【英语语言学习】学会与狼和平共处

SCOTT SIMON, HOST:

 

Efforts to remove the gray wolf from the endangered species list across most of the lower 48 states hit a hurdle¹ yesterday. A U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service panel said the scientific research is insufficient² to make a decision. The ruling disappointed those who see wolves as cunning predators⁴ who threaten their livestock⁵. NPR's Nathan Rott spent several weeks in Montana, a state where wolves are no longer on the list, talking to people there about the troubled relations between the two species.

 

And while he encountered a lot of polarization, he also found there are people trying to seek ways that humans and wolves can coexist.

 

NATHAN ROTT, BYLINE⁶: Eric Graham adjusts his caps then points and waves, directing a loaded tractor bucket. Directing it down, dropping it down, a little to the left a hair, forward and...

 

ERIC GRAHAM: The cow has landed.

 

ROTT: A bloated cow carcass is laid on a trailer. So, now you got to strap⁷ the thing down, huh?

 

GRAHAM: Yeah, 'cause we don't want to have to try to pick it up off the highway.

 

ROTT: Let me explain. We're at a cattle ranch⁸ in the Blackfoot Valley of Western Montana. It's a mosaic⁹ of wetlands, pine forests and rolling pastures sandwiched between two steep mountain ranches¹⁰ and famously, a river runs through it. There are about 35 ranches in this valley, thousands of livestock and wolves live here too, about a dozen packs of them.

 

Eric Graham's job is to try to keep the two from clashing. I'll let Graham explain the cow carcass - back in the truck and out of the smell.

 

GRAHAM: You know, in the olden days, they just - everybody'd have a bone yard or a dead pit...

 

ROTT: Where rancher would dump their dead livestock.

 

GRAHAM: And it wasn't pretty.

 

ROTT: Worse, though, was the attention they'd attract onto the ranch - grizzly¹² bears, coyotes, eagles and wolves. And inviting¹³ predators to a place where there are living livestock? No, that's just not a very good idea. A killed cow can cost a rancher thousands of dollars. That's why we're driving this one some 20 miles south to a fence compost yard.

 

GRAHAM: And just so you know, I would avoid the real wet muddy parts 'cause the stench gets on your feet. Sometimes it's kind of hard to get rid of.

 

ROTT: The carcass pick-up program is one of many community-based initiatives in the Blackfoot Valley that's aim is to find ways for people and wolves to coexist, not because everybody wants to, but because they have to. Ranchers, like Denny Iverson, are a practical bunch.

 

DENNY IVERSON: I'll make it perfectly¹⁴ clear. I'd just as soon these wolves weren't on the landscape. It'd make my life a whole bunch easier. But they are so it does no good to sit at the coffee shop or go to Washington, D.C. or Helena and complain about it. We just got to deal with it. So that's where we put our efforts.

 

ROTT: Iverson works with a group called the Blackfoot Challenge. It's a coalition¹⁵ of landowners, hunters, conservationists and government workers in the area that work together on divisive issues, like wolves. And if you know anything about the West, that's kind of an odd bunch. It's not often that environmentalists and ranchers get along.

 

Iverson says they do because they follow some pretty simple rules. They meet over dinner because, hey, everybody likes food. They talk about things they can agree on, 80 percent of the time; the harder stuff like wolves, 20 percent. Most of all, he says, they just give each other a lot of well-meaning, good natured...

 

IVERSON: Probably don't want that on the radio.

 

(LAUGHTER)

 

ROTT: All right, what are you guys drinking?

 

Jim Stone is the chairman of the Blackfoot Challenge and another rancher. We meet him by the pool table at the community's unofficial gathering¹⁶ place: Trixi's Antler Saloon.

 

(SOUNDBITE OF A POOL GAME)

 

JIM STONE: This process works on just about anything you can talk about because it can get you all to the table.

 

ROTT: Stone says that by getting everybody to that table, they've been able to deal with water rights issues, weed abatement¹⁷, public lands. But...

