『新东方在线托福听力』为托福考生准备了ETS托福TPO/Official 40 Lec 2听力练习：What is the discussion mainly about?原文题目答案解析，TPO/Official 40 Lec 2听力原文范文音频翻译。

托福TPO/Official 40 Lec 2听力原文What is the discussion mainly about?【新东方在线】

旁白:下面听一段有关环境保护的讲座片段。

Narrator: Listen to part of a lecture in an environmental conservation class.

教授：接下来我想谈谈有关北美鳕鱼数量暴跌的事。

Professor: Next I want to talk about the collapse of the North American Cod population.

我们来看下美国东北部的科德角（鳕鱼角）。

Let's look at Cape Cod in the Northeastern United States.

这个地方被叫做鳕鱼角是因为这有非常多的鳕鱼就在海岸边，数量之多以至于17世纪来这捕鱼的第一批欧洲人报道说这比加拿大的Newfoundland的鳕鱼还要多。

The area was named Cape Cod because there was so many Cod fish in the waters just off its shores, so many that the first Europeans who fished there in the 17th century reported it was better than in Newfoundland, Canada.

那时候Newfoundland的渔业是非常繁荣的，甚至人们说你只要将桶在水里浅浅一舀再拉上来就有满满一桶鱼，但鳕鱼角的鱼比之更甚，所以在1940s之前那的渔业是相当繁荣的。

At that time, Newfoundland's Cod fishery was so rich that people said it was possible just to lower a bucket in the water, pull it out and it would be full of cod, but Cape Cod was even better, so the fishing industry there did great until after the 1940s.

所以鳕鱼角上就有非常多的捕鱼船，都是经验老道的船，争相捕捞越来越少的鳕鱼。

Uh, there were simply too many fishing vessels, sophisticated vessels, competing for fewer and fewer fish.

在1940s，鳕鱼角每年仍有四亿磅鳕鱼产量。

In the 1940s there were still about four hundred million pounds of fish caught at Cape Cod every year.

仅仅50年后，到了1990，商业化鳕鱼捕捞已没有油水。

Just 50 years later though, by the 1990s, commercial cod fishing there had become unprofitable.

The annual catch had gone down about 5% of its 1940s' level.

而这件事最特别的地方在于，由于越来越多的捕鱼船搭载越来越先进的捕鱼技术来争相捕鱼，使得鳕鱼的生理特征发生了变化，而这种变化更加不利于鳕鱼数量的自身维持。

And here's what's so fascinating: as more and more fishing vessels with better and better fishing technology were competing for cod, this competition was causing changes to the biology of the fish and these changes were making it more and more difficult for the cod population to sustain itself.

学生：鳕鱼的生理特征发生了什么变化？

Student: Changes to the biology of the fish?

教授：额，如果鳕鱼比平常早繁殖，那么它就会在捕捞前更有机会把基因传给下一代对吗？

Professor: Well, if a cod fish could reproduce earlier than usual, it'd have a better chance of passing on its genes to the next generation before being caught, right?

果不其然，生物学家发现在鳕鱼角的鳕鱼，他们会比正常的鳕鱼更早进入成熟阶段。

And sure enough, biologists noticed that around Cape Cod, the cod were beginning to mature at an earlier age than normal.

在数量减少前，鳕鱼通常经过8到10年才完全成熟，开始繁殖交配，生命周期大概40年。

Prior to the population collapse, cod usually took about 8 to 10 years to fully mature, to start to reproduce, and they lived around 40 years total.

So cod had about 30 years of active reproductive life.

但是现在鳕鱼开始在很早的年龄，差不多3-4岁就开始交配，他们生命周期也变短因为大量的捕捞，所以他们繁殖期就更短。

But now, cod were beginning to reproduce at a younger age, at 3 to 4 years old, and they were living shorter lives because they were being caught, so they had fewer years within which to reproduce.

另外，尽管一些鱼在很年轻的时候就成熟了，但他们都没有真正的在加速生长（个头没有变大）。

Additionally, even though some fish in the population were maturing at an earlier age, none was actually growing faster.

没有一只鱼懂得如何加快生长。

No cod has a way of speeding up its rate of growth.

所以繁殖年轻化就是指小鱼们在繁殖。

So the younger reproductive age actually meant that smaller fish were reproducing.

所以当小鱼在繁殖，他们比大鱼产的卵要少。

And when you're a small cod reproducing, you produce fewer eggs than a large cod.

一些更小的鱼甚至没有足够大的身体去容纳足够多的卵。

The smaller cods simply don't have the body mass to reproduce as many eggs.

过度捕捞把鳕鱼逼到了进化的边缘。

The overfishing pressure on the cod population was pushing the cod into an evolutionary corner.

They were having a harder and harder time surviving.

学生：但是可以做些什么去防止像这样的悲剧再发生呢？

Student: But what can be done to prevent other scenarios like this?

我认为很明显，我们需要一个更好的方法去管理环境资源。

I mean obviously we need a better way to manage environmental resources.

教授：你们有什么建议？ Carol？

Professor: Well, what do you guys suggest? Carol?

Student: Hmm, uh, maybe privatize the resource?

私人所有者希望以可持续的方式有效地管理资源。

A private owner would want to manage the resource efficiently in a sustainable way.

教授：OK，但是问题是私有化并不能必然导致更好的环境管理。

Professor: Ok, but the problem is privatization doesn't necessarily result in better management of an environmental resource.

学生：私人雇主可能不会正确评估资源的局限性。

Student: Well, an individual owner might not properly assess the limits of the resource.

所以他们很可能作为一个群体去吸纳很多人去过度开发这片资源。

So they could be just as prone to overexploiting that resource as a group where lots of people have access to it.

