VOA慢速英语 2007 1016b

VOICE ONE:

This is SCIENCE IN THE NEWS in VOA Special English.  I'm Bob Doughty¹.

VOICE TWO:

And I'm Faith Lapidus.  Today, we examine a new report about the health of the world's many plants and animals.

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VOICE ONE:

 
The orangutan is among animals in danger of extinction³
Scientists say counting the many different kinds of plants and animals on Earth is one way to measure the health of our planet.  Scientists use the word biodiversity to describe the existence of many kinds of plants, animals and other organisms.  One definition of biodiversity is the differences of life at all levels of biological organization.  Biodiversity is also a way to measure the differences among all the organisms on Earth.

Scientists say the existence of biodiversity is extremely important for human life.  Plants and animals provide much of our food, medicines and materials for industry.  Biodiversity makes possible the natural development of improved crops.  Biodiversity helps to create a balance for our atmosphere and water supply.  And it provides activities through the enjoyment⁴ of nature.

Scientists say a lack of biodiversity has led to agricultural crises⁵ in history.  One example is the potato famine in Ireland in the nineteenth century.  At the time, many people in Ireland depended on potatoes for food.  When the potato crop failed, millions starved to death or were forced to leave the country.

VOICE TWO:

Recent scientific findings about biodiversity have not been good.  Last month, the World Conservation Union added almost two hundred plants and animals to its list of threatened species⁶.  The group warned that life on Earth is disappearing fast and will continue to do so unless urgent action is taken. 

The World Conservation Union is one of the world’s largest groups working to protect Earth's environment.  It aims to save, or conserve⁷, natural resources by influencing governments and private citizens around the world.  To do this, it supports and develops new conservation science methods, and carries out research internationally.  Then it links the research and results to policies by organizing talks among governments, civilians⁸ and private companies.

The World Conservation Union works with eighty-three nations and more than one hundred government agencies.  It also works with more than eight hundred non-governmental organizations, and thousands of scientists and experts.

VOICE ONE:

The World Conservation Union has offices in forty nations.  Its headquarters is in Switzerland.  The group was created in nineteen forty-eight after an international conference in France.  Its name then was the International Union for the Protection of Nature.  Its name was changed to the International Union for the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources, or IUCN, in nineteen fifty-six.  In nineteen ninety, the group began using the name World Conservation Union.  But many people still know it as the IUCN.

Experts say the World Conservation Union is an important organization.  They say wealthy nations like the United States have their own environmental agencies to study possibly threatened species.  But developing nations use the work of the IUCN because they are not able to carry out studies of species within their borders.

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VOICE TWO:

The World Conservation Union says no one knows how many kinds of plants, animals and other organisms are found on Earth.  It says scientists believe the number is about fifteen million.  But only about two million are known. 

The group says seven hundred eighty-five species have disappeared from the Earth in the past five hundred years.  And it says that sixty-five others are in danger of disappearing, or becoming extinct².  They are now only found in places that are protected by people.

Each year, the World Conservation Union publishes a report that names those organisms it considers threatened or in danger of becoming extinct.  The report is called the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.

VOICE ONE:

This year, information in the Red List came from more than ten thousand scientists in one hundred forty seven countries.  The scientists considered more than forty-one thousand species.  They found that more than sixteen thousand of them are in danger of becoming extinct.  That is one hundred eighty-eight more threatened species than the report found last year.

The scientists said it is possible to reduce this number but that people around the world must begin to act now.  They said the IUCN recognizes that some species naturally disappear over time.  But they said studies have found that human activity is speeding up this process.  The group says rates of extinction today are at least one hundred to one thousand times greater than they would be naturally.

VOICE TWO:

Animals listed as in danger of extinction include the western lowland gorilla⁹ in Africa.  IUCN officials said the gorilla is in trouble as a result of hunting and the spread of the Ebola virus.  The report said the population of these animals has decreased by more than sixty percent during the past twenty to twenty-five years.

Another animal in danger of extinction is the orangutan.  Species of orangutans found in Sumatra and Borneo are dying because people are cutting down the trees in which they live.

One animal in extreme danger is the Yangtze River dolphin or baiji.  Threats to its survival¹⁰ include fishing and pollution.  IUCN officials said the baiji could already be considered extinct because only one or two individuals are known to live in China. 

 
A two-year-old Gharial crocodile
The Gharial crocodile in India and Nepal faces extinction because much of its living area has been destroyed.  The scientists are blaming the destruction on dam building, agricultural projects and sand mining.

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VOICE ONE:

The World Conservation Union added corals to its Red List for the first time this year.  Ten coral species from the Galapagos Islands are included.  The report says threats to the corals include climate change and the weather event known as El Nino.  El Nino and climate change are also threatening seventy-four kinds of seaweed in the Galapagos.

Twelve thousand different kinds of plants are also named in the report.  More than eight thousand are considered threatened.  Only one has been declared extinct.  That plant is a Malaysian herb known as the woolly stalked¹¹ begonia.  It is only known from collections made on Penang Island in the late nineteenth century.  Not one of these plants has been seen in the past one hundred years.

VOICE TWO:

Seven hundred thirty-eight kinds of reptiles¹³ also are named on the threatened species list.  Ninety are threatened with extinction.  One example is a Mexican freshwater turtle.  This creature is in danger because of a loss of its living area.  Another reptile¹² on the list is a kind of rattlesnake in Mexico.  Hunters are threatening this snake.

