英语趣味课堂：保护森林-Protecting the Woods

Cheryl: So, who are some of the people who are fighting to protect these trees besides you as an environmental scientist?

Nick: Well, in Tasmania, the first green political party was developed, so yeah, they obviously want to protect the forests a lot, and have big protests, tie themselves to trees. Sit up in trees to protect the trees.

Cheryl: People actually still do that? Tie themselves to trees?

Nick: Oh, everyday in Tasmania.

Cheryl: Oh, really?

Nick: It's a big issue. A very big issue.

Cheryl: That's interesting. I once heard of a girl who lived in a tree for a month because she wanted to stop the deforestation company or people from taking down that tree, so she lived up there and she had people bring her supplies but she never came down.

Nick: That happens in Tasmania as well. There's people today which are up in trees, maybe up to fifty which permanently live up in trees.

Cheryl: Wow!

Nick: Yeah, so. I don't know how they do it.

Cheryl: That's kind of crazy ... So Nick, from the companies point of view, playing the devil's advocate here, I think they provide jobs for all the people who are working to make trees into paper. What do you think they have to say about that?

Nick: Well, it's true, they do provide jobs, and some cities, some small towns do rely on logging industry to provide jobs and support the shops in the place, but ...

Cheryl: But!

Nick: But! Yeah. So tourism is a very big industry in Tasmania, and maybe the logging industry takes away tourists jobs as well, because it makes certain areas not useful for tourism anymore, not very pretty.

Cheryl: Yeah, your right. If the whole forest is missing, I guess nobody would really want to go and look at anything.

Nick: Yeah, there're some really beautiful spots in Tasmania which have been many tarnished a little by the logging industry.

重点词汇：

Learn Vocabulary from the Lesson

besides

Who are the people fighting besides you.

Here, the word 'besides' means 'other than'. We use the phrase 'besides' to express or ask more information than is given. Notice the following:

Besides sleeping, what did you do this weekend?

Besides me, there were few people at the party.

Green Political Party

The first green political party was developed to protect the trees.

A political party is a group of people that acts to influence or control the government. Most countries have at least two political parties. A green party, is a political party that wants to protect the environment. Notice the following:

The two main political parties in the U.S. are the Democrats and the Republicans.

You must be a member of a political party to win an election.

big issue

It is a big issue in Tasmania.

When something is a big issue, that means it is a problem or debate that most people are concerned about. A big issue usually effects a lot of people. Notice the following:

Obesity and being overweight is a big issue now on the news.

Gay marriage was a big issue in the last election.

permanently

They permanently live up in trees.

When something is permanent, that means it cannot be changed or will not change. For example, with pens, there are pens with permanent ink and erasable ink. Permanent ink cannot be removed. When something is permanent is it forever, or what seems like forever. Notice the following:

If you stare at the sun, you can permanently destroy your eyesight.

Most companies no longer offer permanent employment.

devil's advocate

Let's play devil's advocate.

The phrase 'play devil's advocate' means you take the opposite side, or look at an opinion from the view of the person on the other side, often the unpopular view (the view of the devil), so here Cheryll was playing devil's advocate by thinking of what the logging industry thinks about cutting down trees. Notice the following:

Let's play devil's advocate. What happens if we don't follow the plan.

I love to debate, so I love playing devil's advocate to the popular view held by most people.