Rachel Carson: Environmental protection scientist

时间:2009-07-03 06:38:25

(单词翻译:单击)

PEOPLE IN AMERICA -- a program in Special English on the Voice of America. Today, Steve Ember and Rich Kleinfeldt tell about scientist Rachel Carson. Her work started the environmental protection movement in the United States.

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

Rachel Carson was born on May 27, 1907 in Springdale, Pennsylvania. Rachel’s father, Robert Carson, was a salesman who invested in local land. He purchased 26 hectares of land to make a home for his family. The area was surrounded by fields, trees and streams. The Carson family enjoyed living in the beautiful, country environment.

Rachel’s mother, Maria Carson, had been a schoolteacher. She loved books. She also loved nature. Rachel was the youngest of three children. Her sister and brother were already in school when she was born. So Missus Carson was able to spend a lot of time with Rachel. She showed Rachel the beauty of nature. She also taught Rachel a deep love for books. Missus Carson became the most important influence on Rachel’s life.

VOICE TWO:

Rachel was a quiet child. She liked to read and to write poems and stories. She was very intelligent. At a very early age she decided1 she wanted to be a writer someday. Her first published story appeared in a children’s magazine when she was ten years old.

Rachel went to the Pennsylvania College for Women. She studied English because she wanted to become a professional writer. Yet, she felt she did not have the imagination to write creative stories. She changed her area of study from English to science after she took a biology course that she liked. Her professors advised her not to study science. They said there was no future for a woman in science.

VOICE ONE:

In nineteen twenty-nine, Rachel graduated from college with high honors. She won a financial award to study at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland. In 1932, she earned a master’s degree in zoology2, the scientific study of animals. She taught zoology at the University of Maryland for a few years. During the summers, she studied the ocean and its life forms at the Woods Hole Marine3 Biological Laboratory in Massachusetts. That is when she became interested in the mysteries of the sea.

(MUSIC)

VOICE TWO:

Rachel’s life changed greatly in the middle nineteen thirties. Her father died suddenly in 1935. He left very little financial support for Rachel’s mother. It was during the economic decline4 in the United States called the Great Depression. Rachel now had to support her mother and herself. She needed more money than her teaching job could provide. She began part-time work for a federal government agency, the Bureau of Fisheries in Washington, D.C.

One year later, Rachel’s sister died. Her sister was the mother of two young girls. Rachel and her mother cared for the girls. Rachel now had to support her mother, two nieces and herself. Again, she needed a job with better pay.

VOICE ONE:

A full time job for a biologist opened at the United States Bureau of Fisheries. Rachel Carson was the only woman to try for the position. She had the highest score of all the people competing for the job.

Miz Carson got the position in August, 1936. She was chosen to work in the office of the chief of the biology division.

Her first job was to write a series of programs called “Romance Under the Waters.” The series was broadcast on radio for a year. She continued to write and edit5 publications for the Bureau of Fisheries for many years. The bureau was happy to have a scientist who was also an excellent writer. Rachel Carson provided information to the public in interesting and understandable ways.

VOICE TWO:

In nineteen forty, the United States Bureau of Fisheries and the Biological Survey joined to become the Fish and Wildlife Service. Miz Carson continued as one of the few women employed there as a scientist. The other women worked as office assistants.

While she was working for the government, Miz Carson wrote at night and on weekends. In 1937 she wrote a report about sea life. It was called Undersea. It appeared in the magazine, Atlantic Monthly. An editor at a publishing house encouraged her to write a book about the sea for the general public. So she did. Her first book, "Under the Sea Wind," was published in 1941.

VOICE ONE:

In 1948, Miz Carson began working on another book, "The Sea Around Us." It became her first best-selling book.

Rachel Carson always researched carefully when she wrote. She gathered information from more than 1,000 places to write "The Sea Around Us." She also wrote letters to experts all over the world.

"The Sea Around Us" was published in 1951. It was number one on the best-seller list for more than a year. It won the National Book Award. "The Sea Around Us" made Rachel Carson famous. The money the book earned eased her financial responsibilities for the first time in years.

In 1952, Miz Carson was able to leave her job at the Fish and Wildlife Service and spend her time writing. Miz Carson moved to a home on the coast of Maine. There she studied the ecology of the sea. Her next book, "The Edge of the Sea," was published in 1955. It told of the connection of all living creatures in areas where land and ocean meet.

(MUSIC)

VOICE TWO:

Rachel Carson’s most famous book, "Silent Spring" was published in 1962. The idea for the book developed from a suggestion from a friend. Rachel’s friend owned a protected area for birds. An airplane had flown over the area where the birds were kept and spread a powerful chemical called DDT. It was part of a project to control mosquitoes. Many songbirds and harmless insects were killed by the DDT.

Miz Carson and other scientists were very concerned about the harmful effects of DDT and other insect-killing chemicals called pesticides6. After World War Two, these poisonous chemicals were widely used to control insects. Pesticides were sprayed almost everywhere including agricultural fields and communities. DDT and other pesticides had become popular with the public and the government because they were so effective. Manufacturing these chemicals had become a huge industry.

