News Item6

亞洲的野生虎保護進入關(guān)鍵一年

News Background

新聞背景

目前，全球野生虎的數(shù)量已從一百年前的10萬多只驟減至4000只左右。很多國家無序的森林開發(fā)使得老虎棲息地不斷減少，現(xiàn)在全世界野生虎的活動范圍僅有歷史上繁榮時期的7％，而虎皮、虎骨的黑市交易又導致盜獵者瘋狂捕殺老虎。所有跡象都表明，老虎的生存圈面臨崩潰的危險，只有人們立即著手保護野生虎，恢復它們的棲息地，野生虎數(shù)量才有望回升。然而與目前人類面臨的氣候變化等可持續(xù)發(fā)展危機一樣，野生虎的生存危機并非舉一國之力能夠解決，需要國際社會聯(lián)合起來共同應對。

News Transcript VOA 新聞梗概

China is awash with images of orange and black-striped big cats as the country prepares tousher in the Year of the Tiger on sunday.

Yet for all the traditional sentiment toward one of the most revered animals in the ChineseZodiac, 2010 could be a make-or- break year for wild tigers in China.

Since the last Year of the Tiger 12 years ago, the worldwide population of wild tigers hasalmost halved to 3,200.

The South China tiger has not been seen in the wild for 25 years and is believed to be extinct.

In northeastern China near the Russian border, the struggle to bring the Amur–or Siberian–tiger back from the brink has the backing of the World Bank.

It is funding a program worth several billion dollars to boost the population to a sustainablelevel.

News Item6Part 1Listening Comprehension聽力理解1. traditional sentiment; a make-or- break year2. D 3. B KeyThe head of the bank’s China environment program, Carter Brandon, saysthe survival of the species is no longer an issue of conservation but instead one ofdevelopment.

The battle to save the tiger is of course not exclusive to China.

The fi rst Asian ministerial conference on the issue was held in Thailand lastweek. It set a goal of doubling the wild population by the start of the next tigeryear in 2022.

And an international tiger summit will convene in September in Russia.

1 Yet for all the toward one of the most revered animals in theChinese Zodiac, 2010 could be for wild tigers in China.

2 Which statement about the situations of tigers is right? ( )A. Since the last Year of the Tiger 12 years ago, the worldwide population ofwild tigers has almost halved to 3,200.

B. The South China tiger has not been seen in the wild for 25 years and isbelieved to be extinct.

C. In northeastern China near the Russian border, the struggle to bring theAmur–or Siberian–tiger back from the brink has the backing of the WorldBank.

D. All the above.

3 Which one of the following is not right according to the context? ( )A. Carter Brandon, says the survival of the species is no longer an issue ofconservation but instead one of development.

B. The battle to save the tiger is exclusive to China.

C. The fi rst Asian ministerial conference on the issue was held in Thailand lastweek.

D. An international tiger summit will convene in September in Russia.

awash a.

很多的revere v.

尊崇，崇敬halve v.

減半extinct a.

滅絕的sustainable a.

可持續(xù)的issue n.

問題exclusive a.

唯一的，獨家的summit n.

峰會詞匯加油站當中國準備迎接虎年的到來時，在這個國家到處都能看到這種橘色和黑色條紋動物的形象。

然而由于所有的傳統(tǒng)情節(jié)都朝向中國黃歷中最讓人敬畏的動物，2010年對于中國野生虎而言是成敗攸關(guān)的一年。

從12 年前的上一個虎年開始，全世界野生虎的數(shù)量已經(jīng)減少了幾乎一半，只剩3200 只了。

已有25年未見到過野生的華南虎了，人們認為華南虎已經(jīng)滅絕了。

在靠近俄羅斯邊境的中國東北部，將阿穆爾虎（或者稱作西伯利亞虎）從滅絕邊緣拉回來的斗爭得到了世界銀行的支援。

他們正在為一個價值幾十億元的項目提供資金，旨在將西伯利亞虎的數(shù)量增加到一個合適的水平。

銀行的中國環(huán)境項目領(lǐng)頭人卡特??布蘭登說：這個物種的存活不再是保存的問題，而是發(fā)展的問題。

拯救老虎的戰(zhàn)斗當然不僅限于中國。

上周，就此事，第一次亞洲部長會議在泰國舉行。會議設(shè)立了到2022年，即下一個虎年開始時，野生虎數(shù)量要翻倍的目標。

一個國際性的老虎峰會將于九月在俄羅斯召開。

1 China is awash with images of orange and black-striped big cats as the country prepares tousher in the Year of the Tiger. 句中black-striped意思是有黑色條紋的，這里用做形容詞。

as引導后面的時間狀語從句，當……的時候。

2 Since the last Year of the Tiger 12 years ago, the worldwide population of wild tigers hasalmost halved to 3,200. Since引導的時間狀語從句常用在現(xiàn)在完成時或過去完成時當中，表示在這個時間段前，就已經(jīng)完成的動作或持續(xù)的狀態(tài)。

3 World Bank是世界銀行集團的俗稱，“世界銀行”這個名稱一直是用于指國際復興開發(fā)銀行和國際開發(fā)協(xié)會。這些機構(gòu)聯(lián)合向發(fā)展中國家提供低息貸款、無息信貸和贈款。它是一個國際組織，最開始的使命是幫助在第二次世界大戰(zhàn)中被破壞的國家重建。今天它的任務是資助發(fā)展中國家克服窮困，各機構(gòu)在減輕貧困和提高生活水平的使命中發(fā)揮獨特的作用。