英语听力：自然百科 秋日黄石公园 Autumn—14

 By now the pronghorn have pushed further than any of Yellowstone’s animals, out of forests, through farmland and down into the wide prairies at the foot of the Rocky Mountains themselves. 

 

Their search for winter grazing takes them over a hundred miles to the south of Yellowstone, the longest migration¹ of any American mammal. They have made this journey every year since the last ice age. But nowadays, they have a problem. Their traditional winter refuges lie right above some of the richest natural gas deposits in America. The wells are no direct threat to pronghorn. But pronghorn are timid. At the slightest noise, they run. And when they run, they run at 60 miles per hour. They evolve to avoid cheetahs² not juggernauts. Trucks, fences and the disturbance³ from the wells have put pronghorn at risk. 

 

There are 1.2 million acres here. But 75% of it is now being earmarked for gas and oil. Back in the farmland, the elk⁴ have found food. But this grass is not meant for them.

1 migration   

n.迁移，移居，（鸟类等的）迁徙

参考例句：

• Swallows begin their migration south in autumn.燕子在秋季开始向南方迁移。
• He described the vernal migration of birds in detail.他详细地描述了鸟的春季移居。

2 cheetahs   

n.（奔跑极快的）非洲猎豹( cheetah的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Unlike lions or cheetahs, leopards are secretive, solitary cats. 花豹不像狮子或印度豹，是属于较神秘而隐居的大猫。 来自互联网
• Among this lot are cheetahs, lions, leopards, rhinoceroses, spotted hyenas and elephants. 印度豹、狮子、花豹、犀牛、斑点土狼、大象等，都是此地的居民。 来自互联网

3 disturbance   

n.动乱，骚动；打扰，干扰；(身心)失调

参考例句：

• He is suffering an emotional disturbance.他的情绪受到了困扰。
• You can work in here without any disturbance.在这儿你可不受任何干扰地工作。

4 elk   

n.麋鹿

参考例句：

• I was close enough to the elk to hear its labored breathing.我离那头麋鹿非常近，能听见它吃力的呼吸声。
• The refuge contains the largest wintering population of elk in the world.这座庇护所有着世界上数量最大的冬季麋鹿群。