高一英語課外知識(shí)擴(kuò)讀Whales巨鯨(中英對(duì)照)

1、Whales 巨鯨The concern throughout the world in 1988 for those three whales that were locked in the Arctic ice was dramatic proof that whales, several species of which face extinction, have become subjects of considerable sympathy.1988 年， 3 頭巨鯨被封在北極圈的冰塊之中使全世界深感關(guān)切。這件事戲劇性 地證明鯨類其中有幾個(gè)品種正在瀕臨滅絕已經(jīng)獲得了人類的同情和關(guān)懷。

2、These are the recorded voices of whales. These monstrous creatures have been trumpeting their songs, one to another, in the worlds oceans since the dawn of time, while overhead, great empires and civilizations have come and gone. Now, their time of decline has come. It began a long time ago.這些巨大無比的動(dòng)

3、物從洪荒時(shí)代以來，就在世界各大洋里彼此對(duì)唱著自己的歌。在它們上面的世界里，各大帝國和人類的各種文明此盛彼衰，不斷更迭。現(xiàn)在它們 衰敗的時(shí)間已經(jīng)來臨，很早以前就已開始了。Four-thousand-year-old rock carvings show that the people who lived in what is now Norway were probably the first to seek out and kill whales in the sea. By around 890 AD, 3,000 years later, the practice had spread t

4、o the Basque people of France and Spain, who hunted whales from boats in the Bay of Biscay. In the centuries that followed, Whaling became an important industry in Denmark, England, Germany, the Netherlands, and, finally, in what would become America.4 千年前的巖雕表明，住在現(xiàn)今挪威這個(gè)地方的人大概是最早在海上捕殺鯨魚的人。 3 千年之后，到了公

5、元890 年時(shí)，這一做法已擴(kuò)展到法國和西班牙的巴斯克族 之中。他們乘船在比斯開灣捕鯨。在此后好幾個(gè)世紀(jì)里，捕鯨成為丹麥、英國、德國、荷蘭，最后也在后來成為美國的那些地方時(shí)一個(gè)重要的行業(yè)。Whaling went into dramatic decline, beginning around 1900. Today, whales are hunted commercially only by Norway, Iceland and Japan. The worlds fascination with them, however, is at an all-time high, because

6、so few of them are left. Given their tragic history.從 1900 年前后開始，捕鯨業(yè)戲劇性地衰退了。如今只有挪威、冰島、日本還在進(jìn)行商業(yè)性捕鯨?？墒?，現(xiàn)在全世界對(duì)鯨魚的愛好都達(dá)到了高潮，因?yàn)槭Ｏ碌啮L魚 已經(jīng)很少。我們已經(jīng)了解到了鯨魚的悲慘歷史。Richard Ellis writes about whales, takes pictures of whales in the open sea, and sketches whales stranded on the beach. He says its a 20-year obsession

7、that began in the mid-1960s, when he designed a model of a great blue for the Museum of Natural History in New York.理查德?埃利斯寫作有關(guān)鯨魚的著述，攝制鯨魚在遼闊的大海里的照片，還把被困在海灘上的鯨魚畫下來。他說他，的這一愛好已有20 年歷史，開始于60 年代中期，那時(shí)他曾為紐約市的自然歷史博物館設(shè)計(jì)一條巨大的藍(lán)鯨模型。As I began to do the research. I realized that nobody knew anything about whales

8、. And I couldnt really find any pictures of what they looked like: all I could find was pictures of dead whales. And I became very excited at the prospect of doing what seemed to be original research on something that was so peculiar, which was the largest animal that has ever lived on earth.“當(dāng)我開始進(jìn)行

9、研究工作時(shí)，我發(fā)現(xiàn)沒有人了解鯨魚。我找不到任何照片說明鯨魚是什么樣子的，只能找到死了的鯨魚的照片。我想到自己將要進(jìn)行一項(xiàng)看來是 最原始的研究，研究一種非常特別的東西。也就是在地球上生存過的最大的動(dòng)物， 這一推測(cè)使我感到極為興奮?！盨o large, he discovered, that the largestdinosaur weighed only half as much as the female blue whale. As he continued his research he boarded scientific vessels. Dove with whales in the

