新奇事件簿 STA旅游公司取消参观动物的活动

One of the world's top travel companies is ending its tours to many of the planet's top animal attractions. STA Travel, which provides holidays, flights and accommodation for 2.5 million students a year, has decided¹ it will no longer organize tours to places where animals are not free. This means it will not arrange elephant rides or trips to the Tiger Temple in Thailand, as well as tours to SeaWorld in Florida and California. The company said it would only go to places it knew were good to animals. Many STA customers complained about the tours to some places, so it started to review its animal tours. A company spokeswoman said: "We take this seriously and listen carefully to feedback² from animal welfare experts."

世界上最大的旅游公司之一取消了参观地球上最具吸引力的一些动物景点的活动。STA 旅游公司，平均每年为250万名学生提供假期,机票和住宿。已经决定将不再组织参观那些限制动物自由的地方。这意味着它不会安排骑乘大象或者去泰国的老虎庙,以及参观佛罗里达和加利福尼亚的海洋世界。该公司表示,它只会去那些对动物最有利的地方。许多STA客户抱怨有些地方的旅游,所以公司开始检讨动物之旅。公司一位发言人说，我们认真对待并仔细聆听来自动物福利专家的反馈。

SeaWorld was disappointed with STA's decision. It wanted STA to see the high standards of animal care at both SeaWorlds. It also said activities by animal rights groups may have made STA make this decision. A SeaWorld spokesperson said: "There is no higher priority³ for SeaWorld than the safety of our employees and guests and the welfare of our animals." STA said it would look at more places that have animals. It said: "We are very much at the beginning of this journey. It is really important we do it over time, understand what the issues are and work with organisations that really understand those issues." The animal rights group PETA says animals such as dolphins all suffer at theme parks.

海洋世界对STA的决定感到失望。它希望STA能够看到两个海洋世界为动物提供的高标准福利条件。据说，动物权益团体的一些活动，也促使STA旅游公司作出这一决定。海洋世界的一位发言人说，没有什么比员工和客人的安全，以及动物的福利更重要。STA表示,它将会组织参观其他有动物的地方。它表示，这段旅程才刚刚开始。随着时间的推移，我们这些做法将会显得更有意义，理解问题所在，并与那些真正懂得那些问题的机构合作，是很重要的。动物权益组织“善待动物协会”说，动物,如海豚在主题公园都在受罪。

1 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

2 feedback   

n.回授，反馈，反应

参考例句：

• I was getting great feedback from my boss.老板对我的评价很高。
• You need feedback to monitor progress.你需要利用反馈信息来监控进展。

3 priority   

n.优先处理的事，居先，优先（权）

参考例句：

• The development of the national economy is a top priority.发展国民经济是应予以最优先考虑的事。
• Things should be taken up in order of priority.办事应有个先后次序。