How humpback whales made a global comeback

湖南華容二中 文永紅

精彩導讀

座頭鯨在近40年中數量不斷增加，在世界范圍內從瀕臨滅絕的邊緣到浴火重生，其中的原因是什么？

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When the Pacific Whale Foundation was founded in 1980,its researchers would drive up and down the coast of Hawaii waiting to see a whale.Atthattime,only a few hundred humpback whales made it to the islands per year.Now,more than 10,000 do.This recovery of the Hawaiian coast population is a sign of the species’ worldwide comeback from the brink（邊緣）of extinction,including a recently reported return of humpback whales near Antarctica.

當太平洋鯨魚基金會于1980年成立時，它的研究人員需要在夏威夷海岸上驅車很遠，等著看鯨魚。當時，每年只有幾百頭座頭鯨到達這個島嶼。現在，每年有超過1萬頭座頭鯨能夠到達岸邊。夏威夷海岸種群的這一恢復標志著該物種在世界范圍內從瀕臨滅絕的邊緣浴火重生，其中包括最近報道的南極附近的座頭鯨的回歸。

20世紀初，包括國際聯盟在內的一些

In the early 1900s,groups including the League of Nations began pushing back against the industry of whaling．In the 1970s,the first recorded whale songs became “a call to arms” for activists and the public,inspiring the growing Save the Whales movement in the United States．Greenpeace planned trips starting in 1975 to fight against whalers on the open ocean．

In response to declining populations and the public increasingly seeing the practice as inhumane,the International Whaling Commission called for a pause on whaling in 1982．Currently,Norway,Japan,and Iceland still hunt a small number of minke and fin whales．

The US Marine Mammal Protection Act and the Endangered Species Act have also played a major role in the humpback whales’ comeback．In 2016,nine of the species’14 population had recovered enough to be removed from the endangered species list．

Other whales like blue whales were also hunted to near extinction like humpback whales，which are easy to spot from shore． “They breed at the same time and place every year,allowing them to more easily find mates and recover faster than other whales,”said Logan Pallin,lead author of the Antarctica study．Still,humpback whales need ongoing efforts for protection,especially the populations with negative growth trends．An important part of that work includes more research to understand population changes and create guidelines for protecting whales．組織開始回擊捕鯨業。在20世紀70年代，第一次錄制的鯨魚歌曲成為積極分子和公眾的“武器召喚”，激發了美國日益壯大的拯救鯨魚運動。綠色和平組織計劃從1975年開始在公海打擊捕鯨者。

面對日益減少的數量和公眾越來越認為這種做法不人道，在1982年,國際捕鯨委員會呼吁暫停捕鯨活動。目前，挪威、日本和冰島仍在捕殺少量的小須鯨和長須鯨。

美國海洋哺乳動物保護法和瀕危物種法也對座頭鯨的回歸起到了重要作用。2016年，該物種的14個種群中有9個已經恢復到可以從瀕危物種名單中刪除。

像藍鯨這樣的其他鯨魚也被獵殺到接近滅絕的地步，就像座頭鯨一樣，它們很容易在岸上被發現。南極研究的主要負責人洛根·帕林說∶“它們每年都在同一時間和地點繁殖，這使得它們比其他鯨魚更容易找到配偶，并恢復得更快。”盡管如此，座頭鯨仍然需要持續的努力去保護，特別是有負增長趨勢的種群。這項工作的一個重要部分包括更多的研究，以了解種群的變化，并制定保護鯨魚的指導方針。

Reading check

Read the text carefully and find the correct answers.

1.How does the author begin his first paragraph？

A.By contrast.

B.By giving numbers.

C.By narrating an example.

D.By introducing a phenomenon.

2.What does the second paragraph mainly talk about？

A.The first recorded whale songs.

B.Important groups to protect whales.

C.A time line about some organization.

D.Famous movements against whaling.

3.How many countries are still hunting whales according to the text？

A.1. B.2. C.3. D.4.

4.What can be inferred from what Logan Pallin has said？

A.Man has made great achievements in protecting humpback whales.

B.Breeding regularly in a fixed place puts the species at the risk of being killed.

C.The whole species of humpback whales have been on decrease in the near past.

D.Fully understanding population changes is very important in whales’protection.

Language study

Vocabulary

1.make it to到達

2.push back 推遲；推回

3.fight against與……做斗爭

4.in response to響應；對……做出反應

5.call for呼吁；主張；號召

Difficult sentence

現在分詞作結果狀語

They breed at the same time and place every year,________（allow）them to more easily find mates and recover faster than other whales.

翻譯：____________________________________________________________________________

【點石成金】句中所缺的部分應該是非謂語部分，且非謂語動詞與其邏輯主語They breed at the same time and place every year構成的是主謂關系，應用現在分詞形式，相當于which allows。

Background knowledge

the Pacific Whale Foundation

太平洋鯨魚基金會

The Pacific Whale Foundation is a nonprofit organization founded in 1980 to protect the oceans through science and advocacy.It is governed by a volunteer Board of Directors and its work is funded through fund raising activities,memberships,donations from supporters worldwide,and profits from cruise and retailoperations thatcomprise itssocial enterprise model.It offers educational whale watching and other ocean eco-tours through PacWhale Eco-Adventures.

太平洋鯨魚基金會是一個非營利組織，成立于1980年，旨在通過科學和宣傳來保護海洋。它由一個志愿者董事會管理，其工作由籌資活動、會員資格、世界各地支持者的捐款以及構成其社會企業模式的郵輪和零售業務的利潤提供資金。它通過PacWhale生態探險提供有教育意義的觀鯨和其他海洋生態旅游。

the League of Nations

國際聯盟

The League of Nations was an intergovernmentalorganization founded on 10 January 1920 as a result of the Paris Peace Conference that ended the First World War.It was the first international organization whose principal mission was to maintain world peace.Its primary goals,as stated in its Covenant,included preventing wars through collective security and disarmament and settling internationaldisputes through negotiation and arbitration.

國際聯盟是一個政府間組織，成立于1920年1月10日，是結束第一次世界大戰的巴黎和平會議的結果。它是第一個以維護世界和平為主要使命的國際組織，如其公約所述，其主要目標是通過集體安全和裁軍防止戰爭，并通過談判和仲裁解決國際爭端。

the International Whaling Commission

國際捕鯨委員會

The International Whaling Commission is an international body set up by the terms of the International Convention for the Regulation of Whaling,which was signed in Washington,D.C.,the United States,on December 2,1946 to “provide for the proper conservation of whale stocks and thus make possible the orderly development of the whaling industry”.In 1982 the IWC adopted a moratorium on commercial whaling.Currently,Japan,Russia,and a number of other nations oppose this moratorium.

國際捕鯨委員會是根據1946年12月2日在美國華盛頓特區簽署的“國際捕鯨管制公約”設立的一個國際機構，目的是“為鯨魚種群的適當保護作出規定，從而使捕鯨業得以有序發展”。1982年，國際捕鯨委員會通過了商業捕鯨禁令。目前，日本、俄羅斯和其他一些國家反對這一禁令。