特别广播英语第 110 课：Saving the Rainforests for Future Generations
拯救热带雨林，造福子孙万代-2

The US National Cancer Institute has identified 2,000 rainforest plants which could be beneficial in fighting cancer. 美国国家癌症研究院已经证实了有2000种热带雨林中的植物对预防和治疗癌症有奇效。

In today's pharmaceutical market, 15 of the 125 drugs derived from plants were discovered in the rainforest. 在今天的药品市场上，在125种单味药中，就有15种是从热带雨林中发现的植物中提取出来的。

Plant species are not the only forms of life threatened with extinction in the rainforest. 各种植物在热带雨林中并不是受到灭种威胁的唯一的生物。

Rare birds and animals that cannot be found anywhere else in the world have been disappearing at the rate of one a year since the turn of the century. 世界上除了热带雨林而外，在其他任何地方都找不到的珍稀鸟类和珍稀动物，在这世纪交替的时候正在以每年消失一种的速度逐渐灭绝。

In the face of all these facts, it seems senseless for countries to continue destroying their rainforests. 面对这一切事实，这些国家还在继续毁灭他们的热带雨林，这令人觉得他们简直太麻木不仁了。

However, the problem is not so simple. The countries in which the rainforests are located are all quite poor and overpopulated. 但是，这个问题并不是很简单的。地处于热带雨林的那些国家都相当贫穷而且人口都相当过剩。

One of them, Brazil, has a population of 140 million, about half of whom are living in absolute poverty. 热带雨林国家之一，巴西，人口有一亿四千万人。其中约有半数人生活在绝对贫困当中。

The governments in these countries are usually also too weak to stop large companies and powerful individuals from destroying the rainforests. 这些国家的政府通常也都是十分软弱的，以致不能制止一些大公司或有权有势的人毁坏热带雨林的行为。

They have no money, so when the poor whom they cannot feed find work cutting down trees or burning forestland, the governments often have no choice but to turn a blind eye. 那些国家的政府都没有钱，所以当政府养活不起的那些穷人，找到了砍树或在森林里烧树开荒的工作时，政府别无选择，只好睁一只眼闭一只眼。