VOA慢速英语2019 毕业生的理想工作—帮助老鼠挽救生命（在线收听）

A Graduate's Dream Job: Helping Rats Save Lives

From VOA Learning English, this is the Health & Lifestyle report.

这里是VOA慢速英语健康生活报道。

When people hear the word “rat,” they may think of dirty animals that spread disease.

人们在听到“老鼠”这个词时，可能会想到传播疾病的肮脏动物。

And if you are an English learner, you may also connect the word “rat” with bad expressions. For examples, calling someone a “rat” is a big insult and “rat race” describes a joyless, hurried way of living.

如果你是英语学习者，你可能还会将“老鼠”这个词和不好的表达联系起来。比如，称某人是“老鼠”是一种极大的侮辱，而“激烈竞争”形容的是毫无快乐可言且忙乱的生活。

So, rats generally are not beloved animals either in life or the English language. But the rat trainers at the nonprofit organization, APOPO, see the animals very differently. They consider the rats lifesavers.

因此，无论是在生活中还是在英语里，老鼠通常都不是受宠的动物。但非营利组织APOPO的老鼠训练员对这种动物的看法极为不同。他们认为老鼠是救星。

Based in Tanzania, APOPO trains giant pouched rats to find landmines. And the rats with their extraordinary sense of smell are very good at the job. APOPO calls their animal team HeroRats.

总部位于坦桑尼亚的APOPO组织会训练非洲巨鼠寻找地雷。拥有非凡嗅觉的非洲巨鼠极为擅长这份工作。APOPO组织将他们的动物团队称为“英雄老鼠”。

Saving lives

挽救生命

American Ellie Cutright is an APOPO trainer from Charleston, South Carolina. The researcher shared her very high opinions of rats in a discussion with VOA. She wants everyone to know how useful these animals are.

美国人艾莉·卡莱特是来自南卡罗来纳州查尔斯顿的APOPO训练员。这名研究员在与VOA进行讨论时，分享了她对老鼠的极高评价。她希望所有人都知道这些动物的作用有多大。

"Everybody should know that these rats, they're not stupid. They're not terrible animals. They're really intelligent and they can be trained to do some amazing things."

“每个人都应该知道，这些老鼠并不愚蠢。它们并不是可怕的动物。它们非常聪明，在经过训练后可以做一些不可思议的事情。”

Humans have used metal-searching devices to do this work for years. But rats -- it turns out -- do it better. And they also cost less money. Cutright explains how the search process works.

多年以来，人类一直用金属探测设备来寻找地雷。但结果表明，老鼠能做得更好。而且使用老鼠的成本更低。卡莱特解释了搜寻过程的原理。

"When the rats are working in the field and they find a landmine, they scratch on the ground and that's how we know. We place a little marker there, and then we can go safely remove those and get rid of them."

“老鼠在野外工作时，如果发现了地雷，它们就会用爪子挠地，这样我们就知道下面有地雷。我们会先在那个地方做个小标记，然后安全地移除并处理地雷。”

Once trained, the rats work in minefields in Tanzania and other countries around the world. APOPO estimates that worldwide there are 110 million hidden explosives left over from war. These explosives are still “live,” or able to explode. Experts say such landmines kill or wound 5000 people a year.

经过训练后，老鼠就可以在坦桑尼亚和全球其他国家的雷区工作。APOPO组织估计，全世界有1.1亿个战争遗留的隐藏爆炸物。这些爆炸物仍“活着”，也就是说它们仍能引爆。专家表示，这种地雷每年会致死或致伤5000人。

APOPO says its rats have discovered more than 107,000 landmines and unexploded explosives, making life safer for almost a million people.

APOPO组织表示，他们训练的老鼠已经发现了超过10.7万颗地雷和未爆爆炸物，使近100万人得以生活在更安全的环境中。

The giant pouched rat is large compared to other kinds of rats. However, they still do not weigh enough to cause a landmine to explode. Cutright praises the impact of their work.

与其它老鼠相比，非洲巨鼠的体型非常大。然而，它们的体重仍不足以导致爆炸物爆炸。卡莱特称赞了他们的工作所带来的影响。

"I think the work that APOPO does is really important in kind of spreading the word that rats are not just a pest. They really are heroes and they show us every day that they are worthy of that name."

“我认为就传播‘老鼠不只是有害生物’这一消息来说，APOPO组织的工作确实非常重要。老鼠是真的英雄，它们每天都在向我们证明，英雄这一称号它们当之无愧。”

Cutright says that she has loved rats all her life. She even kept one as a pet when she was young.

卡莱特表示，她这一生都非常喜爱老鼠。她年轻时甚至养了只老鼠当宠物。

She also followed APOPO’s Facebook site for years. During her last year of college, a job announcement appeared on the social media site. She applied and was hired. Cutright says that for her the position is a perfect fit.

她在脸谱网上关注了APOPO组织很多年。在她大学最后那年，APOPO组织在社交媒体脸谱网上发布了一则招聘信息。她申请了那个职位并被录用。卡莱特说，该职位非常适合她。

Words in This Story

amazing – adj. causing great surprise or wonder

scratch – v. to scrape or dig with the claws or nails

impact – n. a powerful or major influence or effect

pest – n. an animal or insect that causes problems for people especially by damaging crops

apply – v. to request especially in writing