动物物种‘灭绝危机’ Animal species 'extinction crisis'

Hello, I’m Rob, welcome to 6 Minute English. I’m joined today by Feifei.
大家好，我是Rob. 欢迎来到六分钟英语。今天和我一起主持节目的是Feifei.
Hi there, Rob.
你好，Rob.
Hello Feifei.Today we’re discussing the issue of the illegal trade in wildlife. And we’ll be looking at some of the words and phrases associated with this sad and increasing activity.I think we all know there are many rare species of animals that are being illegally hunted to make money.And 200 governments have been meeting in Bangkok to talk about how to tackle this problem.More on that in a moment but as always, we like to start with a question.
你好，Feifei.今天我们在一起讨论在野生世界里不合法的贸易问题。并且我们还能一起学单词和短语，关于这些悲伤的和增加的活动。众所周知，这里有许多稀有的动物在被不合法的屠杀用来赚钱。并且有200个政府正在Bangkok开会讨论如何处理这些问题。请稍等一会儿讨论更多，但是像往常一样，我们开始先问一个问题。
Hmm, and this question is for me isn’t it?
Hmm, 想问我问题吗？
It is Feifei. Let’s see if you can answer this question correctly this time! The dodo bird has been extinct for a very long time – that means there have been no living members of the species for quite a long time.But when did this bird become extinct? a) In the late 1600’s b) In the late 1700’s c) In the early 1900’s
Feifei, 让我们来看一下这次你能否回答正确。多多鸟已经灭绝很长时间了，这意味着多多鸟成员已经很长时间没有活着的家族成员了。这种鸟儿是何时灭绝的呢？A. 在17世纪末。B. 在18世纪末C.在20世纪初。
I will go for answer a) in the 1600’s.
我的回答是A， 17世纪末。
Ok, well let’s find out if you are right at the end of the programme.The expression ’dead as a dodo’ refers to this bird and can be used to describe something that is completely dead or no longer working. And there is no doubt that many other animal species are facing extinction – or dying out.
好的，在节目的最后让我们确定你回答是否正确。像多多鸟死了的描述是指用来描述一些东西完全死了或者不再工作了。并且毫无疑问，很多其他的动物物种濒临灭绝或死光光了。
Yes. Some experts are predicting a global ’extinction crisis’.So it’s an extremely urgent matter – and that’s what governments have been discussing at a meeting in Bangkok.
是的。一些砖家预测面临着全球‘物种灭绝危机’。这是一个非常紧急的事情，也正是政府们在Bangkok开会讨论的事情。
They want to come up with ideas on how to stop the illegal trade in wildlife.They want to stop animals, such as elephants and rhino, being killed for their horns and tusks.Conservation groups – the people who try to protect the animals – claim the scale of the slaughter is accelerating.
他们想找到如何停止野生动物非法贸易的方法。他们想阻止人们为了象牙和犀角来杀害大象和犀牛。保护团队：指尽力保护动物的人们，声称屠杀的程度正在加剧。
So they mean the killing is increasing. So Rob, why is this problem on the increase?
所以他们认为这种杀害正在增加中。Rob, 为什么这个问题更加严重呢？
Well, Mary Rice from the Environmental Investigations Agency blames the way the illegal trade is policed – or to use her words, ’enforced’.Let’s hear from her now and see if you can hear the word she uses to describe how some people organise this illegal trade:
是这样的，来自环境调查机构的Mary ice批评这种不合法的贸易，应该被监管或者用她自己的单词来说，“强制执行”。现在让我们一起听一下她的话，看一下你是否能听到她通常如何描述人们组织非法贸易的话：
The enforcement effort tends to end at seizure.The poachers get arrested and convicted. You might get the odd middleman. The guys who mastermind the efforts, the guys who invest in the operations to acquire large amounts of ivory, for example, have never been intercepted.
执法力度需要结束这种捕获。这些偷猎者应当被逮捕判刑。你可能会了解这些奇怪的中间人。这些家伙通过策画努力和投资运作获得了大量的象牙等等，从来没有被阻止。
That’s Mary Rice talking about the ’enforcement effort’ – or where the authorities spend most of their time trying to stop the trade in wildlife.
这就是Mary Rice讨论的执法努力，即官方花了大量的时间尽力阻止不合法的野生动物贸易。
And that effort is concentrated on stopping the poachers.Poachers are the people who catch and kill the animals. They get caught and the tusks, horns and other body parts they have taken are seized and confiscated – so taken away by the police.
