U 2 Listening 1Tour Guide: OK, everyone, here’s our next exhibit. Do you see the body of the little bird in that bottle? That is a duskyseasid e sparro w. It was an old male that died on June 16, 1987. It’s kind of sad because he was the very last duskyseasid e sparro w in the world. They’re now extinct. Yes, you have a question?Male: Do you know why they became extinc t?Tour Guide: Basica lly, they lost theirhabita t. See, the duskyseasid e sparro w livedonly in one place—on Merrit t Island in Florid a. The island had a lot of mosqui t oesand wetlands. The people on Merrit t Island used chemic als to kill the mosquitoes.Tour Guide: Thosechemic als were also very harmfu l to the sparro ws, and many died. In addition, the people on Merrit t Island triedto contro l and exploit the wetlan ds. As they altere d them, the wetlan ds were no longer a good habita t for the sparro ws. The birdsdied one by one untilthereweren’t any left.Female: So, if people were to blame, can’t we make sure something like that neverhappen s again?Tour Guide: We’re trying. The situat ion with the duskyseasid e sparro w makesone thingvery clear. We need to protec t endangeredanimals. Howeve r, it’s a better strate gy to protec t the animals andtheirhabita ts, too. After all, if an animal’s habita t is destro yed, the animal will likely become extinc t.Tour Guide: We’re trying. The situat ion with the duskyseasid e sparro w makesone thingvery clear. We need to protec t endangeredanimals. Howeve r, it’s a better strate gy to protec t the animals andtheirhabita ts, too. After all, if an animal’s habita t is destro yed, the animal will likely become extinc t. That’s why the EndangeredSpecie s Act, whichwas passed in the United States in 1973, protec ts both endangeredanimals and theirhabita ts. For example, the steelh ead troutlivesin rivers and stream s on the west coastof the United States—the Columbia Riverin Washin gtonstatefor instan ce. Recent ly, both the fish and the rivercame underthe protec tionof the EndangeredSpecie s Act.Male: But how can we protec t largeareassuch as rivers and forest s? No one—not even the govern ment—can afford to buy or contro l all the land that endangeredspecie s live on.Tour Guide: Good point. In fact, that’s what makesthe EndangeredSpecie s Act diffic ult to fullyenforc e. There’s an ongoin g conflict between some landow ners and the govern ment. T ake the case of the gray wolf, for instan ce. At one time, the wolves were common all over NorthAmeric a, but by the 1930sthey were nearly all killed. Then in 1973, the wolves came underthe protectionof the EndangeredSpecie s Act, alongwith huge areasof land—in Wyomin g and Idaho, for example. This angere d ranche rs. They thinkthey should have the rightto shootwolves that threat en theirsheepand cows.Tour Guide: So, landow nersm ay unders tandthe need for the protec tionof endangeredspecies, but it’s unders tandable that they might also feel that the EndangeredSpecie s Act violat es theirrights. Yes?Female: Is the law workin g? I mean, what is the status of endangeredspecie s todayin the United States?Tour Guide: Unfort unate ly, the situat ion of threat enedand endangeredanimals is worsenow than in 1973, even with the EndangeredSpecie s Act in place. Report s on topics such as habita t loss, defore station, and overfishing show that the situat ion for many specie s is far worsenow than it was in 1973. Let me be more specific. Rightnow over 1,300 specie s in the United States are listed as endangeredor threat ened.Tour Guide: And, it’s import ant to keep in mind that not many specie s are ever takenoff the list. Since1973, in fact, only around 39 specie s have been removed from the EndangeredSpecie s list. But that number doesn’t indica te the comple te story. What’s signif icant aboutthat number is that only 14 specie s were remove d becaus e they had actually recove red. Nine specie s became extinc t, and the others were remove d from the list afterscient istsfoundeviden ce that listin g the specie s had been a mistak e in the firstplace. Meanwhile, anothe r 300 specie s may soon be addedto the list, includ ing a plant, the Las Vegasbuckwh eat, and an insect, the Miami blue butter fly. So, you see, even with the EndangeredSpecie s Act in place, we’re not making as much progre ss as we wouldlike. Any more questions? OK, let’s move on to the next exhibit. This way, please.导游:好吧,各位,这是我们的下一个展览。
