雅思口语素材之动物篇Ａ（救救老虎）

英赛特雅思

This year in the Chinese lunar calendar is the Year of the Tiger, ever regarded as the most regal of animals. But today they are being pushed to the brink of extinction.

The recent Top 10 Endangered Species established by the World Wildlife Fund for Nature (WWF) put the Bengal Tiger as No. 1 on its list.

"Last century, the number of tigers in the world range fell 95 percent. There are now only about 3,200 living tigers," said Diane Walkington, head of Species Program for the WWF. She said that the imperiled situation of tigers was caused by increasing human activity and illegal hunting.

China is one of the countries where tigers originated, and the home of the greatest number of subspecies in the world. They are the Siberian, South China, Indo-Chinese and Bengal. Previously there was also the extinct Caspian tiger.

Since ancient times, loving and worshiping tigers have been a cultural tradition among the Chinese. But with the development of human society, tigers in China have also been pushed to extinction. The trade of tiger-related products is one of the causes.

"Don't believe what illegal businessmen say about tiger bones having extraordinary medical values," said the action movie star Jackie Chan, at a press conference on February 5 for a film on the protection of tigers shot by WildAid, a non-profit organization which focuses on reducing demand for threatened and endangered species products and also increasing support for conservation.

Today, tiger farms have emerged around the world and their investors are trying to make trade of tiger-related products legal.

Dermot O'Gorman, a spokesperson for the WWF China Program Office, said if the trade in tiger-related products were allowed, it would stimulate the demand for them, even if the products were from farm-raised tigers. "Especially in a situation where we could not clearly distinguish between farm-raised or wild tiger products, their legalization for trade would provide illegal hunters and businessmen with chances to cover up criminal activity."

In 1988, China promulgated the Law on the Protection of Wildlife, listing tigers as a first-class protected species. In 1993, the Central Government completely banned the activities of purchasing, transporting, selling, using, importing and exporting and smuggling tiger-related products.

The habitat of tigers has become smaller. Compared to the early 1900s, their habitat area has decreased 96 percent and, correspondingly, the wild populations of tigers have dropped 97 percent.

regal　['ri:gəl]　adj. 帝王的, 适于帝王的

brink　n. 边缘, 边沿, 界限

extinction　[iks'tiŋkʃən] n. 消失, 消减, 废止

the Bengal Tiger 孟加拉虎

imperiled　 [im'peril] vt. 使陷于危险中, 危及

subspecies　 ['sʌb.spi:ʃi:z] n. 亚种

Siberian 　[sai'biriən] adj. 西伯利亚的

Indo-Chinese adj. 印度支那的

Bengal 　[beŋ'gɔ:l] n. 孟加拉(印度和孟加拉国东部地区)

Caspian 　['kæspiən] n. 里海（世界最大的咸水湖）adj. 里海的

conservation
[.kɔnsə:'veiʃən] n. 保存, 防止流失, 守恒, 保护自然资源

promulgate
[prə'mʌlgeit] vt. 发布, 公布, 发表

habitat　 n.  (动物的)栖息地, 住处