VOA常速英语2007年-San Diego Has World-Famous Zoo

By Ade Astuti and Susy Tekunan
San Diego, CA
06 December 2007
 

The 40 hectare San Diego Zoo in the western state of California is home to over 4,000 rare and endangered animals representing more than 800 species and subspecies, and a prominent botanical collection with more than 700,000 exotic plants. For producers Ade Astuti and Susy Tekunan, VOA's Carla Coolman takes us for a visit to the San Diego Zoo.

The San Diego Zoo is known for its beautiful landscape and its open enclosures for animals. Many people consider their visit to this zoo as a rare opportunity to visit some of the world's most imperiled and precious wildlife, and learn ways to help save it.

John Barret and his wife have been regular visitors for many years. John explains why he visits. "They have a nice polar bear on display here in the San Diego Zoo and I've just been reading recently about, with global warming, that polar bears are more and more endangered. So, you know, it's a place that, unfortunately, maybe this can be the last refuge for certain animals."

 

Dedicated¹ to preserving and protecting endangered species, the San Diego Zoo has one of the largest zoo-based research centers in the world dedicated to saving critically endangered animals.

Greg Vicino is the animal care supervisor² at the zoo. He explains how they maintain the species, "One of the things that happens with this critically endangered species like this is that we want to make sure that we're breeding them appropriately, so we can bounce them back and forth³ between different zoos."

 

In fact, the first panda born in North America to survive to adulthood⁴ was born here. The San Diego Zoo currently has the largest population of giant pandas outside of mainland China.

Bamboo is grown on zoo grounds and at several off-site locations to supply the pandas with their daily meals.

Another popular animal with visitors, like Corrie Bart and her children, is the orangutan. Bart says, "Yes, they just always like monkeys. They always talk about monkeys at home."

The orangutans are part of the program to save endangered species from extinction⁵.

Vicino adds, "What happens is, by raising awareness⁶, and raising money, we'll be able to funnel⁷ into those organizations, Orangutan (Foundation) International and groups like that who are actively⁸ pursuing rehabbing animals and reintroduce them into the wild."

The San Diego Zoo is a unique opportunity for people to learn about rare and endangered species in one of America's most beautiful cities.

1 dedicated   

adj.一心一意的；献身的；热诚的

参考例句：

• He dedicated his life to the cause of education.他献身于教育事业。
• His whole energies are dedicated to improve the design.他的全部精力都放在改进这项设计上了。

2 supervisor   

n.监督人，管理人，检查员，督学，主管，导师

参考例句：

• Between you and me I think that new supervisor is a twit.我们私下说，我认为新来的主管人是一个傻瓜。
• He said I was too flighty to be a good supervisor.他说我太轻浮不能成为一名好的管理员。

3 forth   

adv.向前；向外，往外

参考例句：

• The wind moved the trees gently back and forth.风吹得树轻轻地来回摇晃。
• He gave forth a series of works in rapid succession.他很快连续发表了一系列的作品。

4 adulthood   

n.成年，成人期

参考例句：

• Some infantile actions survive into adulthood.某些婴儿期的行为一直保持到成年期。
• Few people nowadays are able to maintain friendships into adulthood.如今很少有人能将友谊维持到成年。

5 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。

6 awareness   

n.意识，觉悟，懂事，明智

参考例句：

• There is a general awareness that smoking is harmful.人们普遍认识到吸烟有害健康。
• Environmental awareness has increased over the years.这些年来人们的环境意识增强了。

7 funnel   

n.漏斗；烟囱；v.汇集

参考例句：

• He poured the petrol into the car through a funnel.他用一个漏斗把汽油灌入汽车。
• I like the ship with a yellow funnel.我喜欢那条有黄烟囱的船。

8 actively   

adv.积极地，勤奋地

参考例句：

• During this period all the students were actively participating.在这节课中所有的学生都积极参加。
• We are actively intervening to settle a quarrel.我们正在积极调解争执。