英语听力—环球英语 662 The Great Green Walls

　　Voice 1
Welcome to Spotlight¹. I’m Marina Santee,
Voice 2
And I’m Steve Myersco. This programme uses a special English method of broadcasting. It is easier for people to understand, no matter where in the world they live.
Voice 1
Cork² has been used for hundreds of years to close the top of wine bottles. Cork is a soft woody substance³. It is perfect for stopping air getting into the bottle. It is made from the skin – or bark – of cork oak⁴ trees. Farmers harvest the bark without cutting down the trees. So, the trees are well cared for and live for many years. This creates a good local environment for wildlife.
Voice 2
However, some wine producers now use a different substance to make the bottle tops. They use plastic. Some people are worried that plastic stoppers could make cork trees useless. WWF is an organisation⁵ that works⁶ to protect the environment. It wrote a report about cork production in 2006. WWF warned⁷ that three quarters of the world’s cork trees could be cut down in the next ten years.
Voice 1
Portugal produces more cork than any other country. WWF has asked Portugal to grow more cork trees. WWF wants Portugal to grow the trees for one particular reason. They can help stop the desert spreading. Parts of south Portugal are very dry and hot. And this dry desert area is spreading north.
Voice 2
Portugal is not the only place using trees to stop the desert spreading. Other areas of the world are also using this method. In Africa the problem is much greater than in Portugal. The biggest desert in the world, the Sahara, is getting bigger. In some places it is spreading by up to ten kilometres every year.
Voice 1
This problem is too big for any one country to fix. So a number of African countries are working together to fight the spread of the desert. These countries include Mali, Burkina Faso, Nigeria, Chad, Sudan and Ethiopia. Together, they plan to plant trees – a lot of trees.
Voice 2
The plan is to plant trees between Mauritania, on the west coast, and Djibouti on the east coast. This is a distance of about seven thousand [7000] kilometres. This wall of trees will also be fifteen [15] kilometres wide. So, millions of trees will need to be planted.
Voice 1
Stopping the spread of the desert is very important to many people in North Africa. Every year a huge amount of farm land is turned into desert. This process is called desertification. Millions of people in these dry areas do not have enough food. Desertification means⁸ there is even less land to grow their crops. There are a number of causes of desertification. These include: cutting down trees; letting farm animals eat too much grass; or using too much water on crops. Many people think that climate change is making this problem even worse.
Voice 2
Senegal is one of the countries involved in the project. The country’s environment minister is Modou Fada Diagne. He said,
Voice 3
‘Instead of waiting for the desert to come to us, we need to attack it. Poverty⁹ and desertification both make each other worse. Desertification means people get fewer crops from their land. It also reduces the quality and value of land.’
Voice 1
The first part of the tree–planting plan will cost three million dollars. But some people are worried that the project will not be a success. Joséa Dossou Bodjrènou is from the Museum of Natural Science in Benin. He says the project will only work if everyone is involved.
Voice 4
‘The populations need to know that it is important to plant trees. People also need to learn how to take care of them. If they do not, they would destroy the trees without knowing it is dangerous for their environment. If that happened, all this work would lead to nothing.’
Voice 1
The project has been called the Great Green Wall. But it is not the first of its kind. China has been working on a similar project for many years. Currently¹⁰, more than a quarter of China is desert. This is the Gobi Desert – the biggest desert in Asia. And it is getting bigger. Every year it grows by about 2,500 square kilometres. So China decided¹¹ to plant a line of trees – a green wall.
Voice 2
The Chinese government wants to create a barrier¹² against the desert. The green wall is also meant to stop sand blowing into cities. China’s capital, Beijing often suffers from huge sand storms. These are caused by strong winds blowing sand from the desert into the city.
Voice 1
When finished, China’s green wall will be 4,500 kilometres long. It will stretch from Mongolia to Beijing. Chinese workers will need to plant billions of trees.
Voice 2
China has been planting trees since 1978. But since 2001, tree planting has increased. However, the wall could already be failing. Many of the trees are already dying¹³.
Voice 1
The problem facing China may be related¹⁴ to climate change. But it could also be because of people living near the desert. They need water to survive. They also cut down trees to make fires. And this could be making desertification worse. So, the Chinese government has made laws to stop people from damaging their local environment.
Voice 2
Some people do not think that planting trees is the right answer. They are worried that the trees could use up too much water in the soil. This could make the ground even drier. Wu Bo is from the Chinese Academy¹⁵ of Forestry¹⁶ in Beijing. He says,
Voice 5
‘Planting trees is one way to help. But the solution is not that simple. Planting trees does not help with the real issue¹⁷. We need to find how much water the trees take in. If we do not do this they could have a negative influence.’
Voice 1
However, some reports do show that sand storms have decreased since China started planting trees. But it may be many years until we find out how effective the green wall really is.
Voice 2
A nineteenth century French writer once said: ‘Forests come before humans, deserts follow humans.’. Let us hope that the Great Green Walls of China and Africa prove him wrong.
 

