VOA慢速英语2013 津巴布韦妇女威胁性罢工

 

Zimbabwean Women Threaten Sex Strike 津巴布韦妇女威胁性罢工

Hello, and welcome to “As It Is,” our daily magazine show for people learning American English.

I’m Christopher Cruise in Washington.

Today, we hear about how researchers are using technology to protect African elephants from hunters...

“There’s some connection between human and elephants that would be a really sad thing to lose.”

But first, we go to Zimbabwe, where some women are considering an unusual effort designed to persuade men to vote.

No Sex Until You Register to Vote

Zimbabwe is set to hold presidential elections July 31st. Historically, Zimbabwean men vote in far fewer numbers than the country’s women. But, a female government minister has proposed steps she hopes could change those numbers.

Jeri Watson reports…

Priscilla Misihairabwi-Mushonga is Zimbabwe’s Minister of Regional Integration¹ and International Cooperation. She is leading a campaign to get men to vote in the elections this month. She has asked Zimbabwean women to deny their husbands or partners sex until they register to vote.

“You are basically saying to your partner, we all are suffering the same thing. We need to make a difference. I’m not asking you to go to war. All I’m asking you is to go and vote. You have a responsibility. And for years we have seen that the majority of people that go and register to vote have been women. And this call is about saying we as women can’t be taking this struggle alone. We need to bring our men on board. And if we can’t bring them nicely by persuading them, we will deny them something that we know they desperately² would want.”

The minister is a member of the Movement for Democratic Change. Two members of that party are among the candidates seeking the presidency³.

They are Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai and Industry and Commerce Minister Welshman Ncube.

President Robert Mugabe, of the ZANU-PF party, is seeking re-election. He has served in the office since 1980.

Currently, voter registration⁴ efforts are continuing.

Minister Misihairabwi-Mushonga thinks men will vote in the elections if they are starved for sex.

“Sex strike is not a new concept. It has been used to stop wars. It has been used to ask for developmental things in the areas and has been very successful. So this is not a revolutionary concept that I’m coming up with. It is a concept that has been used the world over.”

Soon, the world will learn if the “sex strike” idea can get Zimbabwean men to voting stations.

I’m Jeri Watson.

Using Technology to Protect African Elephants from Poachers

Researchers are warning that African elephants could disappear forever in this century if hunters continue killing⁵ them for ivory at current rates.

Jim Tedder⁶ tells us about a new effort to provide information that could help in efforts to stop the unlawful hunting, called poaching...

The grasslands⁷ of Africa might not exist without elephants. They knock down so many trees that forests turn into flat, open spaces. Many birds and other animals feed on the grass. Elephants help shape the land. Without them, everything would change. And for many, that would make the world a poorer place.

“There’s some connection between humans and elephants that would be a really sad thing to lose.”

Kevin Uno of Columbia University is a researcher. He is concerned about the possible disappearance⁸ of elephants. There are only about 400,000 of the animals left in the wild. Thirty thousand are killed each year for their ivory tusks¹⁰.

“So what that means is, in a span of 15 to 20 years, we could lose our elephants.”

Elephant ivory is highly sought for carving¹¹ material, especially in China and Japan.

Trade in ivory was made illegal in 1989 under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species. However, ivory that was harvested before the ban is still legal to buy and sell. This adds to the complexity¹² of anti-poaching efforts. How do investigators¹³ tell the old, legal ivory from the new?

An international team of scientists say the answer can be found with a new test. It measures the level of radioactive carbon in a piece of ivory.

Atmospheric¹⁴ radiocarbon has been especially high since the 1950s, when the United States and the then Soviet¹⁵ Union tested nuclear weapons. The radioactive element has been degrading -- falling to lower levels -- ever since. So the scientists carry out a test to find the level of radiocarbon in a tusk⁹. Then they compare it to levels in the atmosphere over the years. This tells them when the tested tusk grew -- and when the elephant was killed.

“We were just shocked to see that you could actually determine the age to within about one year.”

The findings were published in the journal Proceedings¹⁶ of the National Academy of Sciences.

The researchers hope the test will help investigators identify what ivory is legal to sell and what ivory has been poached.

But, Kevin Uno says enforcing the trade ban is only part of the battle to save elephants.

