新外研版高中英语选择性必修2Unit5课文翻译

1、MACQUARIEISLAND:fromChaostoConservation麦夸里岛:从混乱不堪到精心保护IamstandingonMacquarieIsland,intheSouth-westPacificOcean,halfwaybetweenAustraliaandAntarctica.Strongwindsandstormyseashavehelpedsculptitslong,thinshape.Thegreengrassandbarerockofitslandscapecontrastdramatically,givingitawildandnaturalbeauty.Novis

2、itorwouldthinkitsurprisingthattheislandisaUNESCOWorldHeritageSite.Norwouldtheyfailtoimaginehowitsnativeinhabitantsincludingroyalpenguins,kingpenguins,andelephantsealsexistedinperfectharmonywiththeirnaturalhabitatforthousandsofyears.我正站在麦夸里岛上,这里位于太平洋的西南部,澳大利亚和南极洲的中间。强风和惊涛骇浪将海岛塑成现在狭长的形状。绿草和光禿的岩石形成的景观反

3、差巨大,使海岛呈现出一种狂野和天然的美。这座岛是联合国教科文组织确立的世界遗产,游客们都认为其名副其实。他们也不难想象出,数千年来,包括帝企鹅、王企鹅和象海豹在内的当地动物是如何与其自然栖息地完美地和谐共存的。Buttheislandsmorerecenthistorytellsadifferentstory.Itatragicstorythatbeganin1810whenhumansarrivedontheisland.Intheirshipstheyunknowinglybroughtratsandmice.Thesesmallanimalsquicklytookovertheislan

4、d,eatingthebirds'eggsandattackingbabybirds.Catswerebroughttotheislandtocontroltheratsandmice.Unfortunately,thecatssubsequentlydevelopedanappetiteforthebirds,too.但是,这座岛近些年的遭遇则是截然不同的故事。悲剧从人类1810年来到这座岛屿开始。他们不经意间随船带来了大鼠和小鼠。这些小动物很快就占领了岛屿,它们吃鸟蛋并攻击幼鸟。为控制鼠患,人们带来了猫,但不幸的是,猫随后也开始以鸟为食。Meanwhilerabbitswerein

5、troducedtotheislandasasourceoffoodforhumans.Looseontheisland,theydidwhatrabbitsdobest-theymultipliedrapidlyandbeganeatingthenativevegetationanddiggingholes,whichcausedsoilerosion.Theexplodingrabbitpopulationprovidedplentifulfoodforthecats,meaningthatthenumberofcatsalsoincreased.Thisinturnledtomoreca

6、tshuntingthebirds.Theendresultwasthatparakeetsoncelargeinnumberandnativetotheisland.diedoutin1891.与此同时,人们把兔子引进岛上作为食物。由于在岛上放任其生存,兔子做了自己最擅长的事一一飞快地繁殖,它们开始吃当地植被并挖洞,造成了土壤侵蚀。爆炸式增长的兔子数量给猫提供了充足的食物,这意味着猫的数量也增加了,相应地就有更多猫捕食鸟类。最终结果是,曾经数量众多的当地物种长尾小鹦鹉在1891年灭绝。EvenafterMacquarieIslandbecameanofficialnaturereservei

7、nthe1970s,therabbitsremainedoutofcontrol.Expertsfeltitnecessarytocomeupwithaplantoremovealltherabbitsfromtheisland.Withthisgoalinmind,aviruswasreleasedontotheisland.Butalthoughtheviruscausedtherabbitpopulationtodecreasefrom130.000toaround10.000.italsomeantlessfoodforthecats.Thecatsinconsequenceturne

8、dtheirattention-andtheirstomachs-backtothenativebirds,killingupto60,000eachyear.Inthe1980strapsanddogswereusedtocatchthecats.ThelastMacquarieIslandcatwascaughtin2000.即使在20世纪70年代麦夸里岛成为官方自然保护区后,兔子仍然不受控制。专家认为,必须想办法清除岛上所有的兔子。怀着这个日标,人们投放了一种病毒到岛上。然而,虽然病毒使得兔子的数量从130,000降到约10,000只,但这也意味着猫的食物变少了。因此,猫把注意力和胃口重

9、新转向了当地鸟类,每年捕食多达60,000只。20世纪80年代,人们利用捕猎夹和狗来抓猫。2000年,麦夸里岛上的最后一只猫被抓。Butasthesayinggoes,"Whilethecat'saway,themicewillplay."Withthedepartureofthecatsfromtheisland,themouseandratpopulationstartedtoincrease.Andrememberthose10,000orsorabbits?Itturnedoutthattheydevelopedanimmunitytothevirus,an

10、dtheirnumbersexplodedonceagain.Then,in2006,therabbitsdiggingcausedsomelandtocollapseandkilledasubstantialnumberofpenguins.Thisincidentmadeitclearthattherat,mouseandrabbitproblemneededsolvingonceandforall.但正如俗语所说,“山中无老虎,猴子称大王”。猫从岛上消失了,小鼠和大鼠的数量便开始增加。还记得那10,000只左右的兔子吗?它们最终对病毒产生了免疫,数量又一次激增。随后,在2006年,兔子挖

11、的洞造成一些土地坍塌,导致大量企鹅死亡。这一事件清楚地表明,大鼠、小鼠和兔子泛溢的问题需要一次彻底的解决。So,IamhereonMacquarieIslandtoparticipateintheprogrammetotacklethisveryproblem.Thefirststepinvolvedpoisonbeingdroppedfromhelicopters.Thenextstepistoremovethelastremaininginvadingspecies.andthat'swhereIcomein=withmydogs.Theyhavebeentrainedtofind

