大学体验英语英语视听说教程3u1.pptVIP

Orangutans are our closest evolutionary cousins after bonobos29, chimpanzees30, and gorillas31, sharing 97 percent of their DNA with humans, and they’re like us in many other ways. They make tools, using sticks to crack open fruits. They can be taught to understand hundreds of human words. Children live with their mothers for eight years, learning to navigate32 the jungle and distinguish between harmful and useful plants. Babies like to be tickled33, reacting with silent laughter. But orangutans are far less adaptable than humans. They need vast, unbroken stretches of forest to survive in the wild. When the trees go, so do the tree dwellers34. Once found throughout Southeast Asia, orangutans are now confined to isolated areas of Borneo and the Indonesian island of Sumatra35. A century ago, their estimated population was 315,000; today, 50,000 remain. Smits traveled deep into Borneo’s backcountry36, where rivers were the only roads. He had to convince local villagers, most of whom belonged to Borneo’s Dayak tribe, that protecting orangutans was better than killing them for their meat and skulls. 16. smuggler n. 走私者 17. delicacy n. 佳肴 18. skull n. 头 (盖) 骨19. souvenir n. 纪念品 20. logger n. 伐木工 21. decimate v. 大批毁灭22. orphan v. 使成为孤儿 23. displace v. 使?转移 24. inextricably adv. 不可分开地 25. lumberyard n. 木材堆置场 26. turf n. (自己的) 地盘 27. palm n. 棕榈树 第63页/共65页 Despite his dedication, Smits’ work was doing little to slow the decline37 in the orangutan population. Illegal logging had increased, the palm oil business was booming38, and the two often worked hand in hand. After loggers cleared a swath39 of jungle, growers would burn the stubble40 to make way for palm plantations41. “Hundreds of orangutans were coming out of the forest, burning alive,” Smits recalls. The deforestation42 brought flooding and water pollution to many Dayak villages. The carbon dioxide released by the vanishing jungle made Indonesia the world’s third-largest emitter of greenhouse gase