(单词翻译:单击)
听力文本
This is Scientific American — 60-Second Science. I'm Christopher Intagliata.
The U.S.–Mexico border is a hotspot for biodiversity. "You have deserts, you have grasslands, you have mountain ranges." Paul Ehrlich, an evolutionary biologist and ecologist at Stanford. "It is a borderland between the temperate zone and the tropics."
The border is also—if the Trump administration has its way—a future construction zone, the site of an expanded wall. Which Ehrlich, and more than 2,500 scientists from around the world, say could threaten some 1,500 native plants and animals along the border, 62 of which are endangered.
"When you build barriers you first-of-all prevent organisms from migrating in response to the climate change we're causing. That leads to extinctions. We also divide populations which then makes them smaller and more susceptible to extinction. And we of course destroy them directly by wrecking their habitat."
The species at risk include bighorn sheep, gray wolves, pronghorn antelope and jaguars. Even low-flying creatures could be blocked by a 30-foot wall, he says... like the ferruginous pygmy-owl and the endangered checkerspot butterfly.
"The butterflies pretty much won't fly over a five-to-10-foot bush. They're organisms that are used to flying in grasslands. And they view forest or bushlands as barriers." The article by Ehrlich, colleagues and scientist signatories is in the journal BioScience.
As for whether President Trump will read their article?
"I think he's got other problems at the moment."
Thanks for listening for Scientific American — 60-Second Science. I'm Christopher Intagliata.
参考译文
这里是科学美国人——60秒科学。我是克里斯托弗·因塔利亚塔。
美国和墨西哥的边境是生物多样性的热点地区。“那里有沙漠、草原和山脉。”斯坦福大学的进化生物学家和生态学家保罗·埃利希说到。“那里属于温带和热带之间的交界地区。”
如果特朗普政府一意孤行，那美墨边境未来也会成为建筑区，设置边境墙。埃利希和全世界2500多名科学家认为，边境墙可能对边境地区约1500种本土动植物构成威胁，其中有62种是濒临灭绝的物种。
“建边境墙之后，首先会阻止生物的迁徙，而它们之所以迁徙是为了应对我们人类造成的气候变化。这会导致物种灭绝。边境墙还会造成种群分离，使其数量减少、更易灭绝。当然，我们直接破坏了它们的栖息地，也就等于摧毁了它们。”
濒危物种包括大角羊、灰狼、叉角羚和美洲虎。他说，甚至低空飞行的生物也可能被30英尺高的墙阻挡，比如赤褐鸺鹠和濒临灭绝的格纹蝶。
“格纹蝶几乎不会飞过5至10英尺高的灌木。它们是习惯于在草原飞行的生物。它们将森林或灌木丛视为障碍。”这篇由埃利希和同事以及科学家签署的文章发表在《生物科学》期刊上。
至于特朗普总统是否会看他们的文章？
“我认为他现在还有其他问题要解决。”
谢谢大家收听科学美国人——60秒科学。我是克里斯托弗·因塔利亚塔。
译文为可可英语翻译，未经授权请勿转载！
重点讲解
重点讲解：
1. have one's way 想怎样就怎样；随心所欲；
A wilful man will have his way to his own hurt.
固执己见的人往往因为一意孤行而给自己带来损害。
2. in response to 回复；回答；回应；
The product was developed in response to customer demand.
这种产品是为了满足顾客的需要而开发的。
3. at risk 有危险；冒风险；
As with all diseases, certain groups will be more at risk than others.
所有的疾病都是如此，一些人比另一些人更容易受到威胁。
4. be used to sth./doing sth. 习惯于；
I'm not used to eating so much at lunchtime.
我不习惯午饭吃那么多。
