VOA慢速英语20060516b

SCIENCE IN THE NEWS - A Study of Young Coral Could Assist Efforts to Protect ReefsBy Jerilyn Watson, Lawan Davis, Jill Moss¹ and Cynthia Kirk

Broadcast: Tuesday, May 16, 2006

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VOICE ONE:

This is SCIENCE IN THE NEWS in VOA Special English. I'm Bob Doughty².

VOICE TWO:

And I'm Pat Bodnar. This week: underwater action -- studying the movements of baby coral ...

VOICE ONE:

Some award-winning environmental activists³.

VOICE TWO:

And ancient dentistry -- people were getting their teeth drilled a lot earlier than scientists have thought.

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VOICE TWO:

Some coral reefs are small. Others extend for thousands of kilometers. But a genetic⁴ study of coral reefs in the Caribbean Sea shows that corals do not move very far from their place of birth. Experts say this finding could help scientists and policymakers to better direct their efforts to protect local reefs.


Example of coral reef damage

Coral polyps are small animals. They usually live in colonies. There are different kinds of corals, including the kind that build reefs.

Reefs start to form as corals attach to rocks or other hard surfaces underwater. As colonies die, they leave limestone⁵ remains⁶. Other corals build on them. Over time, these structures grow into reefs along shorelines and around islands.

VOICE ONE:

Researchers Stephen Palumbi and Steven Vollmer recently examined staghorn coral in the Caribbean. Mister Palumbi works at Stanford University in California. Mister Vollmer works at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute in Panama. They did the study for the Bahamas Biocomplexity Project at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City.

The researchers studied free-swimming young coral. The goal was to learn if these coral larvae⁷ could help repopulate damaged reefs.

They examined the genetic material of more than two hundred sixty coral samples. These were collected from an area that extended from the Bahamas to Panama and from the Yucatan Peninsula to Curacao. The scientists measured similarities to find out how closely the corals were related.

They found that some coral collected between two kilometers and one hundred kilometers apart were related. But samples collected one hundred to five hundred kilometers apart were unrelated. The scientists say this shows that young coral do not travel very far. Their swimming distance is not enough to repopulate damaged reefs.

VOICE TWO:

Pollution, coastal⁸ development and too much fishing can all damage coral reefs. So can severe storms. Some researchers have estimated that ten percent of the world's coral reefs are damaged beyond repair. They say more than half of all coral reefs are threatened.

Coral is important to sea life. It is also used in manufacturing, medicine and jewelry⁹. It is valuable to the environment, as well as the economies of some countries. People who visit places like the Bahamas want to see beautiful coral reefs.

VOICE ONE:

The loss of reefs is especially bad in the Caribbean. The American Museum of Natural History says coral cover in the area has decreased over the years by eighty percent.

Stephen Palumbi says growing coral in a laboratory to repair damaged reefs is not a realistic solution. He says coral develops at a yearly rate of only about one centimeter.

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VOICE TWO:

You are listening to SCIENCE IN THE NEWS in VOA Special English from Washington.

Winners of the Goldman Environmental Prize have been announced. The yearly award is the largest of its kind. Winners receive one hundred twenty-five thousand dollars for their environmental activism.

VOICE ONE:

The six winners this year include Silas Siakor, the winner for Africa. He gathered evidence against former Liberian president Charles Taylor. Mister Siakor showed that Mister Taylor used profits from illegal tree-cutting operations to help pay for the civil war that lasted fourteen years in Liberia. The information led to a continuing United Nations ban on Liberian wood exports.

Yu Xiaogang is the prize winner from Asia. He studied the effects of dams on communities in China and developed related programs. Prize officials say his work helped lead the government to now consider the social effects of such projects on villagers.

Tarcisio Feitosa da Silva is the winner for South and Central America. He was honored for his efforts in Brazil to create the world's largest area of protected rain forest. Mister Feitosa faced death threats for reporting illegal tree cutting to the government.

VOICE TWO:

Ukrainian lawyer Olya Melen won the Goldman prize for Europe. She was able to temporarily halt the building of a major waterway through the Danube Delta¹⁰, a valuable wetland area. The former Ukrainian government denounced her actions, which took place through the legal system.

The award for islands and island nations went to Anne Kajir of Papua New Guinea. Prize officials say she found evidence of widespread government involvement in illegal tree cutting.

In nineteen ninety-seven, she successfully defended an appeal before the Supreme¹¹ Court of Papua New Guinea. It was her first year working as a lawyer. Prize officials say the final ruling led to payment of damages to local landowners.

VOICE ONE:

And this year's winner of the Goldman Environmental Prize for North America is Craig Williams of the United States. He successfully appealed to the Defense¹² Department to halt plans to burn old chemical weapons stored around the country. Mister Williams started a campaign in nineteen eighty-five to call for safer ways to destroy them.

Mister Williams and the other winners were honored with a ceremony in late April in San Francisco, California. Richard and Rhonda Goldman established the prize in nineteen ninety.

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VOICE TWO:

Scientists say they have recovered the earliest known evidence of dental work. They report finding eleven human teeth with small holes carefully made in them. The teeth came from nine adults who lived between seven thousand five hundred and nine thousand years ago. That means dentistry is about four thousand years older than experts had thought.

Roberto Macchiarelli of the University of Poitiers in France led the study. He and the research team worked at a burial area in what is now Pakistan. Nature magazine published a report on the study.

VOICE ONE:

The researchers say they found examples of dental work in the remains of both men and women. They used microscopes and other equipment to examine small holes cut in the eleven teeth.

