英语听力精选进阶版 7349

日前一项报告说，由于大象走私贩正在企图恢复他们在泰国旅游营地周围的赚钱行当，缅甸的亚洲野生象被置于恶劣的环境中。国际濒临绝种野生动植物贸易调查委员会（TRAFFIC）在他们发表的这篇报告里称，走私犯利用残酷手段野蛮地对待幼象。

Elephants are used to entertain foreign and domestic tourists at trekking¹ camps all over Thailand. As visitors prefer younger animals, the value of elephant calves² has soared to around $33,000 for a healthy specimen³.

To meet this demand, smugglers in Myanmar capture and tame wild elephants from the country's shrinking herds⁴. The young elephants are caught in pit-traps, cruelly beaten to break their spirits and then smuggled⁵ across the border. The Thai authorities have cracked down on this trade with some success over the past two years, but campaigners believe that criminals are now stocking up, ready to transport the animals once again, when restrictions⁶ end.

Traffic and other campaigners want to see a toughening up of the laws in Thailand. Elephants don't have to be registered there until they are eight years old, creating an opportunity for smuggled calves to be 'laundered⁷' into the domestic population.

Asian elephants already face threats from habitat loss, agriculture and ivory poachers. According to researchers, the extra strain put on by the smuggling⁸ of live young elephants could threaten the long-term survival of the species in Myanmar.

Quiz 听力测验

1. Which country’s tourist industry are the elephants mentioned in this report used for?

Thailand.

2. True or false? The size of elephants in Myanmar is shrinking.

False. The number of elephants in herds is shrinking or reducing.

3. What makes it possible for the smuggled calves to be 'laundered' into the Thai elephant population?

Elephants in Thailand do not have to be registered until they are eight years old.

4. What word is used in the report to mean ‘an animal group whose members all have similar general features and is able to produce young animals together’?

Species.

Glossary⁹ 词汇表

soared 骤然猛升

tame 驯服

to break their spirits 挫伤它们的精神意志（使其受训）

cracked down 严厉打击

toughening up 增强...力度

laundered （原意：洗黑钱；此处指）鱼目混珠，蒙混进入

habitat loss 栖息地丧失

1 trekking   

v.艰苦跋涉，徒步旅行( trek的现在分词 )；（尤指在山中）远足，徒步旅行，游山玩水

参考例句：

• She can't come pony trekking after all because she's in a delicate condition. 她结果还是不能坐小马车旅行，因为她已怀孕。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• We spent the summer trekking in the foothills of the Himalayas. 我们整个夏天都在喜马拉雅山的山麓艰难跋涉。 来自互联网

2 calves   

n.(calf的复数)笨拙的男子，腓；腿肚子( calf的名词复数 )；牛犊；腓；小腿肚v.生小牛( calve的第三人称单数 )；（冰川）崩解；生（小牛等），产（犊）；使（冰川）崩解

参考例句：

• a cow suckling her calves 给小牛吃奶的母牛
• The calves are grazed intensively during their first season. 小牛在生长的第一季里集中喂养。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 specimen   

n.样本，标本

参考例句：

• You'll need tweezers to hold up the specimen.你要用镊子来夹这标本。
• This specimen is richly variegated in colour.这件标本上有很多颜色。

4 herds   

兽群( herd的名词复数 )； 牧群； 人群； 群众

参考例句：

• Regularly at daybreak they drive their herds to the pasture. 每天天一亮他们就把牲畜赶到草场上去。
• There we saw herds of cows grazing on the pasture. 我们在那里看到一群群的牛在草地上吃草。

5 smuggled   

水货

参考例句：

• The customs officer confiscated the smuggled goods. 海关官员没收了走私品。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• Those smuggled goods have been detained by the port office. 那些走私货物被港务局扣押了。 来自互联网

6 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

7 laundered   

v.洗（衣服等），洗烫（衣服等）( launder的过去式和过去分词 )；洗（黑钱）（把非法收入改头换面，变为貌似合法的收入）

参考例句：

• Send these sheets to be laundered. 把这些床单送去洗熨。 来自辞典例句
• The air seems freshly laundered. Sydney thinks of good drying weather. 空气似乎被清洗过，让悉妮想起晴朗干爽适合晒衣服的好天气。 来自互联网

8 smuggling   

n.走私

参考例句：

• Some claimed that the docker's union fronted for the smuggling ring.某些人声称码头工人工会是走私集团的掩护所。
• The evidence pointed to the existence of an international smuggling network.证据表明很可能有一个国际走私网络存在。

9 glossary   

n.注释词表；术语汇编

参考例句：

• The text is supplemented by an adequate glossary.正文附有一个详细的词汇表。
• For convenience,we have also provided a glossary in an appendix.为了方便，我们在附录中也提供了术语表。