英语听力精选进阶版 14419（在线收听）

BBC Learning English

Video Words in the News

29 January 2014

Glowing frogs

Transcript:

The tiny golden mantella frog; one of the most endangered animals in the world.

Scientists at Chester Zoo in the UK are injecting them with harmless, fluorescent silicon.

This allows them to track the amphibians in the wild, and learn more about the frogs' forest habitat in Madagascar.

They hope it will help create a bright future for these colourful creatures.

Vocabulary:

endangered (of animals or plants) at risk of disappearing from the world as very few are left alive

injecting using a needle to put liquid into a body

fluorescent glowing, brightly coloured

in the wild in an animal's natural surroundings, not in a zoo

a bright future a future in which it can be successful

Exercise:

Use one of the words or phrases below to complete each of these sentences from news reports.

Note that you may have to change the form of a word to complete the sentence correctly.

endangered / injecting / fluorescent / in the wild / a bright future

1. Researchers found the vaccine, which is being developed in the US, protected 12 out of 15 patients from the disease, when given in high doses. The method is unusual because it involves __________ live but weakened malaria-causing parasites directly into patients to trigger immunity.

2. There are about 1,700 tigers left __________ in India. It is estimated India had 100,000 tigers a century ago, but their numbers have declined sharply since then, due to poaching and rapidly shrinking habitats.

3. Birds and animals, including some of the UK's most __________ species, have increased by more than 100 at a Norfolk wildlife reserve in the past year.

4. Mr Jenkins said he had now started spraying the name of the company that has bought the timber on individual logs using __________ orange spray paint, in an attempt to prevent the timber being stolen.

5. Miss Siddiqi said: "Aamir was a beautiful person with __________. If he was still with us he would be looking forward to turning 21 this year and completing his law degree."

Answers:

1. Researchers found the vaccine, which is being developed in the US, protected 12 out of 15 patients from the disease, when given in high doses. The method is unusual because it involves injecting live but weakened malaria-causing parasites directly into patients to trigger immunity. Source: Malaria vaccine shows early promise in clinical trials

2. There are about 1,700 tigers left in the wild in India. It is estimated India had 100,000 tigers a century ago, but their numbers have declined sharply since then, due to poaching and rapidly shrinking habitats. Source: 'Man-eating' tiger shot dead in India

3. Birds and animals, including some of the UK's most endangered species, have increased by more than 100 at a Norfolk wildlife reserve in the past year. Source: Pensthorpe wildlife reserve counts growth in endangered species

4. Mr Jenkins said he had now started spraying the name of the company that has bought the timber on individual logs using fluorescent orange spray paint, in an attempt to prevent the timber being stolen.

Source: Fuel prices blamed for rise in theft of dead wood

5. Miss Siddiqi said: "Aamir was a beautiful person with a bright future. If he was still with us he would be looking forward to turning 21 this year and completing his law degree." Source: Aamir Siddiqi: 'Heartbeat' of our family says sister