 

STONE: The wolf issue is the toughest I've seen. It's just such a passionate¹⁸ thing.

 

ROTT: Stone says wolves come to represent other battles playing out in the West: federal control versus¹⁹ state rights, urban versus rural, red versus blue. It just pits people against each other. But Stone says more and more ranchers are getting past that. Not because they have to, but because it's good for business.

 

STONE: You've got to remember, these guys that like wolves also eat beef.

 

ROTT: The majority of people that live in places without wolves like them. Stone says that's most of their customers. And to some degree, the customer is always right. That way of thinking is taking hold in many places across the state and other parts of the West. In Idaho, Defenders²⁰ of Wildlife, a conservation group, is working with ranchers to put people in the fields with cattle all of the time. Kind of like modern day shepherds. The Blackfoot Challenge has been doing the same.

 

(SOUNDBITE OF A HORSE BRAYING)

 

ROTT: Still others are trying different techniques. In the pale light before sunrise, I meet one of those people in an area of South Central Montana called the Tom Miner Basin.

 

How you doing?

 

(SOUNDBITE OF A GALLOPING²² HORSE)

 

HILARY ZARANEK: Good.

 

ROTT: Hilary Zaranek.

 

ZARANEK: I'm Hilary.

 

ROTT: Hilary, I'm Nate.

 

ZARANEK: Hi, Nate.

 

ROTT: Nice to meet you.

 

ZARANEK: Nice to meet you, too. Thanks for coming.

 

ROTT: Hilary has lived on both sides of the issue. She's from Detroit originally. Moved to Montana to study wildlife biology and got involved with wolf studies in Yellowstone. Then she married into a family that's been raising cattle on this land for generations. They, too, accept that wolves are now here, so they've decided²³ to try something new. Hilary sets out on her horse, Ziggy, and her step-dad, Hannibal Anderson, joins us.

 

Those are his spurs.

 

HANNIBAL ANDERSON: All right, let's see what kind of excitement and trouble we can get into.

 

ROTT: We ride out, up a nearby hill where a couple dozen scattered²⁴ cattle are grazing. Hilary and Hannibal are going to round them up closer together, like a herd²¹. Hannibal says they want to teach them to do this naturally when something like a predator³ approaches them.

 

ANDERSON: If they stand their ground against wolves, they're way less likely to be preyed²⁵ upon than if they run from wolves.

 

ROTT: It's an idea that came from watching bison. Bison herd up when approached by predators, protecting their calves²⁶ in the middle. Elk²⁷ run. It works out better for bison, generally.

 

ZARANEK: And, of course, cattle are the domestic version of bison. And so there's no reason cattle can't function similar to bison.

 

ROTT: She believes all they need is a little training. So Hilary comes out every day, twice a day at dawn and dusk, and takes her cows to school. She's a mother of three, so it's a bit taxing. But she says, so far, it's been worth it.

 

So the ones that you had kind of trained to group up like that, like a herd...

 

ZARANEK: We had no depredations²⁸. And there was a den¹¹ in that pasture.

 

ROTT: A wolf den?

 

ZARANEK: Mm-hmm.

 

ROTT: Oh, that's pretty good evidence that it, that is it...

 

ZARANEK: It's a start.

 

(LAUGHTER)

 

ZARANEK: It's a start.

 

ROTT: She says it's important not to see hers or any of the solutions people are trying as quick fixes. Or even fixes, for that matter. They're just efforts to find a middle ground between the kill-all-the-wolves or the don't-kill-any extremes she hears from her neighbors. She looks down at her leather gloves, the Paradise Valley lying below under a blanket of, blue sky...

 

ZARANEK: There's a good quote. It goes, "Out beyond the ideas of right-doing and wrong-doing, there is a field. I'll meet you there. Forget about who's right, who's wrong; who likes this, who hates this. Find that field and meet there. The extremes aren't accomplishing too much."

 

(LAUGHTER)

 

ROTT: Hilary looks down over her cattle, towards their home below. And the sun slowly crests²⁹ over the Absaroka Mountains to the East.

