考博英語外刊閱讀：Killing one species to save another

Killing one species to save another

by Phuong Le

As he stood amid the thick old-growth forests in the coastal range of Oregon, Dave Wiens was nervous. Before he trained to shoot his first barred owl, he had never fired a gun.

amid /prep. 在…中

thick /adj. 濃密的、茂密的

old-growth (樹等)生長了很長時間的

coastal / adj. 海岸邊的、沿海的(由coast加后綴-al變成形容詞)

range / n. 山脈

Oregon /n. 俄勒岡(美國西北部的州)

barred owl 條紋貓頭鷹

fire / v. 開槍

He eyed the big female owl, which perched(停歇) on a branch at just the right distance. Then he squeezed the trigger and the owl fell to the forest floor, its carcass(動物尸體) adding to a running tally(計數(shù)) of more than 2,400 barred owls killed so far in a controversial experiment by the U.S. government to test whether the northern spotted owl's rapid decline in the Pacific Northwest can be stopped by killing its aggressive East Coast cousin – the barred owl.

eye /v. 注視

squeeze /v. 擠壓

trigger /  n. (槍的)扳機

controversial / adj. 有爭議的

spotted owl 斑點貓頭鷹

rapid / adj. 快速的、迅速的

decline /n/ 減少

Pacific Northwest 指美國西北部靠太平洋的地區(qū)(俄勒岡州是其中一部分)

aggressive /adj. 侵略性的

cousin / n. 近親

Wiens is the son of a well-known ornithologist(鳥類學(xué)家) and grew up fascinated by birds, and his graduate research in owl interactions helped lay the groundwork for this tense moment. "It's a little distasteful(令人反感的) to go out killing owls to save another owl species," said Wiens. "Nonetheless, I also feel like from a conservation standpoint, our back was up against the wall.★ We knew that barred owls were outcompeting spotted owls and their populations were going haywire."

fascinated / adj. 著迷的

graduate / n. 大學(xué)畢業(yè)生(graduate research指大學(xué)畢業(yè)以后研究生階段的研究項目)

interaction /n. 相互作用

groundwork / n. 基礎(chǔ)工作(由ground和work組成)

tense / adj. 讓人緊張的

species / n. 物種(單數(shù)和復(fù)數(shù)都是species)

nonetheless / adv. 盡管如此

conservation / n. 保護

standpoint /  n. 立場、觀點

★ 這句話里our back was up against the wall意思是我們已經(jīng)無路可退了

outcompete /  v. 在競爭中勝出(由compete加上表示勝過的前綴out-)

go haywire 指失控

In almost all ways, the barred owl is the spotted owl's worst enemy: They reproduce more often, have more babies per year and eat the same prey, like squirrels(松鼠) and wood rats. And they now outnumber spotted owls in many areas of the native bird's historic range.

reproduce /  v. 繁殖

prey / n. 獵物

outnumber /  v. 數(shù)量超過(由number加上表示勝過的前綴out-)

native / adj. 原產(chǎn)地的、當(dāng)?shù)氐?/p>

historic / adj. 有歷史意義的

The federal government has been trying for decades to save the northern spotted owl, but the birds' population continued to decline. So in a last-ditch effort to see whether they can save spotted owls, federal officials are resorting to killing hundreds of federally protected barred owls.

federal / adj. 聯(lián)邦的

decade /  n. 十年

last-ditch 做最后努力的

official /n. 官員

resort to 訴諸于

federally /  adv. 聯(lián)邦范圍地(由federal加后綴-ly變成副詞)

Wiens, who works for the U.S. Geological Survey, now views his gun as "a research tool" in humankind's attempts to maintain biodiversity and rebalance the forest ecosystem. Because the barred owl has few predators in Northwest forests, he sees his team's role as apex(頂點) predator, acting as a cap on a population that doesn't have one.

U.S. Geological Survey 美國地質(zhì)調(diào)查局

view / v. 看待

humankind / n. 人類

maintain / v. 維護、維持

biodiversity /  n. 生物多樣性(由diversity加上表示生物的前綴bio-)

rebalance /  v. 再平衡、使重新平衡(由balance加上表示再次的前綴re-)

ecosystem /n. 生態(tài)系統(tǒng)(由system加上表示生態(tài)的前綴eco-)

predator /  n. 捕食者、天敵

act as 充當(dāng)

cap / n. 上限

Michael Harris, who directs the wildlife law program for Friends of Animals, thinks the government should focus on what humans are doing to the environment and protect habitats rather than scapegoating(使成為替罪羊) barred owls.

direct /v. 指揮、領(lǐng)導(dǎo)

program /  n. 計劃、項目

focus on 聚焦于、專注于

habitat / n. 棲息地

"Things were put into motion a century ago. We really have to let these things work themselves out," said Harris. "It's going to be very common with climate change. What are we going to do – pick and choose the winners "

put into motion 啟動、使逐步發(fā)展

work out 解決

Others just see a no-win situation. "A decision not to kill the barred owl is a decision to let the spotted owl go extinct," said Bob Sallinger, conservation director with the Audubon Society of Portland. "That's what we have to wrestle with."

extinct / adj. 滅絕的

wrestle with 努力解決

英文原文節(jié)選自ABC New