1 spotlight   

n.公众注意的中心，聚光灯，探照灯，视听，注意，醒目

参考例句：

• This week the spotlight is on the world of fashion.本周引人瞩目的是时装界。
• The spotlight followed her round the stage.聚光灯的光圈随着她在舞台上转。

2 cork   

n.软木，软木塞

参考例句：

• We heard the pop of a cork.我们听见瓶塞砰的一声打开。
• Cork is a very buoyant material.软木是极易浮起的材料。

3 substance   

n.物质，实质，主旨

参考例句：

• There isn't anything of real substance in her book.她的书中没有任何真正实质性的内容。
• How long will the substance take to salt out?这种物质需要多长时间来盐析？

4 oak   

n.栎树，橡树，栎木，橡木

参考例句：

• The chair is of solid oak.这把椅子是纯橡木的。
• The carpenter will floor this room with oak.木匠将用橡木铺设这个房间的地板。

5 organisation   

n.组织，安排，团体，有机休

参考例句：

• The method of his organisation work is worth commending.他的组织工作的方法值得称道。
• His application for membership of the organisation was rejected.他想要加入该组织的申请遭到了拒绝。

6 works   

n.作品，著作；工厂，活动部件，机件

参考例句：

• We expect writers to produce more and better works.我们期望作家们写出更多更好的作品。
• The novel is regarded as one of the classic works.这篇小说被公认为是最优秀的作品之一。

7 warned   

v.警告( warn的过去式和过去分词 )；提醒；告诫；预先通知

参考例句：

• Motorists have been warned to beware of icy roads. 已经提醒开车的人当心冰封的路面。
• I've warned her countless times. 我警告过她无数次了。

8 means   

n.方法，手段，折中点，物质财富

参考例句：

• That man used artful means to find out secrets.那人使用狡猾的手段获取机密。
• We must get it done by some means or other.我们总得想办法把它干完。

9 poverty   

n.贫穷， 贫困， 贫乏， 缺少

参考例句：

• We must continue to war against poverty and disease.我们一定要继续同贫穷和疾病作斗争。
• He showed his poverty in his knowledge of agriculture.他表现出缺乏对农业知识的了解。

10 currently   

adv.通常地，普遍地，当前

参考例句：

• Currently it is not possible to reconcile this conflicting evidence.当前还未有可能去解释这一矛盾的例证。
• Our contracts are currently under review.我们的合同正在复查。

11 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

12 barrier   

n.栅栏，障碍，壁垒，关卡

参考例句：

• You must show your ticket at the barrier.你在关卡处必须出示许可证。
• The driver jumped a horse over a barrier.骑手骑马跳过障碍。

13 dying   

adj.垂死的，临终的

参考例句：

• He was put in charge of the group by the dying leader.他被临终的领导人任命为集团负责人。
• She was shown into a small room,where there was a dying man.她被领进了一间小屋子，那里有一个垂死的人。

14 related   

adj.有关系的，有关联的，叙述的，讲述的

参考例句：

• I am not related to him in any way.我和他无任何关系。
• We spent days going through all related reference material.我们花了好多天功夫查阅所有有关的参考资料。

15 academy   

n.(高等)专科院校；学术社团，协会，研究院

参考例句：

• This is an academy of music.这是一所音乐专科学院。
• I visited Chinese Academy of Sciences yesterday.我昨天去访问了中国科学院。

16 forestry   

n.森林学；林业

参考例句：

• At present, the Chinese forestry is being at a significant transforming period. 当前, 我国的林业正处于一个重大的转折时期。
• Anhua is one of the key forestry counties in Hunan province. 安化县是湖南省重点林区县之一。

17 issue   

n.出版，发行，（报刊等）期、号，论点，问题，结果， （水，血等的）流出；vt.使流出，放出，发行（钞票等），发布（命令），出版（书等）发给；vi.发行，流出，造成...结果，进行辩护，传下

参考例句：

• I bought the book the day after its issue.这书出版后的第一天，我就去买了它。
• I'll support her down the line on that issue.在那个问题上我将全力支持她。