新西兰英语 451 1080 Poison

 　　Last week, the Department for the Environment made a report about using 1080 poison in the forests. The head of this department, Dr Jan Wright, studied the use of 1080 and decided¹ that it was the best solution to the problem of animal pests.

　　New Zealand has no native mammals, except a flying bat. Many native birds do not fly and they make their nests in the ground. They were safe from predators³. However, today there are too many predators.

　　In the nineteenth century, New Zealanders made the mistake of bringing in possums from Australia, and rats and stoats from Europe. Possums kill the young trees and spread TB (tuberculosis) to cows. Rats and stoats eat the eggs and chicks of native birds including kiwis. Only one out of 20 kiwi chicks survives.

　　DOC (the Department of Conservation) has been using 1080 in some forests. They drop poisonous carrots from planes. Many local people are angry about this. They worry that the water in the rivers will be poisonous but Dr Wright says that they would have to drink thousands of litres of water before they became ill.

　　Other people against 1080 say that DOC can use possum traps instead. Possum fur can be mixed with wool for knitting⁴ sweaters and other warm clothes. However, Dr Wright says that a lot of the forest is too thick with trees. It is difficult to find a way through the trees. People against 1080 also say it doesn’t work. There are about 1 million possums in our forests. Dr Wright says DOC hasn’t used enough 1080. The answer is to use more.

　　Vocabulary

　　pest - a animal (or plant) that you don’t want; it’s hard to get rid of it

　　mammal - an animal which doesn’t lay eggs; it has live babies. the babies drink their mother’s milk. It has warm blood.

　　predator² - an animal which kills another animal for food.

　　stoats - small furry⁵ mammals

　　tb - a disease⁶; it can get into cow’s milk

　　survives - it lives, doesn’t die

　　traps - a piece of equipment which kills an animal. Usually there is some food inside the trap. When the animal puts its head in the trap, it is killed.

　　Questions

　　Do you think it is possible to kill 1 million possums in traps?

　　Could we sell the fur from one million possums?

　　Are there other ways to kill rats and stoats?

1 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

2 predator   

n.捕食其它动物的动物；捕食者

参考例句：

• The final part of this chapter was devoted to a brief summary of predator species.本章最后部分简要总结了食肉动物。
• Komodo dragon is the largest living lizard and a fearsome predator.科摩多龙是目前存在的最大蜥蜴，它是一种令人恐惧的捕食性动物。

3 predators   

n.食肉动物( predator的名词复数 )；奴役他人者（尤指在财务或性关系方面）

参考例句：

• birds and their earthbound predators 鸟和地面上捕食它们的动物
• The eyes of predators are highly sensitive to the slightest movement. 捕食性动物的眼睛能感觉到最细小的动静。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 knitting   

n.编结物；接合，联合；[外科]骨愈合v.（使）愈合( knit的现在分词)；编结，编织；（使）紧密地结合；织平针

参考例句：

• Weaving and knitting are traditional cottage industries. 编织和针织是传统的家庭手工业。
• manipulative skills such as typing and knitting 诸如打字、编织这样的技能

5 furry   

adj.毛皮的；似毛皮的；毛皮制的

参考例句：

• This furry material will make a warm coat for the winter.这件毛皮料在冬天会是一件保暖的大衣。
• Mugsy is a big furry brown dog,who wiggles when she is happy.马格斯是一只棕色大长毛狗，当她高兴得时候她会摇尾巴。

6 disease   

n.疾病，弊端

参考例句：

• The doctors are trying to stamp out the disease.医生正在尽力消灭这种疾病。
• He fought against the disease for a long time.他同疾病做了长时间的斗争。