在线英语听力室

VOA慢速英语 2007 1023b

时间:2007-12-20 06:04:07

搜索关注在线英语听力室公众号:tingroom,领取免费英语资料大礼包。

(单词翻译)

VOICE ONE:

This is SCIENCE IN THE NEWS in VOA Special English.  I'm Bob Doughty1

VOICE TWO:

 
Researchers believe cello2 music can help improve communications skills
And I'm Pat Bodnar.  This week, we will tell about a new finding about the value of musical training.  We will also tell how a short rest during the day can help your heart.  And, we tell about an American law that protects all kinds of plants and wildlife. 

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

American scientists say musical training seems to improve communication skills.  They found that developing musical skills involves the same process in the brain as learning how to speak.  The scientists say that could help children with learning disabilities.

Nina Kraus is a neurobiologist at Northwestern University in Illinois.  She says musical training involves putting together different kinds of information.  She says the process involves hearing music, looking at musical notes, touching3 an instrument and watching other musicians.  She says the process is not much different from learning how to speak.  Both involve different senses.

VOICE TWO:

Professor Krauss says musical training and learning to speak each make us think about what we are doing.  She says speech and music pass through a structure of the nervous system called the brain stem.  The brain stem controls our ability to hear. 

Until recently, experts have thought the brain stem could not be developed or changed.  But Professor Krauss and her team found that musical training can improve a person's brain stem activity.  Their study was reported in the Proceedings4 in the National Academy of Sciences. 

VOICE ONE:

The study involved individuals with different levels of musical ability.  They were asked to wear an electrical device that measures brain activity.  The Individuals wore the electrode while they watched a video of someone speaking and a person playing a musical instrument -- the cello.  Professor Krauss says cellos5 have sound qualities similar to some of the sounds that are important with speech. 

The study found that the more years of training people had, the more sensitive they were to the sound and beat of the music.  Those who were involved in musical activities were the same people in whom the improvement of sensory6 events was the strongest. 

Professor Kraus says the study shows the importance of musical training to children with learning disabilities.  She says using music to improve listening skills could mean they hear sentences and better understand facial expressions. 

(MUSIC)

VOICE TWO:

Medical experts say most Americans do not get enough sleep.  They say more Americans need to rest for a short period in the middle of the day.  They are advising people to sleep lightly before continuing with other activities. 

One study earlier this year found that persons who sleep for a few minutes during the day were less likely to die of heart disease.  The study followed more than twenty-three thousand Greek adults for about six years.  Adults who rested for half an hour at least three times a week had a thirty-seven percent lower risk of dying from heart disease than those who did not nap. 

Study organizers said the strongest evidence was in working men.  The organizers said naps might improve health by reducing tension caused by work.

VOICE ONE:

Some European and Latin American businesses have supported the idea of napping for many years.  They urge people to leave work, go home and have a nap before returning.  In the United States, some companies let workers rest briefly7 in their offices.  They believe this reduces mistakes and accidents, and also increases the amount of work a person can do.

Sleep experts say it is likely that people make more mistakes at work than at other times.  They say people should not carry out important duties when they feel sleepy.  And they say the best thing to do is to take a nap.  About twenty minutes of rest is all you need.  Experts say this provides extra energy and can increase your effectiveness until the end of the day.

But experts warn that a nap should last no more than twenty to thirty minutes.  A longer nap will put the body into deep sleep.  Waking up will be difficult.

(MUSIC)

VOICE TWO:

Scientists have known for years that human life on Earth depends on the continued survival of many different kinds of plants, animals and other organisms.  That is one reason why governments make laws to protect the environment. 

In the United States, a major environmental law is the Endangered Species Act of Nineteen Seventy-Three.  Earlier laws provided only limited ways to protect native animals considered in danger. 

A conference in nineteen seventy-three led to a treaty that restricted international buying and selling of plants and animals believed to be harmed by trade.  Later that year, the United States Congress approved the Endangered Species Act. 

VOICE ONE:

The law expanded America's list of threatened animal species to include foreign animals.  It defined the words endangered and threatened.  The law extended protection to plants and other organisms.  It also required federal agencies to carry out programs to help guarantee the survival of endangered and threatened species.  Federal agencies were also barred from taking any step that would harm a listed species or destroy or change its living area.

The United States Fish and Wildlife Service calls the Endangered Species Act one of the most far-reaching wildlife conservation laws ever approved.  Its purpose is to protect endangered and threatened species and their environments.  It also requires the government to take action to help such species.

VOICE TWO:

To get this protection, a plant or animal species must be added to the Federal list of wildlife and plants said to be in the greatest need of help.  Each species is listed as either endangered or threatened.  The two words describe two levels of threat.  An endangered species is one that is close to disappearing from all or much of its living area.  One that is threatened will likely become endangered if nothing is done.

