2006年NPR美国国家公共电台一月-The American Hunter: Going Extinct

Frank Deford: It is well-known that hunting is one of our most popular participant sports. So what species of animal do you think hunters are looking for these days? The answer is, human-beings. No, hunters are not actually trying to bag homo sapiens and throw them over their car hood¹. But what they desperately² want is more people to join them out in the woods, guns locked and loaded.

Frank Deford: Fewer and fewer Americans are hunting these days. Most dramatically, younger people are not picking up the sport. If the trend continues, soon enough , few American hunter will be as extinct as the passenger pigeon.

Frank Deford: Hunters, you see, are getting caught in a crunch³. On the one hand, more and more of the traditional gun-toting citizenry are leaving rural areas for the suburbs, where golf carts, video games and slot machines are more likely to be the avant-garde choice tool of recreation.

Frank Deford: On the other hand, the people who live in metropolitan⁴ areas are buying second homes out in the pristine⁵ sticks and immediately erecting⁶ "No Hunting" signs up on their property. It is sort of a modern version of all those Western movies where the farmers and the ranchers were at odds⁷. Any update of the musical Oklahoma will have a hoedown song that goes, Oh, the hunters and the second-homers can be friends.

Frank Deford: Hunters are particularly frustrated⁸ at the love affair that citified folk have with deer. Nothing this side of gay marriage now divides this country so much as deer do. Many Americans absolutely adore deer. They are all darting⁹ little Bambis who are so unnerved by inconsiderate humans that their big soulful eyes are forever being caught in those headlights we always hear about.

Frank Deford: Hunters, meanwhile, pretty much see deer as big rats, Lyme disease-carrying vermin who happen to taste good once they properly get shot and become venison. But as the deer reproduce prolifically¹⁰, their main predators¹¹, the hunters, are rapidly declining. Hunters are panicking. In some states, they are trying to get age limits lowered so tykes can take up hunting early, get it in their system.

Frank Deford: Hunters are even proselytizing women, our primordial¹³ gatherers, so that the whole family can go a-shooting. The family that slays¹⁴ together, stays together.

Frank Deford: Of course, the hunters are not alone in decline. The latest US government statistics suggest that we are doing less of everything--bowling, golfing, skiing, playing tennis--well, most anything that actually requires activity. Instead, we are going to more games, and watching longer hours of them on television. We watch real good, we Americans do.

Frank Deford: But if hunters are endangered, their fishing brethren are holding their own. At least 30 million Americans try to catch bass¹⁵. Bass fishing is hot. Bass tournaments are on television. But then, there is no save-the-bass constituency. Bass aren't cute like deer. Walt Disney never drew a baby bass. The poor put-upon bass don't ever get their eyes caught in the headlights.

NEW WORDS:

homo sapiens: the type of human being that exists now
gun-toting: someone carrying a guy. i.e. gun-toting gangs on the street
avant-garde: extremely modern and shocking
pristine: not spoiled or damaged in any way
rancher: someone who owns or works on a big farm
slot machine: a machine for a game when you put money into it
vermin: unpleasant people who cause problems for society
prolifically: fertilely
proselytize¹⁶: to try to persuade someone to join a religious group or political party
primordial: = primitive¹⁷
brethren: [plural] a member of a group, especially a religious one.
constituency: = supporter
put-upon: a feeling of put-upon is occurs when one feels being treated of doing thing unfairly or too much.

1 hood   

n.头巾，兜帽，覆盖；v.罩上，以头巾覆盖

参考例句：

• She is wearing a red cloak with a hood.她穿着一件红色带兜帽的披风。
• The car hood was dented in.汽车的发动机罩已凹了进去。

2 desperately   

adv.极度渴望地，绝望地，孤注一掷地

参考例句：

• He was desperately seeking a way to see her again.他正拼命想办法再见她一面。
• He longed desperately to be back at home.他非常渴望回家。

3 crunch   

n.关键时刻；艰难局面；v.发出碎裂声

参考例句：

• If it comes to the crunch they'll support us.关键时刻他们是会支持我们的。
• People who crunch nuts at the movies can be very annoying.看电影时嘎吱作声地嚼干果的人会使人十分讨厌。

