英语PK台 第1004期:地球之肺在燃烧 亚马逊森林大火

 

Dialogue 1

Jingjing: Mark, have you been reading anything about the forest fires in the Amazon?

京晶：马克，最近你关注关于亚马逊森林大火的报道了吗？

Mark: You mean the river?

马克：你是说亚马逊河？

Jingjing: No, I mean the area around the Amazon river—Amazonia. There are 80% more fires this year.

京晶：不，我是说亚马逊河周边地区——整个亚马逊河流域。今年的火灾增加了80%。

Mark: Wow, that's a big increase. How are these fires starting?

马克：哎呀，增加了这么多。这些火都是怎么烧起来的？

Jingjing: People are arguing about that right now. It's the dry season now. Also, Brazil has a big beef industry. So, when land gets cleared, it typically gets used for grazing¹.

京晶：人们为此正争论不休呢。现在是雨林旱季。此外，巴西拥有庞大的牛肉产业。所以，开辟出来的土地通常被用来放牧。

Mark: What a pity. That means, once an area of land burns, it doesn't regrow as forest.

马克：真遗憾。这意味着，一块土地一旦被烧毁，它就不会再生为森林。

Jingjing: That's right. So the land will be drier and won't do as much for the global oxygen supply.

京晶：对啊。因此，土地会变得更加干旱，对全球氧气供氧量也就不那么大了。

Mark: I read somewhere that rainforests produce 20% of the world's oxygen.

马克：我读到过，亚马逊雨林为地球提供20%的氧气。

Jingjing: Yes. Even if it's just a small part of the rainforests that are destroyed, it's a great loss to the entire world.

京晶：是的。即使只是热带雨林的一小部分被损毁，对全世界来说都是一个巨大的损失。

Mark: I know. We're pretty close to a point of no return.

马克：可不是，我们几乎走到无路可退之境。

Jingjing: What do you mean?

京晶：这话什么意思？

Mark: Well, if the earth's temperature rises too much, trees will shut down—that means no photosynthesis², and no oxygen being put into the atmosphere for longer periods each year. That would make global climate change happen faster and faster, possibly too fast for humans to stop.

马克：嗯，如果地球温度上升过多，树木会功能关闭——也就是说没有了光合作用，那每年将有很长一段时间没有氧气进入大气层。这将使全球气候变化的速度越来越快，很可能快得连人类都已经无法阻止了。

Jingjing: That's a scary idea. I believe the Earth has lots of ways of balancing itself.

京晶：这么一想好可怕。我相信地球还有很多方法来自我平衡。

Mark: Yeah, the Earth will probably be fine.

马克：是的，地球可能会没事的。

Jingjing: Hopefully humans can survive also.

京晶：也希望人类能继续生存下来。

Mark: Exactly.

马克：太对了。

New words : 习语短语

beef industry 牛肉产业

companies raising cows and selling meat

rainforest （热带）雨林

land covered with tall trees and many other kinds of plants (These areas produce their own rain.)

photosynthesis 光合作用

the process by which plants use sunlight and CO2 to produce oxygen

atmosphere （围绕地球的）大气，大气层

the air all around the Earth

global climate change 全球气候变化

rising temperatures in the atmosphere and oceans, melting polar ice caps, droughts³ and floods

Dialogue 2

Jingjing: Mark, have you ever been to a rainforest?

京晶：马克，你去过热带雨林吗?

Mark: I've not been to Brazil, or anywhere with a tropical⁴ rainforest. Have you?

马克：我没去过巴西，也没去过有热带雨林的地方。你去过吗?

Jingjing: No, but I'd love to go—not when there's a forest fire, obviously⁵. South America is on my list of places to visit.

京晶：没去过，但我非常想去——但很显然不是森林起火的时候。南美洲在我想去的名单上。

Mark: Same here. Actually, where I lived in the US was a temperate⁶ rainforest. Lots of it was cleared for houses. But there were a few parks that had the original old growth forests.

马克：我也一样。实际上，我在美国生活的地方就是一片温带雨林。很多土地被开垦出来以后盖了房子。但还有一些公园是有原始森林的。

Jingjing: Wow. There must be lots of huge trees there.

京晶：哇哦。那里一定有很多参天大树。

Mark: There are. They make a canopy⁷. So, even on a hot summer day, you could go into the forest and be totally cool.

马克：有的有的。 这些树木形成了浓密的树冠层。所以，即使在炎热的夏天，你可以走进森林，会感觉到非常凉爽。

Jingjing: It'd be great to have that. No wonder you like hiking so much. You grew up surrounded by forests.

京晶：这样真好。难怪你这么喜欢徒步。你就在森林里长大的啊。

Mark: I was lucky that way. I also got up into Washington state, where there are huge rainforests north-west of Seattle.

马克：这方面我很幸运。我还去了华盛顿州，西雅图西北方向有大片雨林。

Jingjing: Isn't that also where there are lots of forest fires every year?

