一、听力练习
1.
A. The Amazon River dolphins are rapidly increasing in population.
B. A team of researchers is studying Amazon River dolphins to protect them from environmental threats.
C. The Amazon River is experiencing colder than normal temperatures, affecting dolphin health.
D. Fishermen in the Amazon River are capturing dolphins for commercial purposes.
2.
A. To relocate them to a safer environment.
B. To perform health checks and study the effects of environmental threats.
C. To breed them in captivity.
D. To use them for public displays and education.
3.
A. They attached GPS collars to the dolphins.
B. They followed the dolphins in boats.
C. They placed microchips in the dolphins.
D. They used drones to track the dolphins.
二、听力文本
About 200 freshwater dolphins were found dead in Lake Tefé of the Amazon River in Brazil during a period of severe dry weather last year. That is why a team of biologists, animal doctors, and fishermen temporarily captured some river dolphins recently to study their health. The researchers hope the findings will help protect the dolphins from another weather disaster. One of the captured dolphins was a female with her offspring nearby. Fishermen were careful not to injure her and kept her close to her offspring to avoid stressing the animals. The team took blood from the animals and performed other medical tests. The work included removing a small amount of fat to see if harmful chemicals were in the dolphin's body. They also put microchips in the animals to follow their movements. Thousands of fish also died in the Amazon rivers because of a lack of oxygen in the water. Many Amazon river dolphins are the color pink. They are found only in the rivers of South America, and they are among only a few kinds of freshwater dolphins still living in the world. Because they reproduce slowly, threats to their environment can more easily reduce their populations. The river dolphin research project received financial support from the National Marine Mammal Foundation of California in the United States. That organization's researchers helped examine the dolphins using ultrasound technology. The lake's waters reached 40.9 degrees Celsius during the 2023 dry season, more than 10 degrees higher than the average for that time of year. The water is now at 30 degrees Celsius. Environmental activists have blamed climate change for the severe dry weather that made the river water warmer than normal. However, El Niño, the periodic and natural Pacific Ocean warming weather event could also have brought about last year's dry weather in the Amazon.
Question 1: What is the main idea of the news report?
Question 2: Why were the river dolphins captured by the team of biologists and fishermen?
Question 3: What did the researchers do to monitor the dolphins' movements after capturing them?
三、重点词汇
1. severe: causing very great pain, difficulty, worry, damage, etc.; very serious 非常严重的；剧烈的；惨重的
四、背景知识
巴西亚马孙河一条支流上周出现约120具淡水豚的漂浮尸体，专家怀疑，造成淡水豚死亡的原因或与极端干旱和高温有关。 研究人员认为，巴西亚马孙河在严重干旱期间河流水位过低，导致河段水温升高，使淡水豚无法忍受，继而死亡。近期，亚马孙河上还有数千条鱼因水中缺氧而死。 目前，科学家还不能完全确定淡水豚死亡率飙升，是否与极端干旱和高温相关。因此，研究员正在努力排除其他原因，例如支河在流入亚马孙河之前的一个湖里，可能存在能造成淡水豚细菌感染死亡的病毒。 据悉，这处湖水的温度曾在上星期四（9月28日）一度飙升到39摄氏度，比过去同一季节的平均温度高出10多摄氏度。随后，至少有70具淡水豚的尸体浮出了水面。 马米劳亚环境研究所（Mamirauá environmental institute）的研究员马蒙泰尔（Miriam Marmontel）说：“在过去的一周里，我们已经记录了120具淡水豚的尸体。大约每10具尸体中就有八具是粉红淡水豚，巴西人称它为阿拉圭纳河豚（Botos）。”（背景知识来自于https://baijiahao.baidu.com/s?id=1778718222779444261&wfr=spider&for=pc）
五、参考答案
Question 1: B
Question 2: B
Question 3: C
六、网络翻译
去年，在巴西亚马逊河的特费湖中，约有200只淡水海豚在一段严重干旱的天气期间被发现死亡。这就是为什么一支由生物学家、兽医和渔民组成的团队最近临时捕捉了一些河豚，以研究它们的健康状况。研究人员希望这些发现能帮助保护海豚免受另一场天气灾难的影响。其中一只被捕获的海豚是一只雌性，它的幼崽就在附近。渔民们小心翼翼地避免伤害她，并让她保持靠近幼崽，以避免给这些动物造成压力。团队从这些动物身上抽取了血液，并进行了其他医学检查。工作内容还包括去除少量脂肪，以查看海豚体内是否有有害化学物质。他们还在这些动物体内植入了微芯片，以跟踪它们的活动。由于水中的氧气不足，数千条鱼也在亚马逊河中死亡。许多亚马逊河豚呈粉红色，它们只在南美洲的河流中被发现，并且是世界上为数不多的仍在生存的淡水海豚之一。由于它们繁殖速度缓慢，环境威胁更容易减少它们的种群。这项河豚研究项目得到了美国加利福尼亚国家海洋哺乳动物基金会的资助。该组织的研究人员使用超声波技术帮助检查这些海豚。2023年旱季期间，湖水温度达到了40.9摄氏度，比那时的平均温度高出10多度。水温现在为30摄氏度。环保活动家将气候变化归咎于使河水比正常情况更暖的严重干旱天气。然而，周期性和自然的太平洋海洋变暖天气现象厄尔尼诺可能也是去年亚马逊地区干旱天气的原因之一。
七、版权说明
英文新闻来自于VOA；背景知识来自于国内等多个平台。本平台属于公益平台，未通过转载相关内容获得相关利益。文章不涉及打赏及相关产品推荐等。转载相关中文背景知识出于传递更多信息、方便学生理解相关新闻背景；英文文章及音频所传递的观点与本公众号无关。网络翻译来源于ChatGPT的在线翻译，翻译内容仅供参考。此外，内容删减仅是因为篇幅以及考虑学生接受等目的，不涉及歪曲事实观点及作者相关意见。若有来源标注错误或侵犯了您的合法权益，请与本公众号运营人员进行联系，我们将及时更正、删除，谢谢。 邮箱地址：yangyanchao@mmc.edu.mo
