VOA慢速英语2014 澳大利亚捕猎近人鲨鱼

 

AS IT IS 2014-01-02 Australia Hunts for Killer¹ Sharks 澳大利亚捕猎近人鲨鱼 

Hello, again, welcome back, and happy new year.  I’m Jim Tedder² in Washington.  Today we go in search of killers³.  Not the kind with guns and knives, but those with  very sharp teeth.  The kind that swim in the ocean.  They have names like “Great White” and “Tiger.”

Then we are off to the fair, a maker⁴’s fair.  There are no rides and popcorn⁵ and clowns, but it is a lot of fun.  Would you like to make a robot, or some other thing  that would make your science teacher proud?  Then stay with us.  You can even learn how to improve your American English at the same time with “As It Is” on VOA.

Officials in Western Australia have ordered fishermen to catch and kill sharks over three meters long.  The order followed the deaths of two people who were surfing -  riding the waves on a surfboard.  The deaths made a total of six deadly shark attacks in Western Australia during the past two years.   

In reaction, the state government is creating safety zones in waters around the city of Perth and along popular coastal⁶ areas to the south.  Officials say sharks seen  in those waters will be considered an immediate⁷ danger to surfers and swimmers, and will be killed.

Commercial fishermen will be paid to hunt for and kill sharks bigger than three meters in the restricted areas.  The fishermen will be adding food to their hooked  lines to catch smaller shark.

Troy Buswell is Western Australia’s fisheries minister.   He says the measures will make coastal areas safer for people using the water.  He says the new measures are  not meant to reduce the population of the animals.

“This response does not represent what you would call a culling⁸ of sharks. It is our view that it is a targeted, hazard-mitigation strategy. In other words, removing  the shark hazard (danger), or attempting to remove the shark hazard from where they present the greatest danger to the public…”

Tourism businesses in Western Australia have welcomed the policy of catch and kill.  They say many visitors have decided⁹ to stay away from coastal areas in the  southwestern corner of the country after the most recent attack.

A large shark killed surfer Chris Boyd near the community of Gracetown. The attacker was thought to be a great white shark.  Other surfboard riders have said reducing  the number of big sharks in the area would decrease the threat of further attacks.

But the Greens Party offered a measure in the Australian Senate for the federal government to oppose the killing¹⁰ of sharks off the nation’s west coast.  The measure  says more research is needed before any catch-and-kill policy is enacted¹¹.

Environmentalists say that protected species such as the great white shark should not be hunted and killed.  Greens Party members say swimmers and surfers should  understand that they enter the water at their own risk. 

Also in Australia, the state government in New South Wales is investigating the use of aircraft to search coastal waters for sharks.  It began the investigation¹² after  a surfer died at Coffs Harbor, north of Sydney. In that incident, a 19-year-old man died after an attack by a three-meter long tiger shark.

We're Off To A Different Kind Of Fair

If you like to make things -- especially things that involve science -- then you might like to attend a Maker Faire. You say you have never heard of one?  Well, you  are in luck.  Caty Weaver¹³ joins us with everything you will need to know.

Maker Faires are held every year in different cities around the world. The recent one in New York City had hectares of colorful demonstration¹⁴ tables, science-based  games, performance stages and “play islands.”

Eleven-year-old Genevieve Beatty, her 13-year-old sister, Camille, and their father Robert stood proudly next to a robot. It was a model of a Mars lander, about a  meter and a half high. Genevieve says they built it themselves.

“Most of the ones that we built roll, like they have wheels, and some crawl and a few fly. It’s just fun to work with my dad and my sister.  I do all the, like,  inside, like the electronics and like soldering¹⁵.”

Robert Beatty says Genevieve’s sister, Camille, had a natural interest in mechanical things. She would take apart household machines to understand how they worked.  Robert, Camille and Genevieve began building items with transistors¹⁶ and LED lights. Before long, the two girls asked to build a robot.

“And that was pretty scary, but I thought, OK, if we really do a lot of research we will be able to figure out how to do it. So we just started learning on YouTube  and various websites and trying to construct a little robot.”

In two years, the family has made nearly 35 robots, including several that science museums asked them to build. But Robert says the main point is fun, family and  education.

“I often don’t know the subject of what we’re trying to learn, but we learn it together, or I teach it to them and then they do all the work. And that way they stay  super engaged. As soon as I take over and try to do it myself, that’s boring, and they go off and do something else.  So the key is to get them to do the work  themselves.”

Three-dimensional printing was one of the most-popular areas of this year’s Maker Faire in New York. At one booth, a young designer named Todd Blatt sold brightly- colored jewelry¹⁷ that he made with software and nylon powder.

“I focused on designs that couldn’t be made with traditional manufacturing methods. So I have things that are linked together with no seams and metal pieces that are  3-D-printed in shapes that you couldn’t make molds out of. So it is really exciting to make these things that couldn’t exist otherwise.”

He uses software to draw the object he wants. Then he sends the design to a 3-D printer. It melts the nylon powder with a laser and builds the physical object one thin  layer at a time.

“You can make products or you can make earrings¹⁸, jewelry and movie prop¹⁹ replicas²⁰ and clothing accessories -- anything you want!”

Not everyone at the Maker Faire is high-tech²¹. A group based in Brooklyn, New York called “The Fixer’s Collective” had a table. Vincent Lai showed people how to  repair a toaster and rewire a lamp.

