2023考研英語閱讀森林保護
Forest conservation
森林保護
Lidartector
激光雷達探測術
How to tell if countries are cheating on theirconservation commitments
如何判斷一個國家在森林保護承諾上是否有舞弊行為
The wood and the trees
林地與樹木
In an isolated forest in the Sivalik hills of south-western Nepal, intense sun beats downthrough the treetops.
位于尼泊爾西南部西瓦利克山脈一處偏僻的森林內,毒辣的陽光正從樹冠強射而入。
A sweaty trek up a steep, rocky slope leads to a spot where a team of researchers is busymeasuring the trees.
經過一段汗流浹背的艱難跋涉，登上一處陡峭怪石嶙峋的斜坡,到達一塊區域,就可以看到一組研究人員正忙著對樹木進行測量。
They are working for Forest ResourceAssessment Nepal, a joint venture between the Nepalese and Finnish governments.
他們是尼泊爾與芬蘭政府森林資源評估合資企業的工作人員。
Two global-positioning-system devices guide the researchers to their target.
憑借兩套全球定位系統就可將研究人員帶到目的地。
Once there, they use tape measures, callipers and a hand-held laser to measure the heightsand girths of all the trees within a 500-square-metre plot.
到達目標后，在圈定好的500平方米區域內，他們用卷尺，測徑規和手持激光設備對所有樹木的高度和樹圍進行測量。
These measurements, and each tree s species, are recorded on a clipboard. One plotfinished; 959 more to go.
測量結果及每棵樹的品種都會被記錄下來。一塊區域測量完成后，他們還要轉戰其余的959塊區域。
A classic piece of forestry, then.
這是當時的一種傳統林藝技術，
Boots on the ground.
采用人力進行實地考察，
Specimens duly counted.
準確測量標本。
But this is a study with a twist, for its purpose is to calibrate a new approach to thesubjectone that will gather information by the bucketload without the need to rely on quiteso many boots.
但一項新的研究將會使現狀產生飛躍的轉變，其目標是針對該課題開創一種新的測量方法即無須動用眾多的人力物力就可收集到大量所需信息。
This new approach uses a technique called lidar.
這項新方法采用的技術稱之為激光雷達術。
Like its cousins radar and sonar,lidar,works by broadcasting electromagnetic waves towards atarget and then building up a picture from the reflection.
與雷達和聲納技術相似，激光雷達的工作原理是通過向目標發射電磁波然后根據反射波構建圖像。
In the case of lidar, the waves are in the form of an infra-red laser beam.
拿激光雷達來說，其波形采用的是紅外激光束。
And in the case of the forests of south-western Nepal,the target is the trees.
以尼泊爾西南部的森林為例，被測目標就是樹木。
During a forest survey, an aircraft-borne lidar sweeps a beam that fires about 70,000pulses a second over the canopy.
在森林探測過程中，載有激光雷達的飛機將每秒產生7萬個脈沖的激光束向森林樹冠進行掃掠，
A sensor on the aircraft records the time it takes to receive the backscattering of pulses, andthat is used to compute distances to the forest canopy and to the soil beneath.
同時安裝在飛機上的探測設備會記錄收到脈沖反向散射波的時間，然后分別用于計算到樹林冠部及到土壤的距離。
The result, when processed through the computers of Arbonaut, a Finnishnatural-resource-management company, is a three-dimensional image of the forest thatcan be correlated with, and calibrated by, the efforts of the chaps with the tape measures.
經過芬蘭自然資源管理公司的Arbonaut計算機進行數據處理后，便可生成與采用卷尺那幫家伙的測量結果相關并可校驗的樹林三維圖象。
And that, in turn, can be used to estimate the amount of carbon stored in the plot examined,and extrapolated to calculate the carbon stored in larger areas of forest that have beenscanned by lidar, but not measured with tapes.
接下來，它還能用于估算所測森林區域的二氧化碳儲存量，以此類推，激光雷達所探測的更大片森林區域的二氧化碳儲存量也可以計算出來，但用的可不是卷尺。
The point of the project, which should be completed by 2023,
該項目預計到2023年完成，
is to allow Nepal to participate in international carbon-trading schemes that pay poorcountries with lots of trees not to cut them down.
其實際意義在于能夠讓尼泊爾參加國際碳交易計劃。該計劃向擁有大量樹木的貧窮國家支付資金，以確保其樹木不被砍伐。
The Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation scheme agreed at theUnited Nations climate-change conference in Cancn last December may eventually beworth $30 billion a year.
