大学英语自学教程 上册 un24

[12:08.16]that provide food for the smaller birds that,
[12:10.40]为小鸟提供食物，
[12:12.63]in turn, provide food for the arctic fox and the wolf.
[12:15.45]而小鸟又为北极狐和狼提供食物。
[12:18.27]The balance of nature is so delicate on the tundra
[12:20.49]在冻土带，自然界的平衡真如此而已微妙，
[12:22.71]that even minor disturbances
[12:24.79]小小的干扰
[12:26.87]may produce major changes in the environment.
[12:29.05]可能产生巨大的环境变化。
[12:31.23]Any increase or decrease in the population of one species
[12:34.01]人口的增加或减少
[12:36.79]may affect all other species on the tundra.
[12:39.12]可能会受到其他种类的侵袭，在冻土带。
[12:41.44]For example,if the number of wolves and foxes decreases,
[12:44.26]某一物种如狼的数量的增加或减少，
[12:47.09]the food chain is upset.
[12:48.90]食物链将失去平衡。
[12:50.72]Without wolves, the number of grazing animals
[12:53.20]没有了狼，
[12:55.68]like the deer--would increase.
[12:57.65]像鹿一类的食草动物增加，
[12:59.62]This increase would result in a food shortage,
[13:01.81]鹿的增加会引起食物短缺，
[13:03.99]which would cause death to many smaller animals.
[13:06.27]这就会直接导致许多小动物的死亡。
[13:08.56]A decrease in the number of these smaller animals
[13:10.69]这些小动物数量的减少，
[13:12.82]would in turn decrease the food supply fox the arctic fox and the wolf.
[13:15.99]继而会影响北极狐和北极狼的食物供应。
[13:19.16]In this way, the entire food chain might he affected by a changein the numar
[13:22.55]就这样，整个食物链可能会受
[13:25.93]of a single species.
[13:27.81]任一种动物数量变化的影响。
[13:29.69]Until recently, the chaning seasons on the tundra
[13:32.26]直到最近，冻土带的季节变化
[13:34.84]were seen onlyby a few Eskimo hunters and explorers.
[13:37.78]只有少数几位爱斯基摩猎人和探险者见过。
[13:40.72]What would draw men and women to live in such a hostile land?
[13:43.50]什么东西吸引着人们生活在条件这样恶劣的土地上呢？
[13:46.28]The answer is oil.
[13:47.90]答案是石油。
[13:49.52]In 1968, oil was discovered beneath the frozen soilon
[13:52.55]1968年，冻土地底下发现了石油
[13:55.58]Alaska's Northern Slope.
[13:57.56]是在阿拉斯加北坡
[13:59.55]Now an 800-mile (about 1300 kilometers)
[14:02.23]今天已铺设了800英里（约1300公里）
[14:04.90]pipeline has been builtfrom Prudhoe Bay on the Arctic Ocean to Valdes,
[14:08.43]长的输油管道从北冰洋的普拉德霍湾
[14:11.96]a port on the south coast of Alaska.
[14:14.19]到阿拉斯加南海岸的瓦尔迪兹港。
[14:16.42]The pipeline carries the oil from the Northern Slope
[14:19.05]管道把石油从北部的倾斜坡
[14:21.68]across the tundra, to the port.
[14:23.71]通过冻土地输送到港口，
[14:25.75]From there, it is shipped to the rest of the United States.
[14:28.39]再从那里装运至美国其它地区。
[14:31.03]Thousands of men and women were needed to build and maintain the pipeline
[14:34.29]需要成千上万的男男女女来铺设和维护输油管，
[14:37.56]For the first time,
[14:39.18]第一次
[14:40.80]large numbers of peoplewere brought into contact with the tundra.
[14:43.42]如此大量的人们接触冻土带，
[14:46.05]Their presence and the presence of the pipeline they built
[14:48.67]他们的到来和他们建造的输油管的出现
[14:51.30]represented a major change in the environment.
[14:53.58]意味着环境的大改变。
[14:55.87]How will the lifecydes of the tundra be affected?
[14:58.14]冻土带的生命循环将受到怎样的影响呢？
[15:00.41]The survival of the United States
[15:02.24]美国的生存
[15:04.07]depends on the abilityto find new sources of energy.
[15:06.80]依赖于找到新能源的能力。
[15:09.53]Oil from beneath the tundra is very important to the nations' development
[15:12.51]冻土带地下的石油对国家的发展非常重要。
[15:15.49]But the survival of the tundra
[15:17.41]但冻土带的生存
[15:19.33]depends on how carefully people maintain
[15:21.56]要依靠人们小心谨慎
[15:23.79]the delicate balance of nature in this environment.
[15:26.42]来维持环境中的微妙平衡。