经济学人270:法医动物学 保护大象刻不容缓

 　　Science and technology

　　科学技术

　　Forensic¹ zoology²

　　法医动物学

　　The elephant in the room

　　房间里的大象—保护大象，刻不容缓！

　　Dating ivory has just become easier. Poachers beware

　　确定象牙年代已变得更容易了，偷猎者们要小心喽！

　　FEW megafauna are more charismatic than elephants, and that charisma³ gives them political clout⁴.

　　在大型动物里，没有几种动物可以匹敌大象的魅力，这种魅力让大象很有政治影响。

　　On July 1st, for example, Barack Obama used the Tanzanian leg of his tour of Africa to announce an executive order intended to give teeth to America's obligation, as a party to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species, to prevent the smuggling⁵ of poached ivory.

　　比如说今年7月1日，奥巴马总统在非洲行程中的坦桑尼亚站宣布了一项行政命令，该命令旨在通过强制实施有效手段来更好地履行美国《濒危野生动植物种国际贸易公约》的一员防止偷运偷猎象牙的义务。

　　The rules on trading ivory, though, are hard to enforce, for if it comes from an animal killed before 1990 such trade is legal.

　　但是，针对象牙贸易的规定很难实行，因为如果象牙来自的大象是在1990年之前被杀的，那么这种贸易是合法的。

　　Not surprisingly, a cottage industry in making ivory look older than it is has grown up.

　　因此，让象牙看起来比实际年代更久的家庭手工业的发展壮大就并不奇怪了。

　　But a paper published in the Proceedings⁶ of the National Academy of Sciences, by Kevin Uno of the University of Utah and his colleagues, may deal with that.

　　犹他大学的Kevin Uno和他的同事发表在《美国国家科学院院刊》上的一篇论文可以解决这个问题。

　　For Dr Uno has worked out how to use one of science's less glorious episodes, the atmospheric⁷ testing of nuclear weapons, to work out exactly how old a piece of ivory really is.

　　因为Uno博士研究出了如何利用科学不甚光彩的一段—核武器大气层实验，来算出一节象牙的真实年代是多少。

　　Dr Uno's method uses the ivory's carbon-14 content in a way that was not previously⁸ employed.

　　博士Uno的方法用到了象牙的碳-14含量，他利用碳-14含量的方式从来没人用过。

　　What radiochemists call 14C forms naturally in the atmosphere by the action of cosmic rays on nitrogen atoms.

　　被放射化学家称作碳-14的物质是宇宙射线撞击空气中的氮原子而在大气中自然形成的，

　　It has a half-life of 5,730 years, which makes it ideal for dating objects pertinent⁹ to human history, and it can do so to within a few decades of their true age—which is great for archaeology¹⁰.

　　其半衰期约为5,730年，这让其十分适合测量与人类历史有关事物的年代，其测量误差不超过其真实年代前后几十年。

　　It is not, though, much use for finding out whether a particular piece of ivory was detached from the elephant that grew it before or after a specific date just over 20 years ago.

　　但碳定年法在测量象牙年代，看其生长的时期是在20年前的之前还是之后，则并无甚用武之地。

　　But Dr Uno realised there has recently been a second source of 14C—those bomb tests. And they give him the precision he requires.

　　但是Uno博士意识到最近碳-14还有另一个来源—那些核爆试验，而这些试验给了他他所想要的精度。

　　Normally, the amount of 14C in the atmosphere is governed by the rate at which cosmic radiation creates it and the rate at which things like photosynthesis¹¹ absorb it.

　　通常来说，大气中碳-14的数量取决于宇宙射线产生碳-14的速率和像光合作用一类的反应吸收碳-14的速率。

　　Between 1952 and 1962, however, when bomb tests above ground were commonplace, the amount of 14C in the air shot up until it was nearly double the normal level.

　　但是，在1952至1962年间，地面上的核爆试验十分普遍，因此空气中的碳-14数量骤升，达到了近正常值的两倍。

　　Since then it has fallen, also quite steeply, as plants have absorbed the surplus.

　　但自那以后，碳-14的数量也急剧下降，因为植物把剩余的碳-14吸收掉了。

　　And it will continue to fall until the old equilibrium¹² reasserts itself.

　　并且碳-14的值会不断下降，直到降到原来的平衡值。

　　This bomb curve, as it is known, changes so fast that year-by-year differences in the 14C levels of recent specimens¹³ should be detectable¹⁴.

　　我们知道，这种爆炸曲线的变化如此之快，因此我们就可以探测出近期空气中每年碳-14值的不同。

　　To test this hypothesis, Dr Uno and his colleagues looked at 29 specimens of known age, from 1905 to 2008.

