美国有线新闻 CNN 巴西开放亚马逊部分保护区用于开矿 马拉拉将就读英国牛津大学

 

First up this Friday is in Brazil. It's the largest and most populated country in South America. More than 200 million live there.

And its government has announced plans to allow mining in part of the Amazon rainforest where it used to be illegal. The Amazon is gigantic. It covers more than 200 million square miles.

Brazil's government just abolished a reserve, a protected area that covers about 18,000 square miles. Mining won't be allowed in all of that. The government says it will only be legal in places where there are no conservative rules and areas where no indigenous¹ people live.

But why the change? Brazil has high unemployment. It's around 15 percent, and the country has got out of its largest economic recession ever.

The government says the region has opened up for mining has a lot of minerals, gold and iron. So, it's looking to attract investors² and create jobs.

But activists³ and environmentalists say this will cause more deforestation in the Amazon, that local cultures would be damaged and that water resources and biodiversity could be lost.

Brazil's mining industry accounts for about 4 percent of the nation's economy. The government wants to revitalize it and grow it to about 6 percent of the economy.

Also making news today, the next step in the education of a woman who risked her life to learn. Malala Yousafzai is the youngest person ever to win a Nobel Peace Prize. As she prepares to go to college, she's sharing her excitement with followers⁴ from around the world.

In 2012, Malala was shot by the Taliban, an Islamic militant⁵ group that strongly opposes education for women. She survived and continued the work she'd been doing to promote education for women.

MALALA YOUSAFZAI, NOBEL PRIZE WINNER: We need to invest in education. This is something that cannot be ignored. This determines the future of many children and especially for a region like Iraq and Syria, which have gone through conflict, education is the only way to which these countries can go forward and achieve progress.

AZUZ: Malala hopes to get a degree in philosophy, politics and economics from Oxford⁶ University.

1 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。

2 investors   

n.投资者，出资者( investor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• a con man who bilked investors out of millions of dollars 诈取投资者几百万元的骗子
• a cash bonanza for investors 投资者的赚钱机会

3 activists   

n.（政治活动的）积极分子，活动家( activist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His research work was attacked by animal rights activists . 他的研究受到了动物权益维护者的抨击。
• Party activists with lower middle class pedigrees are numerous. 党的激进分子中有很多出身于中产阶级下层。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 followers   

追随者( follower的名词复数 )； 用户； 契据的附面； 从动件

参考例句：

• the followers of Mahatma Gandhi 圣雄甘地的拥护者
• The reformer soon gathered a band of followers round him. 改革者很快就获得一群追随者支持他。

5 militant   

adj.激进的，好斗的；n.激进分子，斗士

参考例句：

• Some militant leaders want to merge with white radicals.一些好斗的领导人要和白人中的激进派联合。
• He is a militant in the movement.他在那次运动中是个激进人物。

6 Oxford   

n.牛津（英国城市）

参考例句：

• At present he has become a Professor of Chemistry at Oxford.他现在已是牛津大学的化学教授了。
• This is where the road to Oxford joins the road to London.这是去牛津的路与去伦敦的路的汇合处。