这种努力集中于制止偷猎者。Poachers是偷猎捕杀动物的一员。他们已经被捕，象牙，犀角和他们偷猎的动物其他部分已经被扣押和没收，他们已经被警方带走。
But, of course, the animal has already died.Mary Rice says it is the people who mastermind the trade – in other words, the people who organise the poaching and fund the trade, who are never caught – or intercepted.
然而，动物是已经死了。Mary Rice说还有一些人策划了贸易，换句话说组织非法捕获和贸易基金的人从来没有被抓或者被阻止。
And it’s not just individual people. Thailand itself has been accused of being a transit route – a place endangered animals pass through while they are being shipped between Africa and China.And this highlights another issue too. If there is a demand for buying parts of the wild animals, someone will always try to supply them.
并且在这些不仅是个别的人。泰国本身已被指责是一个运输通道，濒临灭绝的动物被运往非州和中国之间的过境之地。并且这也是另一个非常重要的问题。如果有购买野生动物身体某一部位的需求存在，那么总会有一些人将一直提供。
It’s a good point. In China and Hong Kong for example, there is a huge appetite for shark-fin soup and it’s claimed 100 million sharks are killed by commercial fishing every year to supply this demand.
这是关键的一点。例如在中国和香港，这里有一个极大的喝鱼翅汤的兴趣需求。据说每年有一亿鲨鱼被商业捕杀来满足这个市场。
Well luckily for the Oceanic white tip shark, delegates at this year’s meeting have voted to add it to a long list of endangered species that are being protected. Already, 35,000 animals and plants are protected by the convention on the international trade in endangered species – CITES for short.
很幸运的是海洋白尖鲨，在今年的会议上代表们投赞成票将其添加到一长串的正在收到保护的濒危物种中。目前已经有35，000种动植物参与濒危物种国际贸易保护--简称CITES。
This agreement was signed in 1973 and the convention works by licensing commercial trade in species - so it allows a fixed amount of controlled trading to take place.
这份协议是在1973年签订的，并许可物种间的商业贸易，也就是说它允许有一个固定的交易数量。
But illegal wildlife trading still continues.The BBC’s David Shukman says more needs to be done.What three things does he think needs to happen?
但是非法野生动物交易依然继续。BBC的David Shukman 说还需要做很多事。他认为需要发生哪三件事情呢？
Having an international agreement clearly isn’t enough; it’ll take a combination of forensic science, police co-operation and political will to halt the killing.Conservation groups warn that if this rate continues, some populations of elephant and rhino will face extinction.
仅仅有一个国际协定显然是不够的。它将会使法医学、警察合作和政治一元联合来阻止杀戮。保护团体警告说如果按照这种速度继续下去，一些大象和犀牛将面临绝种。
So he thinks having an international agreement - CITES – isn’t enough.He suggests using forensic science, police co-operation and political will – that means a desire by politicians to do something to stop this illegal activity.
所以他认为有一个国际协定--CITES是不够的。他建议使用法医科学、警方合作与政治意愿联合的方式——这意味着官员们乐意做些事情来阻止这种非法活动。
David Shukman warns that if nothing is done, some populations of elephant and rhino will face – or will be under threat of – extinction.
David Shukman警告说如果不采取行动，一些大象和犀牛就会面临-或者将要面临物种灭绝的威胁。
Well that’s what happened to the dodo.
这就是多多鸟灭绝的故事。
Ah yes, earlier I asked you: when did the dodo bird become extinct?
好的，一开始我问你多多鸟是什么时候灭绝的？
And I said in the 1600’s.
我回答的是17世纪末。
And you were absolutely right. Its last confirmed sighting was in 1662.Before we go, Feifei, could you remind us of some of the words we learned today?
你回答的非常正确。最后一次发现多多鸟是在1662年。再继续下面内容前，Feifei,你给我们大家来复习一下今天学到的词语吧！
Yes. We heard:hunted,extinct ,dead as a dodo,conservation groupsslaughter,seizure,poachers,a transit route,endangered species
好的。我们听到的有：hunted--捕获,extinct--灭绝 ,dead as a dodo--像多多鸟一样死去,conservation groups--保护团体slaughter--杀戮,seizure--夺取,poachers--偷猎者,a transit route--运输路线,endangered species--濒危物种
Thanks Feifei.Well, that’s it for today.Please join us again soon for 6 Minute English from bbclearningenglish.
谢谢Feifei。好了，这就是今天的全部内容了。请稍后再加入我们6分钟英语。
Bye.
( ^_^ )/~~拜拜