VOA常速英语2018--难以忽视的真相

The statistics are stark¹ and alarming. Populations of mammals, of birds, of fish declines between 1970 and the year 2014 by 60 percent globally. And in fresh water, habitats, the figure is some 83 percent. And it’s no surprise that human activity is mainly to blame.

赤裸裸的数据令人触目惊心。很多哺乳动物、鸟类和鱼类的族群在1970-2014年间数量减少了60%，全球范围内都是如此。在淡水和各种栖息地里，这一数据是83%。意料之中的是，人类活动是主要原因。

Human activity is the driver of the declines we’re seeing, primarily our demand, our increasing demand for food, energy, water. That activity is driving climate change, but the authors say there are lessons we can learn from how the world came together to act on curbing² greenhouse gases. We think about how the world responded to the climate threat and forged a pact³ in Paris in 2015 to address climate change. We need a similar deal at the global level for people in nature.

人类活动导致了当前生物数量的减少，这主要是因为我们对食物、能源和水资源的需求日益上升。人类活动导致气候变化，但很多人发文称我们能学到一些知识，比如全球如何暗中一些遏制温室气体的增加。我们想到全球是如何为了应对气候威胁而在2015年制定《巴黎公约》以抗击气候变化的。我们需要全球层面上类似的协议来规范身处于大自然中的我们。

And Cesareo points the success stories like the giant pandas’ recovery and the rising population of tigers in the wild as proof that what is happening is reversible. The report is very sobering.

塞萨雷奥指出，一些成功的例子（比如大熊猫重现、野生虎类数量增多）都表明，现在还“有”力回天。这份报告振聋发聩。

I think the, the message is also that it’s not too late to course-correct. Life is resilient. It bounces back and so if we take concerted action, we can reverse these trends, and ensure a living planet for future generations. To help life bounce back, the World Wildlife Fund is calling on governments to sign onto a Convention on Biological Diversity in 2020. It creates a pathway to conserve⁴ the world’s wild places and reverse the planet’s shrinking biodiversity. And it has set targets for things like area, percentage of area to be protected under pacts⁵, and indigenous⁶ reserves, and other types of community conserved⁷ areas. The WWF says all of the resources the earth provides us in terms of food, lumber⁸ and energy for instance all told are worth about 125 trillion dollars a year. The goal now is to find a way to make all that rich, natural biodiversity sustainable and available for generations to come.

我认为，报告传递的信息还有：亡羊补牢，为时未晚。生命是有弹性的。既然数量可以增多，那我们就要合力采取行动，扭转局势，确保子孙后代可以在生机勃勃的星球上生活。为了提升动物数量，世界野生动物基金会呼吁各国政府签订2020年《生物多样性公约》。该公约可以开辟一条道路，保护野生动物的栖息环境，扭转地球生物多样性缩减的局势。该公约制定了目标，要求一定比例的对象（如面积）受到保护。此外还有本土保护区等社区保护区域。世界野生动物基金会表示，地球每年为我们提供的所有资源（比如食物、、木材和能源）加在一起的价值达到近125万亿美元。现在的目是寻找方法让这富饶的自然多样性实现可持续，让子孙后代可以享用。

1 stark   

adj.荒凉的；严酷的；完全的；adv.完全地

参考例句：

• The young man is faced with a stark choice.这位年轻人面临严峻的抉择。
• He gave a stark denial to the rumor.他对谣言加以完全的否认。

2 curbing   

n.边石，边石的材料v.限制，克制，抑制( curb的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• Progress has been made in curbing inflation. 在控制通货膨胀方面已取得了进展。
• A range of policies have been introduced aimed at curbing inflation. 为了抑制通货膨胀实施了一系列的政策。

3 pact   

n.合同，条约，公约，协定

参考例句：

• The two opposition parties made an electoral pact.那两个反对党订了一个有关选举的协定。
• The trade pact between those two countries came to an end.那两国的通商协定宣告结束。

4 conserve   

vt.保存，保护，节约，节省，守恒，不灭

参考例句：

• He writes on both sides of the sheet to conserve paper.他在纸张的两面都写字以节省用纸。
• Conserve your energy,you'll need it!保存你的精力，你会用得着的！

5 pacts   

条约( pact的名词复数 )； 协定； 公约

参考例句：

• Vassals can no longer accept one-sided defensive pacts (!). 附庸国不会接受单方面的共同防御协定。
• Well, they are EU members now and have formed solidarity pacts with members such as Poland. 他们现在已经是欧盟的一部分了并且他们和欧盟成员诸如波兰等以签署了合作协议。

6 indigenous   

adj.土产的，土生土长的，本地的

参考例句：

• Each country has its own indigenous cultural tradition.每个国家都有自己本土的文化传统。
• Indians were the indigenous inhabitants of America.印第安人是美洲的土著居民。

7 conserved   

v.保护，保藏，保存( conserve的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He conserved his energy for the game. 他为比赛而养精蓄锐。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Under these conditions, the total mechanical energy remains constant, or is conserved. 在这种条件下，总机械能保持不变或机械能保存。 来自辞典例句

8 lumber   

n.木材，木料；v.以破旧东西堆满；伐木；笨重移动

参考例句：

• The truck was sent to carry lumber.卡车被派出去运木材。
• They slapped together a cabin out of old lumber.他们利用旧木料草草地盖起了一间小屋。