4 metropolitan   

adj.大城市的，大都会的

参考例句：

• Metropolitan buildings become taller than ever.大城市的建筑变得比以前更高。
• Metropolitan residents are used to fast rhythm.大都市的居民习惯于快节奏。

5 pristine   

adj.原来的，古时的，原始的，纯净的，无垢的

参考例句：

• He wiped his fingers on his pristine handkerchief.他用他那块洁净的手帕擦手指。
• He wasn't about to blemish that pristine record.他本不想去玷污那清白的过去。

6 erecting   

v.使直立，竖起( erect的现在分词 )；建立

参考例句：

• Nations can restrict their foreign trade by erecting barriers to exports as well as imports. 象设置进口壁垒那样，各国可以通过设置出口壁垒来限制对外贸易。 来自辞典例句
• Could you tell me the specific lift-slab procedure for erecting buildings? 能否告之用升板法安装楼房的具体程序？ 来自互联网

7 odds   

n.让步，机率，可能性，比率；胜败优劣之别

参考例句：

• The odds are 5 to 1 that she will win.她获胜的机会是五比一。
• Do you know the odds of winning the lottery once?你知道赢得一次彩票的几率多大吗？

8 frustrated   

adj.挫败的，失意的，泄气的v.使不成功( frustrate的过去式和过去分词 )；挫败；使受挫折；令人沮丧

参考例句：

• It's very easy to get frustrated in this job. 这个工作很容易令人懊恼。
• The bad weather frustrated all our hopes of going out. 恶劣的天气破坏了我们出行的愿望。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 darting   

v.投掷，投射( dart的现在分词 )；向前冲，飞奔

参考例句：

• Swallows were darting through the clouds. 燕子穿云急飞。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• Swallows were darting through the air. 燕子在空中掠过。 来自辞典例句

10 prolifically   

adv.多产地，丰富地

参考例句：

• He wrote prolifically both in Ireland and England, nearly constantly shuttling from one to the other. 他几乎不断穿梭于爱尔兰和英国之间，并在两地写出大量作品。 来自互联网
• He had directed his first film in 1923 and had worked prolifically throughout the silent era. 1923年，沟口健二执导了他的处女作，在之后的整个默片时代里，他创作了大量作品。 来自互联网

11 predators   

n.食肉动物( predator的名词复数 )；奴役他人者（尤指在财务或性关系方面）

参考例句：

• birds and their earthbound predators 鸟和地面上捕食它们的动物
• The eyes of predators are highly sensitive to the slightest movement. 捕食性动物的眼睛能感觉到最细小的动静。 来自《简明英汉词典》

12 proselytizing   

v.（使）改变宗教信仰[政治信仰、意见等]，使变节( proselytize的现在分词 )

参考例句：

13 primordial   

adj.原始的；最初的

参考例句：

• It is the primordial force that propels us forward.它是推动我们前进的原始动力。
• The Neanderthal Man is one of our primordial ancestors.的尼安德特人是我们的原始祖先之一.

14 slays   

杀死，宰杀，杀戮( slay的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• No other infection so quickly slays. 再没有别的疾病会造成如此迅速的死亡。
• That clown just slays me. 那小丑真叫我笑死了。

15 bass   

n.男低音(歌手)；低音乐器；低音大提琴

参考例句：

• He answered my question in a surprisingly deep bass.他用一种低得出奇的声音回答我的问题。
• The bass was to give a concert in the park.那位男低音歌唱家将在公园中举行音乐会。

16 proselytize   

v.改变宗教

参考例句：

• I assured him we didn't come here to proselytize.我向他保证我们并不是来改变他的信仰的。
• Christians were arrested for trying to convert people,to proselytise them.基督徒因为试图改变他人信仰而被捕。

17 primitive   

adj.原始的；简单的；n.原(始)人，原始事物

参考例句：

• It is a primitive instinct to flee a place of danger.逃离危险的地方是一种原始本能。
• His book describes the march of the civilization of a primitive society.他的著作描述了一个原始社会的开化过程。