美国国家公共电台 NPR The Flight Of The Condors, And Their Audience

The Flight Of The Condors², And Their Audience

LULU GARCIA-NAVARRO, HOST:

With a wingspan of up to 10 feet, the California condor¹ is one of the largest birds in North America and also one of the rarest. After the population plunged³ in 1982, all of the remaining birds were taken into captivity⁴ for safekeeping and breeding. From member station KJZZ in Phoenix⁵, Stina Sieg reports on the annual release of young condors into the wild.

STINA SIEG, BYLINE⁶: It's usually easy to miss the dirt road jutting⁷ north from a tiny highway near the Arizona-Utah border. But not this morning. It's a long line of cars rumbling⁸ toward lonely, rosy⁹ cliffs and the encampment of birdwatchers forming under them.

CHRIS PARISH: This is phenomenal. I think there are more vehicles here than we had people in some of the early releases.

SIEG: Chris Parish is with the Peregrine Fund, which has been reintroducing condors to Arizona for more than 20 years with the help of various organizations and state and federal agencies. Today, more than 750 condor groupies are here. One is Brigitte Le Vea.

BRIGITTE LE VEA: This is really, really, really special. I've been trying so hard all season to see a damn condor. And I'm finally here. And I'm so excited about it.

SIEG: That's even though the crowd is a half-mile away and a thousand feet below the four young birds waiting in a clifftop holding pen. Through spotting scopes, people are watching older condors that were released years ago swooping¹⁰ and sitting on rocks, unfurling their big, black wings. With their naked, pink necks, these scavengers sometimes get called ugly. But here people use a different word - charismatic.

LEE ANN MCADA: Oh, my God. How could they not be? It's like you look at those wings up there, and you look at those heads and how they soar. How could you not think that they're charismatic? They're gorgeous.

SIEG: Lee Ann McAda drove seven hours to be here all for something that could last two minutes or all day. When the pen is opened for the first time, you never know how long these birds will wait to take their first, free flight high over the desert.

UNIDENTIFIED CROWD: (Chanting) Four, three, two, one.

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #1: All right. Let's open them up.

SIEG: A biologist on the ground communicates to a biologist on the cliff a thousand feet above. It takes a moment to open the pen's door. But then a burst.

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #2: Oh. Oh, my God.

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #3: Holy cow. It never happens this fast.

SIEG: Three condors fly out almost immediately. Massive wings flapping against the sky. It's instant, elating gratification. And for Ron Brown, a park ranger¹¹ at the Grand Canyon¹², it's deeply personal.

RON BROWN: I was in the hospital three weeks ago with a pretty major heart attack. This is - my first big thing was to come here because I knew that this just makes you feel alive.

SIEG: His late wife, Pat, thought so, too. Brown says the last time she was here, she was sick and probably didn't weigh 100 pounds. But she was glowing. Brown says that's the effect these birds and the effort to save them have on people.

BROWN: This kind of thing is human beings trying our best to say, together, we can do this.

SIEG: Soon, the fourth and final condor flies free. Thanks to interventions¹³ like this one, there are now nearly 500 California condors in the wild. For NPR News, I'm Stina Sieg reporting from Vermilion Cliffs National Monument in Arizona.

(SOUNDBITE OF ZOO STRATEGIES' "UNINTENDED CONSEQUENCES")

1 condor   

n.秃鹰；秃鹰金币

参考例句：

• The condor soars above the mountain heights.禿鹰翱翔于高山之上。
• A condor prepares to fly in Colombia.一只兀鹰在哥伦比亚准备振翅高飞。

2 condors   

n.神鹰( condor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• What would our condors feed on if no one was in danger? 你不发生危险，那我们秃鹰吃啥呢？ 来自互联网
• Yo mama so fat she has been declared a natural habitat for Condors. Yomama是如此之肥，她被定为秃鹰的自然栖息地。 来自互联网

3 plunged   

v.颠簸( plunge的过去式和过去分词 )；暴跌；骤降；突降

参考例句：

• The train derailed and plunged into the river. 火车脱轨栽进了河里。
• She lost her balance and plunged 100 feet to her death. 她没有站稳，从100英尺的高处跌下摔死了。

4 captivity   

n.囚禁；被俘；束缚

参考例句：

• A zoo is a place where live animals are kept in captivity for the public to see.动物园是圈养动物以供公众观看的场所。
• He was held in captivity for three years.他被囚禁叁年。

5 phoenix   

n.凤凰，长生(不死)鸟；引申为重生

参考例句：

• The airline rose like a phoenix from the ashes.这家航空公司又起死回生了。
• The phoenix worship of China is fetish worship not totem adoration.中国凤崇拜是灵物崇拜而非图腾崇拜。

6 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

7 jutting   

v.（使）突出( jut的现在分词 )；伸出；（从…）突出；高出

参考例句：

• The climbers rested on a sheltered ledge jutting out from the cliff. 登山者在悬崖的岩棚上休息。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The soldier saw a gun jutting out of some bushes. 那士兵看见丛林中有一枝枪伸出来。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

8 rumbling   

n. 隆隆声, 辘辘声 adj. 隆隆响的 动词rumble的现在分词

参考例句：

• The earthquake began with a deep [low] rumbling sound. 地震开始时发出低沉的隆隆声。
• The crane made rumbling sound. 吊车发出隆隆的响声。

9 rosy   

adj.美好的，乐观的，玫瑰色的

参考例句：

• She got a new job and her life looks rosy.她找到一份新工作，生活看上去很美好。
• She always takes a rosy view of life.她总是对生活持乐观态度。

10 swooping   

俯冲，猛冲( swoop的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• The wind were swooping down to tease the waves. 大风猛扑到海面上戏弄着浪涛。
• And she was talking so well-swooping with swift wing this way and that. 而她却是那样健谈--一下子谈到东，一下子谈到西。

11 ranger   

n.国家公园管理员，护林员；骑兵巡逻队员

参考例句：

• He was the head ranger of the national park.他曾是国家公园的首席看守员。
• He loved working as a ranger.他喜欢做护林人。

12 canyon   

n.峡谷，溪谷

参考例句：

• The Grand Canyon in the USA is 1900 metres deep.美国的大峡谷1900米深。
• The canyon is famous for producing echoes.这个峡谷以回声而闻名。

13 interventions   

n.介入，干涉，干预( intervention的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Economic analysis of government interventions deserves detailed discussion. 政府对经济的干预应该给予充分的论述。 来自辞典例句
• The judge's frequent interventions made a mockery of justice. 法官的屡屡干预是对正义的践踏。 来自互联网