VOA慢速英语2019 各国比拼种树：地球是最大赢家

（单词翻译）

When Countries Compete, Earth Wins Big

Sports are usually the way that countries compete with one another. However, there is another way countries around the world are competing for the top spot: planting the most trees.

很多国家通常会以体育的方式来彼此竞争。不过，世界上的一些国家也有另外一种竞争第一的方式——看谁种树最多。

The latest winner of that contest is Ethiopia.

最近一次比赛中的获胜者是埃塞俄比亚。 

On July 29 the Associated Press reported that Ethiopians planted more than 200 million trees.

6月29日，美联社报道称，埃塞俄比亚人种了2亿多棵树。 

The country is currently¹ in the middle of a massive² tree-planting campaign. It aims to plant 4 billion trees between May and October of this year.

埃塞俄比亚正在举行一场大型植树活动。目标是在今年5月-10月之间种植40亿棵树。 

That is very good news for our planet³.

这对地球来说是个很好的消息。 

Planting more trees may be a way to reduce the effects of global warming. Scientists from Switzerland recently said that if the world plants 1 trillion trees, carbon dioxide, or CO2, emissions⁴ could drop by 25 percent.

种更多的树可能是一种减少全球变暖影响的方法。来自瑞士的一些科学家表示，如果全世界种植1万亿棵树，那么二氧化碳（CO2）的排放量就会下降25%。

Officials in Ethiopia say the country has so far planted more than 2.6 billion trees.

埃塞俄比亚的一些工作人员表示，埃塞俄比亚目前种植了26亿多棵树。 

The goal of Ethiopia is to restore⁵ its land.

埃塞俄比亚的目标是退耕还林。 

Its other goal is, perhaps, to beat India’s tree-planting world record.

或许，埃塞俄比亚还有一个目标——打破印度之前创下的植树纪录。 

On July 1, 2016, 800,000 volunteers in India’s Uttar Pradesh state planted nearly 50 million trees. Smithsonian Magazine and other organizations reported that that effort was one for the record books!

2016年7月1日，80万名印度北方邦的志愿者种了近5000万棵树。《史密森尼杂志》等机构报道称，印度的这一努力打破了历史纪录。

The following year, another state in India broke Uttar Pradesh’s record. The Digital Journal⁶ reported that year that 1.5 million volunteers in Madhya Pradesh planted nearly 66 million trees in 12 hours.

次年，印度的另一个邦打破了北方邦的纪录。那一年，《数字期刊》报道称，150万名中央邦的志愿者历时12小时种了近6600万棵树。

Many countries are doing their part to make the Earth greener. Pakistan, Indonesia, Ecuador and the Philippines have all competed in tree planting contests. Pakistan and Indonesia even hold Guinness World Records.

很多国家都在尽自己所能让地球变得更绿。巴基斯坦、印尼、厄瓜多尔、菲律宾都竞相开展了种树比赛。巴基斯坦和印尼甚至还创下过吉尼斯世界纪录。

China is doing its part, too. It may not be a current world record holder⁷, but its efforts can be seen from space.

中国也在尽自己的一份力。虽然中国目前还没有创下过世界纪录，但中国的努力是在太空中看得见的。

In February 2019, the American space agency⁸ NASA published a statement saying India and China are leading the way in making our planet greener. In large part because of India’s and China’s efforts, the worldwide "green leaf area" has increased by 5 percent since the early 2000s.

2019年2月，美国宇航局（NASA）发布了一份声明写道，印度和中国牵头让地球变得更绿了。世界范围内的“绿叶面积”自21世纪初期以来增加了5%，这在很大程度上都是印度和中国的功劳。

Even if your country does not have any special day or events for tree planting, you can always go it alone!

即便你所在的国家没有为种树设置特别的日子或者活动，你依然可以一直以自己的方式来尽一份力。