【英语趣味课堂】保护森林-Protecting the Woods

Cheryl: So, who are some of the people who are fighting to protect these trees besides you as an environmental scientist?

Nick: Well, in Tasmania, the first green political party was developed, so yeah, they obviously want to protect the forests a lot, and have big protests, tie themselves to trees. Sit up in trees to protect the trees.

 

Cheryl: People actually still do that? Tie themselves to trees?

 

Nick: Oh, everyday in Tasmania.

 

Cheryl: Oh, really?

 

Nick: It's a big issue. A very big issue.

 

Cheryl: That's interesting. I once heard of a girl who lived in a tree for a month because she wanted to stop the deforestation company or people from taking down that tree, so she lived up there and she had people bring her supplies but she never came down.

 

Nick: That happens in Tasmania as well. There's people today which are up in trees, maybe up to fifty which permanently¹ live up in trees.

 

Cheryl: Wow!

 

Nick: Yeah, so. I don't know how they do it.

 

Cheryl: That's kind of crazy ... So Nick, from the companies point of view, playing the devil's advocate here, I think they provide jobs for all the people who are working to make trees into paper. What do you think they have to say about that?

 

Nick: Well, it's true, they do provide jobs, and some cities, some small towns do rely on logging industry to provide jobs and support the shops in the place, but ...

 

Cheryl: But!

 

Nick: But! Yeah. So tourism is a very big industry in Tasmania, and maybe the logging industry takes away tourists jobs as well, because it makes certain areas not useful for tourism anymore, not very pretty.

 

Cheryl: Yeah, your right. If the whole forest is missing, I guess nobody would really want to go and look at anything.

 

Nick: Yeah, there're some really beautiful spots in Tasmania which have been many tarnished² a little by the logging industry.

 

重点词汇：

Learn Vocabulary from the Lesson

besides

 

Who are the people fighting besides you.

 

Here, the word 'besides' means 'other than'. We use the phrase 'besides' to express or ask more information than is given. Notice the following:

 

Besides sleeping, what did you do this weekend?

Besides me, there were few people at the party.

Green Political Party

 

The first green political party was developed to protect the trees.

 

A political party is a group of people that acts to influence or control the government. Most countries have at least two political parties. A green party, is a political party that wants to protect the environment. Notice the following:

 

The two main political parties in the U.S. are the Democrats³ and the Republicans⁴.

You must be a member of a political party to win an election.

big issue

 

It is a big issue in Tasmania.

 

When something is a big issue, that means it is a problem or debate that most people are concerned about. A big issue usually effects a lot of people. Notice the following:

 

Obesity⁵ and being overweight is a big issue now on the news.

Gay marriage was a big issue in the last election.

permanently

 

They permanently live up in trees.

 

When something is permanent, that means it cannot be changed or will not change. For example, with pens, there are pens with permanent ink and erasable⁶ ink. Permanent ink cannot be removed. When something is permanent is it forever, or what seems like forever. Notice the following:

 

If you stare at the sun, you can permanently destroy your eyesight.

Most companies no longer offer permanent employment.

devil's advocate

 

Let's play devil's advocate.

 

The phrase 'play devil's advocate' means you take the opposite side, or look at an opinion from the view of the person on the other side, often the unpopular view (the view of the devil), so here Cheryll was playing devil's advocate by thinking of what the logging industry thinks about cutting down trees. Notice the following:

 

Let's play devil's advocate. What happens if we don't follow the plan.

I love to debate, so I love playing devil's advocate to the popular view held by most people.

 

1 permanently   

adv.永恒地，永久地，固定不变地

参考例句：

• The accident left him permanently scarred.那次事故给他留下了永久的伤疤。
• The ship is now permanently moored on the Thames in London.该船现在永久地停泊在伦敦泰晤士河边。

2 tarnished   

（通常指金属）（使）失去光泽，（使）变灰暗( tarnish的过去式和过去分词 )； 玷污，败坏

参考例句：

• The mirrors had tarnished with age. 这些镜子因年深日久而照影不清楚。
• His bad behaviour has tarnished the good name of the school. 他行为不轨，败坏了学校的声誉。

3 democrats   

n.民主主义者，民主人士( democrat的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The Democrats held a pep rally on Capitol Hill yesterday. 民主党昨天在国会山召开了竞选誓师大会。
• The democrats organize a filibuster in the senate. 民主党党员组织了阻挠议事。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 republicans   

拥护共和政体者，共和主义者( republican的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The Republicans got shellacked in the elections. 共和党在选举中一败涂地。
• The latest poll gives the Republicans a 5％ lead. 最近的民意调查结果表明共和党领先了五个百分点。

5 obesity   

n.肥胖，肥大

参考例句：

• One effect of overeating may be obesity.吃得过多能导致肥胖。
• Sugar and fat can more easily lead to obesity than some other foods.糖和脂肪比其他食物更容易导致肥胖。

6 erasable   

adj.可消除的，可抹去的，使被忘却的

参考例句：

• Such devices are divided into blocks, called sectors, that are individually-erasable. 一些设备被分成叫段组的块，能个别地可擦。 来自互联网
• Electrically Erasable, Prograable Read-Only Memory -- PROM. A type of ROM that can be erased electronically. 电可擦的，可编程的只读存储器。一种ROM能被电擦除。 来自互联网