VOA常速英语2019--森林砍伐威胁巴西稀有物种金狮面狨

Deforestation Threatens Brazil Forest, Golden Lion Tamarin That Lives There

High above the ground in Brazil, the fate of an endangered species depends on the fate of its endangered habitat. The Atlantic rainforest is one of the planet’s most threatened biomes, more than 90 percent of it was deforested and destroyed. What’s left is fragmented and terrible for some species and the ecological¹ balance. Luis Paulo Ferraz works for the Golden Lion Tamarin Association, an organization aiming to protect at least 2,000 of the monkeys. He says the tiny primate² faces an existential crisis. It’s a species that only lives in a very specific kind of forest in a state of Rio de Janeiro. Forest that is very hot, very steamy and only 2 percent of that kind of forest is left. Trees once covered these rolling grasslands³, but widespread deforestation for settlements and energy resources destroyed the natural habitat for animals like the golden lion tamarin. The stupidity and ignorance of humans has destroyed most of the trees and continues destroying them. Maria Moraes is known locally as Dona Graca or miss grace. She owns a nursery in the state of Rio de Janeiro where she mixes soil, limestone⁴ and clay to grow saplings from seeds of local trees. So I’m trying, I can’t do much, but I do what little I can to rescue those trees. Workers carefully plant saplings like the ones Dona Graca grows at her nursery. While the golden lion makes its home in the trees, the trees make the area liveable for others. We used the golden lion as an umbrella as we’re trying to save the species, but we know there are benefits for other species mainly humans, because it’s better to live in a region with a preserved forest than live in a place where you only have asphalt. For Dona Graca, preserving the disappearing ecosystem⁵ is just as much about preserving history. The next generation must know these trees, otherwise they exist only in books. They will only stay in memories. If I could, I would rescue and plant all of them. Brazil’s Atlantic forest extends over a million square kilometres and the World Wildlife Fund says only 7 percent remains⁶. More than half of the tree species and 92 percent of the amphibians⁷ live nowhere else on earth.

在巴西高处，这种濒危物种的命运取决于其濒危栖息地的命运。大西洋雨林是地球上受威胁最严重的生物群落之一，有超过百分之九十的森林被砍伐和破坏。剩下的部分对一些物种以及生态平衡来说是残破不堪并且十分可怕的。路易斯·保罗·费拉兹在金狮面狨协会工作，该协会旨在保护至少两千只金狮面狨。他说这种小小的灵长类动物面临着生存危机。这种物种只能生活在里约热内卢州的一片非常特殊的森林中。这种森林非常炎热且潮湿，而且目前这种森林的保有量仅为百分之二。树木曾经覆盖了这片起伏的草原，但是人类为了定居以及能源资源而进行的大面积砍伐森林破坏了像金狮面狨等动物的自然栖息地。人类的愚蠢和无知摧毁了大多数树木，并且他们还在继续。玛丽亚·莫赖斯在当地被称为多娜·格雷西亚或格蕾丝小姐。她在里约热内卢州拥有一家苗圃，在那里她将土壤、石灰石和粘土混合起来，用当地树木的种子培育树苗。我在努力，我能做的很有限，但我在尽我所能去拯救那些树。工人们小心翼翼地种植树苗，就像多娜·格雷西亚在她的苗圃里种的那样。当金狮面狨在树上安家时，树木也会使这个地区适合其它物种栖息。我们将金狮面狨作为保护伞，因为我们想要拯救这个物种，但我们知道这对其它物种也有好处，主要是对人类有好处，因为生活在一个有保护森林的地区比生活在一个只有沥青的地方要好得多。对于多娜·格雷西亚来说，保护消失的生态系统就像保护历史一样。下一代必须知道这些树，否则这些树将只存在于书中。它们只会留在记忆中。如果可以的话，我会拯救并种植所有的植物。巴西的大西洋森林面积超过一百万平方公里，而世界野生动物基金会表示森林面积目前只剩下百分之七。超过一半的树种和百分之92的两栖动物在地球上其他地方没有。

1 ecological   

adj.生态的，生态学的

参考例句：

• The region has been declared an ecological disaster zone.这个地区已经宣布为生态灾难区。
• Each animal has its ecological niche.每种动物都有自己的生态位.

2 primate   

n.灵长类（目）动物，首席主教；adj.首要的

参考例句：

• 14 percent of primate species are highly endangered.14%的灵长类物种处于高度濒危状态。
• The woolly spider monkey is the largest primate in the Americas.绒毛蛛猴是美洲最大的灵长类动物。

3 grasslands   

n.草原，牧场( grassland的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Songs were heard ringing loud and clear over the grasslands. 草原上扬起清亮激越的歌声。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• Grasslands have been broken and planted to wheat. 草原已经开垦出来，种上了小麦。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 limestone   

n.石灰石

参考例句：

• Limestone is often used in building construction.石灰岩常用于建筑。
• Cement is made from limestone.水泥是由石灰石制成的。

5 ecosystem   

n.生态系统

参考例句：

• This destroyed the ecosystem of the island.这样破坏了岛上的生态系统。
• We all have an interest in maintaining the integrity of the ecosystem.维持生态系统的完整是我们共同的利益。

6 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。

7 amphibians   

两栖动物( amphibian的名词复数 )； 水陆两用车； 水旱两生植物； 水陆两用飞行器

参考例句：

• The skin of amphibians is permeable to water. 两栖动物的皮肤是透水的。
• Two amphibians ferry them out over the sands. 两辆水陆两用车把他们渡过沙滩。