“And we feel very comfortable being here because we also believe that fixing and repair is a strong part of the making process. Because as you create, and as you  shape, and as you whittle²² and scrape, you’re gonna run into roadblocks. And so that’s when your fixing skills need to come into play.”

That sounds like fun.  Our thanks to Caty Weaver for telling us all about a maker’s faire.  And thank you for spending some time with “As It Is” on this first  Thursday of the new year.  There are more Learning English programs headed your way just seconds from now.  And, of course, you can catch up on all the news from  around the world at the beginning of the hour on VOA.  I’m Jim Tedder in Washington. 

1 killer   

n.杀人者，杀人犯，杀手，屠杀者

参考例句：

• Heart attacks have become Britain's No.1 killer disease.心脏病已成为英国的头号致命疾病。
• The bulk of the evidence points to him as her killer.大量证据证明是他杀死她的。

2 tedder   

n.（干草）翻晒者，翻晒机

参考例句：

• Jim Tedder has more. 吉姆？特德将给我们做更多的介绍。 来自互联网
• Jim Tedder tells us more. 吉姆？泰德给我们带来更详细的报道。 来自互联网

3 killers   

凶手( killer的名词复数 )； 消灭…者； 致命物； 极难的事

参考例句：

• He remained steadfast in his determination to bring the killers to justice. 他要将杀人凶手绳之以法的决心一直没有动摇。
• They were professional killers who did in John. 杀死约翰的这些人是职业杀手。

4 maker   

n.制造者，制造商

参考例句：

• He is a trouble maker，You must be distant with him.他是个捣蛋鬼，你不要跟他在一起。
• A cabinet maker must be a master craftsman.家具木工必须是技艺高超的手艺人。

5 popcorn   

n.爆米花

参考例句：

• I like to eat popcorn when I am watching TV play at home.当我在家观看电视剧时，喜欢吃爆米花。
• He still stood behind his cash register stuffing his mouth with popcorn.他仍站在收银机后，嘴里塞满了爆米花。

6 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。

7 immediate   

adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的

参考例句：

• His immediate neighbours felt it their duty to call.他的近邻认为他们有责任去拜访。
• We declared ourselves for the immediate convocation of the meeting.我们主张立即召开这个会议。

8 culling   

n.选择，大批物品中剔出劣质货v.挑选，剔除( cull的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• The mathematicians turned to culling periodic solutions. 数学家们转而去挑选周期解。 来自辞典例句
• It took us a week to find you, a week of culling out prejudice and hatred. 我们花了一个星期的时间找到你们，把偏见和憎恨剔除出去。 来自演讲部分

9 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

10 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

11 enacted   

制定（法律），通过（法案）( enact的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• legislation enacted by parliament 由议会通过的法律
• Outside in the little lobby another scene was begin enacted. 外面的小休息室里又是另一番景象。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹

12 investigation   

n.调查，调查研究

参考例句：

• In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
• He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。

13 weaver   

n.织布工；编织者

参考例句：

• She was a fast weaver and the cloth was very good.她织布织得很快，而且布的质量很好。
• The eager weaver did not notice my confusion.热心的纺织工人没有注意到我的狼狈相。

14 demonstration   

n.表明，示范，论证，示威

参考例句：

• His new book is a demonstration of his patriotism.他写的新书是他的爱国精神的证明。
• He gave a demonstration of the new technique then and there.他当场表演了这种新的操作方法。

15 soldering   

n.软焊；锡焊；低温焊接；热焊接v.（使）焊接，焊合( solder的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• Care must be exercised in attaching the lead wires to the soldering tabs. 在往接线片上焊导线时必须非常小心。 来自辞典例句
• I suggest posing me with a soldering wand over my head like a sword. 我想让自己这样像把剑一样把电焊杆举过头顶。 来自电影对白

16 transistors   

晶体管( transistor的名词复数 )； 晶体管收音机，半导体收音机

参考例句：

• In semiconductor receivers transistors take the place of vacuum tubes. 在半导体收音机中晶体管代替了真空管。
• We often turn to this handbook for information on transistors. 我们常从这本手册查阅有关晶体管的资料。

17 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。

18 earrings   

n.耳环( earring的名词复数 )；耳坠子

参考例句：

• a pair of earrings 一对耳环
• These earrings snap on with special fastener. 这付耳环是用特制的按扣扣上去的。 来自《简明英汉词典》

19 prop   

vt.支撑；n.支柱，支撑物；支持者，靠山

参考例句：

• A worker put a prop against the wall of the tunnel to keep it from falling.一名工人用东西支撑住隧道壁好使它不会倒塌。
• The government does not intend to prop up declining industries.政府无意扶持不景气的企业。

20 replicas   

n.复制品( replica的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His hobby is building replicas of cars. 他的爱好是制作汽车的复制品。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The replicas are made by using a thin film of fusible alloy on a stiffening platen. 复制是用附着在加强托板上的可熔合金薄膜实现的。 来自辞典例句

21 high-tech   

adj.高科技的

参考例句：

• The economy is in the upswing which makes high-tech services in more demand too.经济在蓬勃发展，这就使对高科技服务的需求量也在加大。
• The quest of a cure for disease with high-tech has never ceased. 人们希望运用高科技治疗疾病的追求从未停止过。

22 whittle   

v.削（木头），削减；n.屠刀

参考例句：

• They are trying to whittle down our salaries.他们正着手削减我们的薪水。
• He began to whittle away all powers of the government that he did not control.他开始削弱他所未能控制的一切政府权力。