EXPLORATIONS - National Geographic Explorers

EXPLORATIONS -August 21, 2002: National Geographic¹ Explorers

By Marilyn Christiano

VOICE ONE:
This is Mary Tillotson.
VOICE TWO:
And this is Steve Ember with the VOA Special English program, EXPLORATIONS. Today we tell about new

activities of the National Geographic Society.
((THEME)
)
VOICE ONE:
The largest non-profit scientific and educational organization in the world has taught millions of people. It has

taught them about the world they live in, outer space and the deep oceans. Now it is trying to educate people

about what is being lost in their world.

VOICE TWO:
The National Geographic Society began in eighteen-eighty-eight. Thirty -three men gathered at a social club in
Washington. The group included scientists, explorers, military officers and teachers. Most of them had traveled
widely. They were excited about new discoveries. And they believed in the importance of geography --the study
of the Earth.

The men believed travel helps people understand their world and other cultures. So
they formed the National Geographic Society. Anyone interested in gaining
knowledge about the world could pay to become a member.

Nine months later the first effort to communicate this information was published
and sent to members. It was the official record of the society. The record is now a
popular magazine called “National Geographic.”It is published in nineteen
languages. Each month, forty -million people around the world read the magazine.

The Society also reaches people through four other magazines,
and through books, videos, the Internet and television. The National Geographic Channel is
seen on televisions in more than one-hundred-forty million homes in one-hundred-forty-one
countries.

VOICE ONE:

The main goal of the National Geographic Society still is to increase
knowledge about geography and spread that knowledge around the world.
Yet it has also become concerned about saving² what has been discovered
during its years of explorations. John Fahey is president of the Society. He
says, “These days as we explore, the places and treasures we find are too

often threatened with destruction³. Today ’s explorer must also be a conservationist.”

Rebecca Martin is executive⁴ director of the Expeditions Council⁵. She says people have
become very concerned about what is disappearing from the Earth. So the Society is
expanding its job and tries to educate people about how to prevent this destruction.

One of the ways it is doing this is through the new Explorers-in -Residence program. The National Geographic
already was supporting the work of many of these explorers. But it decided⁶ to expand the relationship. Through
the Society ’s communications network, these explorers spread their expert knowledge. They inform people

First magazine
cover
Current cover

around the world about the animals, plants, people and environments that are in danger of disappearing.

VOICE TWO:

For more than one-hundred years, the National Geographic Society has supported explorers seeking to increase
knowledge about our world. From the beginning, the Society provided⁷ grant⁸ money through its committee for
research and exploration. These grants⁹ go to scientists at universities or other institutions. The Society has
supported more than seven-thousand research projects chosen for their scientific value.

In nineteen-ninety-eight, the Expeditions Council began awarding grants. It supports explorations into the
unrecorded or little known areas of the world from the deepest oceans to the highest mountains. It looks for
projects that may not be scientific but that add to understanding about the world we live in.

Rebecca Martin says the Expeditions Council supports the work of citizen scientists. These people present the
information they gain in an exciting way.

About eighteen months ago, the National Geographic Conservation Trust was established. Environmentalist
Thomas Lovejoy heads the group. It provides grant money to support conservation projects that help save the
Earth’s biological and cultural resources.

Among its earliest projects is an effort to save the endangered orangutans in Indonesia’s Gunung Palung National
Park. This project includes an education program designed to increase local interest in protecting the park.

((MUSIC))

VOICE ONE:

In April, two-thousand, the National Geographic announced the appointment of seven Explorers-in-Residence.
The eighth was announced in July. They all are continuing their special explorations and research, but are adding
new projects. They share what they learn about the world through National Geographic magazines, books,
speeches and television programs. The eight Explorers-in-Residence are Stephen Ambrose, Robert Ballard, Wade¹⁰
Davis, Sylvia Earle, Jane Goodall, Johan Reinhard, Paul Sereno and Zahi Hawass.

Stephen Ambrose is a historian¹¹ and teacher. He has written many popular books about the history of World War
Two and the explorers Lewis and Clark. He says he thinks of himself as sitting down at the end of an interesting
day telling stories that he hopes will have readers wanting to know what happens next.

Robert Ballard is an underwater explorer. He is best known for his discovery of the sunken passenger ship Titanic¹²
and the German battleship Bismarck. He is the creator of the JASON project. It lets schoolchildren travel with
him by satellite and computer as he explores the underwater world.

