雙語：藍寶石開採威脅狐猴的生存

BBC英語教學

Sapphire mining threat to rare lemurs 藍寶石開採威脅稀有狐猴的生存

Helping cows to help the planet 減緩溫室效應從給奶牛「減排」開始

文字稿

In the forests of Madagascar there's a new sound - the sound of men working. Poor men who want to get rich. Once virgin rainforest, felled and burned. Now look - mine shafts and spoil heaps stretch across the valley. See the damage it causes, threatening the habitat of one of the world's rarest animals, the Indri lemur. They spend their lives in the trees eating leaves and fruit and breeding only once every three years. There may be as few as two thousand left in the wild.

馬達加斯加的森林裡回蕩著一種新的聲音 — 這是人們在幹活時發出的聲響。這些貧困的人們想要變得富有。曾經的原始熱帶雨林，現在樹木已被砍伐、燒毀。放眼望去，礦井和矸子山在山谷間綿延不絕。開採活動給當地環境造成了破壞，也給世界上最稀有的動物之一大狐猴的棲息地造成了威脅。狐猴在樹上生活，以樹葉和果子為食，而且每三年才繁殖一次。目前，野生的大狐猴數量大約只剩兩千隻了。

Christine Musasua』s farm only has five cows but it's part of a new battle against global warming because cows are a major contributor to climate change. By using a few simple techniques to change the way she farms, Christine has drastically cut her cows』 methane emissions. The techniques have been taught by a Swedish development organisation. Christine used to get one or two litres of milk a day. Now she』s getting over five litres a day. As a result, Christine will need fewer cows and fewer cows means less methane.

克里斯汀·穆薩斯亞的農場只飼養了五隻奶牛，但她獨特的養殖方式卻是一場對抗全球氣候變暖新鬥爭中的一環，這是因為奶牛是影響氣候變化的主要因素之一。克里斯汀通過一些簡單的技巧改變了她的養殖方法，從而大幅度減少了奶牛的甲烷排放量。這些技巧是由一家瑞典的研發機構所傳授的。過去，克里斯汀每天收穫一到兩升牛奶，而現在，她每天可收穫五升多。由於產奶量的增加，克里斯汀所需的奶牛數量會越來越少，從而意味著甲烷排放量也將隨之降低。

辭彙

habitat

（動植物的）棲息地

drastically

大幅度地，急劇地

練習

請從以下辭彙中選擇適當的答案來完成句子。注意：你可能需要改變單詞的時態來完成句子。

habitat / drastically

1. The change to using electric vehicles will ______ cut air pollution in our cities.

2. Wildlife experts say that access to flower-rich ______ from spring through to summer is key to the survival of successive generations of the bees.

答案

1. The change to using electric vehicles will drastically cut air pollution in our cities.

2. Wildlife experts say that access to flower-rich habitats from spring through to summer is key to the survival of successive generations of the bees.