英语听力—环球英语 1126 Koalas in Danger

 　　Voice 1

 

　　Welcome to Spotlight¹. I’m Liz Waid.

 

　　Voice 2

 

　　And I’m Mike Procter. Spotlight uses a special English method of broadcasting. It is easier for people to understand - no matter where in the world they live.

 

　　Voice 3

 

　　“Ruby² still sleeps in the basket. She sleeps with her soft play thing. She likes to have both hands and feet holding something when she is lifted. Do you want to hold her?”

 

　　Voice 1

 

　　Diedre de Villiers is talking about a baby. But Ruby is not a human baby. She is a small furry³ animal - a koala. De Villiers is a koala researcher. She is caring for Ruby. De Villiers rescued Ruby from the mouth of a dog. And Ruby is sick. De Villiers will care for her until she is healthy. Then Ruby will be able to live in the trees with other wild koalas. Today’s Spotlight is on these koalas.

 

　　Voice 2

 

　　People often call koalas “koala bears.” A koala does look like a small size bear. Like a bear, it is covered with grey hair or fur. It has large ears, wide eyes and a long black nose. A koala has a round furry body like a bear. But a koala is not a bear - it is a marsupial⁴.

 

　　Voice 1

 

　　Marsupials are animals that have a special way to carry their new born babies. They have a pouch⁵. The fur on their stomach can open to hold something - a bit like a bag. The koala mother carries her new baby in this pouch. This makes it easier for her to climb trees. Koalas spend most of their lives up in a tree. They eat tree leaves. Koalas particularly like the shiny, dark leaves of the eucalyptus⁶ tree.

 

　　Voice 2

 

　　Eucalyptus trees grow in Eastern Australia. This is the home of the koalas too. Around the year 1800, Europeans settled in Australia. At this time, there were probably millions of koalas in Eastern Australia. The number is much smaller now. The Australian Koala Foundation⁷ says there are only about 40 to eighty 80 thousand koalas left. This sounds like a big number. However, koalas are in serious danger.

 

　　Voice 1

 

　　The human population of Australia is growing. As people build more roads and houses, they cut down eucalyptus trees. But the koalas need these trees to survive. Trees provide shelter, food and safety for the koalas. Humans also build fences, drive vehicles and own dogs. These things can all be dangerous to a koala. Diedre de Villiers tells National Geographic⁸:

 

　　Voice 3

 

　　“Koalas are getting caught in fences and dying⁹. They are killed by dogs and hit by vehicles. They are even dying from simple things - like a person who cuts down several eucalyptus trees around his house.”

 

　　Voice 1

 

　　People also bring something else that harms koalas - disease¹⁰. Koalas can die from human disease. It causes another problem too. Disease can change their behaviour. It can make koalas fight each other. Diseases¹¹ can also make koalas unable to produce babies. This is a big problem because the number of koalas is shrinking¹². Many people are worried that soon there may be no koalas at all.

 

　　Voice 2

 

　　Joel Sartore is a photographer for National Geographic Magazine. He is very famous for his pictures of rare or endangered animals. He visited Eastern Australia to take pictures of koalas. Sartore took one particularly difficult picture. It was a picture of all the koalas that had died in one area during one week. The picture shows the bodies of thirteen koalas. Sartore tells National Geographic about it:

 

　　Voice 4

 

　　“I knew I had to get a picture of dead koalas for this story. But I kept having trouble. People at the animal clinic I was working with said it would look bad. The Australian government does not even like to say that these koalas are endangered. But the workers at one place I visited thought this was an important picture to make. They told me that in this area these animals will be completely gone in three to five years. They want the world to know that.”

 

　　Voice 1

 

　　The koala has many enemies such as disease, dogs and people cutting down trees. But koalas have many friends too. Many people are working to protect the koalas from danger. People like Deidre de Villiers take care of hurt koalas. Some people even work with koalas in their own houses.

 

　　Voice 2

 

　　Samantha Longman is one of these people. She takes care of koala babies. She is like their mother! The baby koalas climb on her. They depend on her. She tells National Geographic about this work:

 

　　Voice 5

 

　　“It does not leave me much time for anything else! But the little creatures are part of our family. What we are doing is important."

 

　　Voice 1

 

　　Some people work with the government to protect land and trees. The Australian Koala Foundation, or AKF, is asking the government to use more land as natural park areas. These parks would be a good place for koalas to live. The AKF would also like the government to create laws to protect koalas. They want to stop people from cutting down eucalyptus trees. Without eucalyptus trees, the koalas can not survive. The AKF website explains:

 

　　Voice 6

 

　　“Eighty percent of the land that koalas live on is on privately¹³ owned. It is often farmland - not in national parks. This is why the AKF wants a law that will prevent people from cutting down trees on their land. We want a law to encourage people to protect and manage the land where koalas live.”

 

　　Voice 2

 

　　There is another way de Villiers works¹⁴ to protect koalas. She watches wild koalas. This way she can learn how the koalas are doing. She studies their health. And she studies the population growth of koalas in the area.