聯合國氣候變化會議去年12月在墨西哥坎昆就減少砍伐森林和森林退化產生的排放計劃達成協議，確定每年最終可用于森林保護的資金達300億美元。
Nepal wants a slice of that.
尼泊爾也想參與其中分得一杯羹。
Lidar monitoring may provide a way of making sure it is delivering on its side of the bargain.
激光雷達監測可能提供了一種方法，表明尼泊爾履行森林保護協議的決心。
Until a few years ago, assessing the amount of plant matter in a forest in a cheap andaccurate manner seemed an insurmountable problem, according to Eric Dinerstein,
環保組織世界自然基金會也參與了尼泊爾激光雷達項目的研究。
chief scientist of the World Wide Fund for Nature, a conservation group that is also involvedin the Nepalese lidar project.
其首席科學家埃里克說，幾年前，采用經濟和準確的方法對植被數量進行評估似乎還是一項無法解決的難題。
Although a woodland s area can be worked out from satellite photographs, that gives only ahazy idea of the mass of the plants growing there.
盡管林地的面積能從衛星圖片上得到，但它只能給提供我們生長在那里的大片植物的粗略情況。
If Forest Resource Assessment Nepal and projects like it are successful, that will change.
如果象尼泊爾森林資源評估這樣的研究項目能夠取得成功，情況就會大有不同。
It will then be possible, with reasonable confidence,to pay REDD money out only to thosecountries that deliver the goodsor, rather, the treesin sufficient, measurablequantities.
我們將有充分理由相信REDD計劃撥出的資金可能只會流向那些能夠提供貨真價實，或更確切的說，樹木充足且數量可測量的國家。
詞語解釋
1.conservation n.保存;保護
Conservation methods will also help meet theirenergy needs.
能量保存方法也會有利于滿足其能源需求。
2.intense a.強大的;緊張的
He s been under intense pressure.
他面對著很大的壓力。
3.steep a.險峻的;陡峭的
This hill is too steep to ride up on a bicycle.
這山太陡了，騎自行車可上不去。
4.venture v.冒險;敢于
All our hopes rested upon this venture.
我們所有的希望都寄托在這次冒險上了。
5.device n.裝置;設備
The data logger device has been fitted to ship s engine room.
數字記錄儀裝置已安裝在船只的機艙里。
Forest conservation
森林保護
Lidartector
激光雷達探測術
How to tell if countries are cheating on theirconservation commitments
如何判斷一個國家在森林保護承諾上是否有舞弊行為
The wood and the trees
林地與樹木
In an isolated forest in the Sivalik hills of south-western Nepal, intense sun beats downthrough the treetops.
位于尼泊爾西南部西瓦利克山脈一處偏僻的森林內,毒辣的陽光正從樹冠強射而入。
A sweaty trek up a steep, rocky slope leads to a spot where a team of researchers is busymeasuring the trees.
經過一段汗流浹背的艱難跋涉，登上一處陡峭怪石嶙峋的斜坡,到達一塊區域,就可以看到一組研究人員正忙著對樹木進行測量。
They are working for Forest ResourceAssessment Nepal, a joint venture between the Nepalese and Finnish governments.
他們是尼泊爾與芬蘭政府森林資源評估合資企業的工作人員。
Two global-positioning-system devices guide the researchers to their target.
憑借兩套全球定位系統就可將研究人員帶到目的地。
Once there, they use tape measures, callipers and a hand-held laser to measure the heightsand girths of all the trees within a 500-square-metre plot.
到達目標后，在圈定好的500平方米區域內，他們用卷尺，測徑規和手持激光設備對所有樹木的高度和樹圍進行測量。
These measurements, and each tree s species, are recorded on a clipboard. One plotfinished; 959 more to go.
測量結果及每棵樹的品種都會被記錄下來。一塊區域測量完成后，他們還要轉戰其余的959塊區域。
A classic piece of forestry, then.
這是當時的一種傳統林藝技術，
Boots on the ground.
采用人力進行實地考察，
Specimens duly counted.
準確測量標本。
But this is a study with a twist, for its purpose is to calibrate a new approach to thesubjectone that will gather information by the bucketload without the need to rely on quiteso many boots.
但一項新的研究將會使現狀產生飛躍的轉變，其目標是針對該課題開創一種新的測量方法即無須動用眾多的人力物力就可收集到大量所需信息。
This new approach uses a technique called lidar.
這項新方法采用的技術稱之為激光雷達術。
Like its cousins radar and sonar,lidar,works by broadcasting electromagnetic waves towards atarget and then building up a picture from the reflection.