“We’ve developed this tool that fills an important gap in our ability to help with the poaching problem, but it’s not the only answer, and ending the demand for ivory is, is really the most important component¹⁷ of addressing this problem.”

The researcher is pushing for efforts to educate ivory buyers.

“What we need to send is a very strong and clear message that when you but something that’s made of ivory, there’s an elephant who dies for that.”

I’m Jim Tedder.

And that’s As It Is.

We hope you enjoyed our program today.

Every day on “As It Is,” we explore the latest events and report on issues that concern you. We would love to know what you want to hear on the show. Write to us at:

1 integration   

n.一体化，联合，结合

参考例句：

• We are working to bring about closer political integration in the EU.我们正在努力实现欧盟內部更加紧密的政治一体化。
• This was the greatest event in the annals of European integration.这是欧洲统一史上最重大的事件。

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 presidency   

n.总统(校长，总经理)的职位(任期)

参考例句：

• Roosevelt was elected four times to the presidency of the United States.罗斯福连续当选四届美国总统。
• Two candidates are emerging as contestants for the presidency.两位候选人最终成为总统职位竞争者。

4 registration   

n.登记，注册，挂号

参考例句：

• Marriage without registration is not recognized by law.法律不承认未登记的婚姻。
• What's your registration number?你挂的是几号？

5 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

6 tedder   

n.（干草）翻晒者，翻晒机

参考例句：

• Jim Tedder has more. 吉姆？特德将给我们做更多的介绍。 来自互联网
• Jim Tedder tells us more. 吉姆？泰德给我们带来更详细的报道。 来自互联网

7 grasslands   

n.草原，牧场( grassland的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Songs were heard ringing loud and clear over the grasslands. 草原上扬起清亮激越的歌声。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• Grasslands have been broken and planted to wheat. 草原已经开垦出来，种上了小麦。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 disappearance   

n.消失，消散，失踪

参考例句：

• He was hard put to it to explain her disappearance.他难以说明她为什么不见了。
• Her disappearance gave rise to the wildest rumours.她失踪一事引起了各种流言蜚语。

9 tusk   

n.獠牙，长牙，象牙

参考例句：

• The wild boar had its tusk sunk deeply into a tree and howled desperately.野猪的獠牙陷在了树里，绝望地嗥叫着。
• A huge tusk decorated the wall of his study.他书房的墙上装饰着一支巨大的象牙。

10 tusks   

n.（象等动物的）长牙( tusk的名词复数 )；獠牙；尖形物；尖头

参考例句：

• The elephants are poached for their tusks. 为获取象牙而偷猎大象。
• Elephant tusks, monkey tails and salt were used in some parts of Africa. 非洲的一些地区则使用象牙、猴尾和盐。 来自英语晨读30分（高一）

11 carving   

n.雕刻品，雕花

参考例句：

• All the furniture in the room had much carving.房间里所有的家具上都有许多雕刻。
• He acquired the craft of wood carving in his native town.他在老家学会了木雕手艺。

12 complexity   

n.复杂(性)，复杂的事物

参考例句：

• Only now did he understand the full complexity of the problem.直到现在他才明白这一问题的全部复杂性。
• The complexity of the road map puzzled me.错综复杂的公路图把我搞糊涂了。

13 investigators   

n.调查者，审查者( investigator的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• This memo could be the smoking gun that investigators have been looking for. 这份备忘录可能是调查人员一直在寻找的证据。
• The team consisted of six investigators and two secretaries. 这个团队由六个调查人员和两个秘书组成。 来自《简明英汉词典》

14 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。

15 Soviet   

adj.苏联的，苏维埃的；n.苏维埃

参考例句：

• Zhukov was a marshal of the former Soviet Union.朱可夫是前苏联的一位元帅。
• Germany began to attack the Soviet Union in 1941.德国在1941年开始进攻苏联。

16 proceedings   

n.进程，过程，议程；诉讼(程序)；公报

参考例句：

• He was released on bail pending committal proceedings. 他交保获释正在候审。
• to initiate legal proceedings against sb 对某人提起诉讼

17 component   

n.组成部分，成分，元件；adj.组成的，合成的

参考例句：

• Each component is carefully checked before assembly.每个零件在装配前都经过仔细检查。
• Blade and handle are the component parts of a knife.刀身和刀柄是一把刀的组成部分。