京晶：那里不也是每年有很多森林火灾的地方吗?

Mark: There are a few forest fires east of the mountain range there. But most of the fires are in California, further south.

马克：在山脉以东那里有几处森林火灾。但是大部分火灾发生在加州，更靠南部一些。

Jingjing: Yeah, every summer, I hear about them in the news. People have to evacuate⁸ their homes. Days later, they come back and find their town is only a field of charcoal⁹.

京晶：是的，每年夏天，我都能在新闻上听到这些火灾。人们不得不撤离家园。过些日子他们回家后看到他们的小城只剩下一片焦灼之地。

Mark: I know. Living in a forest is a great idea, but maybe not where it gets really dry and is prone¹⁰ to fires.

马克：我知道的。住在森林里是个不错的主意，但也许不是那些非常干旱而且容易着火的地方。

Jingjing: Right. It's quite a job to fight those fires once they get started.

京晶：对。一旦森林起火，灭火是一项非常艰巨的工作。

Mark: It sure is. I heard an interview on the radio of a firefighter who lost his home to a forest fire while he was off fighting a fire in another area.

马克：的确是。我在广播上听到过一个消防员的采访，他的房子被森林大火烧毁的时候他不在家，奋战在另一个地区灭火。

Jingjing: Geez. That'd be a hard choice to make. Was his family ok?

京晶：天啊。那真是一个艰难的选择。他的家人还好吗?

Mark: Yeah. They'd been evacuated¹¹ days before the blaze¹² reached where they lived.

马克：是的。在大火蔓延到他们的房子之前，他们已经撤离了。

New words : 习语短语

old growth forest 原始森林

woodland that has never been cleared by humans, usually with big trees, many of which have lived for hundreds of years

canopy （树林中的）天篷状的树荫，树冠

a covering above an outdoor area (for a forest, this means that the topmost branches of trees are all at the same height, forming a roof for the forest)

mountain range 山脉

a large number of mountains forming a chain (usually, the climate is different on each side of the mountain range, as with the Pacific Crest, where the coastal side is lush and the inland side is a high desert)

charcoal 木炭

black, burned wood

blaze 火灾，烈火，大火〔尤用于新闻报道〕

fire that is burning fiercely at very a high temperature

1 grazing   

n. 放牧, 牧草 动词graze的现在分词

参考例句：

• There were cows grazing beside the river. 有些牛在河边吃草。
• Cows were grazing on the marshes. 牛群在湿地上吃草。

2 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。

3 droughts   

n.干旱（时期）( drought的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Some of these droughts must have been severe. 有一些旱灾想必是严重的。 来自辞典例句
• Farmers' problems continued, and their suffering was compounded by serious droughts in 1986 and 1988. １９８６年和１９８８年的干旱使农民的处境更是雪上加霜。 来自英汉非文学 - 政府文件

4 tropical   

adj.热带的，热带的，炎热的

参考例句：

• You must grow these tropical flowers in a glasshouse.你必须把这些热带花卉种在温室里。
• This disease is widespread in tropical areas.这种疾病在热带地区蔓延很广。

5 obviously   

adv.显然；明白地

参考例句：

• Obviously they were putting him to a severe test.显然他们是在给他以严峻的考验。
• Obviously he was lying.显然他是在撒谎。

6 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。

7 canopy   

n.天篷，遮篷

参考例句：

• The trees formed a leafy canopy above their heads.树木在他们头顶上空形成了一个枝叶茂盛的遮篷。
• They lay down under a canopy of stars.他们躺在繁星点点的天幕下。

8 evacuate   

v.遣送；搬空；抽出；排泄；大(小)便

参考例句：

• We must evacuate those soldiers at once!我们必须立即撤出这些士兵！
• They were planning to evacuate the seventy American officials still in the country.他们正计划转移仍滞留在该国的70名美国官员。

9 charcoal   

n.炭，木炭，生物炭

参考例句：

• We need to get some more charcoal for the barbecue.我们烧烤需要更多的碳。
• Charcoal is used to filter water.木炭是用来过滤水的。

10 prone   

adj.(to)易于…的，很可能…的；俯卧的

参考例句：

• Some people are prone to jump to hasty conclusions.有些人往往作出轻率的结论。
• He is prone to lose his temper when people disagree with him.人家一不同意他的意见,他就发脾气。

11 evacuated   

撤退者的

参考例句：

• Police evacuated nearby buildings. 警方已将附近大楼的居民疏散。
• The fireman evacuated the guests from the burning hotel. 消防队员把客人们从燃烧着的旅馆中撤出来。

12 blaze   

n.火焰，火堆，火光，火灾；vi.燃烧，着火

参考例句：

• In a blaze of anger he shouted at them.他怒火中烧，对着他们大吼起来。
• Dry wood makes a good blaze.干木燃起夺目的光焰。