　　为对这一假想进行测试，Uno博士和他的同事研究了已知年代，即从1905年至2008年的29个样品。

　　These included elephants' tusks¹⁵, teeth and tail hair, and hippopotamus¹⁶ teeth.

　　这其中包括大象的长牙、牙齿和尾部的毛发，还有河马的牙齿。

　　They measured the specimens' 14C content using a sensitive technique called accelerator mass spectrometry.

　　他们使用一项被称作加速器质谱的高灵敏度技术来测量样品中碳-14的含量。

　　For those tissues that had grown after 1955 the 14C concentration did, as the researchers hoped it would, closely match the bomb curve.

　　正如研究者们所预料的那样，对于1955年以后生长的组织，其碳-14浓度与爆炸曲线严格吻合。

　　Indeed, for these the match was so good that their ages could be determined¹⁷ to within a year of the truth.

　　的确，对于这些样品来说，吻合度如此之高，以至于对其年代的确定可精确到一年以内。

　　At the moment Dr Uno's technique costs 1,000 a pop, so some places, particularly poorer countries in Africa, might be reluctant to deploy¹⁸ it.

　　由于Uno博士的技术每次要耗费一千美元，因此有些地方，尤其是非洲更贫困的地区就可能不愿使用这种技术了。

　　But in the context of an illegal trade in ivory reckoned to be worth about 1 billion a year, that is not a huge amount of money.

　　但是，鉴于非法象牙贸易一年约价值十亿美元，这就不是一个大的数目了。

　　And if it helps preserve elephants, whose numbers in Africa have fallen from 1.3m to 600,000 in the past 40 years, many would see it as money well spent.

　　而且，如果这种技术有助于保护大象，那么很多人会认为这个钱花得很值，因为在过去的40年里，大象的数量已从一百三十万下降到了六十万。

　　1.intend to 打算，想要

　　As we both have families, we intend to be discreet¹⁹.

　　由于我们两人都已成家，所以我们打算谨慎行事。

　　As president I intend to celebrate the rich diversity of human relationships.

　　作为总统，我打算庆祝人类关系上所具有的这种丰富多样性。

　　2.deal with 与…交易；应付； 对待

　　Or do you deal with the challenge?

　　还是你会去处理这个挑战？

　　How would you deal with an armed burglar?

　　你怎样对付闯进来的持有武器的强盗？

　　3.work out 解决；作出；锻炼

　　Britain, too, must work out what it wants from the eu.

　　英国也必须解决一个问题，即本国想从欧盟得到什么。

　　New cars often suffer quality glitches²⁰ that auto²¹ makers²² try to work out over time.

　　新款汽车常常存在质量上的毛病，需要生产商花时间来解决。

　　4.determine to 确定

　　We determine to fulfil the task ahead of time.

　　我们决定提前完成任务。

　　Describes the rules that determine to what degree reflection can be used to discover type information and access types.

　　描述用于确定反射是否适合用于了解类型信息和访问类型的规则。

1 forensic   

adj.法庭的，雄辩的

参考例句：

• The report included his interpretation of the forensic evidence.该报告包括他对法庭证据的诠释。
• The judge concluded the proceeding on 10:30 Am after one hour of forensic debate.经过近一个小时的法庭辩论后，法官于10时30分宣布休庭。

2 zoology   

n.动物学，生态

参考例句：

• I would like to brush up my zoology.我想重新温习一下动物学。
• The library didn't stock zoology textbooks.这家图书馆没有动物学教科书。

3 charisma   

n.(大众爱戴的)领袖气质，魅力

参考例句：

• He has enormous charisma. He is a giant of a man.他有超凡的个人魅力，是个伟人。
• I don't have the charisma to pull a crowd this size.我没有那么大的魅力，能吸引这么多人。

4 clout   

n.用手猛击；权力，影响力

参考例句：

• The queen may have privilege but she has no real political clout.女王有特权，但无真正的政治影响力。
• He gave the little boy a clout on the head.他在那小男孩的头部打了一下。

5 smuggling   

n.走私

参考例句：

• Some claimed that the docker's union fronted for the smuggling ring.某些人声称码头工人工会是走私集团的掩护所。
• The evidence pointed to the existence of an international smuggling network.证据表明很可能有一个国际走私网络存在。

6 proceedings   

n.进程，过程，议程；诉讼(程序)；公报

参考例句：

• He was released on bail pending committal proceedings. 他交保获释正在候审。
• to initiate legal proceedings against sb 对某人提起诉讼

