雅思听力：美国历史上最严重的原油泄漏灾难_第2页

　　在2010年1月30日的Section 4中，讨论了Environment Conservation的话题，我们一起来了解一下相关的内容。

　　l 什么是Alternative Energy?

　　狭义的可替代能源(alternative energy)仅仅是指一切可以替代石油(oil/ petroleum)的能源;而广义的替代能源是指可以替代目前使用的石化燃料(fossil fuel)的能源，石化燃料包括石油、天然气(natural gas)和煤炭(coal)。大多数的新能源都是替代能源，包括太阳能(solar energy)、核能(nuclear energy)、风能(wind energy)、水能(hydroelectric energy)、海洋能(ocean energy)、地热能(geothermal energy)等，其中多数能源为可再生能源(renewable energy)。

　　l 为何要加快发展Alternative Energy?

　　首先，从全球来讲，作为不可再生资源(non-renewable energy)，随着化石能源的逐渐减少，未来将逐渐面临资源的枯竭(resource exhaustion);同时，产生能源转变的一个重要原因是由于能源使用所带来的环境问题，化石能源的开发利用不仅产生空气污染(air pollution)和生态(ecology)破坏，而且所产生诸如二氧化碳、一氧化碳等的温室气体(greenhouse gas)还可能加剧气候变暖(global warming)。

　　【背景常识】 “墨西哥湾原油泄漏事件”这一事件的背后，是关于生态环境保护的基本常识。那么大量的原油泄漏对于海洋生态环境有什么样的危害呢?我们一起来了解一下：

　　Oil in the Wetland

　　Whatever investigations are conducted and reforms enacted after the fact, the oil is going to continue to spill, damaging the Gulf and its coastline in ways scientists can't yet predict.

　　By the end of May, those wetlands were under attack, though subtly at first. This wasn't the black tide when crude coated the rocky beaches of Alaska's Prince William Sound. Rather, oil carried by the shifting ocean currents and winds would suddenly materialize in one section of marshland. Once oil penetrates the wetlands — a nursery and feeding ground for birds and marine species alike — it doesn't take much to have a serious impact.

　　Late spring is the reproductive season for scores of species in and around the wetlands, and young animals are especially vulnerable to the toxic effects of oil. The marshes are vital to the life cycles of commercially viable species like shrimp. The plentiful birds of the wetlands can encounter oil as they dive into the water for food. Slicked birds can take oil back to the nest, destroying eggs or suffocating the young.

　　Oiled birds that are found will most likely represent only a fraction of the number actually claimed by the crude. Most will die at sea or on the inaccessible reaches of the coastline. "Many of our worst fears are coming true," says Ken Rosenberg, director of conservation science at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. "No bird that depends on oil-impacted wetlands or water is going to be completely safe."

　　【必杀词汇】 朗阁海外考试研究中心分析认为，一旦雅思听力考到有关环境污染问题对于物种的影响，以下词汇必然落入出题者的考察范围之内：

　　l wetland 湿地

　　l marshland 沼泽

　　l crude原油

　　l coastline海岸线

　　l ocean currents洋流

　　l nursery 育儿室

　　l marine species 海洋生物

　　l reproductive season 繁殖季节

　　l be vulnerable to 易受---侵害的

　　l toxic 有毒的

　　l life cycle 生命周期

　　l conservation 保护