时间:2018-12-27 作者:英语课 分类:一起听英语


英语课

将地球上所有植物的种子都存储起来,形成我们的植物种子王国。已经有些植物是濒临灭绝的了....


Rob: Hello! I’m Rob, this is 6 Minute English - and today, I'm joined by


Yvonne. Hello, Yvonne.


Yvonne: Hi Rob!


Rob: Today, we’re talking about seed banks – a place where the seeds from all kinds


of plants are carefully stored. Unfortunately, researchers are warning that about


one fifth of the world's plants are at risk of becoming extinct 1.


Yvonne: Wow – so there's a danger that they might disappear altogether. That's really


worrying, Rob.


Rob: Yes it is, but the seed bank is also showing people how to grow plants from


those seeds again in the future. But, before we find out more about protecting


the world's plants from extinction 2, here's today's question: The Youtan Poluo is


one of the world's rarest flowers and was recently found in China.


Yvonne: Yes, by a farmer! 


6 Minute English © bbclearningenglish.com 2010


Page 2 of 6


Rob: That's right, but how often does it bloom 3 - so, when will the farmer see it in


flower again? Is it:


a) in 1000 years


b) another 3000 years or


c) in another 5000 years? Yvonne, what did you say when you were looking at


this story yesterday?


Yvonne: Well, I went for the lowest number, Rob – once every one thousand years. But


even that seemed far too long for another flower to appear!


Rob: Yes, I know what you mean – so we'll find out how long the Youtan Poluo


actually does take to bloom later on. Now, the Millennium 4 Seed Bank is a


project based just outside London and it was set up in the year 2000.


Yvonne: But I've heard that there are other seed banks in other countries which are also


a part of that project.


Rob: That's true, so seeds are sent in from all over the world. But the big question is:


why are so many plants dying 5 out in the world?


Yvonne: And how does the bank decide which seeds should be stored?


Rob: Well, Paul Smith is head of the Millennium Seed Bank - he has some answers


for us. 


6 Minute English © bbclearningenglish.com 2010


Page 3 of 6


Extract 6 1:


It’s absolutely essential that we get the right species 7 – those which are most threatened,


those which are most useful, because we know that there's a good chance that many


plant species will become extinct over the next few decades. And it’s largely 8 land-use


change; it’s development for agriculture, it's development for urban centres and so on.


Rob: Paul Smith says that many 'plant species' – that’s different types of plants – are


dying out because of 'land use change' – so we no longer use our land in the


same way. For example, it's used for 'development for agriculture'. Yvonne,


tell us what Paul Smith means by that, please?


Yvonne: Well, land where lots of plant species used to grow is being cleared for farming


- to grow crops and to raise animals.


Rob: And what about 'development for urban centres'?


Yvonne: Land is also being used to build new cities – places where people live, work


and shop.


Rob: So it's essential or absolutely necessary – for the bank to store the seeds of


plants which are 'most threatened' – or at the greatest risk or danger of


becoming extinct. But the bank must also store the seeds which are the most


useful to us.


Yvonne: For example, the seeds of food plants or plants that can be used to develop new


medicines.


6 Minute English © bbclearningenglish.com 2010


Page 4 of 6


 


Rob: Now, it's also interesting how the bank stores seeds so that they can be used to


grow plants in the future. Here's what the BBC's David Shukman found out


when he visited the Millennium Seed Bank.


Extract 2:


And this is where all those seeds end up - 1.8 billion of them in one of these cold stores


kept at minus 20. That's why you have to wear the cold weather equipment. Jar after jar,


tube after tube, of these seeds, from more than 160 countries. The whole point of this


Millennium Seed bank is to try to build up a store of the planet’s plant biodiversity.


Rob: The 1.8 billion seeds have come from more than one hundred and sixty


countries and the seeds are stored at minus twenty degrees centigrade – much,


much colder than the freezing point for water.


Yvonne: So David Shukman definitely 9 needed to wear 'cold weather equipment' to


protect him from the extreme cold.


Rob: Absolutely. Now ideally 10, the bank would like to have seeds from all the plants


in the world – seeds from 'the planet's plant biodiversity'. By the end of last


year, the bank had 10% of the world's plant biodiversity.


Yvonne: And by 2020, the Millennium Seed Bank hopes to have seeds from about 25%


of the world's plants. So there's lots of work to do.


Rob: Now speaking of plant biodiversity - earlier, I asked how often the Youtan


Poluo blooms 11. Was it every 1,000 years, 3,000 years or every 5,000 years? 


6 Minute English © bbclearningenglish.com 2010


Page 5 of 6


Yvonne: And yesterday, I thought – surely it can't take longer than a thousand years to


bloom? But even that wasn't long enough for the plant to flower, was it?


Rob: No, that’s right. According to botanical experts – the people who know the


most about plants - the Youtan Poluo only blooms once every three thousand


years. In fact, the flower is so rare that people thought it only existed in sacred


Buddhist 12 writings.


Yvonne: So the farmer who found it only has to wait for roughly 13 another three thousand


years to see the flower again, if he can keep the plant alive!


Rob: And if he stays alive that long! Okay, there's just time now for a reminder 14 of


some of the language we have came across in today's programme. Yvonne, can


you help us with those please?