10、 Pacific, and even watched whales die at the hands of modern. explosive-tipped harpoons. His sketches appeared in magazines and encyclopedias and at the center of what was then the beginning of a movement to save the whales.他發(fā)現(xiàn)鯨魚大得很，以至最大的恐龍的體重也只及一條母藍(lán)鯨的一半。隨著研究工作的繼續(xù)進(jìn)行，他登上了科學(xué)考察船，同鯨魚一起在太平洋里潛游，甚至還目 睹鯨魚被現(xiàn)

11、代化的、叉尖帶炸藥的魚又命中后死去。他的畫刊登在雜志上和百科全 書里，也懸掛在當(dāng)時(shí)剛剛興起的拯救鯨魚運(yùn)動(dòng)的中心。I was one of those people who used to stand on street corners and ask for people to sign petitions, which at that time were directed towards the Japanese and the Soviets. Because in that period of time - late 60s, early 70s - the Japanese and t

12、he Soviets were killing tens of thousands of sperm particularly in the North Pacific. And we thought that getting the worlds opinion on paper would make them say, Oh look, all these people dont like what we are doing. We will stop. Well, of course, they didnt stop“我是那個(gè)時(shí)候常常站在街角征集人們?cè)谡?qǐng)?jiān)笗虾灻娜酥?，?dāng)時(shí)的請(qǐng)?jiān)笗?/p>

13、針對(duì)日本人和蘇聯(lián)人而寫的。因?yàn)樵谀莻€(gè)時(shí)期 60 年代末、 70 年代初日本人和蘇聯(lián)人殺死了成千上萬的抹香鯨。尤其是在北大平洋。我們以為把世界輿論寫在紙上就會(huì)使他們說， 瞧，所有這些人都不喜歡我們干的事。我們別干了。 當(dāng)然啦，他們并沒有住手。”Not at first, Commercial whaling peaked in the mid-1960s, with more than 60,000 whales killed each year. The International Whaling Commission, a group of member nations aimed at r

14、egulating the industry, began to make recommendations to end commercial whaling entirely. Whykill whales for soap, or fuel or paints and vernishes, even margarine, if we had substitutes for all those products? The seemingly senseless slaughter focused the worlds attention on the whale and consequent

15、ly the International whaling Commission or IWC.最初的確沒有住手。商業(yè)性捕鯨在60 年代中期達(dá)到頂峰，每年殺死6 萬多條鯨魚。國際捕鯨委員會(huì)，個(gè)以管理捕鯨業(yè)為宗旨的會(huì)員國組織，開始提出建議。要完全終止商業(yè)性捕鯨。如果我們能有制作肥皂，或燃料，或油漆和清漆，甚至人造黃油的代用原料，為什么要?dú)ⅥL魚呢?這種看來是愚蠢的屠殺使全世界的注意力集中到鯨魚身上，從而集中到國際捕鯨委員會(huì)（即IW。的身上。And since its said nowhere in the constitution of the IWCthat you had to be whali

16、ng nation to join you have countries like Kenya and the Seychelles. Switzerland is a memberof the IWC, a country not knownfor its whaling history. Countries joined because they felt that this was something that needed to be done. “因?yàn)閲H捕鯨委員會(huì)的率程里沒有規(guī)定只有捕鯨國才能加入該組織，所以會(huì)員國里就有了肯尼亞和塞舌爾群島。瑞士是國際捕鯨委員會(huì)的成員，而它并不以捕

17、鯨業(yè)著稱。有些國家之所以加入該組織是因?yàn)樗麄冋J(rèn)為這是必須做的一件事?！盉y 1986, the Commission had passed a moratoriunm on commercial whaling. But since the organization had no enforcement powers, it could and can not impose sanctions on violators. Only a few nations-Japan. Iceland, and Norway-continue to hunt whales commercially.到 1986 年，該委員會(huì)通過了一項(xiàng)暫停商業(yè)性捕鯨的決定。但是，因?yàn)樵摻M織沒有強(qiáng)迫執(zhí)行的權(quán)力，它當(dāng)時(shí)不能，現(xiàn)在也不能對(duì)犯犯者進(jìn)行制裁。只有為數(shù)不多的幾個(gè)國家日本、冰島和挪威仍在繼續(xù)進(jìn)行商業(yè)性捕鯨。Richard Ellis says there is something