英语每日一听 | 每天少于5分钟

This is a slime mold. Cat Chang is an urban designer. But in her spare time, she likes to examine other life-forms.
这是一种黏菌。张凯特是城市设计师。但在业余时间，她喜欢研究其他生命形式。

Ever since I was a little girl, I've been interested in the natural world. We're native Hawaiian.
从小我就对自然界充满兴趣，我们是夏威夷原住民。

Our family and my grandmother would take me around her yard. She would show us all the plants and how you use them.
家人和祖母会带我参观她的院子。她会向我们展示所有的植物以及它们的用途。

And later when I was interested in learning about fungi, I didn't have anybody to help me with it. Someone suggested iNaturalist to me, and it's on your cell phone.
后来我对真菌产生了兴趣，却没有人能在这方面帮助我。有人向我推荐了iNaturist，可以装在手机上。

iNaturalist is a joint initiative of National Geographic and the California Academy of Sciences.
iNaturalist是美国国家地理学会与加利福尼亚科学院联合发起的项目。

Essentially people can take a photo of anything living, plants, animal, fungus, slime mold, put it on the website and other people identify it.
本质上，人们可以给任何有生命的东西拍照，比如植物、动物、真菌、黏菌，然后把照片上传到网站上，然后由其他人来识别。

The app compares the image with those already in the database to begin the identification process. But ultimately, human experts weigh in.
该应用将图像与数据库中已有的图像进行比较以启动识别过程，但最终仍需由人类专家进行判断。

The best part of it is there's a community of people that can also participate.
最棒的是，还有一个可以参与其中的群体。

It's used by scientists to collect data, and actually write papers, as well as just amateur people who are really interested in getting more involved, and caring more about nature.
科学家用它来收集数据并撰写论文，同样也有纯粹出于兴趣想更深入参与、更关心自然的业余爱好者使用它。

This time of year, I'm particularly looking for salamanders. And I always like to see mammals, they're one of my favorites, and birds of course. I have almost 55,000 observations. It's a lot.
每年的这个时候，我特别想找到蝾螈。我一直很喜欢观察哺乳动物，它们是我最喜欢的动物之一，当然还有鸟类。我已经有近55000次观察记录了，这可不少。

iNaturalist has observations from every country in the world. Right now, I believe we have over 26 million observations and about 700,000 active users.
iNaturalist拥有来自世界各国的观察记录。目前，我认为我们有超过2600万条观测数据和约70万活跃用户。

This collaboration across continents led recently to a surprising discovery in California:
这种跨大洲的合作最近在加利福尼亚州有了一项惊人的发现：

the type of giant sunfish whose normal habitat is thousands of miles to the south, an indication perhaps of a rapidly changing world.
一种通常栖息地在数千英里以南的巨型翻车鱼出现在这里，这或许预示着世界正在迅速变化。

Visitors come to the U.S. Botanic Garden to enjoy the variety of plants and the peace and serenity of nature. This woman works nearby.
游客们来到美国国家植物园，欣赏种类繁多的植物，感受大自然的宁静与祥和。这位女士在附近工作。

Feels like a forest in a city, so I can be thinking about something else that worked for even for 5 minutes, which is sometimes very nice.
仿佛置身于城市中的一片森林，让我能短暂地思考其他事情，哪怕只有五分钟，这种感觉有时真的很美妙。

Located on the National Mall, the Botanic Garden is made up of 65,000 indoor and outdoor plants, some more than 165 years old.
植物园位于国家广场，共有65000株室内和室外植物，其中一些已有超过165年的历史。

Inside the conservatory, the greenhouse, there are rooms with plants that thrive in different environments, like this tropical room.
在温室里，有适应不同环境的植物生长的房间，比如这个热带植物室。

Since its beginning, visitors have been educated about the value of plants.
从建园开始，植物园就一直向参观者们展示植物的价值。

We still have a very important role to play in educating people about the importance of plants,
在向人们普及植物重要性方面，我们仍能发挥非常重要的作用，

particularly in urban audiences where people may not have a direct connection to a farm, may not understand where food in particular comes from.
尤其是面向城市受众，他们可能没有亲身接触农田，可能不了解食物具体来源。

One of the garden's main attractions are the 4,000 orchid plants that come from around the world.
植物园的主要景点之一是来自世界各地的4000株兰花。

During the annual spring orchid show, a sea of flowers bloom, including some that are endangered.
在一年一度的春季兰花展期间，花海绽放，其中不乏一些濒危品种。

During the Christmas season, a very popular exhibit showcases toy trains chugging through plants and structures made from plant-based materials.
圣诞季期间，一个极受欢迎的展览会展示玩具火车穿梭于由植物材料制成的植物与建筑模型之间。