Wade Davis is an anthropologist¹³ and plant expert. He lived among fifteen native groups in eight Latin¹⁴ American
countries. He collected more than six-thousand plants from those areas. He has written seven books. His latest,
“Light at the Edge of the World,”was published by the National Geographic Society.

VOICE TWO:

Sylvia Earle is an ocean explorer and expert on ocean plant life. She has spent more than six-thousand hours
exploring the underwater world. Mizz Earle is director of the Sustainable Seas Expeditions. It is a five-year joint¹⁵
project of the National Geographic Society and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric¹⁶ Administration¹⁷. Its goal is
to explore and take pictures of the deep waters of twelve national underwater parks and the creatures that live in
them.

Jane Goodall is world famous for her study of chimpanzees. She began her study of wild chimpanzees forty-two
years ago when she established the Gombe Stream Research Center in Tanzania. Through the years her research
has shown how similar chimpanzees are to humans.

Johan Reinhard is an archeologist who studies past human life and activities in mountain areas of the world. He
has discovered frozen¹⁸ bodies of Inca Indians in the high Andes mountains of Peru and Argentina.


Paul Sereno is a paleontologist and professor at the University of Chicago. He studies and photographs dinosaur¹⁹
remains²⁰ in China, Mongolia, Argentina and Africa. He discovered new kinds of dinosaurs²¹ on several continents.

The latest addition to the Explorers-in -Residence is Zahi Hawass. He is an archeologist and director of Egypt’s
Giza Pyramids. Mister²² Hawass has made major discoveries that have added to knowledge about how the
pyramids were built.

((MUSIC))

VOICE ONE:

The Explorers-in -Residence have made some exciting discoveries. For example, last year the National
Geographic announced that Paul Sereno’s team found the remains of a huge ancient crocodile in Niger. The
creature grew as long as twelve meters. The finding²³ led to a television program on this “SuperCroc,”a story in
the National Geographic magazine and an exhibit²⁴ in the National Geographic museum, Explorer’s Hall.

Last month, Robert Ballard announced that his team had found the remains of John F. Kennedy’s World War
Two boat in the Solomon Islands. The man who later became president of the United States swam to safety after
the boat was sunk by a Japanese destroyer.

Through its new programs, the National Geographic has created an environment where explorers can meet.
People who are experts in very different subjects and areas of the world can make new connections that will lead
to new projects. The National Geographic Society will continue to educate people around the world about these
discoveries and about natural and cultural resources that are in danger of disappearing.

((THEME))

VOICE TWO:

This Special English program was written by Marilyn Christiano and produced by George Grow. This is Steve
Ember.

VOICE ONE:

And this is Mary Tillotson. Join us again next week for another EXPLORATIONS program on the Voice of
America.

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1 geographic   

adj.地理学的，地理的

参考例句：

• The city's success owes much to its geographic position. 这座城市的成功很大程度上归功于它的地理位置。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Environmental problems pay no heed to these geographic lines. 环境问题并不理会这些地理界限。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法

2 saving   

n.节省，节约；[pl.]储蓄金，存款

参考例句：

• Energy saving is term strategic policy of our country.节约能源是我国长期的战略国策。
• Old-fashioned housewives were usually very saving.旧时的家庭主妇通常都很节俭。

3 destruction   

n.破坏，毁灭，消灭

参考例句：

• The enemy bombs caused widespread destruction.敌人的炸弹造成大面积的破坏。
• Overconfidence was his destruction.自负是他垮台的原因。

4 executive   

adj.执行的，行政的；n.执行者，行政官，经理

参考例句：

• A good executive usually gets on well with people.一个好的高级管理人员通常与人们相处得很好。
• He is a man of great executive ability.他是个具有极高管理能力的人。

5 council   

n.理事会，委员会，议事机构

参考例句：

• The town council passed a law forbidding the distribution of handbills.市议会通过法律，禁止散发传单。
• The city council has declared for improving the public bus system.市议会宣布同意改进公共汽车系统。

6 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

7 provided   

conj.假如，若是；adj.预备好的，由...供给的

参考例句：

• Provided it's fine we will have a pleasant holiday.如果天气良好，我们的假日将过得非常愉快。
• I will come provided that it's not raining tomorrow.如果明天不下雨，我就来。

