上的生态系统。
• We all have an interest in maintaining the integrity of the ecosystem.维持生态系统的完整是我们共同的利益。

3 rhinoceros   

n.犀牛

参考例句：

• The rhinoceros has one horn on its nose.犀牛鼻子上有一个角。
• The body of the rhinoceros likes a cattle and the head likes a triangle.犀牛的形体像牛，头呈三角形。

4 leopards   

n.豹( leopard的名词复数 )；本性难移

参考例句：

• Lions, tigers and leopards are all cats. 狮、虎和豹都是猫科动物。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• For example, airlines never ship leopards and canaries on the same flight. 例如，飞机上从来不会同时运送豹和金丝雀。 来自英语晨读30分（初三）

5 extraordinarily   

adv.格外地；极端地

参考例句：

• She is an extraordinarily beautiful girl.她是个美丽非凡的姑娘。
• The sea was extraordinarily calm that morning.那天清晨，大海出奇地宁静。

6 recording   

n.录音，记录

参考例句：

• How long will the recording of the song take?录下这首歌得花多少时间？
• I want to play you a recording of the rehearsal.我想给你放一下彩排的录像。

7 atmospheric   

adj.大气的，空气的；大气层的；大气所引起的

参考例句：

• Sea surface temperatures and atmospheric circulation are strongly coupled.海洋表面温度与大气环流是密切相关的。
• Clouds return radiant energy to the surface primarily via the atmospheric window.云主要通过大气窗区向地表辐射能量。

8 remarkable   

adj.显著的，异常的，非凡的，值得注意的

参考例句：

• She has made remarkable headway in her writing skills.她在写作技巧方面有了长足进步。
• These cars are remarkable for the quietness of their engines.这些汽车因发动机没有噪音而不同凡响。

9 canopy   

n.天篷，遮篷

参考例句：

• The trees formed a leafy canopy above their heads.树木在他们头顶上空形成了一个枝叶茂盛的遮篷。
• They lay down under a canopy of stars.他们躺在繁星点点的天幕下。

10 entirely   

ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The fire was entirely caused by their neglect of duty. 那场火灾完全是由于他们失职而引起的。
• His life was entirely given up to the educational work. 他的一生统统献给了教育工作。

11 touching   

adj.动人的，使人感伤的

参考例句：

• It was a touching sight.这是一幅动人的景象。
• His letter was touching.他的信很感人。