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VOA慢速英语 2008 0429b

时间:2008-06-04 08:03:48

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(单词翻译)

VOICE ONE:

This is SCIENCE IN THE NEWS in VOA Special English. I'm Barbara Klein.

VOICE TWO:

And I'm Steve Ember. This week, we will tell about a threat to North America's colorful monarch1 butterflies. We will tell about what is being called the oldest gold jewelry2 ever found in the Americas. And, we report on a possible link between fat around the middle of the body and a brain disorder3.

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:
 
Monarch butterfly

Scientists say illegal logging is threatening one of Mexico’s most famous insects. Satellite pictures show large wooded areas have been cleared from the central Mexican state of Michoacan. The forests are the winter home for millions of monarch butterflies. The butterflies travel there each year to reproduce.

The American space agency released the satellite pictures last month. The images show the Monarch Butterfly Biosphere4 Reserve. A Mexican law protects trees growing in the area.

The images show that about four hundred forty-five hectares have been cleared since two thousand four. Scientists say that, if the clearing continues, monarch butterflies are unlikely to continue using the Reserve as their winter home.

VOICE TWO:

For thousands of years, the butterflies have been flying to the same forests. Their trip begins along the border of Canada and the northeastern United States. The trip lasts about four thousand eight hundred kilometers. The insects fly about eighty kilometers a day. They reach central Mexico after about sixty days.

No one is sure why the brightly colored orange and black butterflies chose these forests. However, scientists believe the area might offer the right mix of wetness and cool weather to keep the insects alive through the winter.

VOICE ONE:

Lincoln Brower is professor emeritus5 of biology at Sweet Briar College in Virginia. He has been studying monarch butterflies for fifty-two years. He says they have been migrating along the same path for about ten thousand years.

People in Mexico have compared the arrival of the butterflies to dark cloud-like formations filling the air. Because the monarchs6 arrive in such large numbers, they sometimes cover whole trees. The trees protect them not only from winter storms, but also from the intense heat of Mexico’s sun.

VOICE TWO:

Mexico's President ordered special protection for the Monarch Butterfly Biosphere Reserve eight years ago. However, the Mexican government has struggled to enforce the order. Illegal logging has become one way for poor people to earn money. But other Mexicans are fighting to protect the butterflies’ home. Many have joined groups to watch for illegal loggers and inform police of their activity.

Each year, more than two hundred thousand people travel to Michoacan State to see the butterflies. From November to March, millions of butterflies can be seen in the trees and the sky. After reproducing, the adult butterflies die. But their young return to the home of their parents each spring.

Mexican officials hope that by protecting the forests, they can increase the number of visitors and help the local economy.

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

Being overweight can lead to high blood pressure, diabetes7 and heart attacks. But now there may be another reason to lose the fat, especially around the middle of the body.

A recent study suggests that people in their forties with belly8 fat have an increased risk of developing dementia later in life. Dementia is the name for a group of brain disorders9 that affect memory, behavior, learning and language. Alzheimer's disease is the most common cause. Dementia rarely appears before the age of sixty.

VOICE TWO:

The new study adds to growing evidence that people with large stomachs can face greater health risks than others who are overweight.

The study involved more than six thousand northern California members of Kaiser Permanente, a health care organization. Researchers examined medical records of the patients. The records covered the period from nineteen sixty-four to nineteen seventy-three. At the time, the patients were in their early to mid-forties. They were all part of a long-term health study that included measurements of belly fat.

VOICE ONE:

The researchers compared the records with those from when the patients were seventy years or older. By that time, almost one in six of them had dementia. The researchers found that dementia was more common in those with wider bellies10. Those with the highest belly measurements had almost three times the risk of dementia compared to those with the lowest.

Belly size appeared to make a difference even in patients with normal body weight.

Belly size is linked to a kind of fat that grows around organs and produces harmful substances. Experts believe that belly fat is more dangerous than other kinds of fat cells that grow just under the skin.

VOICE TWO:

The researchers say this is the first study to demonstrate a link between midlife belly fat and the risk of dementia. Still, it is possible that this apparent connection could be the result of a complex set of health-related behaviors.

The findings were reported in the publication Neurology. Rachel Whitmer from the Kaiser Permanente research division led the study. She says the findings do not explain why belly fat may be linked to dementia. But she says the study should send a warning.

Other research has shown that brain changes linked to Alzheimer’s disease might begin as early as young adulthood11. And, one study showed that belly fat in older adults was tied to increased loss of brain cells.

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

Archeologists say they have found the oldest gold jewelry ever discovered in the Americas. The archeologists say the gold necklace was made nearly four thousand years ago. It was found during an archeological dig in burial grounds near Lake Titicaca in southern Peru.

University of Arizona anthropologist12 Mark Aldenderfer led the team of archeologists. He says the necklace was made from tube-like pieces of gold and stones. They were found with bone particles from a human head and neck in an area called Jiskairumoko. Mister Aldenderfer says the gold pieces were likely connected together with a thin piece of material and worn on the person’s neck.

VOICE TWO:

The team used carbon dating tests to estimate the age of the necklace. The tests suggest the gold pieces were made between more than three thousand nine hundred forty and four thousand one hundred sixty years ago. That is about six hundred years older than any other gold jewelry found in the western hemisphere. That gold was also discovered in Peru. However, it was farther north than where the recent discovery was made.

Mister Aldenderfer has described the discovery as shocking. He says it supports the theory that early metal-working in the Andes Mountains was done experimentally with native gold. Yet he says the discovery is important for another reason.

