英语听力：Wild China 美丽中国：彩云之南-14

 Living on a remote mountain range in south central Yunnan is one of the few remaining wild gibbon populations in China--the black-crested gibbons of Wuliangshan. They are confined to these forest mountains, so remote and steep that few hunters ever come here.

 

The Wuliangshan gibbons are unusual for their social structure. Most gibbons live in small family groups, consisting of a mating pair and their offspring. But these gibbons exist in troops. One male can have two or sometimes three females, and all of these can have young. Often even the juveniles¹ stay in the community. Rarely glimpsed, this baby may be only a day old. If it survives infancy², then it has a promising³ future in these few valleys with its close-knit family.

 

Gibbon song once inspired the ancient poets of China, their glorious calls echoing far across the hills. But now new strangely quiet forests have come to Yunnan. These trees are here to produce an important and valuable crop.

 

When the tree bark is scored, it yields copious⁴ sticky sap so bitter and tacky that nothing can feed on it. It's the tree's natural defense⁵ against attack. It's collected daily, bowl by bowl. It will be boiled and processed into one of the most important materials to a fast developing nation--rubber. The expansion of the rubber forests began in the 50s when China, under a world rubber embargo⁶, had to become self-sufficient in this vital product. Beijing turned to the only place where rubber could grow, the tropical south of Yunnan. With efficiency and speed, some of the world's richest forests were torn up and burned, replaced with mile upon mile of rubber plantation⁷.

1 juveniles   

n.青少年( juvenile的名词复数 )；扮演少年角色的演员；未成年人

参考例句：

• Do you think that punishment for violent crimes should be the same for juveniles and adults? 你对暴力犯罪的惩罚对于青少年和成人应一样吗？ 来自生活英语口语25天快训
• Juveniles Should we not exactly in need of such strength and conviction? 少年的我们难道不正是需要这种力量和信念吗？ 来自互联网

2 infancy   

n.婴儿期；幼年期；初期

参考例句：

• He came to England in his infancy.他幼年时期来到英国。
• Their research is only in its infancy.他们的研究处于初级阶段。

3 promising   

adj.有希望的，有前途的

参考例句：

• The results of the experiments are very promising.实验的结果充满了希望。
• We're trying to bring along one or two promising young swimmers.我们正设法培养出一两名有前途的年轻游泳选手。

4 copious   

adj.丰富的，大量的

参考例句：

• She supports her theory with copious evidences.她以大量的例证来充实自己的理论。
• Every star is a copious source of neutrinos.每颗恒星都是丰富的中微子源。

5 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

6 embargo   

n.禁运（令）；vt.对...实行禁运，禁止（通商）

参考例句：

• This country put an oil embargo on an enemy country.该国对敌国实行石油禁运。
• During the war,they laid an embargo on commerce with enemy countries.在战争期间，他们禁止与敌国通商。

7 plantation   

n.种植园，大农场

参考例句：

• His father-in-law is a plantation manager.他岳父是个种植园经营者。
• The plantation owner has possessed himself of a vast piece of land.这个种植园主把大片土地占为己有。