2007年NPR美国国家公共电台六月-Japan Pushes for Wider Whale Hunt

It's Morning Edition from NPR News, I'm Steven Skip, and I'm Rena Mountain, good morning. The fate of a 21-year-old ban on commercial whaling is at stake. That ban is on the agenda of this week's annual meeting of the International Whaling Commission in Anchorage, Alaska. Both pro¹ and anti-whaling forces have been recruiting nations to join the commission, it's an eleventh-hour effort to determine whether Japan should be allowed to resume commercial whaling. Elizabeth Arnold reports.

Airplane! Airplane!

A small plane, brightly painted with humpback whales taxies to a stop before a crowd of school children. Patrick Ramage has flown here from CapeCod with artwork from kids asking the International Whaling commission to block Japan from killing² more than a thousand whales this season. His twelve-year-old son Henry is with him.

"We are bringing the artwork to the government officials to show them that whaling needs to stop. "

Henry's father Patrick of the International Fund for Animal Welfare is a veteran of these meetings and he says this time the outcome is too close to call.

"Japan wants to kill whales. Necessarily, they are willing to kill the International Whaling Commission in order to do it. We've seen a multi-year, persistent³ effort to recruit countries and achieve through the power of Japan's currency what they are unable to achieve with their science or powers of persuasion⁴. "

But Ramage and delegates of anti-whaling nations have done some recruiting of their own. The result has been sort of an arms race, as each side tries to find yet another nation to join and vote their way. Laos, Croatia and Cyprus are some of the latest recruits. Since 1986, the IWC has banned whale hunting with just two exceptions: Nations may take a certain number of whales for scientific research and aboriginal⁵ people are allowed quotas⁷ for subsistence purposes. At last year's IWC meeting, Japan rallied a one-vote majority for a resolution ending the ban. But it was only symbolic⁸ as it takes a three-quarters vote to truly end. Mark Simmonds of the UK-based Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society says it sends a dangerous signal.

"So the question is, what's the big signal gonna be this year?"

Simmonds explains that the CITES meeting, the body that manages international trade in endangered wildlife, comes right after the IWC meeting.

And the messages that go from the IWC to the CITES meeting are really really important. Because CITES basically follows the line that the IWC takes. So as the IWC is saying, we have a moratorium⁹. CITES says:" OK, well, we will have an international trade ban in all these whale products. "

Simmonds says last year's vote eroded¹⁰ support for trade restrictions¹¹ and emboldened¹² nations such as Iceland to commence whaling. Currently Japan kills a thousand whales a year under the IWC's scientific research loophole. And this year it plans to kill an additional fifty humpback whales, an endangered species. Joji Morishita, Japan's chief delegate says his country is misunderstood.

"What we are asking for is limited, regulated whaling for abundant species only. So you don't need to lift the moratorium, and we think the regulations and controls are very important. "

At this meeting, the commission must also renew or reject a five-year bowhead quota⁶ for subsistence whalers. The last time the so-called aboriginal quota was up, Japan tried to block it as leverage¹³ for resumption of their own whaling. Morishita says it is only fair to approve both.

"As long as both of them are utilizing¹⁴ their local resources in a sustainable manner, I don't think there should be any different treatment. "

But anti-whaling nations and groups such as the World Wildlife Fund say subsistence hunting which involves tiny boats and a limited number of whales is far different than commercial whaling.

Simmonds of the Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society says with the IWC's membership expanding everyday, it's impossible to predict the outcome of either contentious¹⁵ issue.

"That the man with a vote count looks like the pro-conservation side probably just about has the majority, but it completely depends on who is sitting in their seats, at a particular time. And it's so close. "

Key votes are planned later this week. For NPR News, I am Elizabeth Arnold, in Anchorage

1 pro   

n.赞成，赞成的意见，赞成者

参考例句：

• The two debating teams argued the question pro and con.辩论的两组从赞成与反对两方面辩这一问题。
• Are you pro or con nuclear disarmament?你是赞成还是反对核裁军？

2 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

3 persistent   

adj.坚持不懈的，执意的；持续的

参考例句：

• Albert had a persistent headache that lasted for three days.艾伯特连续头痛了三天。
• She felt embarrassed by his persistent attentions.他不时地向她大献殷勤，使她很难为情。

4 persuasion   

n.劝说；说服；持有某种信仰的宗派

参考例句：

• He decided to leave only after much persuasion.经过多方劝说，他才决定离开。
• After a lot of persuasion,she agreed to go.经过多次劝说后，她同意去了。

5 aboriginal   

adj.（指动植物）土生的，原产地的，土著的

参考例句：

• They managed to wipe out the entire aboriginal population.他们终于把那些土著人全部消灭了。
• The lndians are the aboriginal Americans.印第安人是美国的土著人。

6 quota   

n.（生产、进出口等的）配额，（移民的）限额

参考例句：

• A restricted import quota was set for meat products.肉类产品设定了进口配额。
• He overfulfilled his production quota for two months running.他一连两个月超额完成生产指标。

7 quotas   

（正式限定的）定量( quota的名词复数 )； 定额； 指标； 摊派

参考例句：

• In fulfilling the production quotas, John made rings round all his fellow workers. 约翰完成生产定额大大超过他的同事们。
• Quotas of the means of production are allocated by the higher administrative bodies to the lower ones. 物资指标按隶属关系分配。

8 symbolic   

adj.象征性的，符号的，象征主义的

参考例句：

• It is symbolic of the fighting spirit of modern womanhood.它象征着现代妇女的战斗精神。
• The Christian ceremony of baptism is a symbolic act.基督教的洗礼仪式是一种象征性的做法。

9 moratorium   

n.(行动、活动的)暂停(期)，延期偿付

参考例句：

• The government has called for a moratorium on weapons testing.政府已要求暂停武器试验。
• We recommended a moratorium on two particular kinds of experiments.我们建议暂禁两种特殊的实验。

10 eroded   

adj. 被侵蚀的，有蚀痕的 动词erode的过去式和过去分词形式

参考例句：

• The cliff face has been steadily eroded by the sea. 峭壁表面逐渐被海水侵蚀。
• The stream eroded a channel in the solid rock. 小溪在硬石中侵蚀成一条水道。

11 restrictions   

约束( restriction的名词复数 )； 管制； 制约因素； 带限制性的条件（或规则）

参考例句：

• I found the restrictions irksome. 我对那些限制感到很烦。
• a snaggle of restrictions 杂乱无章的种种限制

12 emboldened   

v.鼓励，使有胆量( embolden的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Emboldened by the wine, he went over to introduce himself to her. 他借酒壮胆，走上前去向她作自我介绍。
• His success emboldened him to expand his business. 他有了成就因而激发他进一步扩展业务。 来自《简明英汉词典》

13 leverage   

n.力量，影响；杠杆作用，杠杆的力量

参考例句：

• We'll have to use leverage to move this huge rock.我们不得不借助杠杆之力来移动这块巨石。
• He failed in the project because he could gain no leverage. 因为他没有影响力，他的计划失败了。

14 utilizing   

v.利用，使用( utilize的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• Utilizing an assembler to produce a machine-language program. 用汇编程序产生机器语言的过程。 来自辞典例句
• The study and use of devices utilizing properties of materials near absolute zero in temperature. 对材料在接近绝对零度时的特性进行研究和利用的学科。 来自辞典例句

15 contentious   

adj.好辩的，善争吵的

参考例句：

• She was really not of the contentious fighting sort.她委实不是好吵好闹的人。
• Since then they have tended to steer clear of contentious issues.从那时起，他们总想方设法避开有争议的问题。