字神帝國英語天地

今日主題：Falcons Patrol Fruit Fields for Pesky Invasive Birds / 獵鷹巡邏保護水果免受鳥類破壞

洪欣老師推薦：托福聽力最好的課外教材：60-Second Science

康康精選托福會考的主題，堅持每天精聽一定會進步的哦!!

建議方法：
1. 先聽兩三遍 (不看文稿)
2. 再一句一句聽寫 (每句都要聽寫數遍，直到寫出85%以上的字)
3. 最後check文稿，看哪聽不出來，單字沒背過，還是發音不熟。
4. 堅持天天聽，就能每天進步哦。

MP3音檔 (按右鍵可下載聽)：喜歡的同學，幫忙推或按讚哦~~
http://online1.tingclass.net/voaspe/2016/20161101sa_tech.mp3

只有音檔怎夠，聽不懂地方，不用怕，康康幫你準備好中英文稿了：

中英文稿：
Washington state is the country’s largest producer of cherries and blueberries. The state’s wine industry is second only to California’s in value. But one non-native, nuisance bird is wreaking havoc.
華盛頓是生產櫻桃和藍莓最多的州。該州的釀酒工業市值位於第二位，次於加州。但是，不是本地、一種令人討厭的鳥卻在搞大破壞。

The European starling was brought to North America more than a century ago, by unwitting naturalists who wanted to introduce all the birds mentioned in Shakespeare’s plays. Today, the starlings do hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of damage to Washington’s crops. But one man has taken it upon himself to get rid of the birds—without killing them.
這種歐洲八哥在一個世紀以前由被不知情的自然法學家引入了北美，這些自然法學家想要引入莎士比亞戲劇中多提到的所有的鳥類。現在，這種鳥類對導致華盛頓的作物損失達數億美元。但是現在有人在擺脫鳥類對作物的損害——而不將鳥類殺死。

“We’re not terminators. Our job description would be more like security guards.”
我們並不是終結者，我們的職責更像是保安。

Vahé Alaverdian, raptor wrangler. It’s barely 6 A.M., but he’s been out in a field of cherry trees in Yakima Valley since much earlier. He’s working with a Peregrine falcon.
Vahé Alaverdian是一位猛禽牧人。現在是早上六點，但是他早已經到了雅吉瑪穀的櫻桃樹田地裡。他正在利用遊隼

And as long as the falcon flies over these fields, fruit-loving birds like robins, finches and starlings will not. Fourth-generation fruit grower Mark Roy estimates Alaverdian’s raptors save him a thousand dollars a day in otherwise lost produce.
只要遊隼在這些領域的上空盤旋，那麼知更鳥、雀和椋鳥等喜愛水果的鳥類就不會出現在這裡。馬克•羅伊是第四代果農，他估計Alaverdian這種猛禽每天能讓他少損失一千美元。

“So, I mean it pays to come and to scare the birds away.”
我付錢來讓他負責把那些鳥類嚇跑。

Birds of prey work where other traditional methods of bird abatement—like scarecrows, pyrotechnics and netting—fail. Alaverdian says even the most modern technology is no match for problem birds like starlings.
猛禽工作的領域在於那些傳統的驅逐鳥的方法——如稻草人、煙火以及鳥網——無效的地方。Alaverdian表示，即使最先進的方法也無法解決椋鳥的問題。

“People said ‘oh, we’re going to put you out of business. We’ve got drones, we’re going to program these drones and then we’ll fly them over blueberries.’ And then what?”
人們說，我們可以取代這種做法。我們有無人駕駛飛機。我們可以設定無人駕駛機程式，然後在藍莓樹的上空盤旋。可是這種結果又能怎樣呢?

Eventually, he says, starlings get used to the drones.
最終，椋鳥會就慢慢習慣了無人駕駛機。

“It’s just not something they’re genetically programmed to avoid. It’s good for 48 hours and then you need another tool.”
因為這並不是椋鳥生來就害怕而躲避的事物。可能這種方法僅僅有效兩天，之後你就要變換另一種工具了。

Modern tools can decrease fruit damage to thirty percent, but Alaverdian says one client at a Vineyard in California has seen falconry bring that down to between five and seven percent.
現代工具可以將水果的損害率降低到30%，但是Alaverdia表示，加州一位元葡萄莊園的客戶表示，放鷹捕獵這種方法可以將損害率降低到5%-7%.

It’s a tried and true taloned tool, that protects even the lowest hanging fruit.
這是一個久經考驗的方法，甚至可以保護懸掛在最下面的果實。