31 Society should make efforts to save endangered species only if the potential extinction of those species is the result of human activities

Society should make efforts to save endangered species only if the potential extinction of those species is the result of human activities.

Write a response in which you discuss your views on the policy and explain your reasoning for the position you take. In developing and supporting your position, you should consider the possible consequences of implementing the policy and explain how these consequences shape your position.

文勇五问：

本题属于条件类命题（意味着它与非此即彼的Agree/Disagree类题目有所不同）。我们可以不同意原文观点，也可以在原文条件下同意，甚至可以在除原文条件之外的情况下依然赞同该观点。

（1）人类能否清楚地判断自己的行为对环境造成了破坏？人类过多的干预会破坏生态系统本来的平衡吗？

（2）人类的活动会如何影响物种的生存甚至导致其灭绝？你能描述具体的情形吗？例如：人类过度砍伐导致森林植被破坏、动物的栖息地被破坏、物种生存受到威胁。

（3）就你所知，哪些物种的灭绝与人类相关？例如，亚洲猎豹（Asiatic Cheetah）因人类破坏生态环境以及过度猎杀而于1948年灭绝。哪些与人类不相关？例如：恐龙的灭绝是自然环境变化的结果。

（4）达尔文的观点是怎样的？达尔文的“进化论”概括起来就是“物竞天择，适者生存”。为什么有一些持有达尔文主义观点的人认为人类不应该干涉物种的灭绝，即便这种灭绝是由人类导致的？例如：他们可能认为人类的干涉会破坏自然的平衡。

（5）原文的建议会有什么好的结果？可能会有什么不好的结果？例如：会使濒临灭绝的物种得以保留下来，维持生态稳定；但与此同时，也可能会忽略那些由于物种自身原因而濒临灭绝的物种。

翻译练习：

很多科学家认为气候变化以及随之而来的居住地的破坏应该对很多史前动物的灭绝负责。但是近期研究的结果对这一假设进行了质疑，并将它们灭绝的主要原因指向人类的狩猎活动。

参考答案：

Many scientists believed that climate change and the subsequent habitat destruction were responsible for the extinction of many prehistoric animals. Yet results of recent researches have cast doubt on this hypothesis and pointed to human hunting as the primary reason for their disappearance.

翻译练习：

灭绝一直都在发生，但是近些年人类对地球表面的有意的改变已经使物种在以比自然进程高1 000倍的速度消失。这种改变包括过度狩猎、清除大片森林、将物种从原有栖息地运送到新的大陆、释放数十亿吨的二氧化碳到大气和海洋中并因此改变气候等。

参考答案：

Extinction has always been occuring, yet human beings’ deliberate alterations of the Earth’s landscape in recent years have caused species to vanish at a rate 1,000 times that of natural processes.Such alterations consist of overhunting, clearing away great reaches of forest, transporting species from their natural habitats to new continents, pumping billions of tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere and oceans, thus transforming the climate and so on.

翻译练习：

鉴于我们对大自然的运行规律的理解程度有限，判定哪些物种是因为人类的行为而濒临灭绝是不可能的。我们唯一可以确定的是，迄今为止，人类对自然的恶意干预已经使得很多物种灭绝了，如果不被打扰的话，其中很多物种可能还活着（用定语从句和虚拟语气）。

参考答案：

Given our limited understanding of how nature works, it is impossible to judge which species have become endangered due to man’s actions and which not. The only thing we are certain is that so far, man’s vicious intrusion into nature has caused many species to die out, many of which might still be alive if they had been left alone.

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