 

Nathan Rott, NPR News.

 

(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)

 

SIMON: You're listening to WEEKEND EDITION from NPR News.

1 hurdle   

n.跳栏，栏架；障碍，困难；vi.进行跨栏赛

参考例句：

• The weather will be the biggest hurdle so I have to be ready.天气将会是最大的障碍，所以我必须要作好准备。
• She clocked 11.6 seconds for the 80 metre hurdle.八十米跳栏赛跑她跑了十一秒六。

2 insufficient   

adj.(for，of)不足的，不够的

参考例句：

• There was insufficient evidence to convict him.没有足够证据给他定罪。
• In their day scientific knowledge was insufficient to settle the matter.在他们的时代，科学知识还不能足以解决这些问题。

3 predator   

n.捕食其它动物的动物；捕食者

参考例句：

• The final part of this chapter was devoted to a brief summary of predator species.本章最后部分简要总结了食肉动物。
• Komodo dragon is the largest living lizard and a fearsome predator.科摩多龙是目前存在的最大蜥蜴，它是一种令人恐惧的捕食性动物。

4 predators   

n.食肉动物( predator的名词复数 )；奴役他人者（尤指在财务或性关系方面）

参考例句：

• birds and their earthbound predators 鸟和地面上捕食它们的动物
• The eyes of predators are highly sensitive to the slightest movement. 捕食性动物的眼睛能感觉到最细小的动静。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 livestock   

n.家畜，牲畜

参考例句：

• Both men and livestock are flourishing.人畜两旺。
• The heavy rains and flooding killed scores of livestock.暴雨和大水淹死了许多牲口。

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 strap   

n.皮带，带子；v.用带扣住，束牢；用绷带包扎

参考例句：

• She held onto a strap to steady herself.她抓住拉手吊带以便站稳。
• The nurse will strap up your wound.护士会绑扎你的伤口。

8 ranch   

n.大牧场，大农场

参考例句：

• He went to work on a ranch.他去一个大农场干活。
• The ranch is in the middle of a large plateau.该牧场位于一个辽阔高原的中部。

9 mosaic   

n./adj.镶嵌细工的，镶嵌工艺品的，嵌花式的

参考例句：

• The sky this morning is a mosaic of blue and white.今天早上的天空是幅蓝白相间的画面。
• The image mosaic is a troublesome work.图象镶嵌是个麻烦的工作。

10 ranches   

大农场， （兼种果树，养鸡等的）大牧场( ranch的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• They hauled feedlot manure from the ranches to fertilize their fields. 他们从牧场的饲养场拖走肥料去肥田。
• Many abandoned ranches are purchased or leased by other poultrymen. 许多被放弃的牧场会由其他家禽监主收买或租用。

11 den   

n.兽穴；秘密地方；安静的小房间，私室

参考例句：

• There is a big fox den on the back hill.后山有一个很大的狐狸窝。
• The only way to catch tiger cubs is to go into tiger's den.不入虎穴焉得虎子。

12 grizzly   

adj.略为灰色的，呈灰色的；n.灰色大熊

参考例句：

• This grizzly liked people.这只灰熊却喜欢人。
• Grizzly bears are not generally social creatures.一般说来，灰熊不是社交型动物。

13 inviting   

adj.诱人的，引人注目的

参考例句：

• An inviting smell of coffee wafted into the room.一股诱人的咖啡香味飘进了房间。
• The kitchen smelled warm and inviting and blessedly familiar.这间厨房的味道温暖诱人，使人感到亲切温馨。

14 perfectly   

adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The witnesses were each perfectly certain of what they said.证人们个个对自己所说的话十分肯定。
• Everything that we're doing is all perfectly above board.我们做的每件事情都是光明正大的。

15 coalition   

n.结合体，同盟，结合，联合

参考例句：

• The several parties formed a coalition.这几个政党组成了政治联盟。
• Coalition forces take great care to avoid civilian casualties.联盟军队竭尽全力避免造成平民伤亡。