 

　　Voice 1

 

　　Humans have caused many problems for koalas in Australia. But de Villiers says that people and koalas can live together. People can make some changes that would help the koalas. They can drive more slowly. They can make sure that there are enough eucalyptus trees for the koalas to live in and eat.

 

　　Voice 2

 

　　On one trip de Villiers studied Tee Vee - a koala she had watched for over a year.  To her surprise, de Villiers discovered Tee Vee had a young baby in her pouch. De Villiers  shared her excited reaction with National Geographic:

 

　　Voice 3

 

　　“While there are still healthy babies, there is still hope.”

 

　　Voice 1

 

　　The writer and producer of this program was Rena Dam. The voices you heard were from the United States and the United Kingdom. All quotes were adapted for this program and voiced by Spotlight. You can listen to this program again, and read it, on the internet at http://www.radioenglish.net This .program is called, ‘Koalas in Danger’.

 

　　Voice 2

 

　　You can also leave your comments on our website. Or you can email us at radio @ radioenglish.net. You can also find us on Facebook - just search for spotlightradio. We hope you can join us again for the next Spotlight program. Goodbye.

1 spotlight   

n.公众注意的中心，聚光灯，探照灯，视听，注意，醒目

参考例句：

• This week the spotlight is on the world of fashion.本周引人瞩目的是时装界。
• The spotlight followed her round the stage.聚光灯的光圈随着她在舞台上转。

2 ruby   

n.红宝石，红宝石色

参考例句：

• She is wearing a small ruby earring.她戴着一枚红宝石小耳环。
• On the handle of his sword sat the biggest ruby in the world.他的剑柄上镶有一颗世上最大的红宝石。

3 furry   

adj.毛皮的；似毛皮的；毛皮制的

参考例句：

• This furry material will make a warm coat for the winter.这件毛皮料在冬天会是一件保暖的大衣。
• Mugsy is a big furry brown dog,who wiggles when she is happy.马格斯是一只棕色大长毛狗，当她高兴得时候她会摇尾巴。

4 marsupial   

adj.有袋的，袋状的

参考例句：

• Koala is an arboreal Australian marsupial.考拉是一种澳大利亚树栖有袋动物。
• The marsupial has been in decline for decades due to urban sprawl from car accidentsdog attacks.这种有袋动物其数量在过去几十年间逐渐减少,主要原因是城市的扩张、车祸和狗的袭击。

5 pouch   

n.小袋，小包，囊状袋；vt.装...入袋中，用袋运输；vi.用袋送信件

参考例句：

• He was going to make a tobacco pouch out of them. 他要用它们缝制一个烟草袋。
• The old man is always carrying a tobacco pouch with him.这老汉总是随身带着烟袋。

6 eucalyptus   

n.桉树，桉属植物

参考例句：

• Eucalyptus oil is good for easing muscular aches and pains.桉树油可以很好地缓解肌肉的疼痛。
• The birds rustled in the eucalyptus trees.鸟在桉树弄出沙沙的响声。

7 foundation   

n.[pl.]地基；基础；基金会；建立，创办

参考例句：

• The foundation of the university took place 600 years ago.这所大学是600年前创办的。
• The Foundation gives money to help artists.那家基金会捐款帮助艺术家。

8 geographic   

adj.地理学的，地理的

参考例句：

• The city's success owes much to its geographic position. 这座城市的成功很大程度上归功于它的地理位置。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Environmental problems pay no heed to these geographic lines. 环境问题并不理会这些地理界限。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法

9 dying   

adj.垂死的，临终的

参考例句：

• He was put in charge of the group by the dying leader.他被临终的领导人任命为集团负责人。
• She was shown into a small room,where there was a dying man.她被领进了一间小屋子，那里有一个垂死的人。

10 disease   

n.疾病，弊端

参考例句：

• The doctors are trying to stamp out the disease.医生正在尽力消灭这种疾病。
• He fought against the disease for a long time.他同疾病做了长时间的斗争。

11 diseases   

n.疾病( disease的名词复数 )；弊端；恶疾；痼疾

参考例句：

• Smoking is a causative factor in several major diseases. 抽烟是引起几种严重疾病的病因。
• The illness frequently coexists with other chronic diseases. 这种病往往与其他慢性病同时存在。

12 shrinking   

a.畏缩的，犹豫不决的

参考例句：

• She purposely made the dress larger to allow for shrinking when it was washed. 她故意把衣服做大一些，以防洗时缩水。
• I can't imagine why a dynamic young woman like her is marrying a shrinking violet like him. 我不能想像，像她这样一个充满活力的年轻女子为什么会嫁给他这样一个胆怯害羞的人。

13 privately   

adv.以私人的身份，悄悄地，私下地

参考例句：

• Some ministers admit privately that unemployment could continue to rise.一些部长私下承认失业率可能继续升高。
• The man privately admits that his motive is profits.那人私下承认他的动机是为了牟利。

14 works   

n.作品，著作；工厂，活动部件，机件

参考例句：

• We expect writers to produce more and better works.我们期望作家们写出更多更好的作品。
• The novel is regarded as one of the classic works.这篇小说被公认为是最优秀的作品之一。