媒體英語會帶大家一起學習BBC撰稿人在報道世界大事時常用到的單詞和短語。
Background: 如果全球變暖導致冰海以目前的速度減少，那么依賴冰海在南極地區棲息的皇帝企鵝可能會在本世紀末瀕臨滅絕。研究人員們在《國家科學院學報》上發表了這項新的研究結果，是根據40年來對一個南極大陸皇帝企鵝種群的具體研究和觀察經驗。
Questions:請在聽下面錄音的時候試著回答這些問題。這是一個用來幫助你提高聽力技能的練習。
1. True or false? People associate Antarctica with the emperor penguin.
2. True or false? Data from the colony of penguins was combined with models of a computer.
3. True or false? Scientists are predicting that emperor penguins will be extinct by 2100.
4. True or false? The penguins need ice to reproduce.
Emperor Penguins at Risk 南極皇帝企鵝危機
The emperor penguin is the iconic 具有代表性的 creature of the frozen south. Now for the first time scientists have studied in detail what the future holds 將來會是怎樣 for the species 種類 in a warmer world.
They used data from a colony 群體 that's been monitored 被觀察 for over 40 years, and combined that with computer models 模型 forecasting 預測 the future Antarctic climate 南極氣候.
They predicted 預言 that the colony of 6,000 penguins now could be reduced to just 800 by the end of the century. A similar population crash 數量巨減 across the continent would lead to near extinction 瀕臨滅絕 of the entire species.
The creatures rely on the sea ice to breed 繁殖 and mate 交配, and are expected to find it difficult to adapt or migrate 遷移，移棲 if ice cover decreases as predicted.
GLOSSARY 詞匯表 (收聽發音, 請單擊英語單詞)
Answers
1. True or false? People associate Antarctica with the emperor penguin.
True. It is an "iconic creature of the frozen south".
2. True or false? Data from the colony of penguins was combined with models of a computer.
False. "Computer models" were used – these are not the same as models of a computer 電腦型號.
3. True or false? Scientists are predicting that emperor penguins will be extinct by 2100.
False. The study indicates that the penguins could be nearly extinct by the end of this century.
4. True or false? The penguins need ice to reproduce.
True. They "rely on the ice to breed and mate".