Yvonne: Certainly, Rob. We heard:


Extinct


Bloom


Species


Agriculture


Urban centres


Plant biodiversity


Botanical experts 


6 Minute English © bbclearningenglish.com 2010


Page 6 of 6


Rob: Thank you. Well, we hope you've enjoyed today's "6 Minute English" – and do


join us again soon for more.


Rob/Yvonne: Goodbye! 



1 extinct
adj.灭绝的,不再活跃的,熄灭了的,已废弃的
  • All hopes were extinct.所有希望都破灭了。
  • Dinosaurs have been extinct for millions of years.恐龙绝种已有几百万年了。
2 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。
3 bloom
n.花,花期;vi.开花;容光焕发,显露出健康
  • The park is a picture when flowers are in bloom.当鲜花盛开时,这个公园的景色美极了。
  • The flowers in the garden are now in full bloom.花园里的花盛开。
4 millennium
n.一千年,千禧年;太平盛世
  • The whole world was counting down to the new millennium.全世界都在倒计时迎接新千年的到来。
  • We waited as the clock ticked away the last few seconds of the old millennium.我们静候着时钟滴答走过千年的最后几秒钟。
5 dying
adj.垂死的,临终的
  • He was put in charge of the group by the dying leader.他被临终的领导人任命为集团负责人。
  • She was shown into a small room,where there was a dying man.她被领进了一间小屋子,那里有一个垂死的人。
6 extract
vt.取出,提取,获得,摘录;n.摘录,提出物
  • The article was a choice extract from her writings.这篇文章是从她的著作中摘录出来的精粹。
  • We can extract oil from olive.我们可以从橄榄中榨油。
7 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。
8 largely
adv.大部分,主要地
  • It is largely dependent on the weather.这多半取决于天气情况。
  • Their conclusions were largely founded on guesswork.他们的结论大部份基于猜测。
9 definitely
adv.一定地,肯定地;明确地,确切地
  • The team will definitely lose if he doesn't play.如果他不参加比赛,这个队肯定会输。
  • I shall definitely be home before six o'clock.6点以前,我一定回家。
10 ideally
adv.理想地,圆满地;理论上地
  • She was ideally suited to the job.她是这项工作的理想人选。
  • Ideally,we would like to start at the beginning.要是有可能,我们真想从头开始。
11 blooms
n.(常指供观赏的)花( bloom的名词复数 );最佳时期;茂盛时期;健康有精神的面貌
  • the exotic blooms of the orchid 奇异的兰花
  • This plant blooms between May and June. 这种植物在5月至6月间开花。 来自辞典例句
12 Buddhist
adj./n.佛教的,佛教徒
  • The old lady fell down in adoration before Buddhist images.那老太太在佛像面前顶礼膜拜。
  • In the eye of the Buddhist,every worldly affair is vain.在佛教徒的眼里,人世上一切事情都是空的。
13 roughly
adv.概略地,粗糙地,粗鲁地
  • If you treat your coat so roughly,it will be worn out soon.你如果这么糟蹋你的外套,它很快就不能穿了。
  • The island is roughly circular in shape.这个岛屿大致是圆形的。
14 reminder
n.提醒物,纪念品;暗示,提示
  • I have had another reminder from the library.我又收到图书馆的催还单。
  • It always took a final reminder to get her to pay her share of the rent.总是得发给她一份最后催缴通知,她才付应该交的房租。
学英语单词
3-Sulfoalanine
absolute and relative of contradiction
adenosin (A,Ado)
air-bag
allis shad
amblyproct
anterior-posterior points combination
average forecast
awake from
Ballygarrett
beam scale
Boltzmann's equation
booked stop
brand-marketing
brick condenser
Cayenne pepper grains
chaffee
Charpentier, Gustave
chromoleucites
classica
coal petrography
coleby
comparative adjectives
consumable electro arc furnace
Contrasto, Colle del
coral master (spain)
denitrated collodion
dosage compensation (muller 1932)
dried floral
drinkwaters
Egyptian furniture
enfoldings
evections
financial management initiative (fmi)
forward linkage
fourcher
general theory of relativities
genus proboscideas
gone through the mill
graphicomassa hanleyi
greenfinger
gyrosynchrotron radiation
hand den
have one's gruel
hearsease
heat-checking
hebecarpus
Hexamethyleneimine
hold paint
horsetrade
hypotensions
ink box
intragemmal nerve plexus
knock-out
lepay
levopropylhexedrine
liquid bitumen
lower light
manual catching
maximum recording thermometer
memoize
Mithren
mobard
model uncertainty
molecule-sized
morchellas
multi-ports
nonaccepting
nuclear-electric propulsion
Obila
paper-disk chromatography
parallel play
paraspecific anti-venom
parent involvement
polishing wheel
priesthood
private-viewing
Puddle slut
put A into B
rationing system
re serve
re-entry profile
Received Pronunciation
round-up function
safety winding
Salmonella georgia
shifted diagonal
shopless
sinter rim
sluttifying
small-scale integration
space communication network
spacing container
split straw
sport esthetics
symbols of money
the-ch
tike
to grease
trial range
wave-number spectrum
zelenka