(单词翻译:单击)
听力文本
From VOA Learning English, this is the Agriculture Report.
The World Wildlife Fund says more than half of the world's wildlife population has been lost. The conservation group says this has placed the health of the planet at risk.
The WWF recently released its 10th Flagship Living Planet Report. The group warns the condition of the world's animals is worse than its earlier reports showed. It says worldwide action is needed.
The WWF says it is worried about the loss of and damage to Earth's environment. The report provides information about more than 10,000 animal populations from 1970 to 2010. These populations are called "vertebrate species," or animals with backbones -- like fish, birds, mammals, amphibians and reptiles.
The report says these populations have dropped by 52 percent in just 40 years. It says freshwater species have fallen by 76 percent. That is almost twice the loss of land and ocean species. Most of these losses are in the tropics. The report says the biggest drop has been in Latin America.
Marco Lambertini is the WWF's International Director-General. He spoke to VOA about the report.
"This is about losing natural habitats. This is about converting forests, grasslands, and wetlands into agriculture mainly, and it is about unsustainable use of wildlife. So, wildlife traffic, hunting, and unsustainable hunting practices like that. Poaching, as you mention, has been actually increasing over the last 10 years and is definitely a driving force for extinction, particularly of large species. But, also as you mention, there are dimensions to poaching that are related to timber, illegal logging and also fisheries."
The report also notes what it calls the world's "Ecological Footprint." That is the effect of human activities on the planet. Mr. Lambertini says there has been an increase in carbon dioxide gases and the pouring of nitrogen into oceans and rivers from fertilizers used in agriculture. He says this cannot continue.
"So, we are consuming on average every year about the equivalent of about 1.5, one-and-a half times the resources available to the planet. That means we are cutting trees more quickly than they can be restored. We are fishing the oceans more quickly than fishing stocks can reproduce, and we are emitting in the atmosphere more CO2 than the natural systems can actually absorb. This is clearly not sustainable."
Mr. Lambertini warns climate change affects almost everyone on the planet. He says whole species may disappear if the world does not reduce the effects of humans on the climate.
For VOA Learning English, I'm Anne Ball.
文本来自51voa，译文属可可原创，仅供学习交流使用，未经许可请勿转载。
词汇解释
1.vertebrate n. 脊椎动物 adj. 有脊椎的，脊椎动物的
Quite unexpectedly, vertebrate physiologists and microbial biochemists had found a common ground.
出乎意外, 脊椎动物生理学家和微生物生化学家找到了共同阵地。
2.amphibian n. [脊椎] 两栖动物；水陆两用飞机；具有双重性格的人 adj. 两栖类的；[车辆] 水陆两用的；具有双重性格的
Both the toad and frog are amphibian.
蟾蜍和青蛙都是两栖动物。
3.poach vt. 水煮；偷猎；窃取；把…踏成泥浆 vi. 偷猎；侵犯；剽窃
Many national parks set up to provide a refuge for wildlife are regularly invaded by people poaching game.
很多旨在为野生动物提供庇护的国家公园经常受到偷猎者的入侵。
4.fertilizer n. [肥料] 肥料；受精媒介物；促进发展者
The tractor hauled the fertilizer away.
拖拉机把肥料拉走了。
内容解析
1.The conservation group says this has placed the health of the planet at risk.
place/put...at risk 置...于危险境地
The crisis could well place the relationship at risk.
这场危机可能会使这一关系有破裂的危险。
If they have the virus they are putting patients at risk.
如果他们有这种病毒，就会将病人置于危险境地。
参考译文
这里是美国之音慢速英语农业报道。
世界自然基金会称全世界失去了一半以上的野生物，该自然保护组织称这使得地球的健康面临风险。
世界自然基金会最近发布了第10份《地球生命力报告》，该组织警告，全世界的动物现状比之前报告表明的更糟糕，需在全球范围内采取行动。
世界自然基金会称很担心这给地球环境带来的损失和破坏，该报告提供了从1970年到2010年期间一万多种动物种群的信息，这些种群被称为“脊椎动物物种”，即有脊椎的动物，比如鱼、鸟、哺乳动物、两栖动物和爬行动物。
这份报告称这些动物的种群数量在40年间减少了52%，称淡水物种减少了76%，这几乎是陆地和海洋物种损失的两倍。大多数损失发生在热带地区，该报告称损失最大的是拉美。
马可·蓝波提尼是世界自然基金会的国际总干事，他向美国之音介绍了这份报告。
“报告涉及天然栖息地的损失，有关将森林、草地和湿地转化为农业用地，以及不可持续地利用野生物，也就是野生物走私、狩猎和不可持续的打猎行为。正如你提到的那样，过去10年间盗猎事件增多，这是导致物种灭绝，尤其是大型物种灭绝的关键原因。但是也正如你提到的那样，还存在非法砍伐和非法捕鱼行为。”
这份报告还提到
所谓全世界的“生态足迹”，也就是人类活动对地球的影响。蓝波提尼说农业化肥的二氧化碳气体排放量、流入海洋和河流的氮元素都在增多。他说不能再这样下去了。
“所以，我们平均每年要消耗掉相当于地球可提供资源的1.5倍，这意味着我们砍伐树木的速度超过树木恢复的速度，我们捕鱼的速度超过鱼群繁殖的速度，我们向大气排放二氧化碳的速度超过自然界能吸收的二氧化碳的量，这显然是不可持续的。”
蓝波提尼警告称气候变化能影响地球上几乎每个人，他说如果全世界不减少人类对气候的影响，那么各种物种都可能会消失。
这就是美国之音慢速英语，我是安·博尔。