A species is added to the list when scientists have confirmed that its survival is threatened.  The threats may include the destruction of its environment, disease and too much hunting or fishing.

Government action is taken within one year of the proposal.  The final listing of each proposed species may be published, withdrawn8 or extended. 

VOICE ONE:

After a species has been added to the list, it can receive government protection.  This includes prevention of harmful activities and restrictions9 on taking, transporting or selling a species.  Officials say they want to increase the population of the listed species to a level where federal protection is no longer required.

One recent success story took place earlier this year.  In June, the Department of the Interior announced that it was removing the bald eagle from the list. 

 
Federal protection has helped the bald eagle population increase in the United States
Officials say the bald eagle was one of the first species protected under the Endangered Species Act.  But action was taken to help it much earlier.  Beginning in nineteen-forty, federal laws made it illegal to kill a bald eagle.  But continued use of the insect poison DDT after World War Two made the birds' eggs unable to produce young.  This reduced the number of bald eagles in the wild.

VOICE TWO:

The government banned the use of DDT in nineteen seventy-two.  And federal agencies began other efforts to save the bald eagle.  The results were so good that in nineteen ninety-five, officials lowered the threat level for the bald eagle from endangered to threatened.

In nineteen sixty-three, only four hundred seventeen breeding pairs of bald eagles were known to exist in the lower forty-eight United States.  Each breeding pair consisted of a fully-grown male and a female.  Today, the forty-eight states are home to more than nine thousand pairs.  Officials say the bald eagle in Alaska has never needed protection.  They say between fifty and seventy thousand bald eagles live there.

The bald eagle will continue to enjoy federal protection under the Bald Eagle Protection Act of Nineteen Forty.  That law makes it illegal to kill, sell or in any other way hurt eagles, their nests or eggs.  But American officials say they are now sure about the future security of the bald eagle.

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

This SCIENCE IN THE NEWS was written by SooJee Han and Nancy Steinbach.  Brianna Blake was our producer.  I'm Bob Doughty.

VOICE TWO:

And I'm Pat Bodnar.


分享到:


点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 doughty Jk5zg     
adj.勇猛的,坚强的
参考例句:
  • Most of successful men have the characteristics of contumacy and doughty.绝大多数成功人士都有共同的特质:脾气倔强,性格刚强。
  • The doughty old man battled his illness with fierce determination.坚强的老人用巨大毅力与疾病作斗争。
2 cello yUPyo     
n.大提琴
参考例句:
  • The cello is a member of the violin family.大提琴是提琴家族的一员。
  • She plays a melodious cello.她拉着一手悦耳的大提琴。
3 touching sg6zQ9     
adj.动人的,使人感伤的
参考例句:
  • It was a touching sight.这是一幅动人的景象。
  • His letter was touching.他的信很感人。
4 proceedings Wk2zvX     
n.进程,过程,议程;诉讼(程序);公报
参考例句:
  • He was released on bail pending committal proceedings. 他交保获释正在候审。
  • to initiate legal proceedings against sb 对某人提起诉讼
5 cellos 3f5e450c3fa2693c7324791fdc418c33     
n.大提琴( cello的名词复数 )
参考例句:
  • We are manufacturer of high-and medium-end violins, violas, cellos and basses. 我厂是深圳专业生产制作高档、中档小提琴、中提琴、大提琴、低音提琴的企业。 来自互联网
  • Our company specializes in producing violins, cellos, bases and instrument cases. 本公司是一家专业生产小提琴、大提琴、贝司和乐器箱包的企业。 来自互联网
6 sensory Azlwe     
adj.知觉的,感觉的,知觉器官的
参考例句:
  • Human powers of sensory discrimination are limited.人类感官分辨能力有限。
  • The sensory system may undergo long-term adaptation in alien environments.感觉系统对陌生的环境可能经过长时期才能适应。
7 briefly 9Styo     
adv.简单地,简短地
参考例句:
  • I want to touch briefly on another aspect of the problem.我想简单地谈一下这个问题的另一方面。
  • He was kidnapped and briefly detained by a terrorist group.他被一个恐怖组织绑架并短暂拘禁。
8 withdrawn eeczDJ     
vt.收回;使退出;vi.撤退,退出
参考例句:
  • Our force has been withdrawn from the danger area.我们的军队已从危险地区撤出。
  • All foreign troops should be withdrawn to their own countries.一切外国军队都应撤回本国去。
9 restrictions 81e12dac658cfd4c590486dd6f7523cf     
约束( restriction的名词复数 ); 管制; 制约因素; 带限制性的条件(或规则)
参考例句:
  • I found the restrictions irksome. 我对那些限制感到很烦。
  • a snaggle of restrictions 杂乱无章的种种限制

本文本内容来源于互联网抓取和网友提交,仅供参考,部分栏目没有内容,如果您有更合适的内容,欢迎 点击提交 分享给大家。