VOA标准英语2009年-Author Urges Protection for American Wild

By Mike O'Sullivan
Los Angeles
20 October 2009

Millions of wild horses, known as mustangs, once roamed North America. Today, just a fraction of that number are left, most in the American Southwest. In her new book Mustang, Deanne Stillman celebrates wild horses and warns that they are threatened by human activity.

 
American wild horses (mustangs)
The wild horse, or mustang, from the Spanish word for stray animal, is a symbol of freedom for many Americans.

The mustang has become an icon¹. The name and imagery were even used to market a classic American car.

In the 1800s, millions were rounded up and shipped to the western U.S. states.

Deanne Stillman has chronicled their story in her book Mustang.

"They were shipped back to Europe in tin cans," she noted². "There is a demand there for horse meat, and also at the beginning of the 20th century, there were a number of wars being fought all over the world, and the horses were shipped to the front lines in all of those wars, including our own, [during] World War I."

Today, there are just 36,000 wild horses and burros on U.S. government lands. Others have been rounded up in response to complaints from ranchers, angry that the animals graze on their land.
  
There also have been random³ shootings, illegal acts that spurred Stillman to get involved in the issue.

The horse came from North America, where it thrived in the last Ice Age. Stillman notes that ancient horse remains⁴ have been found at the La Brea tar⁵ pits in Los Angeles.

 
Deanne Stillman author of Mustang
"During that period, those horses were living right here at the famous tar pits, along with the mastodon and sloth⁶ and many other mammals of that period," she added.

Horses died out in the Americas, but were reintroduced by the 16th century Spanish, and became part of the Western lore⁷ of the American cowboy.

"Those horses opened up the New World, really," she explained. "Without them and without the horse, we have no America."

In 1971, U.S. President Richard Nixon signed a law protecting wild horses and burros, but the animals' advocates, including Deanne Stillman, say they still are under threat, and that the animal needs protection.

In July, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a bill to restore protections for the wild mustang. The measure is called the ROAM Act, which stands for Restoring Our American Mustangs. A companion bill has been introduced in the Senate. If it passes, the two bills need to be reconciled before being sent to the president to sign into law.

U.S. Interior Secretary Ken⁸ Salazar has urged Congress to create new preserves for the wild horses.

1 icon   

n.偶像，崇拜的对象，画像

参考例句：

• They found an icon in the monastery.他们在修道院中发现了一个圣像。
• Click on this icon to align or justify text.点击这个图标使文本排齐。

2 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

3 random   

adj.随机的；任意的；n.偶然的(或随便的)行动

参考例句：

• The list is arranged in a random order.名单排列不分先后。
• On random inspection the meat was found to be bad.经抽查，发现肉变质了。

4 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。

5 tar   

n.柏油，焦油；vt.涂或浇柏油/焦油于

参考例句：

• The roof was covered with tar.屋顶涂抹了一层沥青。
• We use tar to make roads.我们用沥青铺路。

6 sloth   

n.[动]树懒；懒惰，懒散

参考例句：

• Absence of competition makes for sloth.没有竞争会导致懒惰。
• The sloth spends most of its time hanging upside down from the branches.大部分时间里树懒都是倒挂在树枝上。

7 lore   

n.传说；学问，经验，知识

参考例句：

• I will seek and question him of his lore.我倒要找上他，向他讨教他的渊博的学问。
• Early peoples passed on plant and animal lore through legend.早期人类通过传说传递有关植物和动物的知识。

8 ken   

n.视野，知识领域

参考例句：

• Such things are beyond my ken.我可不懂这些事。
• Abstract words are beyond the ken of children.抽象的言辞超出小孩所理解的范围.