8 grant   

vt.同意给予，授予，承认；n.拨款；补助款

参考例句：

• If you grant my request, you will earn my thanks.如果你答应我的要求，就会得到我的感谢。
• He requested that the premier grant him an internview.他要求那位总理接见他一次。

9 grants   

n.（来自私人或公共授予机构的）基金( grant的名词复数 )；补助金；授给物（如财产、授地、专有权、补助、拨款等）v.（退一步）承认( grant的第三人称单数 )；（尤指正式地或法律上）同意；准许；让渡

参考例句：

• Higher education grants are a carrot with which to entice students. 高等教育的助学金是吸引学生的诱惑物。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Grants for the arts are not too thick on the ground these years. 这几年提供给艺术的补助金并不很多。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 wade   

v.跋涉，涉水；n.跋涉

参考例句：

• We had to wade through the river to the opposite bank.我们只好涉水过河到对岸。
• We cannot but wade across the river.我们只好趟水过去。

11 historian   

n.历史学家，编史家

参考例句：

• As a historian,he was most typical of the times in which he lived.作为历史学家，他是他所处时代最有代表性的人物。
• He calls himself a historian,but his books are a mere journalism.他自称为历史学家，但是他的书都是些肤浅的通俗作品。

12 titanic   

adj.巨人的，庞大的，强大的

参考例句：

• We have been making titanic effort to achieve our purpose.我们一直在作极大的努力，以达到我们的目的。
• The island was created by titanic powers and they are still at work today.台湾岛是由一个至今仍然在运作的巨大力量塑造出来的。

13 anthropologist   

n.人类学家，人类学者

参考例句：

• The lecturer is an anthropologist.这位讲师是人类学家。
• The anthropologist unearthed the skull of an ancient human at the site.人类学家在这个遗址挖掘出那块古人类的颅骨。

14 Latin   

adj.拉丁的，拉丁语的，拉丁人的；n.拉丁语

参考例句：

• She learned Latin without a master.她无师自通学会了拉丁语。
• Please use only Latin characters.请仅使用拉丁文字符。

15 joint   

adj.联合的，共同的；n.关节，接合处；v.连接，贴合

参考例句：

• I had a bad fall,which put my shoulder out of joint.我重重地摔了一跤，肩膀脫臼了。
• We wrote a letter in joint names.我们联名写了封信。

16 atmospheric   

adj.大气的，空气的；大气层的；大气所引起的

参考例句：

• Sea surface temperatures and atmospheric circulation are strongly coupled.海洋表面温度与大气环流是密切相关的。
• Clouds return radiant energy to the surface primarily via the atmospheric window.云主要通过大气窗区向地表辐射能量。

17 administration   

n.经营，管理；行政，行政机关，管理部门

参考例句：

• Who is in charge of the administration of your company?你们公司的行政工作由谁负责？
• The teachers are responsible to the school administration.教师向学校行政负责。

18 frozen   

adj.冻结的，冰冻的

参考例句：

• He was frozen to death on a snowing night.在一个风雪的晚上，他被冻死了。
• The weather is cold and the ground is frozen.天寒地冻。

19 dinosaur   

n.恐龙

参考例句：

• Are you trying to tell me that David was attacked by a dinosaur?你是想要告诉我大卫被一支恐龙所攻击？
• He stared at the faithful miniature of the dinosaur.他凝视著精确的恐龙缩小模型。

20 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

21 dinosaurs   

n.恐龙( dinosaur的名词复数 )；守旧落伍的人，过时落后的东西

参考例句：

• The brontosaurus was one of the largest of all dinosaurs. 雷龙是所有恐龙中最大的一种。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Dinosaurs have been extinct for millions of years. 恐龙绝种已有几百万年了。 来自《简明英汉词典》

22 mister   

n.(略作Mr.全称很少用于书面)先生

参考例句：

• Mister Smith is my good friend.史密斯先生是我的好朋友。
• He styled himself " Mister Clean ".他自称是“清廉先生”。

23 finding   

n.发现，发现物；调查的结果

参考例句：

• The finding makes some sense.该发现具有一定的意义。
• That's an encouraging finding.这是一个鼓舞人心的发现。

24 exhibit   

vt.展览，展出，陈列；n.展览品；陈列品

参考例句：

• Next week those goods will exhibit in that shop. 下个星期，这些货物将在那家商店展出。
• The economy continued to exhibit signs of decline in September.9月份，经济继续呈现出衰退的迹象。