More than one thousand kinds of birds are also included on the list.  This year, the survival of only one species has improved.  It is the Mauritius Echo¹⁴ Parakeet.  This bird species was considered one of the world's rarest fifteen years ago.  The Mauritius Echo Parakeet is still in danger.  But its numbers have increased recently as a result of human protection and a captive¹⁵ breeding and release program.

VOICE ONE:

The World Conservation Union says governments around the world have accepted two thousand ten as a target year for slowing the rate of biodiversity loss.  Yet it says human activity remains¹⁶ the main reason for the drop in the number of species.  The group says people are destroying the places in which living things live, poisoning the air and spreading disease among them.  It also recognizes climate change as a serious threat to many kinds of plants, animals and insects. 

The group says most of the threatened animals live in some of the world's hottest places.  It says nations with large numbers of threatened species are Australia, Brazil, China and Mexico.  IUCN officials say it is in the interest of people to protect wildlife around the world.  They say human life is linked to biodiversity and our very survival may depend on protecting it.  The World Conservation Union says its report clearly shows that much more needs to be done to protect and improve biodiversity.

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VOICE TWO:

This SCIENCE IN THE NEWS was written by Nancy Steinbach.  Brianna Blake was our producer.  I’m Faith Lapidus.

VOICE ONE:

And I’m Bob Doughty.  Read and listen to our programs at voaspecialenglish.com.  Listen again next week for more news about science in Special English on the Voice of America.

1 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。

2 extinct   

adj.灭绝的，不再活跃的，熄灭了的，已废弃的

参考例句：

• All hopes were extinct.所有希望都破灭了。
• Dinosaurs have been extinct for millions of years.恐龙绝种已有几百万年了。

3 extinction   

n.熄灭，消亡，消灭，灭绝，绝种

参考例句：

• The plant is now in danger of extinction.这种植物现在有绝种的危险。
• The island's way of life is doomed to extinction.这个岛上的生活方式注定要消失。

4 enjoyment   

n.乐趣；享有；享用

参考例句：

• Your company adds to the enjoyment of our visit. 有您的陪同，我们这次访问更加愉快了。
• After each joke the old man cackled his enjoyment.每逢讲完一个笑话，这老人就呵呵笑着表示他的高兴。

5 crises   

n. 危机；危险期

参考例句：

• Economic crises recur periodically. 经济危机周期性地发生。
• Great crises often call forth gifted leaders. 危急存亡之际常能产生天才的领袖。

6 species   

n.物种，种群

参考例句：

• Are we the only thinking species in the whole of creation?我们是万物中惟一有思想的物种吗？
• This species of bird now exists only in Africa.这种鸟现在只存在于非洲。

7 conserve   

vt.保存，保护，节约，节省，守恒，不灭

参考例句：

• He writes on both sides of the sheet to conserve paper.他在纸张的两面都写字以节省用纸。
• Conserve your energy,you'll need it!保存你的精力，你会用得着的！

8 civilians   

平民，百姓( civilian的名词复数 )； 老百姓

参考例句：

• the bloody massacre of innocent civilians 对无辜平民的血腥屠杀
• At least 300 civilians are unaccounted for after the bombing raids. 遭轰炸袭击之后，至少有300名平民下落不明。

9 gorilla   

n.大猩猩，暴徒，打手

参考例句：

• I was awed by the huge gorilla.那只大猩猩使我惊惧。
• A gorilla is just a speechless animal.猩猩只不过是一种不会说话的动物。

10 survival   

n.留住生命，生存，残存，幸存者

参考例句：

• The doctor told my wife I had a fifty-fifty chance of survival.医生告诉我的妻子，说我活下去的可能性只有50%。
• The old man was a survival of a past age.这位老人是上一代的遗老。

11 stalked   

有高茎的

参考例句：

• She refused to accept that she was wrong and stalked furiously out of the room. 她拒绝承认她错了，气愤地大步走出房间。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The surely insolence of the waiters drove him into a rage,and he flung his serviette to the floor and stalked out of the restaurant. 侍者们粗暴无礼的行为使得他怒不可遏，他将餐巾扔到地上，昂然走出餐厅。 来自《简明英汉词典》

12 reptile   

n.爬行动物；两栖动物

参考例句：

• The frog is not a true reptile.青蛙并非真正的爬行动物。
• So you should not be surprised to see someone keep a reptile as a pet.所以，你不必惊奇有人养了一只爬行动物作为宠物。

13 reptiles   

n.爬行动物，爬虫( reptile的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Snakes and crocodiles are both reptiles. 蛇和鳄鱼都是爬行动物。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Birds, reptiles and insects come from eggs. 鸟类、爬虫及昆虫是卵生的。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

14 echo   

n.回音，共鸣；vi.发出回声；vt.模仿，附和

参考例句：

• She shouted on the mountaintop and listened for the echo.她在山顶上大声喊着，然后聆听着回声。
• I should like to echo the words of the previous speaker.我想重复前面一位发言者的话。

15 captive   

adj.被俘虏的，不得自由行动的，被监禁的

参考例句：

• They led him captive.他们将他活捉。
• The rock star had a captive audience.那位摇滚歌星倾倒了许多观众。

16 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。