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VOA慢速英语 2007 0606b

时间:2007-12-13 03:09:09

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(单词翻译)

VOICE ONE:

I'm Steve Ember.

VOICE TWO:

And I'm Barbara Klein with EXPLORATIONS in VOA Special English.  Today we tell about the National Wildlife Refuge System that protects wildlife in the United States.

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

In nineteen-oh-three, the twenty-sixth president of the United States heard about a 
Pelican1 Island National Wildlife Refuge
small island in the state of Florida that had many birds.  President Theodore Roosevelt was told that hunters were killing2 most of the pelicans3 on the island.  He soon decided4 the nation should protect these beautiful water birds.

President Roosevelt declared the island the first federal protection area for birds.  This refuge was named the Pelican Island Reservation.  It was established on a very small piece of land in the Indian River Lagoon5, near the Atlantic Ocean.  The island became the first protected area in what later would become the huge National Wildlife Refuge System.

VOICE TWO:

Today the Wildlife Refuge System is the world’s largest land network for managed and protected wildlife.  The refuge system is part of the United States Fish and Wildlife Service.  Among other duties, the system enforces the Endangered Species Act.  This law protects wildlife threatened with disappearing from Earth.  Wildlife refuges also help the environment.  They help protect wetlands that control flooding and pollution. 

VOICE ONE:

The refuge system has more than five hundred forty centers.  They cover more than thirty-eight million hectares of land and water.  Most are open to the public.  More than thirty-nine million people visit them every year.  Visitors can fish and hunt at more than half of these wildlife centers.

Activists6 say the refuge system is one of the nation’s greatest successes in protecting nature.  National wildlife refuges exist in all fifty states and twelve American territories and possessions.  Almost all the refuges contain water.  Many of these refuges include national parks.

(MUSIC)

VOICE TWO:

Theodore Roosevelt served as president from nineteen-oh-one to nineteen-oh-nine.  During that time he created fifty-one bird refuges in seventeen states and three territories.  He also created five national parks and one hundred fifty national forests.  Historians say it is especially interesting that President Roosevelt did this.  The energetic former soldier was known for hunting large animals.  History remembers him as one of America’s most important activists for wildlife.

VOICE ONE:

Before President Roosevelt declared Pelican Island a wildlife refuge, both Florida and the federal government had tried to protect America’s wildlife.  Congress had enacted7 two laws aimed at wildlife protection.  In eighteen sixty-nine, the lawmakers created a protected area in the Pribilof Islands of Alaska.  The goal was to give seals a safe place to have their babies.

In eighteen ninety-four, Congress made it illegal to harm wildlife inside the huge Yellowstone National Park in the western part of the country.

VOICE TWO:

In nineteen-oh-one, a Florida law prevented shooting birds on Pelican Island for their feathers.  But people disobeyed this law until President Roosevelt intervened.  Some other animals were already threatened with disappearance8 when President Roosevelt took the first step toward a national conservation agency. 

For example, many bison had lived in the western part of the country.  But by the nineteenth century, hunters had killed hundreds of thousands of these big animals.

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE: 

Over the years the birds on Pelican Island have survived many threats.  Human activities on the water produced waves that reduced the island’s shorelines.  The island decreased to half its size.  In nineteen sixty-eight, the refuge was expanded to protect nearby islands and wetlands.

In two thousand, the Fish and Wildlife Service and other agencies and businesses provided money to restore the refuge.  Mangrove9 trees and plants natural to the area replaced plant life that did not belong there.   A lake was added.  Experts restored tidal wetlands and a forest.

VOICE TWO:

To protect the island, visitors now watch the birds from the Centennial Trail on nearby land.  A tower also was added so people can look at Pelican Island from above.  Not long ago, a visitor was watching the island late in the day.  Many huge birds were spreading their wings and floating against the darkening sky.  The visitor said she will never forget that sight.  

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

 
A bald eagle sits on a nest in Cartersville, Georgia
Last month, the Fish and Wildlife Service announced its great success protecting America's most famous bird.  It announced results showing the largest population of breeding bald eagles in the United States since the nineteen forties. 

In nineteen sixty-three, there were only four hundred seventeen nesting pairs of bald eagles in the lower forty-eight states.  This was an all-time low.  Today, there are an estimated nine thousand seven hundred eighty-nine breeding pairs.  This is an all-time high.  Nesting or breeding pairs are a male and female that are able to reproduce.

You can find wild bald eagles in every state in the lower forty-eight states and in the District of Columbia.  The state of Minnesota has the largest number of pairs of eagles, followed by Florida and Wisconsin.  The three states all have more than one thousand pairs.

VOICE TWO:

The bald eagle is a large brown bird with a white head and tail.  It is the national bird of the United States.  The bald eagle is on the Great Seal of the United States, the presidential flag and the back of the dollar bill. 

The bald eagle has been protected as a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act.  The Fish and Wildlife Service says the bird needed protection because it was threatened by the widespread use of DDT, a chemical that kills insects.

VOICE ONE:

Starting in the nineteen forties, DDT was used to control mosquitoes and insects harmful to agriculture.  When it rained, DDT washed off the soil and into waterways.  There, plants and animals took in the chemical.  Fish ate the plants and animals.  And eagles ate the fish.  DDT built up in the fatty tissues of female eagles.  This prevented the formation of calcium10 needed to make strong eggshells.  The female eagles produced eggs.  But the eggshells were thin and broke when the birds sat on them to keep them warm.

