外研版选修二册第六单元阅读讲解

Unit 6 Survival

第62页阅读讲解

The Wild Within
城中的野生动物

1 The crime took place in a seaside suburb of Cape Town. Spotting the car with its window left open, the greedy thief didn't hesitate. Within seconds, he had reached inside and run away with a bag of shopping. No matter how many crimes he committed, the police were powerless to arrest him. You see, this was no ordinary criminal: it was a chacma baboon. Once almost unheard of, scenes like this one in Cape Town are now common all over the world. With foxes in London, mountain lions in San Francisco and wild pigs in Hong Kong, it is almost as if our cities are being taken over by wild animals.
在开普敦的一个海滨郊区发生了一起犯罪活动。贪婪的窃贼在发现有辆车的车窗未关后，没有丝毫犹豫。几秒之间，他把手伸进车窗，抓出一袋东西逃之天天。不论他犯罪多少次，警方都无法抓捕到他。要知道，这可不是普通的罪犯：它是一只大狒狒。以前，在开普敦发生的这种事几乎闻所未闻，但现在这种事在世界各地都时有发生。伦敦出现了狐狸，旧金山出现了美洲狮，香港出现了野猪，我们的城市就像是被野生动物给占领了。

2 (b) People often wonder about the reasons behind this mass urban migration. Most of us would assume that urban development and climate change are responsible for pushing the animals out of their natural habitats. However true this is, we also need to consider that some of these so-called “urban animals” have never moved at all – it's we humans who have moved into their territory. Wherever they go, animals find towns and cities in their way. With nowhere else to make their homes, they have no choice but to move in with us.
人们总想知道这种大规模城市迁徙背后的原因。我们大多数人会认为，城市发展和气候变化是造成这些动物离开其自然栖息地的原因。无论事实如何，我们必须得明白，在这些所谓的“城市动物”中，有一些根本就没有迁徙过一是我们人类搬到了它们的领地里。动物不论走到哪里，都发现有城镇拦路。既然没有别处可以安家，它们别无选择，只好搬来和我们一起住。

3 (d) Yet, for its newest and wildest inhabitants, a city can offer many benefits. As our cities become greener, they offer increasingly appealing spaces to animals looking for new habitats. Out of reach from many of their natural predators, these newcomers often flourish in their new city lives. Today, foxes can be seen all over London – one even being found living on the 72nd floor of the Shard building when it was under construction! What's more, hungry animals are finding plenty to eat in our gardens and in the leftovers we throw away.
不过，城市可以给这些最新的也是最野生的居民以许多好处。随着我们的城市绿化越来越好，它们越来越吸引着寻找新栖息地的动物。由于远离自然界中的许多天敌，这些新来者往往在新城市生活中蓬勃发展。现在，伦敦随处都可以见到狐狸—有一只甚至生活在当时在建的夏德大厦72楼！而且，饥饿的动物们从我们的花园里和我们扔掉的垃圾中找寻到大量的食物。

4 (a) One thing crucial to the increasing number of “urban animals” is their ability to adapt. There is evidence that urban racoons are more intelligent than their wild cousins, as they frequently have to figure out difficult problems such as how to open rubbish bins and other containers which they would not find in the wild. Some animals have even changed their living habits to fit in with their new homes. Although naturally active at night, urban foxes come out in daylight if the reward is good enough. Their city location also means that they are getting a taste for the multicultural cuisine on offer from the garbage, such as hamburgers, lamb kebabs and even garlic bread!
对这些越来越多的“城市动物”来说，适应能力是关键。有证据显示，和野生的浣熊相比，城市里的流熊更聪明，因为它们时常要想办法解决难题，比如怎么打开垃圾桶以及其他它们在野外不会见到的容器。为了适应新的家园，有些动物甚至改变了习性。尽管狐狸天生昼伏夜出，但如果回报足够丰厚，城市里的狐狸会在白天出来。城市的位置也意味着，它们可以吃到来自垃圾里的多元文化的菜肴，比如汉堡包、烤羊肉串甚至香蒜面包！

5 (c) For those animals that don't adapt, the city can be a dangerous or even deadly place. Unable to distinguish between blue sky and glass, birds crash into windows at speeds of about 50 kilometres per hour. Recent studies estimate that between 400 million and 1 billion birds die from window impacts each year in the US alone. Shockingly, these deaths amount to around ten per cent of the total US bird population. Some species are more affected than others. One theory behind this is that these birds have yet to change their migratory routes that take them through cities with high-rise buildings.
对无法适应环境的动物来说，城市是个危险甚至致命的地方。无法分辨蓝天和玻璃的鸟类会以每小时50千米的速度撞向窗户。近期研究估计，仅在美国，每年就有4亿到10亿只鸟因撞向窗户而亡。令人震惊的是，这一死亡数量约占全美鸟类总量的10%。有些种类的鸟受此影响更大。一种理论认为，这些鸟类的迁徙路线让它们穿过这些有高楼大厦的城市，而它们还没有调整路线。

6 However they adapt to our ways of urban living, it's important that we get a better understanding of and even learn to appreciate our wild neighbours. Only then can we look towards harmoniously sharing our urban habitats. Whatever the reasons behind these species entering our cities, one thing is for sure – as it's often a means of their survival, they could be with us to stay.
不论它们如何适应我们的城市生活，更好地理解甚至学会欣赏我们的野生邻居是非常重要的。只有那时，我们才能展望与它们和谐分享城市栖息地的未来。无论这些物种为什么进入我们的城市，有一件事是肯定的—既然它们这么做通常是为了生存，那么它们就可以留下来和我们一起生活。

