时间:2018-12-08 作者:英语课 分类:2007年VOA标准英语(四月)


英语课
By Nia Sutadi
Santa Monica, California
30 April 2007


Orangutans are highly intelligent and are one of man's closest relatives. Found primarily in Indonesia, their name in English means "People of the Forest."  Just a century ago, their numbers were plentiful 1, but deforestation, illegal hunting and natural disasters have left these large, red apes on the verge 2 of extinction 3. A group in the western state of California is working to save orangutans and the habitats they live in. It is called the Orang Utan Republik (OUR) Education Initiative and it is working to get Americans and Indonesians involved in saving Indonesia's orangutans. For producers Vena Anissa and Nia Sutadi, VOA's Jim Bertel has more.






A baby orangutan


A baby orangutan



Gary Shapiro has spent more than 30 years studying orangutans, spending many years in Indonesia where he taught sign language to ex-captive orangutans in the wild. Three years ago, Shapiro and his Indonesian wife Inggriani began Orang Utan Republik, an environmental organization working to save orangutans from extinction.


"Our goal is to inspire, to empower Indonesian people to be in charge to save the orangutan,” said Inggriani. “We invite them to participate through educational programs in art and science."


"The orangutan is an umbrella-species; if we can preserve orangutans, we can also preserve other animals that are threatened with extinction,” added Gary. “And we hope that Indonesians will learn the place of the orangutan in the ecosystem 4, so that they will care what happens to them and we will be able to preserve the orangutan forever."


The Shapiros spend Sundays at Santa Monica, California’s farmer's market educating people about orangutans and their habitat. 


"An adult female orangutan usually gets pregnant every seven years,” explains Inggriani. “It takes such a long time for an orangutan mother to teach its offspring to survive in the forest. If the offspring are continually separated from their mothers, eventually the species will become extinct."


Nicky Coleman, who once visited an orangutan rehabilitation 5 center in Indonesia, supports the Shapiro's efforts. "Some people just don't realize what they are doing to the environment, but if you can bring awareness 6 and show them, they maybe think twice and make some changes in their life style."


While most of the estimated 57,000 orangutans in the wild are found in Indonesia, the Shapiros believe people around the world need to be educated about orangutans and their role in the tropical ecosystem in order to pressure Indonesians to do more to protect these creatures. 


"I have been concerned about the orangutan for a long time,” says Gary. “And like my adopted 'child,' an orangutan named Princess, I want a world where orangutans can live freely in the forest. And hopefully her children and grandchildren will also be able to live that way in Indonesia forever."





1 plentiful
adj.富裕的,丰富的
  • Their family has a plentiful harvest this year.他们家今年又丰收了。
  • Rainfall is plentiful in the area.这个地区雨量充足。
2 verge
n.边,边缘;v.接近,濒临
  • The country's economy is on the verge of collapse.国家的经济已到了崩溃的边缘。
  • She was on the verge of bursting into tears.她快要哭出来了。
3 extinction
n.熄灭,消亡,消灭,灭绝,绝种
  • The plant is now in danger of extinction.这种植物现在有绝种的危险。
  • The island's way of life is doomed to extinction.这个岛上的生活方式注定要消失。
4 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。
5 rehabilitation
n.康复,悔过自新,修复,复兴,复职,复位
  • He's booked himself into a rehabilitation clinic.他自己联系了一家康复诊所。
  • No one can really make me rehabilitation of injuries.已经没有人可以真正令我的伤康复了。
6 awareness
n.意识,觉悟,懂事,明智
  • There is a general awareness that smoking is harmful.人们普遍认识到吸烟有害健康。
  • Environmental awareness has increased over the years.这些年来人们的环境意识增强了。
学英语单词
a small bundle of stipules
acetate dye
adouetine
arabis
argument-quality
armfuls
Baillarger's layer
bear out
benzohydroxamic
brain-teaser
Bruton
cellular glass ceramics
central sheath
cheshire printers
ciliary action
clerc
cogroups
colocynthein
colosso
cora pavonia e. fries
curved jet
Decrypt.
deposed
dihydromurexine
disenabling
dynamic bending modulus
egoist
ethylene-vinyl alcohol copolymer
executable symbol
Filaria extra-ocularis
fireworks and crackers
galcatin
Gibbs-Donnan equilibrium
going, going, gone!
gunner's slit
hands-downs
hang in for someone
hasche process
heartquakes
heddur
hillstream
holyroodhouses
host resident software
Icosandia
incompressible boundary layer
incrusting solids
intikhabs
irrotional
isobutyl mercaptan
locutoria
low-pressure vacuum pump
meteorium cucullatum
mineral-lard oil
minus lap
monickers
multiparty call
myelination
negligent damage
normal control wire
orbit period
p.f.i.
Parkesine
pen-ups
photo-laparoscope
polar response curve
praunces
propagation ground
put the cat among the pigeons
quadridentate ligand
queriers
radiation ageing
rasp palms
regressive dissimilation
road transport of goods
RTCA
scale off
Shatalovo
sleepshirt
spoon-drift
Starch-grains
Subrogation of Maritime Lien
sulphocarbonate
surnia ululas
Swietenia mahagoni
target cross section
tarses
thorstein bunde veblens
three state of matter
time-varying load
tombusvirus
tomorrow night
transductor controller
trucking cost
true up
typhlectasia
umbrinas
undisbanded
urovison
wander
wave front steepness
white noise limiting circuit
work file