As part of the bicentennial, the newest exhibit "Deeply Rooted, Branching Outward" highlights the scientific exploration of plants, which the garden hopes will give visitors.
作为建园二百周年庆典的一部分，最新展览“深深扎根，向外延伸”着重展示了对植物的科学探索，而这正是植物园希望能带给游客的独特体验。

So just a greater appreciation for plants, for plant discovery, for plant exploration.
我们可以更好地观赏植物，了解植物发现，以及植物探索。

The U.S. Botanic Garden is free and open every day, with more than 1 million visitors a year.
美国国家植物园每天都免费开放， 每年有100多万游客。

It has enlightened its guests for two centuries and will continue to for generations to come.
两个世纪以来，它一直启迪着到访的宾客，并且在未来的世代里还将继续如此。

Researchers with NOAA, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, catch a leatherback sea turtle off the coast of California.
美国国家海洋和大气管理局(NOAA)的研究人员在加利福尼亚海岸捕获了一只棱皮龟。

The tens of millions of years old species is in serious decline, says ecologist Scott Benson.
生态学家斯科特·本森说，这个已存在数千万年的物种正在急剧减少。

Estimates are that the population now is about 1400 adult females remaining.
据估计，目前成年雌性个体仅剩下约1400只。

That's down from literally tens of thousands several decades, a few decades ago.
这与几十年前动辄数以万计的数量相比已经减少了。

Benson co-authored a new study that says the foraging area used by the leatherback sea turtle saw a population drop of about 80 percent in the past 30 years.
本森参与合著的一项新研究指出，过去30年间，棱皮龟觅食区域内的种群数量下降了约80%。

He says this is amazing given the species adaptability. The leatherback turtle is an ancient mariner.
他说，考虑到该物种的适应能力，这十分令人惊讶。棱皮龟是古老的航海者。

They've been around for almost as long as 80 million years in their present form, date back to the time of the dinosaurs.
它们以现在的形态存在了近8000万年，其历史可以追溯到恐龙时代。

It's not a poorly adapted species. They've been through all kinds of things, meteor strikes, climate changes, you name it.
它们并非适应能力差的物种，经历过陨石撞击、气候变化等各种磨难。

He says the smaller numbers make the species more vulnerable to outside factors, like international fishing and egg harvesting.
他表示数量减少使该物种更容易受到国际捕捞和采集龟蛋等外部因素的影响。

Benson's team puts transmitters on turtles so their fishing fleets can avoid them.
本森的团队给海龟装上发射器，这样他们的渔船就能避开这些海龟。

He says his team is doing what it can to boost the rapidly dwindling numbers.
他说他的团队正在尽其所能来使迅速减少的数量回弹。

We're down to the remnants right now so any little thing now could potentially disrupt it. So we have just very little time to turn around.
剩下的数量不多了，所以现在任何小事都有可能破坏局面。我们能够扭转局面的时间不多了。

All seven species of the leatherback are in trouble, but the new study focuses on the western pacific variety,
所有七种棱皮龟都面临困境，但这项新研究主要关注西太平洋种群，

which migrates more than 11,000 kilometers from Indonesia and the Solomon Islands to the US west coast to feast on jellyfish.
它们会从印度尼西亚和所罗门群岛迁徙超过1.1万公里，前往美国西海岸享用水母。

NOAA recently released a new action plan calling for greater international cooperation.
NOAA最近发布了一项新的行动计划，呼吁加强国际合作。

Research published Monday shows a strong correlation between rising sea surface temperatures and a roughly 50 percent drop worldwide in the total number of open water species in just 40 years.
周一发表的研究显示，海洋表层水温上升与全球开放水域物种总量在短短40年内骤减约50%存在显著关联。

In geological history this is a blink, so it's just a wink of an eye.
在地质史上，这只是一瞬间，不过是一眨眼的工夫。

And to see such rapid changes or such changes over occurring so rapidly is something that's astonishing I would say.
看到如此迅速的变化，我真的觉得非常震惊。

Researcher and ecologist Sebastian Ferse says coral reefs have begun moving north and south toward the poles, a sign they're adapting to warmer waters.
研究员兼生态学家锡巴斯琴·费尔斯表示，珊瑚礁已开始向南北两极方向迁移，这一迹象表明它们正在适应变暖的水域。

But he questions if the shift can happen fast enough to adjust to the changing climate.
但他质疑这种转变是否能足够迅速地适应气候变化。

The species that can easily move have largely done so, says researcher Chhaya Chaudhary.
研究员恰雅·乔杜里表示，那些容易迁移的物种大部分已经完成了迁徙。

We found that almost all the marine species are moving away from the equator.
我们发现几乎所有的海洋生物都在离开赤道区域。

