VOA慢速英语 2008 1103a

This is the VOA Special English Development Report.

Twelve years ago, a young traveler named Rhett Butler from San Francisco, California, visited the Sabah rainforest on Malaysian Borneo. In one area of the rainforest, he watched as an orangutan moved through the trees. It was a sight to remember, in a place to remember.

But weeks later, back home, Rhett Butler got the news that trees had been cut down for their wood in the area he visited.
　
Interview with biologist Rodney Jackson about snow leopards²

That experience led Rhett Butler to begin writing a book about rainforests and threats to their existence. But he did not publish the book. Instead, in nineteen ninety-nine, he used his research for the book to create a Web site. The site is Mongabay.com. The name is spelled m-o-n-g-a-b-a-y.

Rhett Butler named the site for Nosy³ Mangabe, an island off Madagascar. His purpose was to inform the public about tropical⁴ rainforests. But the subject widened⁵. A former businessman, he became a respected writer of science and environmental stories.

The popularity⁶ of Mongabay.com attracted advertisers. Small ads on the site pay for its operations. Mongabay has grown and led to other sites. For example, there is a site for children, kids.mongabay.com. Another one, WildMadagascar.org, is all about the island nation that Rhett Butler calls his favorite place.

He travels the world on several major trips each year. His working tools are a laptop computer, cameras and sometimes diving equipment.

He often calls on experts for information for stories. For example, he interviewed Alison Jolly⁷, a top expert on ringtailed lemurs. And last week he wrote about another animal, the rare snow leopard¹. He interviewed Rodney Jackson, a biologist who established the Snow Leopard Conservancy.

Stories like these have made Mongabay a favorite place on the Internet for researchers, students and teachers. In April, Time.com named it one of the fifteen top climate and environment Web sites.

Rhett Butler says he is concerned about how the current economic crisis⁸ in the world might affect environmental conservation efforts. For example, he says the falling price of oil could reduce interest in developing solar power. But he also points to a recent United Nations report on “green jobs.” The report said efforts to fight climate change might lead to millions of jobs in biofuels by two thousand thirty.

And that’s the VOA Special English Development Report, written by Jerilyn Watson.

 

1 leopard   

n.豹

参考例句：

• I saw a man in a leopard skin yesterday.我昨天看见一个穿着豹皮的男人。
• The leopard's skin is marked with black spots.豹皮上有黑色斑点。

2 leopards   

n.豹( leopard的名词复数 )；本性难移

参考例句：

• Lions, tigers and leopards are all cats. 狮、虎和豹都是猫科动物。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• For example, airlines never ship leopards and canaries on the same flight. 例如，飞机上从来不会同时运送豹和金丝雀。 来自英语晨读30分（初三）

3 nosy   

adj.鼻子大的，好管闲事的，爱追问的；n.大鼻者

参考例句：

• Our nosy neighbours are always looking in through our windows.好管闲事的邻居总是从我们的窗口望进来。
• My landlord is so nosy.He comes by twice a month to inspect my apartment.我的房东很烦人，他每个月都要到我公寓视察两次。

4 tropical   

adj.热带的，热带的，炎热的

参考例句：

• You must grow these tropical flowers in a glasshouse.你必须把这些热带花卉种在温室里。
• This disease is widespread in tropical areas.这种疾病在热带地区蔓延很广。

5 widened   

放宽，加宽， （使）变宽( widen的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Her eyes widened in surprise. 她惊讶地睁大了眼睛。
• The geographical scope of product markets has widened since the war. 战后产品市场的地理范围扩大了。

6 popularity   

n.普及，流行，名望，受欢迎

参考例句：

• The story had an extensive popularity among American readers.这本小说在美国读者中赢得广泛的声望。
• Our product enjoys popularity throughout the world.我们的产品饮誉全球。

7 jolly   

adj.快乐的，高兴的；adv.很；vt.劝服，哄

参考例句：

• That day they got together and had a jolly time.那天他们聚在一起热闹了一番。
• She was a jolly,kindhearted woman.她是个整天乐呵呵心地善良的女人。

8 crisis   

n.危机，危急关头，决定性时刻，关键阶段

参考例句：

• He had proved that he could be relied on in a crisis.他已表明，在紧要关头他是可以信赖的。
• The topic today centers about the crisis in the Middle East.今天课题的中心是中东危机。