2016考研英語閱讀熱點：澳政府提出“24小時貓咪禁足令”

考研英語來源：英語點津 2015-07-30　

澳擬“24小時禁足”喵星人

Australia to impose 24-hour curfew on all cats to protect endangered species

Australian cat owners could have to keep their pets indoors permanently under a '24-hour cat curfew’ proposed by the government.

近日澳大利亞政府提出了“24小時貓咪禁足令”，這項提案意味著今后澳洲的貓奴們可能必須將自己的愛貓長期關在屋子里了。

The proposal has been made by Australia’s first 'threatened species commissioner', Gregory Andrews, in a bid to protect native animals facing extinction due to cat attacks, according to the The Sydney Morning Herald.

據《悉尼先驅晨報》(The Sydney Morning Herald)報道，該提案由澳大利亞首個“瀕危物種專員”格雷戈里·安德魯斯(Gregory Andrews)提出，旨在保護那些因遭受貓咪襲擊而瀕臨滅絕的本土動物。

He said the government will seek public support for “24-hour containment requirements for domestic cats, particularly close to identified conservation area of significance”.

安德魯斯說，政府將就“對家貓，尤其是靠近已確認為重點保護區域的家貓，實行24小時禁閉”一事尋求公眾的支持。

The measure is already in place in some jurisdictions and could be rolled out across the country.

該措施已經在某些轄區得以實施，或將推廣至全澳。

The country is currently facing a cat crisis as it struggles to cope with huge numbers of the animals.

澳大利亞目前正面臨貓咪危機，政府苦于應對數量龐大的貓咪。

Cats were introduced to the area about 200 years ago by European settlers and bred and spread rapidly across the Australian continent and New Zealand. According to one estimate, the approximately 20 million cats in Australia kill around 75 million native animals a day.

貓在200年前由歐洲移民帶到澳洲，大量繁殖后迅速遍布整個澳洲大陸以及新西蘭。有人估計，澳大利亞大約有2000萬只貓，它們每天殺死約7500萬本土動物。

Australiais thought to have one of the worst extinction records in the world, losing about 29 native mammal species since the European arrival. It now lists some 1,800 species as under threat.

澳大利亞被認為是世界上物種滅絕最嚴重的地方之一，自歐洲殖民者到來，共有約29個本土哺乳類物種消失。現在有約1800個物種被列入瀕危物種名單。

The government has also proposed a ‘cat cull’ to kill 2 million cats in a bid to preserve other species. The proposal has proved controversial and been condemned by animal rights activists. Speaking last week, the French actress Brigitte Bardot said the country was “sullied by the blood of millions of innocent animals.”

澳政府還提出了一項“宰殺寵物貓”提案，擬為保護其他物種宰殺200萬只貓。這個提案飽受爭議，遭到動物權益保護人士的譴責。法國女演員碧姬·芭杜(Brigitte Bardot)上周表示，澳大利亞“沾滿了數百萬無辜動物的鮮血。”

重點詞匯：

mammal：哺乳動物

cull：宰殺

sully：玷污