拯救瀕危動物新工具

四川 蔣建平

主題語境：人與自然

篇幅：334詞

建議用時：6分鐘

1Do you know what is living in your backyard? Almost 380 of the 1,900 nationally listed threatened species can be found in urban areas across Australia and are facing extinc?tion and are under pressure from habitat loss and climate change.

2The latest five?yearlyState of the Environment Reportwas released (發布) in July 2022 and found there are grow?ing pressures on Australian wildlife from habitat loss and climate change.The report found that there are now more than 1,900 species and ecological communities listed as threat?ened.Of these,42 critically endangered species have no protection in the National Reserve System,which is Australia's network of protected areas.The number of Australia's threat?ened species has seen an 8 per cent rise since 2016.The number of plant and animal species listed as threatened in June 2021 was 1,918,up from 1,774 in 2016.

3Since the release of the report,two new species have been added to the growing list of threatened animals.The mountain skink (石龍子) has been listed as endangered and the southeastern glossy black cockatoo (鳳頭鸚鵡) has been listed as vulnerable (脆弱的) in August 2022.

4The World Wide Fund for Nature has released a backyard tool for everyday Austra?lians to use to help save some of the endangered wildlife found in urban areas.The new in?teractive tool“My Backyard”allows users to discover which threatened species live in their local area and what measures can be taken to help protect them.

5WWF?Australia chief conservation officer Rachel Lowry said people might be sur?prised to learn that bushland and forests near cities are home to some of Australia's rarest animals.“It is a fun and interactive tool that also makes it easier for people to take action to protect Australian wildlife better.Australia's native animals are under increasing pres?sure from climate change,habitat destruction and invasive (侵入的) species.But I'd also argue that our silence is influencing our threatened species because they need our voices now more than ever,”Ms Lowry said.

Reading Check

當晩擠在破廟外的和尚們在秋收后搭起的麥草堆里，麥草光滑溫暖，袁安面臨著他擔任大哥以來的第一道難題：前面的路，在哪里？

1.Why does the author list so many figures in paragraph 2?

A.To show rich species in Australia.

B.To compare several reports about wild species.

C.To work out the total number of worldwide species.

D.To prove the rise of endangered species.

2.What does paragraph 3 mainly talk about?

A.The influences of the report.

C.The number of endangered animals.

D.Challenges the mountain skink faces.

3.What can users do by using“My Backyard”?

A.Communicate with WWF.

B.Discover interesting animals.

C.Protect animals at risk in their local area.

D.Learn more about bushland and forests near cities.

4.What's Lowry's attitude to the new tool?

A.Supportive. B.Tolerant.

C.Confused. D.Indifferent.

Language Study

Difficult sentences

1.The number of plant and animal species listed as threatened in June 2021 was 1,918,up from 1,774 in 2016.2021 年6 月被列為受威脅的動植物物種數量從2016 年的1,774種增加到1,918種。

【點石成金】該句中，the number of...作主語，意為“……的數量”，謂語動詞使用了單數形式。

2.But I'd also argue that our silence is influencing our threatened species because they need our voices now more than ever.但是，我也認為，我們的沉默正在影響我們的受威脅的物種，因為它們現在比以往任何時候都更需要我們的聲音。

【點石成金】該句中，that引導一個賓語從句，賓語從句中又有一個由because引導的原因狀語從句。