教授:是的，就像1970s，那时候北美鳕鱼数量已经明显下降，美国和加拿大声明在鳕鱼角周边规划一个200英里的独立经济区。

Professor: Yes. Well, like in the 1970s, when it was already clear the North American cod population was declining dramatically, the US and Canada declared a 200-mile exclusive economic zone in the waters around Cape Cod.

通过宣布独家拥有这片经济区域，这两个国家其实是在扩大他们的水域领土。

By declaring an exclusive economic zone, you see, these two countries were trying to extend their territorial waters.

基本就像是在说，“我们是这得私人拥有者，

Basically it was as if they were saying: “we're the private owners.

So we own the rights to the fish in them too.“

重要的是这两个国家告诉其他国家的捕鱼船，钓鱼船禁止驶入这边区域。

Essentially the two countries told fishing vessels, trollers from all other nations, to get out of the cod fishing area.

你或许认为那对于鳕鱼是件好事，因为渔船数量下降。

You'd think that would be good news for the cod because there'd be less fishing.

但是美国和加拿大驱逐其他国家的捕鱼船的目的只是让更多自己的渔船进来。

However, The US and Canada wanted to expel foreign trollers only in order to increase the number of their own fishing fleets.

整个捕鱼船的数量实际是在上升的。

The total number of fishing trollers actually increased.

另一个可能解决方案是，通过法律来管理资源利用。

Another possible solution, pass laws that regulate use of the resource.

但是要能让管理有效，对于触犯法律的刑罚要能震慑住违法者。

But for regulation to be effective, penalties for breaking the law have to be large enough to deter violators.

Why does the professor compare Cape Cod to Newfoundland?

What change did scientists notice around Cape Cod after the 1940s?

What point does the professor make about reproduction among small cod fish as compared to larger cod fish?

What is the professor’s opinion of privatization for the management of an environmental resource?

According to the professor, what was the result of the 200-mile exclusive economic zone declared by the United States and Canada?

Listen to part of a lecture in an environmental conservation class. 
Professor 
Next I want to talk about the collapse of the North America cod population. Let’s look at the Cape Cod in the Northeastern United States. The area is named Cape Cod, because there are so many cod fishes in the water just off the shores. So many that the first Europeans who fished there in the 17th century reported that it was better than the Newfoundland in Canada. At the time, Newfoundland’s cod fishery was so rich that people said it was possible just to lower a bucket in the water, pulled it out, and it would be full of cod. But Cape Cod was even better. So the fishing industry there degraded until after the 1840s. There were simply too many fishing vessels, sophisticated vessels, competing for few and few fish. In the 1940s, there were still about 400 million pounds of fish caught in Cape Cod every year. Just 50 years later though, by the 1990s, commercial cod fishing there has become unprofitable, the annual catch had gown down to about five percent of its 1940’s level.
And here is what’s so fascinating. As more and more fishing vessels with better and better fishing technology were competing for cod, this competition was causing changes to the biology of the fish. And these changes were making it more and more difficult for the cod population to sustain itself.
Student 1 
Changes to the biology of the fish?
Professor 
Well, if a cod fish could reproduce earlier than usual, it would have a better chance for passing on its genes to the next generation before being caught, right? And sure enough, biologists noticed that around Cape Cod, the cod were beginning to mature at an earlier age than normal. Prior to the population collapse, cod usually took about 8 to 10 years to fully mature, to start to reproduce, and they lived around 40 years total. So cod had about 30 years’ active reproductive life. But now, cod were beginning to reproduce at a younger age, at 3 or 4 years old. And they were living shorter lives, because they were being caught, so they have fewer years within which to reproduce. Additionally, even though some fish in the population were mature at an earlier age, none was actually growing faster. No cod has a way of speeding up its growth. So the younger reproductive age actually meant that smaller fish were reproducing. And when you are a small cod reproducing, you produce fewer eggs than the large cod. The smaller cod simply don’t have the body mass to produce as many eggs. The overfishing pressure on the cod population was pushing the cod into an evolutionary corner, they were having a harder and harder time surviving.
Student 2 
But what can be done to prevent other scenarios like this? I mean obviously we need a better way to manage environmental resources.
Professor 
Well, what you guys suggest? Caro?
Student 
Maybe privatize the resource? Private owners would want to manage the resources efficiently in a sustainable way.
Professor 
Ok. But the problem is privatization doesn’t necessarily resort to better management of environmental resource. Any ideas why not?
Student 
Well, an individual owner might not properly sense the limits of the resource. So they could be just as prone to over exploiting that resources as a group where lots of people have access to it.
Professor 
Yes. Well, like in the 1970s, when it was already clear that the northeastern cod population was declining dramatically. The US and Canada declared a 200 mile exclusive economic zone in the water around Cape Cod. Bu declaring exclusive economic zones, you see, this two countries were trying to extend their territorial waters. Basically, they were saying we were the private owners, we own these waters, so we own the rights to the fishing, too. Essentially, the two countries told fishing vessels, trawlers from all other nations to get out of the cod fishing area. You think that would be good news for the cod because there would be less fishing. However, the US and Canada want to expel foreign trawlers only in order to increase their own number of fishing fleets. The total number of fishing trawlers actually increased.
Another possible solution, pass laws that regulate the use of the resource. But for regulation to be effective, penalties for breaking the law have to be large enough to deter violators.<img src="/upload/image/1516095830378.png" alt="" width="516" height="388" /><img src="/upload/image/1516095844055.png" alt="" width="523" height="389" /><img src="/upload/image/1516095858170.png" alt="" width="512" height="388" />

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