TED演讲:石油真正的代价(2)

 In Saskatchewan, as across all of the boreal, home to some of our most famous rivers,  横跨北方森林的萨克其万省，拥有一些著名湖泊，

an incredible network of rivers and lakes that every school-age child learns about, the Peace, the Athabasca, the Churchill here, the Mackenzie,  形成令人叹为观止的河流及湖泊网络，这是每位学龄儿童都读过的知识，和平河、阿萨帕斯卡尔河，丘吉尔河、马更些河，

and these networks were the historical routes for the voyageur and the Coureur des Bois,  这些网络是具有历史意义的路线，对旅客和猎人来说，

the first non-Aboriginal explorers of northern Canada that, taking from the First Nations people,  北加拿大第一位非原住民探险者仿效原住民的做法，

used canoes and paddled to explore for a trade route, a Northwest Passage for the fur trade.  使用独木舟探索贸易路线，即进行毛皮交易的西北航道。

In the North, the boreal is bordered by the tundra¹, and just below that, in Yukon, we have this incredible valley, the Tombstone Valley.  北方是被冻土带包围的北方森林，位于下方的育空省，拥有这座壮观的峡谷，墓碑谷。

And the Tombstone Valley is home to the Porcupine² caribou³ herd⁴.  墓碑谷是豪猪驯鹿的家园。

Now you've probably heard about the Porcupine caribou herd in the context of its breeding ground in Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. 你或许听说过，豪猪驯鹿的繁殖地位于北极国家野生动物保护区.

Well, the wintering ground is also critical and it also is not protected,  事实上这片渡冬地亦十分重要却未受到保护,

and is potentially, could be potentially, exploited for gas and mineral rights.  它面临一個潜在危机,即天然气和矿物的开采.

The western border of the boreal in British Columbia is marked by the Coast Mountains, 位于卑诗省的北方森林西部边界即海岸山脉,

and on the other side of those mountains is the greatest remaining temperate⁵ rainforest in the world,  这座山脉的另一侧是世上现存最大的温带雨林,

the Great Bear Rainforest, and we'll discuss that in a few minutes in a bit more detail.  大熊雨林,我们稍后会做详细介绍.

All across the boreal, it's home for a huge incredible range of indigenous⁶ peoples, and a rich and varied⁷ culture.  纵观整个北方森林，它是众多原住民族群荟萃之地,拥有丰富多样的文化.

And I think that one of the reasons why so many of these groups have retained a link to the past,  我认为大多族群依然保有其固有文化的原因之一,

know their native languages, the songs, the dances, the traditions,  例如母语,歌曲、舞蹈、传统,

I think part of that reason is because of the remoteness, the span and the wilderness⁸ of this almost 95 percent intact ecosystem⁹.  我认为部分原因在于它地处偏远,幅员广大且依旧保持原始面貌在这片将近95%生态系统,尚未遭受破坏的土地当中.

1 tundra   

n.苔原，冻土地带

参考例句：

• The arctic tundra is at the top of the world around the North Pole.北极冻原是指北极点周边的地区，是世界最高的地方。
• There is a large amount of methane gas under the Siberian tundra.西伯利亚的冻土地带之下有大量的甲烷气体。

2 porcupine   

n.豪猪， 箭猪

参考例句：

• A porcupine is covered with prickles.箭猪身上长满了刺。
• There is a philosophy parable,call philosophy of porcupine.有一个哲学寓言，叫豪猪的哲学。

3 caribou   

n.北美驯鹿

参考例句：

• Afar off he heard the squawking of caribou calves.他听到远处有一群小驯鹿尖叫的声音。
• The Eskimos played soccer on ice and used balls filled with caribou hair and grass.爱斯基摩人在冰上踢球，他们用的是驯鹿的毛发和草填充成的球。

4 herd   

n.兽群，牧群；vt.使集中，把…赶在一起

参考例句：

• She drove the herd of cattle through the wilderness.她赶着牛群穿过荒野。
• He had no opinions of his own but simply follow the herd.他从无主见，只是人云亦云。

5 temperate   

adj.温和的，温带的，自我克制的，不过分的

参考例句：

• Asia extends across the frigid,temperate and tropical zones.亚洲地跨寒、温、热三带。
• Great Britain has a temperate climate.英国气候温和。

6 indigenous   

adj.土产的，土生土长的，本地的

参考例句：

• Each country has its own indigenous cultural tradition.每个国家都有自己本土的文化传统。
• Indians were the indigenous inhabitants of America.印第安人是美洲的土著居民。

7 varied   

adj.多样的，多变化的

参考例句：

• The forms of art are many and varied.艺术的形式是多种多样的。
• The hotel has a varied programme of nightly entertainment.宾馆有各种晚间娱乐活动。

8 wilderness   

n.杳无人烟的一片陆地、水等，荒漠

参考例句：

• She drove the herd of cattle through the wilderness.她赶着牛群穿过荒野。
• Education in the wilderness is not a matter of monetary means.荒凉地区的教育不是钱财问题。

9 ecosystem   

n.生态系统

参考例句：

• This destroyed the ecosystem of the island.这样破坏了岛上的生态系统。
• We all have an interest in maintaining the integrity of the ecosystem.维持生态系统的完整是我们共同的利益。