VOICE ONE:

Rachel Carson tried to get many magazines interested in publishing a report about the subject. However, none would agree to publish anything about such a disputed subject. They said no one wanted to hear that industrial companies could cause great ecological7 damage.

Miz Carson believed the public needed to know about this important issue. She decided to write a book about it. She collected facts from experts from all over the world. She gathered studies that showed the harmful effects of DDT, including declining8 bird populations and increased human cancers.

In her book "Silent Spring," Ms. Carson questioned the right of industrial companies to pollute without considering the effects on the environment. Miz Carson argued that this kind of pollution would result in ever-decreasing populations of birds and other wildlife. She said this would lead to the loss of the wonderful sounds of nature. The chemical poisoning of the environment, she said, would cause a silent spring.

VOICE TWO:

The chemical industry felt threatened. Industry spokesmen9 and other critics said the book was non-scientific and emotional. They misunderstood the message of the book. Miz Carson did not suggest that all pesticides be banned. She urged that control of these substances be given to biologists who could make informed decisions about the risks involved.

Support for the book increased. By the end of 1962, there were more than forty bills in state legislatures proposing to control pesticides. Finally, in November, 1969, the United States government ruled that the use of DDT must stop in two years.

Rachel Carson did not live to see how her book influenced the government’s decision to ban DDT. She died of breast cancer in 1964. She was 56 years old.

VOICE ONE:

Two memorials honor Rachel Carson. One is the Rachel Carson National Wildlife Refuge10 in Maine. The other is the Rachel Carson Homestead in Springdale, Pennsylvania, the home she lived in when she was a child. Education programs are offered there that teach children and adults about her environmental values.

Rachel Carson’s voice is alive in her writings that express the wonder and beauty of the natural world. And her worldwide influence continues through the activities of the environmental protection movement she started.

(MUSIC)

This Special English program was written by Lawan Davis. It was produced by Paul Thompson. Your announcers were Steve Ember and Rich Kleinfeldt. I’m Faith Lapidus. Join us again next week for another PEOPLE IN AMERICA program on the Voice of America.


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1 decided lvqzZd     
adj.决定了的,坚决的;明显的,明确的
参考例句:
  • This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
  • There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。
2 zoology efJwZ     
n.动物学,生态
参考例句:
  • I would like to brush up my zoology.我想重新温习一下动物学。
  • The library didn't stock zoology textbooks.这家图书馆没有动物学教科书。
3 marine 77Izo     
adj.海的;海生的;航海的;海事的;n.水兵
参考例句:
  • Marine creatures are those which live in the sea. 海洋生物是生存在海里的生物。
  • When the war broke out,he volunteered for the Marine Corps.战争爆发时,他自愿参加了海军陆战队。
4 decline K9gyw     
n.衰微,跌落,下降;vt.使降低,婉谢;vi.下降,衰落,偏斜
参考例句:
  • I must decline to show favour to any of the candidates.我必须拒绝偏袒任何一位候选人。
  • The birthrate is on the decline.出生率在下降。
5 edit pqRxu     
vt.编辑,校订,主编,编辑,剪辑(影片等)
参考例句:
  • You'll have to edit that tape,it's too long.那盘录音带太长,你得把它剪辑一下。
  • It is not yet decided who will edit it.由谁校订未决。
6 pesticides abb0488ed6905584ea91347395a890e8     
n.杀虫剂( pesticide的名词复数 );除害药物
参考例句:
  • vegetables grown without the use of pesticides 未用杀虫剂种植的蔬菜
  • There is a lot of concern over the amount of herbicides and pesticides used in farming. 人们对农业上灭草剂和杀虫剂的用量非常担忧。 来自《简明英汉词典》
7 ecological IrRxX     
adj.生态的,生态学的
参考例句:
  • The region has been declared an ecological disaster zone.这个地区已经宣布为生态灾难区。
  • Each animal has its ecological niche.每种动物都有自己的生态位.
8 declining nubzzD     
adj.下降的,衰落的
参考例句:
  • The nub of the matter is that business is declining. 事情的实质是工商业在萎缩。
  • It is encouraging to read that illiteracy is declining. 从读报中了解文盲情况正在好转,这是令人鼓舞的。
9 spokesmen bb011114e3c2b79fbf4307ac3f3ce285     
发言人,代言人( spokesman的名词复数 )
参考例句:
  • The White House spokesmen are in for a rough time. 白宫发言人现已深陷困境。
  • The reporters fired away at the spokesmen. 记者们向发言人连续不断地发问。
10 refuge PCRyL     
n.避难(处),庇护(所);v.庇护,避难(所)
参考例句:
  • They took refuge in a cave yesterday.他们昨天是在一个洞里避难的。
  • We took refuge in the lee of the wall.我们在墙的背风处暂避。

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