2024年3月16日发(作者：)

Unit 4 Scripts & Notes

Unit 4 Conservation

Part II LISTENING AND SPEAKING

Lesson A Why Are They Endangered?

Listening

SCRIPT

Track 4-1

Numbers of most animal species worldwide are going down. For example, in

the 1970s, there were about 1,200,000 African elephants. Today there are only

about 500,000. In the 1970s, there were about 200,000 African lions. Today, there

are fewer than 21,000. But there is some good news. For example, in the 1970s,

there were only about 1,000 bald eagles. Today, there are more than 50,000. Giant

panda populations also look to be increasing, but very slowly. In the 1970s there

were about 1,000 pandas in the wild, today scientists think there are about 1,600.

Animals worldwide are in danger for several reasons. First, people poison

them because they want to kill them. This happens with lions, for example. Also,

many farmers who grow food use pesticides to kill insects. Some animals eat these

insects and die, too. This happened with bald eagles until farmers stopped using

the dangerous pesticide called DDT.

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Unit 4 Scripts & Notes

Second, there is habitat loss. In much of the world, people cut down trees.

They destroy forests because they need land for farms and cities. This takes away

land from animals. This happens, from example, with lions, elephants, and pandas.

Third, there is hunting. People sometimes kill animals for food. They also kill

animals for their body parts. For example, poachers kill elephants for their white

tusks. More often, farmers want to protect their own animals — their cows and

sheep — so they kill lions. Or they want to protect their land, so they kill elephants.

In the past, poaching was a problem for pandas as people hunted pandas for their

skin. Today, this isn’t really a problem for them.

1. DDT：滴滴涕，双对氯苯基三氯乙烷，用作农用杀虫剂

Conversation

Track 4–2

A: Did you know that grizzly bears are endangered?

B: Yeah? Why are they endangered?

A: Mainly because of hunting by humans and habitat loss.

B: How many are left?

A: Only about 25,000.

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Unit 4 Scripts & Notes

Lesson B

Listening 1

SCRIPT

Track 4-3

Zeb Hogan

Many of the world’s largest freshwater fish are endangered. In Mongolia, for

example, people who live near the rivers and lakes are often poor. They kill the fish

for food, decreasing their numbers. People also kill them for sport, so their

numbers are further decreasing. Zeb Hogan, from the United States, is working

with local people to save fish such as the giant salmon in Mongolia. Hogan is part

of a project to bring tourists to rivers in Mongolia. They pay to catch salmon for

sport, and then release them — throw them back into the water. The fish are not

hurt, and the people in Mongolian villages make money from the tourism.

Tuy Sereivathana (Vathana)

In Cambodia, there are many new towns, roads, and farms, and elephant

habitats are disappearing. Because of this, elephants go into villages and eat the

crops. Poor farmers kill them to protect their land. As a result, the Cambodian

elephant population has fallen from 2,000 in 1995 to fewer than 500 today.

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Unit 4 Scripts & Notes

Tuy Sereivathana (known as Vathana), from Cambodia, is working to save

Asian elephants. He builds schools where students learn about conservation. Also,

he teaches farmers ways to keep their land safe from elephants, so farmers don’t

kill them. For example, he shows them how to use fireworks to scare elephants, or

to put hot chili peppers on fences around their fields. The farmers keep their crops,

and the elephants keep their lives.

1. Cambodia：柬埔寨

Listening 2

SCRIPT

Track 4-4

Many people worldwide want to help endangered animals by donating money

or volunteering. However, they don’t know about the many projects

conservationists are doing to save animals. Another big problem is that many

conservationists want to share the work they do with the rest of the world, but

don’t know how.

Paula Kahumbu, from Kenya, writes books and gives talks. Also, she is the

director of a website, . This site has many blogs, photos, and

podcasts from about 120 different conservation projects in different countries. The

conservationists tell people about their important work, and people around the

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Unit 4 Scripts & Notes

world can read about the conservationists’ projects — for example, saving

gorillas in the Congo or orangutans in Indonesia or lions in Kenya. People can

learn about the projects and send money to help, if they want.

1. Kenya：肯尼亚，位于非洲东部，全境位于热带季风区

2. Congo：刚果，位于非洲中西部

3. Indonesia：通称印度尼西亚，简称印尼，东南亚国家

PART III VIDEO

SCRIPT

Narrator:

It’s morning in Kenya, at the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust. Little elephants

and their human keepers are waking up to a beautiful African morning.

This is little Shimba. He came to the nursery when he was only six weeks old.

And this is ten-month old Shula. Shula became an orphan when her mother

was killed by poachers.

Many of the orphans here had mothers killed by poachers. And without their

mothers, these baby elephants would not have survived in the wild. In total, the

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Unit 4 Scripts & Notes

orphanage has saved over 100 young elephants. But taking care of baby elephants

is not easy. It took the Trust twenty years to find the right food and care to keep

the baby elephants alive. Elephants cannot drink cow’s milk, so they must drink a

special kind of milk. Every baby elephant needs to drink more than 10 liters of this

special milk every 24 hours. That’s a lot of milk. When they get older, they must

drink even more milk to stay healthy. They can now also eat some dried coconut

and oatmeal.

Growing elephants don’t just need a lot of food, they also need a lot of love.

The keepers stay close to their elephants 24 hours a day. Just as a mother elephant

would stay close to her children. With their human parents nearby, and a soft

blanket to rest against, the babies feel safe and warm.

And then it’s playtime! Like human children, young elephants love to play.

Edwin Lucichi, a keeper, says: They behave like human babies. What you tell

them not to do is what they want to do. And where you want them not to go is

where they want to go.

There are 51 keepers here in all. Their job is to care for the elephants until they

are ready to go back into the wild. Sometimes this can take up to ten years. But it is

possible. The Trust has seen elephants from the orphanage re-enter the wild and

start families of their own.

For one hour every day, the Trust lets in tourists and locals who want to see the

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Unit 4 Scripts & Notes

elephants. It’s a chance to show people what they’re doing and teach people

how important it is to protect the elephants.

In just thirty years, over two and half million elephants have died, many killed

by poachers. And their habitats have been destroyed by human activity. But here at

the Trust, the orphans are all safe, for now.

As the sun sets, the baby elephants are put to bed by their keepers who will

stay close-by all night in case the babies need them. And with their help, the Trust

hopes these animals will have a bright future under the African sky.

1. coconut：椰子

2. oatmeal：燕麦片

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