英语名人堂：戴安·弗西

出生1932年1月16日美国，加利福尼亚州，旧金山逝世1985年12月27日 （53岁）卢旺达，火山国家公园公民权美国研究领域动物行为学，灵长类学任职于康奈尔大学，卡里索凯研究中心母校圣荷西州立大学（B.A.，职能治疗，1954）剑桥大学（Ph.D.，动物学，1974）著名成就对山地大猩猩的研究和保护受影响于珍·古道尔，路易斯·李奇，乔治·夏勒

Dian Fossey was an American zoologist¹ who studied gorillas³ in Africa. Her research and life in the mountain forests of Rwanda made her famous. She wrote a book about her work, ‘Gorillas in the Mist’. A major Hollywood studio paid her a million dollars for the movie rights. Her brutal⁴ murder in 1985 had to be added to the film.

 

Fossey was born in 1932. She became interested in animals from a very early age and enrolled⁵ on a veterinary course. At university, she studied occupational therapy, which would help her later research. She became interested in Africa in her late twenties. She took out a loan and went to Tanzania, where she met the man who would change her life, anthropologist⁶ Dr. Louis Leakey.

 

Fossey was encouraged by Dr. Leakey to carry out long-term research on mountain gorillas. In 1967, she set up the Karisoke Research Centre in the remote Rwanda rainforest. She became an international celebrity⁷ in 1970 after appearing on the cover of ‘National Geographic’ magazine. It brought huge publicity⁸ for her campaign to protect the mountain gorillas and save them from extinction⁹.

 

Fossey was strongly opposed to zoos. In 1978, she tried to stop two young gorillas from being taken from Rwanda to a zoo in Germany. Twenty adult gorillas were killed during their capture. She also disagreed with “conservation tourism”, which disturbs the animals’ natural habitat. Many believe she was killed by those who wanted to make big money from gorilla² tourism.

1 zoologist   

n.动物学家

参考例句：

• Charles darwin was a famous zoologist.查尔斯达尔文是一位著名的动物学家。
• The zoologist had spent a long time living with monkeys.这位动物学家与猴子一起生活了很长时间。

2 gorilla   

n.大猩猩，暴徒，打手

参考例句：

• I was awed by the huge gorilla.那只大猩猩使我惊惧。
• A gorilla is just a speechless animal.猩猩只不过是一种不会说话的动物。

3 gorillas   

n.大猩猩( gorilla的名词复数 )；暴徒，打手

参考例句：

• the similitude between humans and gorillas 人类和大猩猩的相像
• Each family of gorillas is led by a great silverbacked patriarch. 每个大星星家族都由一个魁梧的、长着银色被毛的族长带领着。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 brutal   

adj.残忍的，野蛮的，不讲理的

参考例句：

• She has to face the brutal reality.她不得不去面对冷酷的现实。
• They're brutal people behind their civilised veneer.他们表面上温文有礼，骨子里却是野蛮残忍。

5 enrolled   

adj.入学登记了的v.[亦作enrol]( enroll的过去式和过去分词 )；登记，招收，使入伍（或入会、入学等），参加，成为成员；记入名册；卷起，包起

参考例句：

• They have been studying hard from the moment they enrolled. 从入学时起，他们就一直努力学习。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He enrolled with an employment agency for a teaching position. 他在职业介绍所登了记以谋求一个教师的职位。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 anthropologist   

n.人类学家，人类学者

参考例句：

• The lecturer is an anthropologist.这位讲师是人类学家。
• The anthropologist unearthed the skull of an ancient human at the site.人类学家在这个遗址挖掘出那块古人类的颅骨。

7 celebrity   

n.名人，名流；著名，名声，名望

参考例句：

• Tom found himself something of a celebrity. 汤姆意识到自己已小有名气了。
• He haunted famous men, hoping to get celebrity for himself. 他常和名人在一起, 希望借此使自己获得名气。

8 publicity   

n.众所周知，闻名；宣传，广告

参考例句：

• The singer star's marriage got a lot of publicity.这位歌星的婚事引起了公众的关注。
• He dismissed the event as just a publicity gimmick.他不理会这件事，只当它是一种宣传手法。

9 extinction   

n.熄灭，消亡，消灭，灭绝，绝种

参考例句：

• The plant is now in danger of extinction.这种植物现在有绝种的危险。
• The island's way of life is doomed to extinction.这个岛上的生活方式注定要消失。