节目资讯
刊物:空中英语教室
日期:2012-09-28
难易度:Medium
关键字:menace, roam, convert, endanger, subspecies, habitat, poacher
Friends, thanks for joining us here at Studio Classroom Worldwide.
My name is Steve. And I'm so happy that you've joined us today.
The tiger is very close to becoming extinct.
Efforts in Russia's Far East and in India prove that government action, habitat
protection and anti-hunting efforts can work.
But they must be sustained if they are to be effective.
What we need to do is renew commitments, step up efforts and continue to raise
awareness because the future of these beautiful creatures depends on it.
OK. Let's get into today's lesson and look more closely at the things that
threaten the tigers' future on page 51.
(Music).
The Future of Tigers.
The threats.
In the 20th century alone, three subspecies became extinct: the Bali tiger, the
Caspian tiger and the Javan tiger.
From the 1930s through the 1980s, one of these subspecies of tigers disappeared
nearly every 20 years.
Up until the 1930s, tiger hunting was the greatest menace, but since then, loss
of habitat has become a major threat.
In the past, tigers roamed from Siberia to Bali and from Turkey to the Russian
and Chinese coastlines.
Today only about seven percent of their original habitat remains, resulting in
fewer tigers in the wild.
Hi, friends.
Thanks for joining us.
My name is Ryan.
And my name is Kaylah.
And today we're back talking about tigers.
Now yesterday we learned that tigers are very powerful, very large animal, but
yet they still are in danger.
But we never discussed, well, what those dangers are.
Today we're looking at the threats that they are facing.
All right.
Now a threat is something that can cause danger or harm, so.
Now we want to learn why these tigers are in danger. That's what today is all
about.
Well, in the 20th century alone, three subspecies became extinct.
Now we need to know what a subspecies is before we get started.
All right.
"Subspecies" is talking about a group of plants or animals that are related to
each other but different in a certain way.
That's right.
So we're talking about tigers, so the species we're talking about is tigers.
But there are different kinds of tigers, and three of them became extinct just
in the 20th century.
That's right.
The Bali tiger, the Caspian tiger and the Javan tiger, all of those tigers are
now extinct.
Well, from the 1930s through the 1980s, one of these subspecies of tigers
disappeared every 20 years.
OK. So this is happening very quickly.
Many tigers are disappearing very quickly.
That's right.
When we say "to disappear," that means they are becoming extinct.
That means they are no longer in existence.
None of them exist anymore.
So they're gone for good because, you know, we can't make a tiger.
They have to reproduce themselves.
But we have some more information on this.
So let's visit the Information Station.
It's sad that tigers are an endangered species, Bill.
Yes. Through illegal hunting and loss of habitat, their numbers have been
greatly reduced.
But tigers aren't the only endangered species.
Many animals around the world face an uncertain future.
And to learn about some of these animals, let's head over to...
Information Station.
Well, Bill, I'm very glad that our friend Tango Bear is not endangered.
I know.
Tango Bear he donates to the World Wildlife Fund that is mentioned in our
article.
That organization does its best to protect endangered species.
And one of those endangered animals is the black rhino.
Found in Eastern and Southern Africa, there are now less than 3,000 black
rhinos.
Also due to deforestation in Indonesia, orangutans have seen their numbers drop
dramatically.
The panda is also an endangered species.
While the Wolong Nature Preserve in Sichuan aims to protect and breed pandas,
much of their natural habitat is gone.
In America, the bald eagle faced great danger.
But laws to protect it have allowed them to rebound although the bald eagle is
still in danger due to illegal hunting.
In fact, many exotic birds are endangered, Bryan.
Unfortunately, in Africa and South America, many rare colorful birds are
captured and then sold illegally.
Yes. So it's important not to buy rare birds and animals.
In many cases, it's illegal to buy them.
Some of Tango Bear's relatives are also endangered.
Grizzly bears, like Tango, have declined in number.
And Tango's cousins, the polar bears face many difficulties as a result of
global warming.
And several species of sharks face extinction from overfishing due to demand for
shark fin soup.
So friends, it's important for all of us to do what we can to protect these
animals.
Viewers, be sure to read the section titled "How can we make a difference" in
the last day of this Studio Classroom article.
And we'll see you all next time here at...
Information Station.
All right, friends.
Well, before the 1930s, what was causing the tigers to disappear?
Well, before that time tiger hunting was the greatest menace, but after that
time, or since then, the loss of habitat has become a major threat.
That's right.
We saw the dates of tigers decreasing starting in the 1930s.
Now there were threats to tigers before the 30s, and that mainly was people
hunting them.
That was the greatest menace.
And a "menace" is something that is likely to cause harm and is usually very
bothersome, very annoying.
They're a problem.
So that was the greatest harm, the greatest threat to them.
But after the 30s, things changed, and the greatest threat became the habitat
issues.
Right, their loss of habitat.
And friends, a "habitat" is the area where an animal lives.
So tigers begin losing their homes probably because people were building cities
there.
Now in the past, tigers roamed from Siberia to Bali and from Turkey to the
Russian and Chinese coastlines.
Now if you're imagining a map, thinking of Siberia down to Bali is a very long
distance,
and from Turkey all the way over to the Russia, China's seaboard, that's a huge
area for tigers to live in.
Well, that's all of Asia.
Asia is huge!
And so yeah, they were everywhere.
But we see that's changed.
But before we talk about how that's changed, Kaylah, they were able to roam in
that area.
What does that mean?
To "roam" means to move about usually with... without a big sense of direction.
Instead they would follow where the food was.
So they would live in these different areas, migrating as they needed to because
we know that tigers do hunt alone, they could roam about on their own.
OK. And they did do that on their own, but we know that that's no longer the
same.
They don't occupy all of Asia anymore.
Today only about seven percent of their original habitat remains, resulting in
fewer tigers in the wild.
Now think about this area, and it's huge, this large area of Asia.
But since the 1930s, how much have... has become a place where humans live or
cities are being built?
We were mining and taking things out of nature.
Each one of those things destroys habitats, destroys the tigers' living area.
So this would result in fewer tigers being able to live in the wild.
That's right.
They find fewer animals to eat for food, and they have fewer places to travel.
And so many of them die off.
Friends, we're going to learn more about what is affecting the tiger after this
break.
But first, let's watch the skit.
Tigers are terrific, and Tigers are popular.
Yes. And there are some very famous tigers.
That's right.
I know a famous tiger named Tigger.
He's a friend of Winnie the Pooh.
Right.
And I know a famous tiger that plays golf.
Oh. You mean Tiger Woods?
Yeah.
Very funny.
Oh, hey, I know another famous tiger.
Mama-tiger.
Mama-tiger? Who?
That's right.
(Chinese).
Isn't that funny?
(Chinese).
All right. Well, there are two tigers from a popular song.
Two tigers?
Yes.
One doesn't have ears, and one doesn't have a tail.
Oh, (Chinese).
Yeah! That's them!
(Chinese).
Oh, and there's something about a tiger made of paper.
Yes. There's an English idiom, paper tiger.
What does "paper tiger" mean?
A paper tiger is something that seems dangerous, but it's really harmless.
Oh. So a real tiger is dangerous but a paper tiger is not.
That's right.
That phrase came from Chinese.
Oh, yeah.
(Chinese).
And there's another idiom: I have a tiger by the tail.
A tiger by the tail?
Ooh, that sounds dangerous.
It is. And to have a tiger by the tail means that you have something that is
more than you can handle.
I understand.
Well, goodbye, everyone.
We'll see you next time.
Hey, wait.
I have a tiger by the tail.
What should I do?
Say goodbye.
Wait... hey!Bye...