The researchers do not believe the holes were drilled for ceremonial reasons or for beauty. They say some of the teeth showed signs of disease. They suggest that some kind of material may have been placed as a filling in the damaged areas.

The researchers also found pieces of drills they suspect were used to make beads¹³ for artwork. Beads with holes drilled in them can be worn as jewelry. The researchers say the same technology was also used to treat damaged teeth.

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VOICE TWO:

The most effective treatment today for malaria¹⁴ is made from a plant found in China and Vietnam. But supplies of the sweet wormwood are limited. Now researchers led by Jay Keasling at the University of California, Berkeley, have a possible solution.

They placed genes¹⁵ from the plant into a yeast¹⁶ organism and got it to produce large amounts of artemisinic acid. This acid can be made into the drug, artemisinin, in just a few chemical steps. A report appeared in the journal Nature.

The scientists say their process could reduce the cost of the active substance in artemisinin by ninety percent. But they say the genetically¹⁷ engineered version is still about five to ten years away from final development.

VOICE ONE:

One more thing. The World Health Organization says artemisinin should always be used in combination with other malaria drugs. If not, experts worry that resistant¹⁸ forms of malaria could defeat it sooner instead of later.

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SCIENCE IN THE NEWS was written by Jerilyn Watson, Lawan Davis, Jill Moss and Cynthia Kirk, who was also our producer. I'm Bob Doughty.

VOICE TWO:

And I'm Pat Bodnar. Read and listen to our programs at www.unsv.com. And if you have a science question, send it to [email protected]. We might be able to answer it on our show. Join us again next week for more news about science in Special English on the Voice of America.

1 moss   

n.苔，藓，地衣

参考例句：

• Moss grows on a rock.苔藓生在石头上。
• He was found asleep on a pillow of leaves and moss.有人看见他枕着树叶和苔藓睡着了。

2 doughty   

adj.勇猛的，坚强的

参考例句：

• Most of successful men have the characteristics of contumacy and doughty.绝大多数成功人士都有共同的特质：脾气倔强，性格刚强。
• The doughty old man battled his illness with fierce determination.坚强的老人用巨大毅力与疾病作斗争。

3 activists   

n.（政治活动的）积极分子，活动家( activist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His research work was attacked by animal rights activists . 他的研究受到了动物权益维护者的抨击。
• Party activists with lower middle class pedigrees are numerous. 党的激进分子中有很多出身于中产阶级下层。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 genetic   

adj.遗传的，遗传学的

参考例句：

• It's very difficult to treat genetic diseases.遗传性疾病治疗起来很困难。
• Each daughter cell can receive a full complement of the genetic information.每个子细胞可以收到遗传信息的一个完全补偿物。

5 limestone   

n.石灰石

参考例句：

• Limestone is often used in building construction.石灰岩常用于建筑。
• Cement is made from limestone.水泥是由石灰石制成的。

6 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

7 larvae   

n.幼虫

参考例句：

• Larvae are parasitic on sheep.幼虫寄生在绵羊的身上。
• The larvae prey upon small aphids.这种幼虫以小蚜虫为食。

8 coastal   

adj.海岸的，沿海的，沿岸的

参考例句：

• The ocean waves are slowly eating away the coastal rocks.大海的波浪慢慢地侵蚀着岸边的岩石。
• This country will fortify the coastal areas.该国将加强沿海地区的防御。

9 jewelry   

n.（jewllery）（总称）珠宝

参考例句：

• The burglars walked off with all my jewelry.夜盗偷走了我的全部珠宝。
• Jewelry and lace are mostly feminine belongings.珠宝和花边多数是女性用品。

10 delta   

n.（流的）角洲

参考例句：

• He has been to the delta of the Nile.他曾去过尼罗河三角洲。
• The Nile divides at its mouth and forms a delta.尼罗河在河口分岔，形成了一个三角洲。

11 supreme   

adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的

参考例句：

• It was the supreme moment in his life.那是他一生中最重要的时刻。
• He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。

12 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。

13 beads   

n.（空心）小珠子( bead的名词复数 )；水珠；珠子项链

参考例句：

• a necklace of wooden beads 一条木珠项链
• Beads of perspiration stood out on his forehead. 他的前额上挂着汗珠。

14 malaria   

n.疟疾

参考例句：

• He had frequent attacks of malaria.他常患疟疾。
• Malaria is a kind of serious malady.疟疾是一种严重的疾病。

15 genes   

n.基因( gene的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• You have good genes from your parents, so you should live a long time. 你从父母那儿获得优良的基因，所以能够活得很长。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Differences will help to reveal the functions of the genes. 它们间的差异将会帮助我们揭开基因多种功能。 来自英汉非文学 - 生命科学 - 生物技术的世纪

16 yeast   

n.酵母；酵母片；泡沫；v.发酵；起泡沫

参考例句：

• Yeast can be used in making beer and bread.酵母可用于酿啤酒和发面包。
• The yeast began to work.酵母开始发酵。

17 genetically   

adv.遗传上

参考例句：

• All the bees in the colony are genetically related. 同一群体的蜜蜂都有亲缘关系。
• Genetically modified foods have already arrived on American dinner tables. 经基因改造加工过的食物已端上了美国人的餐桌。 来自英汉非文学 - 生命科学 - 基因与食物

18 resistant   

adj.(to)抵抗的，有抵抗力的

参考例句：

• Many pests are resistant to the insecticide.许多害虫对这种杀虫剂有抵抗力。
• They imposed their government by force on the resistant population.他们以武力把自己的统治强加在持反抗态度的人民头上。