VOICE TWO:

Rachel Carson was a biologist and writer for the Fish and Wildlife Service until nineteen fifty-two.  She recognized the dangers of insect-killing chemical products, including DDT.  But she also knew that the agriculture industry needed such pesticides11 for crop production. 

 
 
In nineteen sixty-two, Carson produced a book, "Silent Spring," after years of research in the United States and Europe.  It examined the effects of DDT and other pesticides on the health of people and animals.  The book became a best-seller.  And it caused fierce debate.  In nineteen seventy-two, the United States banned the use of DDT.

VOICE ONE:

Rachel Carson's book "Silent Spring" launched the environmental protection movement in the United States.  But she did not live to see it.  She died in nineteen sixty-four. 

May twenty-seventh was the one-hundredth anniversary of the birth of Rachel Carson.  Many activities are being carried out across the United States to celebrate her life and work as an educator, scientist and writer.  

The Fish and Wildlife Service is also celebrating the recovery of the bald eagle.  The service is taking steps to remove the national bird from the federal list of threatened and endangered species under the Endangered Species Act. 

(MUSIC)

VOICE TWO:

This program was written by Jerilyn Watson and Shelley Gollust.  Mario Ritter was our producer.  I'm Barbara Klein.

VOICE ONE:

And I'm Steve Ember.  You can download transcripts12 and audio archives of our programs on our Web site, voaspecialenglish.com.  Join us again next week for Explorations in VOA Special English.

 


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点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 pelican bAby7     
n.鹈鹕,伽蓝鸟
参考例句:
  • The pelican has a very useful beak.鹈鹕有一张非常有用的嘴。
  • This pelican is expected to fully recover.这只鹈鹕不久就能痊愈。
2 killing kpBziQ     
n.巨额利润;突然赚大钱,发大财
参考例句:
  • Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
  • Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。
3 pelicans ef9d20ff6ad79548b7e57b02af566ed5     
n.鹈鹕( pelican的名词复数 )
参考例句:
  • Kurt watched the Pelicans fire their jets and scorch the grass. 库尔特看着鹈鹕运兵船点火,它们的喷焰把草烧焦。 来自互联网
  • The Pelican Feeding Officers present an educational talk while feeding the pelicans. 那个正在喂鹈鹕的工作人员会边喂鹈鹕边给它上一节教育课。 来自互联网
4 decided lvqzZd     
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。
5 lagoon b3Uyb     
n.泻湖,咸水湖
参考例句:
  • The lagoon was pullulated with tropical fish.那个咸水湖聚满了热带鱼。
  • This area isolates a restricted lagoon environment.将这一地区隔离起来使形成一个封闭的泻湖环境。
6 activists 90fd83cc3f53a40df93866d9c91bcca4     
n.(政治活动的)积极分子,活动家( activist的名词复数 )
参考例句:
  • His research work was attacked by animal rights activists . 他的研究受到了动物权益维护者的抨击。
  • Party activists with lower middle class pedigrees are numerous. 党的激进分子中有很多出身于中产阶级下层。 来自《简明英汉词典》
7 enacted b0a10ad8fca50ba4217bccb35bc0f2a1     
制定(法律),通过(法案)( enact的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句:
  • legislation enacted by parliament 由议会通过的法律
  • Outside in the little lobby another scene was begin enacted. 外面的小休息室里又是另一番景象。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹
8 disappearance ouEx5     
n.消失,消散,失踪
参考例句:
  • He was hard put to it to explain her disappearance.他难以说明她为什么不见了。
  • Her disappearance gave rise to the wildest rumours.她失踪一事引起了各种流言蜚语。
9 mangrove 4oFzc2     
n.(植物)红树,红树林
参考例句:
  • It is the world's largest tidal mangrove forest.它是世界上最大的红树林沼泽地。
  • Many consider this the most beautiful mangrove forest in all Thailand.许多人认为这里是全泰国最美丽的红树林了。
10 calcium sNdzY     
n.钙(化学符号Ca)
参考例句:
  • We need calcium to make bones.我们需要钙来壮骨。
  • Calcium is found most abundantly in milk.奶含钙最丰富。
11 pesticides abb0488ed6905584ea91347395a890e8     
n.杀虫剂( pesticide的名词复数 );除害药物
参考例句:
  • vegetables grown without the use of pesticides 未用杀虫剂种植的蔬菜
  • There is a lot of concern over the amount of herbicides and pesticides used in farming. 人们对农业上灭草剂和杀虫剂的用量非常担忧。 来自《简明英汉词典》
12 transcripts 525c0b10bb61e5ddfdd47d7faa92db26     
n.抄本( transcript的名词复数 );转写本;文字本;副本
参考例句:
  • Like mRNA, both tRNA and rRNA are transcripts of chromosomal DNA. tRNA及rRNA同mRNA一样,都是染色体DNA的转录产物。 来自辞典例句
  • You can't take the transfer students'exam without your transcripts. 没有成绩证明书,你就不能参加转学考试。 来自辞典例句

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