VOA标准英语2009年-Renowned Conservationist Improves Lives of

By Julie Taboh
Washington
28 October 2009

British primatologist Jane Goodall spent almost half-a-century studying the wild chimpanzees of Gombe National Park in Tanzania. Her ground-breaking discoveries have contributed much of what we know about the behavior of these primates¹. She also established the Jane Goodall Institute to protect chimpanzees and their habitats. The renowned² scientist is making a difference in the lives of animals and people.

 
Dr. Jane Goodall, left, accepts the Minerva Award from Maria Shriver at the Women's Conference on in Long Beach, California, 27 Oct 2009
Jane Goodall always knew she wanted to work with animals. At the age of 11, she told her friends and family that she was going to go to Africa, to live with animals and write books about them.

While everyone around her laughed at the prospect³, Goodall says her mother supported her.

"She would say, 'If you really want something, you work hard, you take advantage of opportunity, you never give up; you find a way."

Goodall found a way. In 1960, at the age of 26, she arrived in Africa where she started what would become the longest running study of the wild chimpanzees of the Gombe Stream Game Reserve in Tanzania.

For five decades, her groundbreaking research has produced much of what we know about their behavior.

One of Jane Goodall's most important discoveries was that chimpanzees have the ability to make and use tools.

"It was thought that only humans did this and that this set us apart from the rest of the animal kingdom," she said.

Goodall's love of these primates inspired her to establish the Jane Goodall Institute, which has been protecting chimpanzees, and their habitats, since 1977.

But due to increasing habitat loss and poaching, chimpanzee populations continue to decline⁴. 

So in 1994, the Jane Goodall Institute started TACARE, a program that helps local villagers develop economic alternatives to poaching, by providing microcredit loans⁵ for small businesses and scholarships for girls.

"Because the villagers understand that we care about them as well as the chimpanzees, it's beginning to come around," she added.

Taking conservation a step further, Goodall created Roots & Shoots, an education program that helps young people around the world become active in their communities.

"Basically⁶, every group chooses three kinds of projects to make the world a better place - one to help people, one to help animals and one to help the environment that we all share," continued Goodall.

At 75, Jane Goodall's childhood dreams have come full circle. Her ground breaking work has changed the field of primatology, and her conservation and development programs have improved the lives of some 600,000 people worldwide.  

She travels more than 300 days a year, promoting her message of hope and reminding people that regardless of one's age, and no matter how small the contribution, everyone should do their part to make the world a better place.

1 primates   

primate的复数

参考例句：

• Primates are alert, inquisitive animals. 灵长目动物是机灵、好奇的动物。
• Consciousness or cerebration has been said to have emerged in the evolution of higher primates. 据说意识或思考在较高级灵长类的进化中已出现。

2 renowned   

adj.著名的，有名望的，声誉鹊起的

参考例句：

• He is one of the world's renowned writers.他是世界上知名的作家之一。
• She is renowned for her advocacy of human rights.她以提倡人权而闻名。

3 prospect   

n.前景，前途；景色，视野

参考例句：

• This state of things holds out a cheerful prospect.事态呈现出可喜的前景。
• The prospect became more evident.前景变得更加明朗了。

4 decline   

n.衰微，跌落，下降；vt.使降低，婉谢；vi.下降，衰落，偏斜

参考例句：

• I must decline to show favour to any of the candidates.我必须拒绝偏袒任何一位候选人。
• The birthrate is on the decline.出生率在下降。

5 loans   

n.借出物，借款( loan的名词复数 )v.借出，贷与（尤指钱）( loan的第三人称单数 )；出借（贵重物品给博物馆等）

参考例句：

• They are offering loans at extortionate rates of interest. 他们在放高利贷。
• Government loans have been the salvation of several shaky business companies. 政府的贷款救活了几家濒临倒闭的公司。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

6 basically   

adv.基本上，从根本上说

参考例句：

• His heart is basically sound.他的心脏基本上健康。
• Basically I agree with your plan.我基本上同意你的计划。