VOICE ONE:

Gold metal work is usually found in connection with communities that had plenty of food. Such communities are also usually ones with social leadership positions. This is because jewelry requires time and skill to make. It also requires enough money or wealth to get the materials used in the jewelry. People who wore gold necklaces would have likely been attempting to set themselves apart from others.

Mister Aldenderfer says the people who lived at Jiskairumoko were only beginning to move out of a hunting and gathering13 society, and toward low-level agriculture. Official leadership positions would not be seen until hundreds of years later in more developed communities. He says this is important because it suggests an early desire for class and social position among people who had lived as equals.

VOICE TWO:

Mister Aldenderfer and his team found the necklace about seven years ago. But he says he and other researchers kept the finding a secret until recently. They needed time for chemical tests of the objects to be completed. They also wanted to prevent robbers from raiding the area.

The United States National Science Foundation and the University of Missouri paid for their study. The findings were published last month in Proceedings14 of the National Academy of Science.

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

This SCIENCE IN THE NEWS was written by Caty Weaver15 and Brianna Blake, who also was our producer. I'm Barbara Klein.

VOICE TWO:

And I'm Steve Ember. Join us again at this time next week for more news about science in Special English on the Voice of America.


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点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 monarch l6lzj     
n.帝王,君主,最高统治者
参考例句:
  • The monarch's role is purely ceremonial.君主纯粹是个礼仪职位。
  • I think myself happier now than the greatest monarch upon earth.我觉得这个时候比世界上什么帝王都快乐。
2 jewelry 0auz1     
n.(jewllery)(总称)珠宝
参考例句:
  • The burglars walked off with all my jewelry.夜盗偷走了我的全部珠宝。
  • Jewelry and lace are mostly feminine belongings.珠宝和花边多数是女性用品。
3 disorder Et1x4     
n.紊乱,混乱;骚动,骚乱;疾病,失调
参考例句:
  • When returning back,he discovered the room to be in disorder.回家后,他发现屋子里乱七八糟。
  • It contained a vast number of letters in great disorder.里面七零八落地装着许多信件。
4 biosphere 5Ryyu     
n.生命层,生物圈
参考例句:
  • The entire biosphere was becoming more transparent.整个生物圈越来越透明。
  • The impact of modern technology on the biosphere is evident worldwide.现代技术对生物圈的影响在全世界是明显的。
5 emeritus ypixp     
adj.名誉退休的
参考例句:
  • "Perhaps I can introduce Mr.Lake Kirby,an emeritus professor from Washington University?"请允许我介绍华盛顿大学名誉教授莱克柯尔比先生。
  • He will continue as chairman emeritus.他将会继续担任荣誉主席。
6 monarchs aa0c84cc147684fb2cc83dc453b67686     
君主,帝王( monarch的名词复数 )
参考例句:
  • Monarchs ruled England for centuries. 世袭君主统治英格兰有许多世纪。
  • Serving six monarchs of his native Great Britain, he has served all men's freedom and dignity. 他在大不列颠本国为六位君王服务,也为全人类的自由和尊严服务。 来自演讲部分
7 diabetes uPnzu     
n.糖尿病
参考例句:
  • In case of diabetes, physicians advise against the use of sugar.对于糖尿病患者,医生告诫他们不要吃糖。
  • Diabetes is caused by a fault in the insulin production of the body.糖尿病是由体內胰岛素分泌失调引起的。
8 belly QyKzLi     
n.肚子,腹部;(像肚子一样)鼓起的部分,膛
参考例句:
  • The boss has a large belly.老板大腹便便。
  • His eyes are bigger than his belly.他眼馋肚饱。
9 disorders 6e49dcafe3638183c823d3aa5b12b010     
n.混乱( disorder的名词复数 );凌乱;骚乱;(身心、机能)失调
参考例句:
  • Reports of anorexia and other eating disorders are on the increase. 据报告,厌食症和其他饮食方面的功能紊乱发生率正在不断增长。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • The announcement led to violent civil disorders. 这项宣布引起剧烈的骚乱。 来自《简明英汉词典》
10 bellies 573b19215ed083b0e01ff1a54e4199b2     
n.肚子( belly的名词复数 );腹部;(物体的)圆形或凸起部份;腹部…形的
参考例句:
  • They crawled along on their bellies. 他们匍匐前进。
  • starving children with huge distended bellies 鼓着浮肿肚子的挨饿儿童
11 adulthood vKsyr     
n.成年,成人期
参考例句:
  • Some infantile actions survive into adulthood.某些婴儿期的行为一直保持到成年期。
  • Few people nowadays are able to maintain friendships into adulthood.如今很少有人能将友谊维持到成年。
12 anthropologist YzgzPk     
n.人类学家,人类学者
参考例句:
  • The lecturer is an anthropologist.这位讲师是人类学家。
  • The anthropologist unearthed the skull of an ancient human at the site.人类学家在这个遗址挖掘出那块古人类的颅骨。
13 gathering ChmxZ     
n.集会,聚会,聚集
参考例句:
  • He called on Mr. White to speak at the gathering.他请怀特先生在集会上讲话。
  • He is on the wing gathering material for his novels.他正忙于为他的小说收集资料。
14 proceedings Wk2zvX     
n.进程,过程,议程;诉讼(程序);公报
参考例句:
  • He was released on bail pending committal proceedings. 他交保获释正在候审。
  • to initiate legal proceedings against sb 对某人提起诉讼
15 weaver LgWwd     
n.织布工;编织者
参考例句:
  • 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。

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