And they are accumulating in the subtropics and that's where we have higher peak in the species diversity.
它们正在亚热带地区积聚，而那里正是物种多样性达到高峰的地方。

Conservation scientist Stuart Pimm says the study by the National Academy of Sciences shows broad trends that demand attention.
保护科学家斯图亚特·皮姆表示，美国国家科学院的研究揭示了需要引起广泛关注的总体趋势。

What we're doing to the planet is causing an enormous amount of disruption in all sorts of ways. And I think we have to get a handle on that.
我们对地球的所作所为正在以各种方式造成巨大的破坏。我认为我们必须解决这个问题。

Pimm says scientists need more data and details to study growing concerns about the food chain.
皮姆说，科学家需要更多的数据和细节来研究人们对食物链日益增长的担忧。

Experts say biodiversity is an essential component to nutritional food.
专家表示，生物多样性是营养食品的重要组成部分。

The World Wildlife Fund says approximately three billion people worldwide rely on proteins, fished, farmed or caught in the water.
世界野生动物基金会表示，全球约有30亿人依赖从水中捕捞、养殖或捕获的蛋白质。

How do you fancy being up a mountain at a height of around 3,000 metres with the temperature below zero, snow underfoot, variable weather, racing up and downhill? This is how some athletes will be competing in this year's winter Olympics.
爬上海拔3000米左右的高山，零下零下的气温，脚下积雪，天气多变，上坡下坡，你感觉如何？ 这就是一些运动员参加今年冬季奥运会的方式。

Skimo, short for ski mountaineering, is the newest winter Olympic sport and will debut at the 2026 games in Milan-Cortina. It combines Alpine skiing with mountaineering and is a race against time where athletes are required to ascend and descend mountainous terrain using skis and other specialised equipment.
Skimo 是滑雪登山运动的缩写，是最新的冬季奥运会运动项目，并将在 2026 年米兰-科尔蒂纳奥运会上首次亮相。 它结合了高山滑雪和登山运动，是一场与时间的竞赛，要求运动员使用滑雪板和其他专用装备上下山地。

At the Olympics, there will be a relay event, and also asprintcompetition which lasts just a few minutes. Athletes start in a steep uphill section usingclimbingskins. These are detachablegrippystrips you attach to skis to prevent sliding. The athletes then rapidlytransitiontobootpackingwhere skis are carried on a backpack as they run up an incline as fast as possible. There is then atechnicaldownhillcourse full of tight turns andobstacles. Because of all the transitions, races can be won or lost in seconds depending on how smoothly the athletes can switch betweenmodes.
奥运会上会有接力赛，还有短跑赛，持续时间只有几分钟。 运动员们使用攀岩皮从陡峭的上坡路段出发。 这些是可拆卸的防滑条，您可以将其固定在滑雪板上以防止滑动。 然后，运动员们迅速过渡到打包靴子，将滑雪板装在背包上，同时尽可能快地跑上斜坡。 然后是充满急转弯和障碍的技术下坡路线。 由于所有的转换，比赛可能会在几秒钟内获胜或失败，这取决于运动员在模式之间切换的顺利程度。

One hopeful British qualifier, and a member of the GB Skimo squad, is Iain Innes. Despite the sport being included in the Olympics, which he says is great news, he doesn't think the events accurately represent ski mountaineering. "There is no element of mountaineering whatsoever, as the World Cups and Olympics are held on man-made slopes with berms and jumps and perfectly cut steps on the climbs", he told the British Mountaineering Council.
伊恩·英尼斯 (Iain Innes) 是英国 Skimo 队的一员，也是一位充满希望的英国预选赛选手。 尽管这项运动被纳入奥运会，他说这是个好消息，但他认为这些项目并不能准确地代表滑雪登山运动。 他告诉英国登山委员会，“这里没有任何登山元素，因为世界杯和奥运会是在人造斜坡上举行的，这些斜坡上有护堤和跳跃，而且攀登时的台阶也完美切割”。

However, inclusion in the Olympics is a positive reflection of the sport's global growth and development. The International Ski Mountaineering Federation (ISMF) oversees the regulation and promotion of the sport and has established a World Cup circuit, as well as continental and World Championships, all of which have helped elevate the sport's standing. So, look out for this extreme sport this year and feel that adrenaline rush.
然而，纳入奥运会是这项运动在全球增长和发展的积极反映。 国际滑雪登山联合会（ISMF）负责监督这项运动的监管和推广，并设立了世界杯巡回赛、洲际锦标赛和世界锦标赛，所有这些都有助于提升这项运动的地位。 所以，今年请留意这项极限运动，感受肾上腺素激增的感觉。