How humpback whales made a global comeback

湖南华容二中 文永红

精彩导读

座头鲸在近40年中数量不断增加，在世界范围内从濒临灭绝的边缘到浴火重生，其中的原因是什么？

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When the Pacific Whale Foundation was founded in 1980,its researchers would drive up and down the coast of Hawaii waiting to see a whale.Atthattime,only a few hundred humpback whales made it to the islands per year.Now,more than 10,000 do.This recovery of the Hawaiian coast population is a sign of the species’ worldwide comeback from the brink（边缘）of extinction,including a recently reported return of humpback whales near Antarctica.

当太平洋鲸鱼基金会于1980年成立时，它的研究人员需要在夏威夷海岸上驱车很远，等着看鲸鱼。当时，每年只有几百头座头鲸到达这个岛屿。现在，每年有超过1万头座头鲸能够到达岸边。夏威夷海岸种群的这一恢复标志着该物种在世界范围内从濒临灭绝的边缘浴火重生，其中包括最近报道的南极附近的座头鲸的回归。

20世纪初，包括国际联盟在内的一些

In the early 1900s,groups including the League of Nations began pushing back against the industry of whaling．In the 1970s,the first recorded whale songs became “a call to arms” for activists and the public,inspiring the growing Save the Whales movement in the United States．Greenpeace planned trips starting in 1975 to fight against whalers on the open ocean．

In response to declining populations and the public increasingly seeing the practice as inhumane,the International Whaling Commission called for a pause on whaling in 1982．Currently,Norway,Japan,and Iceland still hunt a small number of minke and fin whales．

The US Marine Mammal Protection Act and the Endangered Species Act have also played a major role in the humpback whales’ comeback．In 2016,nine of the species’14 population had recovered enough to be removed from the endangered species list．

Other whales like blue whales were also hunted to near extinction like humpback whales，which are easy to spot from shore． “They breed at the same time and place every year,allowing them to more easily find mates and recover faster than other whales,”said Logan Pallin,lead author of the Antarctica study．Still,humpback whales need ongoing efforts for protection,especially the populations with negative growth trends．An important part of that work includes more research to understand population changes and create guidelines for protecting whales．组织开始回击捕鲸业。在20世纪70年代，第一次录制的鲸鱼歌曲成为积极分子和公众的“武器召唤”，激发了美国日益壮大的拯救鲸鱼运动。绿色和平组织计划从1975年开始在公海打击捕鲸者。

面对日益减少的数量和公众越来越认为这种做法不人道，在1982年,国际捕鲸委员会呼吁暂停捕鲸活动。目前，挪威、日本和冰岛仍在捕杀少量的小须鲸和长须鲸。

美国海洋哺乳动物保护法和濒危物种法也对座头鲸的回归起到了重要作用。2016年，该物种的14个种群中有9个已经恢复到可以从濒危物种名单中删除。

像蓝鲸这样的其他鲸鱼也被猎杀到接近灭绝的地步，就像座头鲸一样，它们很容易在岸上被发现。南极研究的主要负责人洛根·帕林说∶“它们每年都在同一时间和地点繁殖，这使得它们比其他鲸鱼更容易找到配偶，并恢复得更快。”尽管如此，座头鲸仍然需要持续的努力去保护，特别是有负增长趋势的种群。这项工作的一个重要部分包括更多的研究，以了解种群的变化，并制定保护鲸鱼的指导方针。

Reading check

Read the text carefully and find the correct answers.

1.How does the author begin his first paragraph？

A.By contrast.

B.By giving numbers.

C.By narrating an example.

D.By introducing a phenomenon.

2.What does the second paragraph mainly talk about？

A.The first recorded whale songs.

B.Important groups to protect whales.

C.A time line about some organization.

D.Famous movements against whaling.

3.How many countries are still hunting whales according to the text？

A.1. B.2. C.3. D.4.

4.What can be inferred from what Logan Pallin has said？

A.Man has made great achievements in protecting humpback whales.

B.Breeding regularly in a fixed place puts the species at the risk of being killed.

C.The whole species of humpback whales have been on decrease in the near past.

D.Fully understanding population changes is very important in whales’protection.

Language study

Vocabulary

1.make it to到达

2.push back 推迟；推回

3.fight against与……做斗争

4.in response to响应；对……做出反应

5.call for呼吁；主张；号召

Difficult sentence

现在分词作结果状语

They breed at the same time and place every year,________（allow）them to more easily find mates and recover faster than other whales.

翻译：____________________________________________________________________________

【点石成金】句中所缺的部分应该是非谓语部分，且非谓语动词与其逻辑主语They breed at the same time and place every year构成的是主谓关系，应用现在分词形式，相当于which allows。

Background knowledge

the Pacific Whale Foundation

太平洋鲸鱼基金会

The Pacific Whale Foundation is a nonprofit organization founded in 1980 to protect the oceans through science and advocacy.It is governed by a volunteer Board of Directors and its work is funded through fund raising activities,memberships,donations from supporters worldwide,and profits from cruise and retailoperations thatcomprise itssocial enterprise model.It offers educational whale watching and other ocean eco-tours through PacWhale Eco-Adventures.

太平洋鲸鱼基金会是一个非营利组织，成立于1980年，旨在通过科学和宣传来保护海洋。它由一个志愿者董事会管理，其工作由筹资活动、会员资格、世界各地支持者的捐款以及构成其社会企业模式的邮轮和零售业务的利润提供资金。它通过PacWhale生态探险提供有教育意义的观鲸和其他海洋生态旅游。

the League of Nations

国际联盟

The League of Nations was an intergovernmentalorganization founded on 10 January 1920 as a result of the Paris Peace Conference that ended the First World War.It was the first international organization whose principal mission was to maintain world peace.Its primary goals,as stated in its Covenant,included preventing wars through collective security and disarmament and settling internationaldisputes through negotiation and arbitration.

国际联盟是一个政府间组织，成立于1920年1月10日，是结束第一次世界大战的巴黎和平会议的结果。它是第一个以维护世界和平为主要使命的国际组织，如其公约所述，其主要目标是通过集体安全和裁军防止战争，并通过谈判和仲裁解决国际争端。

the International Whaling Commission

国际捕鲸委员会

The International Whaling Commission is an international body set up by the terms of the International Convention for the Regulation of Whaling,which was signed in Washington,D.C.,the United States,on December 2,1946 to “provide for the proper conservation of whale stocks and thus make possible the orderly development of the whaling industry”.In 1982 the IWC adopted a moratorium on commercial whaling.Currently,Japan,Russia,and a number of other nations oppose this moratorium.

国际捕鲸委员会是根据1946年12月2日在美国华盛顿特区签署的“国际捕鲸管制公约”设立的一个国际机构，目的是“为鲸鱼种群的适当保护作出规定，从而使捕鲸业得以有序发展”。1982年，国际捕鲸委员会通过了商业捕鲸禁令。目前，日本、俄罗斯和其他一些国家反对这一禁令。