VOA常速英语2019--加州：环境法最健全的地方（在线收听）

We’re incredibly lucky that in California, there are such strict mitigation so that there is requirement for there to be a paleontologist anytime you’re digging in native soils. That way, any fossil or artifact that peaks out of that dirt is seen immediately and can be saved. These laws don’t exist everywhere, and so fossils are probably being lost all the time. Some of the most interesting discoveries include a well preserved skull from the mammoth nicknamed Haydon.

我们很幸运，加州有如此严密的减轻破坏工作，正因如此，每次在挖掘当地土壤时总需要有古生物学家在现场。这样的话，任何出土的化石或者手工艺品都能第一时间得到发现和保存。但不是每个州都有这样的法律，因此化石很有可能每时每刻都在遗失。最有趣的一个发现是保存完好的头骨，这个头骨是一只猛犸象，它的名字叫海顿。

Here is the skull of a giant sloth, and vertebrae and bones from giant saber-toothed cats and dire wolfs. Stopping work to dig up fossils can be expensive, but LA official Dave Sottero says the paleontologists, the city and the excavation contractors generally figured out a way to get the fossils out of the ground, and get the work done. I think in California we have the distinction is having the most stringent environmental rules anywhere in the country and possibly the world. So it behooves us to work very closely with the paleontologists to work very closely with the contractor, and develop a set of best practices that will help us preserve the fossil record but still get our project done.

这里有一个巨型树懒的头骨、巨大剑齿虎的椎骨和惧狼的骨头。停下手头的工作去挖掘化石，这样做的成本十分高昂，但洛杉矶的工作人员戴夫·索特罗表示，一些古生物学家、市政府和挖掘承包商基本上找到了一个办法来挖掘化石，并完成工作。我认为，在加州，我们有一个独特之处，就是环境规定在全国乃至世界范围内都是最为严苛的。因此，我们有义务与古生物学家和承包商密切合作，研发出最好的一套做法，帮助我们在保存化石的同时完成工作。

The fossils provide a great look at this region 20, 30 and even 50 thousand years ago. Paleontologist Emily Lindsey says they can teach us about some issues we are dealing with today. Climate change which is something that caused great interests to people today, and was also something that the world’s experiencing, when those of these large animals when they extinct, and also how human activities can impact ecosystems, because around the time that humans arrived in the Americas is also around the time that we see most of those big animals that people are so excited about finding here go extinct. The new fossils will go on display at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County.

化石让我们清楚地了解这个地区，哪怕是2万年前、3万年前乃至5万年前的状况。古生物学家艾米丽·林赛表示，化石可以让我们了解到今天正在着手解决的一些问题。气候变化是我们曾经很关注的一件事，也是今天世界正在经历的事情。化石可以让我们了解这些大型动物是何时灭亡的，以及人类的活动是怎样影响生态系统的，因为人类抵达美洲的时候，大概就是人类最感兴趣的大型动物灭绝的时期。这些新化石将陈列在洛杉矶自然历史博物馆。

As for the new subway system, it will not be ready for the passengers until 2027. Plenty of time to find more fossils.

至于新的地铁系统，该系统要到2027年才能投入使用。在此之前，我们有大把时间寻找新化石。