What is human bycatch? 什么是“人肉背景”？

黄桂彬

如今，攝影已经变得极为普及，人们也常常在无意中充当了照片里的人肉背景。很多时候，当你路过一些地方且那里有科研人员放置的用来拍摄动植物的相机时，你很有可能会被他们拍到。那么你有多少这样的照片流落在外？这对你来说重要吗？

难词探意

1. paparazzo /？謣p？覸p？藜？謖r？覸ts？藜？尬/ n. 狗仔队

2. bycatch /？謖ba？奘k？覸t？蘩/ n. 误捕的鱼

3. enforcement /？奘n？謖f？蘅？蘼sm？藜nt/ n. 执行; 实施

4. poacher /？謖p？藜？尬t？蘩？藜（r）/ n. 偷猎者

Imagine you？蒺re on a quiet nature walk. You？蒺re watching animals run and enjoying the peaceful day. That？蒺s when you spot a rare flower. You move to get a closer look. Suddenly， you hear a loud SNAP， SNAP， SNAP！ You？蒺re blinded by bright lights. You quickly back away from the flower， but you can？蒺t seem to escape the snapping.

Are you being followed by the paparazzi？ No， but it may feel that way. Instead， you？蒺ve been caught on film by a camera trap. It took pictures of you because you got close to the flower it？蒺s hidden behind. You？蒺ve become human bycatch！

Human bycatch happens when cameras that are meant to study nature end up taking pictures of people. Usually， this is caused by camera traps. They work by taking pictures when they detect motion. Scientists place them in nature or on drones to get pictures of wildlife.

What happens to the pictures the camera took of you？ Will a scientist study them in their lab？ Well...maybe！ Researchers don？蒺t usually set up cameras to get photos of humans. Still， they sometimes use pictures of human bycatch to learn about human behavior.

In many cases， human bycatch has caught people breaking the law. And this happens more often than you might think！ A 2018 study surveyed 235 scientists. It found that over 90 percent of them had pictures of human bycatch. And of that 90 percent， half of them had shared images with law enforcement.

Many people have mixed feelings about human bycatch. After all， the idea of being photographed by strangers makes many uneasy. That？蒺s why some say human bycatch leads to loss of privacy. Still， there are some positive results. Camera traps have helped catch animal poachers. This helps stop poaching and protect animals.

Still， many people would rather not be caught on cameras unexpectedly. And in some cases， human bycatch leads to problems for researchers. When people realize they？蒺ve been photographed， they sometimes steal or destroy the cameras. Others simply cover the cameras， which also stops them from taking pictures of wildlife.

Is human bycatch an invasion of privacy？ Do human beings have a right to not be photographed against their will？ Many say so. To address this issue， some researchers refuse to use pictures that have people in them. Others cover the faces of human bycatch to protect privacy. Some researchers are also working to make smarter technology that won？蒺t photograph humans.

What do you think should be done？ Is it okay for camera traps to take pictures of people？ Should those images be used for study？ Turned over to authorities？ Thrown away？ How can scientists protect privacy and still learn about wildlife？

1. When does human bycatch usually take place？

A. People are absorbed in the beauty of nature.

B. People are being followed by the paparazzi.

C. Scientists use pictures of human bycatch to learn about human behavior.

D. Cameras mean to take pictures of nature but meanwhile take pictures of people.

2. What do we know about human bycatch from the fifth paragraph？

A. It causes many people？蒺s concern for privacy.

B. It perhaps contributes to people？蒺s obeying the law.

C. 90 percent of the pictures of human bycatch are illegal.

D. People hope to have strict laws to limit human bycatch.

3. What？蒺s most people？蒺s attitude towards human bycatch？

A. Unfavourable. B. Neutral.  C. Unclear.  D. Positive.

4. Which is a proper method of using pictures having people in them？

A. Only taking pictures of wildlife. B. Asking permission of the people.

C. Covering the faces of human bycatch. D. Avoiding contacting the people hidden behind.

Difficult sentence

Human bycatch happens when cameras that are meant to study nature end up taking pictures of people.

【翻譯】

【点石成金】句中的happen用一般现在时，表示的意思是“时常发生”， when引导时间状语从句，that引导限制性定语从句，修饰先行词 cameras。