倫敦城里來了一群“象”

浙江 周晨曲

多尊手工制作、真實大小的大象雕塑在英國倫敦切爾西街頭的多個地點展出。這場展覽旨在增強人們對自然環境的保護意識，引導人們探索人類與野生動物和諧共存的方式，并將在英國多地巡回舉行。

體裁新聞報道文章詞數353建議用時7分鐘

An exhibition of 125 life-size elephant sculptures has gone on display in London to highlight the need for coexistence between people and wildlife.

Organized by conservation groups Elephant Family and The Real Elephant Collective, the exhibition comes as a herd of wild Asian elephants roaming (漫步) Southwest China's Yunnan Province has drawn global attention. Elephant Family said it would like to see more strategies in place that allow elephants to migrate,eat,and do their best to fit into strange landscapes in a way that is safe for both people and wild animals.

The CoExistence exhibition is on display at Green Park, St James's Park and Berkeley Square after the sculptures were initially placed outside Buckingham Palace in May.CoExistence is an environmental art exhibition by Elephant Family and The Real Elephant Collective. The elephants have been created deep in the jungles by indigenous (土生土長的) communities who live close to their real-life counterparts. Here, people and elephants coexist in denser(更密集的)populations than anywhere else in the world.

The founder of The Real Elephant Collective,a nonprofit organization contributing to protecting elephants, said,“Our best guess is that elephants are very intelligent and have learned that humans grow lots of nutritious food.Elephants move over long distances and explore their environment,as their ancestors have always done.Coexistence is about negotiating(談判)this sharing of space.”

When many parts of the world went into lockdown to help control the spread of the novel coronavirus,researchers found wildlife thrived (茁壯成長) in the wake of reduced human activity.“A global reduction in human activity has had a positive effect on wildlife around the world,”Elephant Family said.“It has now been scientifically demonstrated that the moment we lighten our footprint, wildlife thrives and transforms the health of the planet for all.The COVID-19 pandemic has showed us that coexistence with wildlife is very much possible.”

After the exhibition, the sculptures will go on sale for between 6,000 pounds (US$8,346) for a calf and 30,000 pounds for a large adult.Money raised will be directed toward some grassroots organizations working on peaceful coexistence.

Reading Check

1.What's the purpose of the exhibition of elephant sculptures?

A.To praise people's care for wild elephants.

B.To share great works of animal sculptures.

C.To show the importance of learning sculpture.

D.To stress the necessity of living in harmony with wildlife.

2.Where were the elephant sculptures placed at first?

A.Outside Buckingham Palace.B.At Green Park.

C.At St James's Park.D.At Berkeley Square.

3.What can we know about The Real Elephant Collective?

A.It was set up to make money.

B.It is a nonprofit organization.

C.It held the CoExistence exhibition independently.

D.It focuses on growing nutritious food for elephants.

4.What can be inferred from paragraph 5?

A.Human activities actually keep the planet healthy.

B.It is hard for humans to coexist with wildlife.

C.The COVID-19 pandemic benefited wildlife in a way.

D.People tended to wake up early during the pandemic.

Language Study

Useful expressions

go on display 展覽

highlight the need for...強調……的必要性

coexistence between people and wildlife 人類與野生動物共存

draw global attention 引起全球關注

would like to 想要

fit into 適應

contribute to doing 致力于做

go into lockdown 進入封鎖狀態

control the spread of the novel coronavirus 控制新型冠狀病毒的傳播

reduction in human activity 人類活動的減少

have a positive effect on wildlife 對野生動物有積極的影響