(单词翻译:单击)
听力文本
From VOA Learning English, this is the Agriculture Report.
Climate researchers met recently in Cameroon to talk about threats to Africa's land and animals. They said they believe the continent may lose as much as 30 percent of its animal and plant species by the end of this century. They blame the expected losses on the warming of earth, population growth and unrestricted development.
The researchers represent 20 African, American and European universities. They say countries south of the Saharan desert are losing forest faster than any place on earth. Wood companies are cutting down trees to meet growing demand from China, Europe and the United States.
The population is growing at 3 percent per year. There are now homes, factories and farms on land that once was forest. Many African animals and plants no longer have a place to live as a result. Climate change also continues to threaten species.
Thomas Smith is the director of the Center for Tropical Research at the University of California.
"With a 1.5 degree rise in global temperature, Africa may lose 30 percent of its animals and plants. And unfortunately with the increase in CO2 that has been now estimated to be up to three degrees in terms of rising global temperatures -- that means we may lose 40 percent of all mammal species in Africa by the end of the century," said Smith.
The African chimpanzee is one such animal at risk. Mary Katherine Gonder is a professor in the Department of Biology at Drexel University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
She studies chimpanzees in the Congo Basin. She says the forest home is disappearing. She also says hunters continue to kill the animals to sell as food.
"What will happen over the next 20 years, the distribution of those chimpanzees will change. Their habitat will change fundamentally and they will no longer be around. So it is a real threat. The habitat for those chimpanzees will be gone,"said Gonder.
Thomas Smith of the University of California says it's possible to develop Africa and care for the environment at the same time.
"With these enormous challenges, we need to develop green economies. We need to make sure that the development we do is sustainable. For example, we are working with parties here to develop new ways of providing green jobs, for example areas that you can preserve, [like] forests, and at the same time produce crops that are appropriate for people to sell and to eat.
So we need to be thinking about how to preserve the natural processes and at the same time provide for the economic needs of the country," said Smith.
The Congo Basin area of western and central Africa has the second largest equatorial rain forest in the world. It is important to lives of millions of people.
And that's the VOA Learning English Agriculture Report. For more agriculture stories, go to our website. I'm Caty Weaver.
VOA英文文本来自51VOA，译文由可可原创，未经许可请勿转载。
词汇学习
1.estimate v. 估计，估算
I estimate that the total cost for treatment will be $12,500.
我估计治疗费用总共会有12,500美元。
2.fundamentally adv. 基础地；根本地
I don't think it has fundamentally altered the sport.
我认为它并没有从根本上改变这项运动。
3.enormous adj. 巨大的；庞大的
The two principal officeholders wield enormous power.
这两个主要官员掌握着巨大的权力。
4.sustainable adj. 可持续的
This is conducive to the sustainable development of global and regional economies.
这有利于世界和地区经济的可持续发展。
5.preserve vt. 保护；保持
We need to preserve the forest.
我们需要保护这片森林。
6.appropriate adj. 适当的；恰当的
It's appropriate to send an email farewell letter.
合适的做法是发一封告别邮件。
内容解析
1.They blame the expected losses on the warming of earth, population growth and unrestricted development.
blame on把责任推给；矛头指向；错误归于
She refused to lay the blame on any one party.
她拒绝归咎于任何一方。
2.They say countries south of the Saharan desert are losing forest faster than any place on earth.
faster than any比较级表示最高级，表示森林消失的速度最快。
3.And unfortunately with the increase in CO2 that has been now estimated to be up to three degrees in terms of rising global temperatures.
in terms of根据；就…而言
In terms of quantity, production grew faster than ever before.
从数量上看，产量增长的速度比以往任何时期都要快。
参考翻译
美国之音慢速学英语节目，这里是农业报道。
最近，气候研究人员在喀麦隆召开会议，讨论非洲土地和动物面临的威胁。他们表示，他们相信，在本世纪末，非洲大陆将损失多达30%的动物和植物物种。他们将这种预期的损失归咎于地球变暖，人口增长和无限制发展。
这些研究人员代表了20个非洲，美洲和欧洲的大学。他们表示，撒哈拉沙漠以南的国家森林消失的速度比地球上任何地方都快。为了满足中国，欧洲和美洲不断增长的需求，木材公司大力砍伐树木。
人口数量以每年3%的速度增长。曾经是森林的土地上现在建起了房屋，工厂和农场。许多非洲动物和植物因此失去生存之地。气候变化也在继续威胁物种。
Thomas Smith是加州大学热带研究中心主任。
“全球气温上升1.5度，非洲或许会损失30%的动物和植物。不幸的是，二氧化碳的增加已经导致全球气温上升了3度——这意味着本世纪末非洲将损失40%的哺乳动物物种。”Smith说。
非洲黑猩猩就是其中一种濒危物种。Mary Katherine Gonder是宾夕法尼亚州费城德雷塞尔大学生物系教授。
她在刚果盆地研究黑猩猩。她表示，森林的家园正在消失。她还表示，猎人继续捕杀动物出售，供人们食用。
“未来二十年将会发生什么变化，黑猩猩的分布将会发生变化。它们的栖息地将会发生根本性的变化，它们将不再随处走动。所以这是真实的威胁。那些黑猩猩的栖息地将不复存在。”
加州大学的Thomas Smith表示，发展非洲的同时保护环境是可能实现的。
“面对这些巨大的挑战，我们需要发展绿色经济。我们需要确保发展是可持续性的。例如，我们正与这里的党派合作开发提供绿色工作的新方法，例如建立保护区，森林，与此同时种植适合人们出售和食用的农作物。所以，我们需要思考如何保护大自然，同时满足这个国家的经济需求。”
非洲西部和中部的刚果盆地拥有世界上第二大赤道雨林。这对数百万人的生活非常重要。
以上就是今天的美国之音慢速学英语农业报道。要了解更多农业报道，请登录我们的网站。我是Caty Weaver。
