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
Achorion lebertii
alkaline reserve
allosyndisis
already-listed
angle of shear resistance
antenna inaequalis
Arbatax
atomic physicss
bar cutting machine
be one for the books
Bellegem
Bhagwan
biis
bilateral bearing
black mould of rice
Blyth Ra.
Bykovka
can feeder
chequer-work
clicketting
compound dl
configuration insteraction
consumer action group
COP (coefficient of performance)
crest-fall
Cross-measurement
cucumbertrees
cufflinks
dado capping
deaf-points
deferred check point restart
deglucohellebrin
dimanches
efficiency rotation
engarrisons
environmental cracking
exempt employee
froken
gas gauging
general once-over tillage
get away speed
get mine
guaranteed efficiency
guyette
ibm tivoli storage resource manager agent
iron stone
Kaura
krypton-85 source
large scale air separation plant
lead autunite
lexicalises
liquid bath furnace
lucernas
luteal regression stage
marginal net revenue curve
melasyenogabbro
mesnyi
mixus
Murzūq
musculus arrector ventr.
newly-appointeds
nonzero algebra
normalism
normative reference group
oil gage
oriental medicine
paint the town red
paraolfactory
parting shears
phosphoranyls
playgirl
plectranthias yamakawai
preheating evaporator
procedure execution stack
processor consistency model
professional workstation
prohibitory injunction
pseudocysticercosis
ran ragged
see something of the world
seepage deformation
separated-gang cultivator
settlement slope
sight deposit
silky pig iron
skreak
small-plate
Sooretama
soyt
standard preparation hours
stone net
tazmania
The ass waggeth his ears
tourist board
truxillic acid
unacknowledged connectionless-mode transmission
Vacutainer
ventricular escape
voluntary contribution
water extract
welding blower
woodsia alpina gray