16 gathering   

n.集会，聚会，聚集

参考例句：

• He called on Mr. White to speak at the gathering.他请怀特先生在集会上讲话。
• He is on the wing gathering material for his novels.他正忙于为他的小说收集资料。

17 abatement   

n.减(免)税，打折扣，冲销

参考例句：

• A bag filter for dust abatement at the discharge point should be provided.在卸料地点应该装设袋滤器以消除粉尘。
• The abatement of the headache gave him a moment of rest.头痛减轻给他片刻的休息。

18 passionate   

adj.热情的，热烈的，激昂的，易动情的，易怒的，性情暴躁的

参考例句：

• He is said to be the most passionate man.据说他是最有激情的人。
• He is very passionate about the project.他对那个项目非常热心。

19 versus   

prep.以…为对手，对；与…相比之下

参考例句：

• The big match tonight is England versus Spain.今晚的大赛是英格兰对西班牙。
• The most exciting game was Harvard versus Yale.最富紧张刺激的球赛是哈佛队对耶鲁队。

20 defenders   

n.防御者( defender的名词复数 )；守卫者；保护者；辩护者

参考例句：

• The defenders were outnumbered and had to give in. 抵抗者寡不敌众，只能投降。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• After hard fighting,the defenders were still masters of the city. 守军经过奋战仍然控制着城市。 来自《简明英汉词典》

21 herd   

n.兽群，牧群；vt.使集中，把…赶在一起

参考例句：

• She drove the herd of cattle through the wilderness.她赶着牛群穿过荒野。
• He had no opinions of his own but simply follow the herd.他从无主见，只是人云亦云。

22 galloping   

adj. 飞驰的, 急性的 动词gallop的现在分词形式

参考例句：

• The horse started galloping the moment I gave it a good dig. 我猛戳了马一下，它就奔驰起来了。
• Japan is galloping ahead in the race to develop new technology. 日本在发展新技术的竞争中进展迅速，日新月异。

23 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。

24 scattered   

adj.分散的，稀疏的；散步的；疏疏落落的

参考例句：

• Gathering up his scattered papers,he pushed them into his case.他把散乱的文件收拾起来，塞进文件夹里。

25 preyed   

v.掠食( prey的过去式和过去分词 )；掠食；折磨；（人）靠欺诈为生

参考例句：

• Remorse preyed upon his mind. 悔恨使他内心痛苦。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• He had been unwise and it preyed on his conscience. 他做得不太明智，这一直让他良心不安。 来自辞典例句

26 calves   

n.(calf的复数)笨拙的男子，腓；腿肚子( calf的名词复数 )；牛犊；腓；小腿肚v.生小牛( calve的第三人称单数 )；（冰川）崩解；生（小牛等），产（犊）；使（冰川）崩解

参考例句：

• a cow suckling her calves 给小牛吃奶的母牛
• The calves are grazed intensively during their first season. 小牛在生长的第一季里集中喂养。 来自《简明英汉词典》

27 elk   

n.麋鹿

参考例句：

• I was close enough to the elk to hear its labored breathing.我离那头麋鹿非常近，能听见它吃力的呼吸声。
• The refuge contains the largest wintering population of elk in the world.这座庇护所有着世界上数量最大的冬季麋鹿群。

28 depredations   

n.劫掠，毁坏( depredation的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Protect the nation's resources against the depredations of other countries. 保护国家资源，不容他人染指。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• Hitler's early'successes\" were only the startling depredations of a resolute felon. 希特勒的早期“胜利”，只不过是一个死心塌地的恶棍出人意料地抢掠得手而已。 来自辞典例句

29 crests   

v.到达山顶（或浪峰）( crest的第三人称单数 )；到达洪峰，达到顶点

参考例句：

• The surfers were riding in towards the beach on the crests of the waves. 冲浪者们顺着浪头冲向岸边。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The correspondent aroused, heard the crash of the toppled crests. 记者醒了，他听见了浪头倒塌下来的轰隆轰隆声。 来自辞典例句