與雷達和聲納技術相似，激光雷達的工作原理是通過向目標發射電磁波然后根據反射波構建圖像。
In the case of lidar, the waves are in the form of an infra-red laser beam.
拿激光雷達來說，其波形采用的是紅外激光束。
And in the case of the forests of south-western Nepal,the target is the trees.
以尼泊爾西南部的森林為例，被測目標就是樹木。
During a forest survey, an aircraft-borne lidar sweeps a beam that fires about 70,000pulses a second over the canopy.
在森林探測過程中，載有激光雷達的飛機將每秒產生7萬個脈沖的激光束向森林樹冠進行掃掠，
A sensor on the aircraft records the time it takes to receive the backscattering of pulses, andthat is used to compute distances to the forest canopy and to the soil beneath.
同時安裝在飛機上的探測設備會記錄收到脈沖反向散射波的時間，然后分別用于計算到樹林冠部及到土壤的距離。
The result, when processed through the computers of Arbonaut, a Finnishnatural-resource-management company, is a three-dimensional image of the forest thatcan be correlated with, and calibrated by, the efforts of the chaps with the tape measures.
經過芬蘭自然資源管理公司的Arbonaut計算機進行數據處理后，便可生成與采用卷尺那幫家伙的測量結果相關并可校驗的樹林三維圖象。
And that, in turn, can be used to estimate the amount of carbon stored in the plot examined,and extrapolated to calculate the carbon stored in larger areas of forest that have beenscanned by lidar, but not measured with tapes.
接下來，它還能用于估算所測森林區域的二氧化碳儲存量，以此類推，激光雷達所探測的更大片森林區域的二氧化碳儲存量也可以計算出來，但用的可不是卷尺。
The point of the project, which should be completed by 2023,
該項目預計到2023年完成，
is to allow Nepal to participate in international carbon-trading schemes that pay poorcountries with lots of trees not to cut them down.
其實際意義在于能夠讓尼泊爾參加國際碳交易計劃。該計劃向擁有大量樹木的貧窮國家支付資金，以確保其樹木不被砍伐。
The Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation scheme agreed at theUnited Nations climate-change conference in Cancn last December may eventually beworth $30 billion a year.
聯合國氣候變化會議去年12月在墨西哥坎昆就減少砍伐森林和森林退化產生的排放計劃達成協議，確定每年最終可用于森林保護的資金達300億美元。
Nepal wants a slice of that.
尼泊爾也想參與其中分得一杯羹。
Lidar monitoring may provide a way of making sure it is delivering on its side of the bargain.
激光雷達監測可能提供了一種方法，表明尼泊爾履行森林保護協議的決心。
Until a few years ago, assessing the amount of plant matter in a forest in a cheap andaccurate manner seemed an insurmountable problem, according to Eric Dinerstein,
環保組織世界自然基金會也參與了尼泊爾激光雷達項目的研究。
chief scientist of the World Wide Fund for Nature, a conservation group that is also involvedin the Nepalese lidar project.
其首席科學家埃里克說，幾年前，采用經濟和準確的方法對植被數量進行評估似乎還是一項無法解決的難題。
Although a woodland s area can be worked out from satellite photographs, that gives only ahazy idea of the mass of the plants growing there.
盡管林地的面積能從衛星圖片上得到，但它只能給提供我們生長在那里的大片植物的粗略情況。
If Forest Resource Assessment Nepal and projects like it are successful, that will change.
如果象尼泊爾森林資源評估這樣的研究項目能夠取得成功，情況就會大有不同。
It will then be possible, with reasonable confidence,to pay REDD money out only to thosecountries that deliver the goodsor, rather, the treesin sufficient, measurablequantities.
我們將有充分理由相信REDD計劃撥出的資金可能只會流向那些能夠提供貨真價實，或更確切的說，樹木充足且數量可測量的國家。
詞語解釋
1.conservation n.保存;保護
Conservation methods will also help meet theirenergy needs.
能量保存方法也會有利于滿足其能源需求。
2.intense a.強大的;緊張的
He s been under intense pressure.
他面對著很大的壓力。
3.steep a.險峻的;陡峭的
This hill is too steep to ride up on a bicycle.
這山太陡了，騎自行車可上不去。
4.venture v.冒險;敢于
All our hopes rested upon this venture.
我們所有的希望都寄托在這次冒險上了。
5.device n.裝置;設備
The data logger device has been fitted to ship s engine room.
數字記錄儀裝置已安裝在船只的機艙里。