第68页阅读讲解

Plan B: Life on Mars?
B计划：在火星上生活？

1 In the 1960s and 1970s, the greatest fear was that the human race, and possibly all advanced life forms on the planet, could be wiped out by nuclear missiles, just at the push of a button. Today, however, environmental problems have taken over as the greatest risk to life on Earth. Scientists are thinking of ways to lower this risk, such as replacing coal and oil with forms of renewable energy. But they are also preparing for the worst: what can we do if the terrifying scenes in films such as The Day After Tomorrow happen in real life? What is our Plan B for Earth?
在20世纪60、70年代，最大的恐惧是，只需按下一个按钮，人类——甚至可能是地球，上所有的高级生命体—就可能被核导弹彻底毁灭。然而今天，环境问题已经变成地球上的生命面临的最大威胁。科学家们正在思考降低这一风险的方法，例如用各种可再生能源替代煤炭和石油。但他们也在做最坏的打算：如果《后天》等电影中的恐怖场景发生在现实生活中，我们该怎么办？对地球，我们的B计划是什么？

2 One option is to explore other planets to see if we could live on them. The most likely choice is Mars, which is relatively close to Earth and has an environment less hostile than that of other planets. Mars has fascinated people since ancient times, and today our interest in Martian exploration is greater than ever before. Films such as The Martian enjoy worldwide popularity. More governments and organisations are making efforts to educate the public on the Red Planet, for example, the Mars Desert Research Station in the Utah desert of the US and the Mars Village in North-west China's Qinghai Province.
一种选择是探索其他星球，看看我们能否在上面生活。最有可能的选择是火星，它离地球相对较近，环境不像其他行星那么恶劣。火星自古以来就吸引着人们，我们现在对探索火星的兴趣比以往任何时候都更浓厚。像火星救援》这样的电影在全世界都很受欢迎。越来越多的政府和组织正在努力对公众进行有关“红色星球”的教育，例如美国犹他州的火星沙漠研究站和中国西北部青海省的火星村。

3 Since the 1960s, we have been sending unmanned spacecraft to Mars. Our probes have orbited the planet, sending back valuable data and stunning images. Our robots have explored the Martian surface, testing the soil and searching for resources, water and signs of life. Encouraged by discoveries over the years, space agencies of various countries are planning manned missions to Mars that could take place within the next 25 years.
自20世纪60年代以来，我们一直在向火星发射无人飞船。我们的探测器已经绕火星轨道运行，并发回了宝贵的数据和令人惊叹的图像。我们的机器人已经探索了火星表面，测试了土壤并且在寻找资源、水和生命的迹象。受到多年来这些发现的鼓舞，各国航天机构正计划在未来25年内进行载人飞船登陆火星的任务。

4 There is no doubt that humankind is drawn towards Mars, with dreams of making it our second home. However, sending people there will require all the skill, courage and intelligence of the human race. While the Moon can be reached within days, it would take months to reach Mars, travelling through dangerous solar radiation. And even if the first settlers do reach Mars safely, they may not be able to return to Earth – ever. Staying alive will be a daily challenge, but as proved by the Biosphere 2 experiment, not impossible. As early as the 1980s, scientists were building Biosphere 2 in the Arizona desert. It consisted of a closed space in which people, animals and plants could live together. The “closed” concept meant that the space was designed to function with its own oxygen, food and water, needing nothing from the outside world. Although the two-year experiment was not a success, it did provide us with a better understanding of how humans might be able to live on another planet. More recently, scientists have succeeded in growing a variety of plants in an environment similar to that on Mars. That definitely is a big step forward.
毫无疑问，人类被火星所吸引，梦想着把它作为我们的第二家园。然而，把人类送上火星将要求人类具备所有的技能、勇气和智慧。到达月球只需要几天的时间，而到达火星却需要数月的时间，并且其间要经历危险的太阳辐射。而且即使第一批开拓者安全抵达火星，他们可能永远无法再回到地球。活着将会成为一个日常挑战，但正如“生物圈2号”实验所证明的，这也并非完全不可能。早在20世纪80年代，科学家们就在亚利桑那州的沙漠中建造了“生物圈2号”。它包括一个封闭的空间，人、动物和植物可以生活在一起。“封闭”的概念意味着这个空间被设计成依靠自身的氧气、食物和水来运作，而不需要外界的任何东西。尽管为期两年的实验并不成功，但它确实让我们更好地了解了人类如何能够在另一个星球上生活。最近，科学家们成功地在类似火星的环境中种植了各种各样的植物。这无疑是向前迈出的一大步。

5 For now, human settlement of Mars is still decades away. In the meantime, scientific research shows that the planet Earth is getting warmer. This change is being caused by human activity and is having a terrible effect on the biosphere. Until we are finally able to live on another planet, we need to take much better care of our own. Right now, it's the only one we have!
到目前为止，人类要在火星上定居还需要几十年的时间。同时，科学研究表明地球正在变暖。这种变化是由人类活动引起的，而且对生物圈产生了严重的影响。在我们最终能够生活在另一个星球上之前，我们需要更好地保护好我们自己的星球。现在，它是我们唯一个赖以生存的星球！