VOA慢速英语2021 伦敦动物园由于疫情封锁举步维艰

The London Zoo is one of the city's most-visited places. During normal times, it is filled with visitors – both young and old.

伦敦动物园是该市访问量最大的地方。正常情况下，这里到处都是老老少少的游客。

However as the coronavirus crisis¹ continues, the zoo is once again in lockdown – meaning no visitors at all. No one to watch silly monkeys play in trees, dangerous King Cobras sun on rocks, or friendly penguins² slide down slippery³ surfaces.

然而，由于新冠病毒危机继续发展，该动物园再次处于封锁状态，这意味着完全没有游客。没人来看顽皮的猴子在树上打闹，危险的眼镜王蛇在岩石上晒太阳，或是友好的企鹅在光滑的表面滑下去。

Besides that, the lockdown is causing great economic harm. Every month without visitors costs the zoo about $1.4 million dollars, Reuters news agency⁴ reports.

除此之外，封锁还造成了巨大的经济损失。据路透社报道，每个月没有游客会让动物园损失大约140万美元。

So, the future of the world's oldest scientific zoo is unclear.

所以，这家世界上最古老的动物园前途未卜。

"We are losing so much money," zoo employee⁵ Kate Sanders told Reuters, "I'm concerned the zoo might not survive."

动物园员工凯特·桑德斯对路透社表示：“我们损失这么多钱，我担心这家动物园可能熬不下去了。”

Sanders is the team leader for big cats at the zoo. She added⁶ that having no visitors "has been a really sad time for the zoo."

桑德斯是该动物园大型猫科动物组的负责人。她还说，没有游客对动物园来说真是令人难过的时刻。

Located⁷ in Regent's Park in central London, the London Zoo was opened in 1828 by the Zoological Society of London. Charles Darwin visited while writing his "Origin of Species⁸." Queen Elizabeth II is the zoo's patron⁹.

伦敦动物园坐落在伦敦市中心的摄政公园，伦敦动物学会于1828年开办了这家动物园。查尔斯·达尔文在写《物种起源》时光顾过这里。伊丽莎白女王二世是这家动物园的常客。

Ticket sales

门票销售

But famous connections will not be enough to keep the zoo open with no visitors. The zoo has already faced millions of pounds in losses¹⁰ and the latest lockdown is again keeping visitors away, even during the usually busy school holidays.

但是有名的顾客并不足以让这家动物园在没有游客的情况下保持开放。这家动物园已经面临了数百万英镑的损失，最近的封锁措施再次将游客拒之门外，即便是在通常最繁忙的学校假期期间。

The London Zoo was forced to close for 18 weeks in 2020, Reuters reported. That lockdown caused the zoo to lose 15 million pounds. The latest lockdown is expected to cost another 1.8 million.

据路透社报道，伦敦动物园在2020年被迫关闭18周。那次封锁导致动物园损失了1500万英镑。最近的封锁预计将另外损失180万英镑。

The caretakers of the animals, the zookeepers, are sad and anxious.

动物园管理员们既悲伤又焦虑。

The Zoological Society of London also owns Whipsnade Zoo, located north of London. Together the two zoos care for nearly 23,000 animals. All those animals need feeding and other kinds of care. So, the number of zookeepers cannot be reduced any more than it has already.

伦敦动物学会还在伦敦北部拥有惠普斯耐动物园。两家动物园一共饲养近23000种动物。所有这些动物都需要饲养和照顾。因此，动物园管理员人数无法再缩减。

"We can't furlough animals," said Kathryn England, Chief Operating Officer of the London Zoo. "And you can't furlough all the staff who look after the animals."

伦敦动物园首席运营官凯瑟琳·英格兰表示：“我们无法让动物休假。而且也不能让照顾动物的工作人员休假。”

"It just remains¹¹ so sad that we are closed," she added.

她还说：“很难过，我们被迫关门。”

England says there is another sad part to the lockdowns – not being able to educate and inspire visitors to the zoo.

英格兰表示，封锁还有另一个可悲的地方就是无法教育或启发动物园的游客。

One purpose of the zoo, England said, is "to inspire people about wildlife." As long as the zoo remains closed, the staff and zookeepers will keep trying to find other ways to teach the public. But, she added, "nothing really beats having people in the zoo and having a great day out."

英格兰表示，动物园的目标之一是激发人们对野生动物的兴趣。只要动物园保持关闭状态，工作人员和动物园管理员就将继续尝试寻找其它途径向公众传授知识。但是她还说：“没有什么比让人们在动物园度过美好的一天更重要了。”

1 crisis   

n.危机，危急关头，决定性时刻，关键阶段

参考例句：

• He had proved that he could be relied on in a crisis.他已表明，在紧要关头他是可以信赖的。
• The topic today centers about the crisis in the Middle East.今天课题的中心是中东危机。

2 penguins   

n.企鹅( penguin的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Why can penguins live in cold environment? 为什么企鹅能生活在寒冷的环境中？ 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Whales, seals, penguins, and turtles have flippers. 鲸、海豹，企鹅和海龟均有鳍形肢。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

3 slippery   

adj.滑的；油滑的，狡猾的，不可靠的

参考例句：

• We found it very slippery under foot.我们感到地上很滑。
• Mind out,the steps are slippery!注意，台阶很滑！

4 agency   

n.经办；代理；代理处

参考例句：

• This disease is spread through the agency of insects.这种疾病是通过昆虫媒介传播的。
• He spoke in the person of Xinhua News Agency.他代表新华社讲话。

5 employee   

n.职员，员工，受雇人员

参考例句：

• Each employee received a like bonus.每个雇员都得到了相同数目的奖金。
• They brought around a new employee this morning.他们今天早晨请来了一位新雇员。

6 added   

adj.更多的，附加的，额外的

参考例句：

• They have added a new scene at the beginning.在开头他们又增加了一场戏。
• The pop music added to our enjoyment of the film.片中的流行音乐使我们对这部电影更加喜爱。

7 located   

adj.处于，位于

参考例句：

• The mechanic located the fault immediately. 机修工立即找到了出故障的地方。
• a small town located 30 miles south of Chicago 位于芝加哥以南30英里的一个小镇

8 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。

9 patron   

n.资助人，赞助人，老主顾，顾客

参考例句：

• The student wants to find a wealthy patron in America.那学生想在美国找一个富有的赞助人。
• I hope that you will become our patron.我希望你将成为我们的靠山。

10 losses   

n.损失( loss的名词复数 )；损耗；失败；降低

参考例句：

• Rumours of job losses were later confirmed. 裁员的传言后来得到了证实。
• The army was forced to retreat after suffering heavy losses. 部队因伤亡惨重被迫撤退。

11 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。