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46 企鹅的生存危机
DATE=7-13-01
TITLE=ENVIRONMENT REPORT - Penguins Dying
BYLINE=Jerilyn Watson
（Start at 59" ）This is Bill White with the VOA Special English ENVIRONMENT REPORT.
Experts say a shortage of fish and other food is (1)threatening many of the world's (2)penguins. They say as many as ten of the seventeen kinds of penguins may be in danger of disappearing.
For example, thousands of (3)Magellanic penguins build their (4)nests at Punta Tombo, (5)Argentina. (6)Wildlife Conservation Society researchers have studied these birds for eighteen years. They say the numbers of penguins have (7)decreased by thirty percent since Nineteen-Eighty-Seven.
Penguins are black and white birds that live in the southern half of the world. They are common to South America, (8)New Zealand, Australia and South Africa. Many live near cold waters. But some live near warm waters in the (9)Galapagos Islands, near the coast of (10)Ecuador. Penguins cannot fly. But they are fine swimmers. Penguins eat fish. Some kinds of penguins eat a small (11)shrimp-like (12)crustacean called (13)krill.
Many scientists blame (14)global warming for the decrease in penguin populations. They believe the heating of the atmosphere has caused ocean waters to become warmer. The scientists say higher water temperatures have reduced the supply of fish and krill.
Rising air and water temperatures may have especially harmed Galapagos penguins. Researchers say that some years these birds are completely unable to reproduce. In addition, many (15)adult penguins die of hunger.
(16)Widespread fishing, exploration for oil and oil (17)leaks also threaten penguins. Poisonous (18)organisms in ocean water are another danger. These (19)toxic blooms result from changes in the ocean water. Some scientists believe the warming of the oceans is responsible.
In Nineteen-Ninety, more than half the yellow-eyed penguins in New Zealand died suddenly. These (20)endangered birds may have died of a (21)mysterious disease. Penguins also have natural enemies, including wild dogs, sharks, seals and sea lions.
News about penguins is not all bad, however. About a year ago, oil leaking from a ship threatened forty percent of the penguins in South Africa. The penguins became covered with oil. But thousands of people helped clean and treat the birds. Then they returned the penguins to the wild. Now these South African penguins are reproducing in higher numbers than before the oil spill.
This VOA Special English ENVIRONMENT REPORT was written by Jerilyn Watson. This is Bill White.
(1)threaten [ 5Wretn ]vt. 威胁
(2)penguin [ 5peN^win ]n.企鹅
(3)Magellanic [ mA^E5lAnik, mAdVE- ]adj. 麦哲伦海峡的
(4)nest [ nest ]n.巢, 窝
(5)Argentina [ 7B:dVEn5ti:nE ]n.阿根廷(南美洲南部国家)
(6)Wildlife Conservation 野生生物资源保护
(7)decrease [ di:5kri:s ] v.减少
(8)New Zealand [ nju: 5zi:lEnd ]n.新西兰(太平洋南部岛国)
(9)Galapagos Islands n.加拉帕哥斯群岛(位于厄瓜多尔西部)
(10)Ecuador [ 7ekwE5dC:, 5ekwEdC: ]n.厄瓜多尔(南美洲西北海岸的国家)
(11)shrimp-like adj.类虾的
(12)crustacean [ krQs5teiFjEn ]n.甲壳类
(13)krill [ kril ] n.[动]磷虾
(14)global warming n. 全球变暖
(15)adult [ E5dQlt, 5AdQlt ] adj.成熟的
(16)widespread [5waIdspred, -5spred]adj.分布广泛的, 普遍的
(17)leak [ li:k ]n.泄漏
(18)organism [ 5C:^EnizEm ]n.生物体, 有机体
(19)toxic [ 5tCksik ]adj.有毒的
(20)endangered [In`deIndVEd]adj.有灭绝危险的,将要绝种的
(21)mysterious [ mis5tiEriEs ]adj.神秘的
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