时间:2018-12-01 作者:英语课 分类:VOA2003(下)-环境与健康


英语课


By Caty Weaver 1
Broadcast: August 1, 2003
This is Steve Ember with the VOA Special English Environment Report.
Last month a judge ordered the United States Army Corps 2 of Engineers to begin to lower water levels along the Missouri River. The federal judge threatened hundreds of thousands of dollars of fines each day the corps did not obey. Environmental groups want the water lowered by 1)dams to protect some kinds of birds and fish.
But the army engineers, who operate the dams, say they must keep the water deep enough for shipping 3. A judge in Nebraska late last year ordered them to do that. The engineers say the 2)ruling last month to lower the river or face huge fines conflicts with that order.
Last week, still another judge blocked the fines temporarily. That judge is to decide all the current legal actions concerning water levels on the Missouri River.
The Missouri is the longest river in the United States, at a little more than four-thousand-kilometers. It begins in Montana and flows through North and South Dakota, Nebraska and Kansas. It ends in Missouri, where the waters enter the Mississippi River.
For many years, the Army Corp of Engineers has operated major dams along the Missouri. Environmental groups want the engineers to change the way they operate the dams.
Two kinds of birds on the federal list of endangered species 4 live on small islands of sand in the river. These 3)sandbars are underwater during 4)nesting season under the current rules for the dams. The corps established these guidelines 5 in nineteen-seventy-nine. At that time, the birds and a species of fish also at issue were not yet on the endangered list.
Last year the National Research Council said the dam system has hurt the 5)ecosystem 6. The council is a private group that advises Congress. Scientists called for some natural river flow to be re-established to help repair damage. But their report also called for a balance between environmental and economic goals.
Critics of lowered water levels include shipping companies and farmers. These critics say the first job of the Army Corps of Engineers is to support shipping on the Missouri. They say changes could lead to flooded crops and homes.
The army engineers have been working on a new water-control plan for fourteen years. They say the plan will be ready next year.
This VOA Special English Environment Report was written by Caty Weaver. This is Steve Ember.


注释:
1) dam [dAm] n.水坝,障碍
2) ruling [5ru:liN] n.(用尺的)划线(量度);划出的线
3) sandbar [5sAndbB:(r)] n.沙洲
4) nesting [5nestiN] n.嵌套
5) ecosystem [i:kE5sistEm] n.生态系统



 



1 weaver
n.织布工;编织者
  • She was a fast weaver and the cloth was very good.她织布织得很快,而且布的质量很好。
  • The eager weaver did not notice my confusion.热心的纺织工人没有注意到我的狼狈相。
2 corps
n.(通信等兵种的)部队;(同类作的)一组
  • The medical corps were cited for bravery in combat.医疗队由于在战场上的英勇表现而受嘉奖。
  • When the war broke out,he volunteered for the Marine Corps.战争爆发时,他自愿参加了海军陆战队。
3 shipping
n.船运(发货,运输,乘船)
  • We struck a bargain with an American shipping firm.我们和一家美国船运公司谈成了一笔生意。
  • There's a shipping charge of £5 added to the price.价格之外另加五英镑运输费。
4 species
n.物种,种群
  • Are we the only thinking species in the whole of creation?我们是万物中惟一有思想的物种吗?
  • This species of bird now exists only in Africa.这种鸟现在只存在于非洲。
5 guidelines
n.指导方针,准则
  • The government has drawn up guidelines on the treatment of the mentally ill. 政府制订了对待精神病人的指导方针。
  • Planners seem a little uncomfortable with the current government guidelines. 规划师似乎不太接受现行的政府指道方针。
6 ecosystem
n.生态系统
  • This destroyed the ecosystem of the island.这样破坏了岛上的生态系统。
  • We all have an interest in maintaining the integrity of the ecosystem.维持生态系统的完整是我们共同的利益。
学英语单词
-rific
Abel tests
All 's well that ends well.
androgynises
anti-independence
association for computing machinery (acm)
atteveld
ball hockey
Bas-en-Basset
Berl saddles
bromatological
burkaed
call someone's bluff
capital-in-excess account
Carex peiktusani
center upset
cerium materials/devices
charlesite
cloisters
congestion window
constancies
crenimugil crenilabi
cum towel
david turner
decorrelations
DIFI
direct cycle access storage device (dasd)
discrete-time convolution property
document storage status
dysosma veitchii (hemsl. et wils. fu)
easy on the trigger
easy-to-grasp
ecological engineering
epicanthal fold
esophagectomies
eulogious
expenditure for procurement
fire hole ring
Formosa B.
Gave d'Oloron
high speed ball mill
inferior tarsal muscle
interlock control
knife file
Kogushi
latching logic
left ventriculo-aortic conduit
limit of integration
locking pushbutton
long-stem nozzle
lpci open signal
Macdowel's frenum
main scheduling routine
make your presence felt
masson disk
matching magnet
mergers-and-acquisitions
metatracheal wide type
methylglutaconyl
Mixed Mode CD
mobiliary art
monoclines
multiple storage
multiple utility
nanotexturing
neural anesthesia
oath-rite
odman
pearlins
pedatilobed
petewilliamsite
Phenazodine
pipeline conveyor
polyanionic surfactant
potassium methyl sulfate
preserved meat
primary marketing
propylmercuric bromide
punch-tape code
pusher bar
quasi-factorical design
rabbinish
rack up
RAID4
ranking form
remote control rack
resonant vibrator
Rikuzentakata
running latte
secondary peduncle
shear-plate nozzle
struma colloides cystica
suburbans
table napkin
Tensift, Oued
Tismana
transportin
unit start-up and commissioning
unshadowable
upganger
vacuum packer
vehicle currency