7 atmospheric   

adj.大气的，空气的；大气层的；大气所引起的

参考例句：

• Sea surface temperatures and atmospheric circulation are strongly coupled.海洋表面温度与大气环流是密切相关的。
• Clouds return radiant energy to the surface primarily via the atmospheric window.云主要通过大气窗区向地表辐射能量。

8 previously   

adv.以前，先前（地）

参考例句：

• The bicycle tyre blew out at a previously damaged point.自行车胎在以前损坏过的地方又爆开了。
• Let me digress for a moment and explain what had happened previously.让我岔开一会儿，解释原先发生了什么。

9 pertinent   

adj.恰当的；贴切的；中肯的；有关的；相干的

参考例句：

• The expert made some pertinent comments on the scheme.那专家对规划提出了一些中肯的意见。
• These should guide him to pertinent questions for further study.这些将有助于他进一步研究有关问题。

10 archaeology   

n.考古学

参考例句：

• She teaches archaeology at the university.她在大学里教考古学。
• He displayed interest in archaeology.他对考古学有兴趣。

11 photosynthesis   

n.光合作用

参考例句：

• In apple trees photosynthesis occurs almost exclusively in the leaves.苹果树的光合作用几乎只发生在叶内。
• Chloroplasts are the structures in which photosynthesis happens.叶绿体就是光合作用发生的地方。

12 equilibrium   

n.平衡，均衡，相称，均势，平静

参考例句：

• Change in the world around us disturbs our inner equilibrium.我们周围世界的变化扰乱了我们内心的平静。
• This is best expressed in the form of an equilibrium constant.这最好用平衡常数的形式来表示。

13 specimens   

n.样品( specimen的名词复数 )；范例；（化验的）抽样；某种类型的人

参考例句：

• Astronauts have brought back specimens of rock from the moon. 宇航员从月球带回了岩石标本。
• The traveler brought back some specimens of the rocks from the mountains. 那位旅行者从山上带回了一些岩石标本。 来自《简明英汉词典》

14 detectable   

adj.可发觉的；可查明的

参考例句：

• The noise is barely detectable by the human ear.人的耳朵几乎是察觉不到这种噪音的。
• The inflection point at this PH is barely detectable.在此PH值下，拐点不易发现。

15 tusks   

n.（象等动物的）长牙( tusk的名词复数 )；獠牙；尖形物；尖头

参考例句：

• The elephants are poached for their tusks. 为获取象牙而偷猎大象。
• Elephant tusks, monkey tails and salt were used in some parts of Africa. 非洲的一些地区则使用象牙、猴尾和盐。 来自英语晨读30分（高一）

16 hippopotamus   

n.河马

参考例句：

• The children enjoyed watching the hippopotamus wallowing in the mud.孩子们真喜观看河马在泥中打滚。
• A hippopotamus surfs the waves off the coast of Gabon.一头河马在加蓬的海岸附近冲浪。

17 determined   

adj.坚定的；有决心的

参考例句：

• I have determined on going to Tibet after graduation.我已决定毕业后去西藏。
• He determined to view the rooms behind the office.他决定查看一下办公室后面的房间。

18 deploy   

v.（军）散开成战斗队形，布置，展开

参考例句：

• The infantry began to deploy at dawn.步兵黎明时开始进入战斗位置。
• The president said he had no intention of deploying ground troops.总统称并不打算部署地面部队。

19 discreet   

adj.(言行)谨慎的；慎重的；有判断力的

参考例句：

• He is very discreet in giving his opinions.发表意见他十分慎重。
• It wasn't discreet of you to ring me up at the office.你打电话到我办公室真是太鲁莽了。

20 glitches   

n.小过失，差错( glitch的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Manufacturing glitches have limited the factory's output. 生产中的故障影响了该厂的产量。 来自辞典例句
• Another kind of period variation,\"Glitches,\" are seen in several pulsars. 在几个脉冲星中还看到了周期的另一种变化，即“自转突快”现象。 来自辞典例句

21 auto   

n.(=automobile)(口语)汽车

参考例句：

• Don't park your auto here.别把你的汽车停在这儿。
• The auto industry has brought many people to Detroit.汽车工业把许多人吸引到了底特律。

22 makers   

n.制造者，制造商（maker的复数形式）

参考例句：

• The makers of the product assured us that there had been no sacrifice of quality. 这一产品的制造商向我们保证说他们没有牺牲质量。
• The makers are about to launch out a new product. 制造商们马上要生产一种新产品。 来自《简明英汉词典》