12、everylastone.withoutharmingthenativeanimals.Thisinterventionisalong,much-delayedendingtoasadstory,butwehumansoweittotheislandtogiveitahappyending.所以,正是为了解决这个问题,我来到麦夸里岛,上参与一项行动。行动的第一步利用了直升机向岛上投放毒药。下一步是清除最后残存的入侵物种,这就是我的工作了-和我的狗一起。这些狗受训去寻找剩下的每一只老鼠和兔子,同时又不伤害当地动物。这次干预行动是这场悲剧漫长而屡被贻误的大结局,但这是我们人类应该做的,我们亏欠这座

13、岛屿一个美好的结局。Postscript:In2014,MacquarieIslandwasdeclaredpest-freeandtheisland'secologyisfinallyontheroadtorecovery.附言:2014年麦夸里岛正式宣布已无有害生物,岛上的生态环境终于走上了恢复之路WHYSHIENNONGJIA?为什么是神农架？Goodmorning,everyone.ItismygreatpleasuretogivealecturehereonbehalfoftheBeatOnewithNatureAssociation大家早上好。我很开心能代表人与自然和谐相处

14、协会在这里发表演讲。Asweknow,in2016,ShennongjiamadeitontotheUNESCOWorldHeritageList.Buttherearesomanyimportantplacesnotyetonthislist.Soyoumightask:whyShennongjia?Isititsforeststhatstretchonandonlikegreatgreenseas?IsitthelegendaryfatherofChineseherbalmedicine,Shennong,afterwhomtheparkisnamed?Orisitthemysteriou

15、screaturecalledYeren(wildman)thathascapturedtheimaginationoftheworld.众所周知,神农架在2016年正式入选联合国教科文组织的世界遗产名录。世界上重要的地方那么多,但许多都没有被列入该名单。所以你可能会问:为什么是神农架?是因为它拥有像绿色海洋般广袤的森林吗?还是因为它是以中国草药之父神农命名?抑或是因为神秘的“野人”吸引了全世界的目光UNESCOawardedShennongjiathisstatusbecauseitmeetstwocriteriarequiredbythelist.Itcontainsanaturally-

16、balancedenvironmentthatallowsthemanyandvariousspeciestoliveandprosper.Itisalsooneoftherarelocationsintheworldwherescientistscanobserveinrealtimetheecologicalandbiologicalprocessesthatoccurastheplantsandanimalsdevelopandevolve.联合国教科文组织令神农架入选是因为它符合入选名录的两项标准:第它拥有一个自然平衡的环境,使许多不同的物种得以生存和繁衍。第二,它也是世界上人迹罕至之

17、地,科学家们可以实时观察到植物和动物发展和进化过程中的生态学和生物学过程。Forthefirstcriterion,Shennongjiaisapparentlyoneofthemostcomplete"naturalareasintheworld.Theregionrisesfromabout400metrestoover3,000metresabovesealevel,givingitthenamethe"RoofofCentralChina.Thevastrangeinaltituderesultsinagreatvariationinclimaticconditio

18、ns.Thisallowsawidevarietyofspeciestothrive.Someoftheplantsandanimalshavesurvivedmillionsofyears,andareregardedaslivingfossils.就第一项标准而言,我们可以自豪地说神农架是世界上最“完整”的自然区域之一。该地区的海拔从大约400米上升到3,000多米,被称为“华中屋脊”。海拔的巨大差异导致了迥然不同的气候环境,使得大量不同的物种得以繁衍生息。一些动植物生存了数百万年,被视为活化石。Forthesecondcriterion,wecanseethatShennongjiaha

19、sincrediblebiodiversity.Lookatthisslide.Accordingtoofficialstatistics,over3,000plantspecieshavebeenrecordedthere.ThisrepresentsmorethantenpercentofChina'stotalfloralrichness.Shennongjiasupportsmorethan600vertebratespeciesincludingtheGoldenSnub-nosedMonkeyandtheCloudedLeopard.Additionally,around4

20、,300insectspecieshavebeenrecorded.对于第二个标准,我们可以看到神农架有着极丰富的生物多样性。请看这张幻灯片。根据官方统计,在神农架内有记录的植物物种超过3,000种,占到了中国全部开花植物的10%以上。神农架还有600多种脊椎动物,包括川金丝猴和云豹。此外,有记录的昆虫物种也达到了4,300种左右。.Itisachallengetolookaftersomanyspecies.Inwinter,scientistsbraveheavysnowandfreezingtemperaturestosupplyfoodtotheGoldenSnub-nosedMonk

21、ey.Thankstotheireffortsthemonkey'spopulationhasdoubledsincethe1980s.Theirnumberreachedover1,300in2015andcontinuestogrow.照顾如此多的物种是一项挑战。冬季,科学家们不畏暴雪和严寒为川金丝猴提供食物。也正是因为他们的付出,川金丝猴的数量相比于20世纪80年代增加了一倍,到2015年达到1,300多只,而且其数量还在持续増长。ButthemostimpressiveaspectofShennongjiaisthelocalpeople,whotakethingsfromna

22、turewithoutcausingdamage.Ivisitedalocalvillagewhichisknownforitshome-madehoney.WhatisspecialaboutthehoneyisthatitisproducedbytheearliestspeciesofChinesebee.Everyspring,thevillagersplacebeehivesaroundtheirhousestoattractthesewildbeesfromtheforest.AlthoughendangeredelsewhereinChinaduetotheinvasionofforeignspecies,thebeesofShennongjiahavecoexistedwiththelocalpeopleforcentu