【聽(tīng)力】《經(jīng)濟(jì)學(xué)人》英國(guó)最大鳥類保護(hù)組織面臨人員流失

今天我們來(lái)給大家分享一個(gè)來(lái)自《經(jīng)濟(jì)學(xué)人》的英音資源。本次《經(jīng)濟(jì)學(xué)人》要報(bào)導(dǎo)的是英國(guó)最大的鳥類保護(hù)組織RSPB面臨人員流失的窘境。希望要準(zhǔn)備各種出國(guó)考試的同學(xué)來(lái)做一下聽(tīng)抄或聽(tīng)寫練習(xí)并注意積累詞匯。

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聽(tīng)力原文：

Bird-watching

All aflutter

Britain's largest conservation society is ruffling feathers

ON January 24th and 25th around half a million people were expected to take part in the “big garden birdwatch”, an annual event run by the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB). Since 1979, when the event began, people have peered into their gardens to spot feathered creatures and log their sightings in a centralised database. But as well as looking out for wrens, collared doves and blackcaps, this year, for the second time, they are being encouraged to spot squirrels, badgers, deer and even worms.

Since the RSPB was started in 1889 by a group of women worried about the use of feathers in hats, its remit has widened. The charity now runs 212 nature reserves and lobbies the government about broad issues such as climate change and renewable energy. It has also started to emphasise that its main focus is far broader than just birds. In 2013 a TV advert showed a young girl watching for frogs and hedgehogs in her garden; the same year the RSPB magazine Birds was rebranded Nature's Home. People expect all of Nature to be connected, says Mike Clarke, the RSPB's chief executive. “If you go on about birds,” he adds, “you become associated with a bird-watching club.”

Despite its popularity, bird-watching has a “slightly geeky reputation” ventures Kevin Cox of Devon Birds, a local birding society. Nature programmes presented by men wearing khaki shorts and tight-fitting T-shirts make searching for frogs and the like seem rather more glamorous. Having grown quickly during the 1990s, membership of the RSPB began to slow later; it even fell slightly between 2011 and 2013. The recession may have squeezed some birders. But membership numbers at other organisations such as the Wildlife Trusts and the British Trust for Ornithology have continued to rise, albeit from a smaller base. The Wildlife Trusts, an umbrella organisation of 47 different wildlife organisations, has over 800,000 members. “Back in the day, the RSPB was it,” recalls Martin Garner, a birder. Now there is strong competition.

The RSPB's strategy, along with a more active marketing campaign, seems to be working. Between 2013 and 2014 membership numbers increased by 3% and exceeded 1.1m for the first time. And the RSPB's membership is changing. Families accounted for 15% of all members in 2007, but now make up 30%.

Some worry that, by broadening its appeal beyond birds, the campaigning mission of the charity as set out by its Victorian founders will be lost. It risks becoming “muzzled by its fear of losing members”, says Mark Cocker, an expert on birds and birders, perhaps preventing the charity from taking a hard political stance. It also risks alienating the most dedicated birders. Many enthusiasts are already turning to more specialist bird organisations that take “hands-on action” to help preserve wetlands or campaign against the hunting of rare species, says Steve Kirk of BirdForum, a website. Their migration may be more permanent than those of the creatures they track.

中文譯文：

鳥類觀察

群情激動(dòng)

英國(guó)最大的鳥類保護(hù)組織現(xiàn)在面臨著成員流失的危險(xiǎn)。

一年一度的“大花園鳥類調(diào)查活動(dòng)”今年于1月24，25號(hào)由英國(guó)皇家鳥類保護(hù)協(xié)會(huì)繼續(xù)舉辦，此次活動(dòng)的參與人數(shù)達(dá)到了50萬(wàn)人。從1979年開(kāi)始，每當(dāng)這項(xiàng)活動(dòng)開(kāi)始時(shí)，人們凝視著那些帶羽毛的生物，并將記錄的數(shù)據(jù)匯總到協(xié)會(huì)管理的數(shù)據(jù)庫(kù)中。但是今年人們除了觀測(cè)鷦鷯，信鴿以及鶯類這樣的常見(jiàn)鳥類之外，協(xié)會(huì)再次鼓勵(lì)人們?nèi)ビ^察和記錄像松鼠，獾，鹿甚至是蠕蟲這樣的生物。

1889年由一群婦女建立的英國(guó)皇家鳥類保護(hù)協(xié)會(huì)，其初衷是擔(dān)憂在帽子上大量裝飾鳥的羽毛會(huì)影響鳥類的生存。但自成立之日起，該協(xié)會(huì)涉足的領(lǐng)域一直在擴(kuò)大。該協(xié)會(huì)現(xiàn)在運(yùn)營(yíng)著212個(gè)自然保護(hù)區(qū)。同時(shí)，還就諸如氣候變化以及可再生能源這樣的問(wèn)題不斷跟政府進(jìn)行交涉。協(xié)會(huì)自身也已經(jīng)開(kāi)始強(qiáng)調(diào)，他們的關(guān)注點(diǎn)遠(yuǎn)不只是鳥類。2013年，該協(xié)會(huì)在電視上登出廣告主題是一個(gè)小女孩在仔細(xì)觀察她家花園中青蛙和刺猬，同年，協(xié)會(huì)自辦雜志《鳥類》更名為《自然之家》。 人們期望的是關(guān)注所有跟自然界相關(guān)的事物，協(xié)會(huì)理事長(zhǎng) Mike Clarke表示“如果我們繼續(xù)只專注于鳥類，那我們和一家觀鳥俱樂(lè)部有什么區(qū)別？”

盡管該活動(dòng)名聲遠(yuǎn)揚(yáng)，但是一個(gè)叫‘Kevin Cox of Devon Birds'的地區(qū)觀鳥團(tuán)體讓這次盛會(huì)有了一點(diǎn)“小污名”。一群穿著卡其色短褲和緊身T恤的男人搜索著像青蛙這樣的動(dòng)物—這樣一檔自然節(jié)目看上去好像更吸引眼球。而該協(xié)會(huì)的成員從20世紀(jì)90年代起開(kāi)始急速增長(zhǎng)，相對(duì)的，RSPB成員的增長(zhǎng)速度開(kāi)始變緩；在2011年至2013年期間甚至有輕微地下滑。之前的經(jīng)濟(jì)危機(jī)對(duì)于觀鳥者的人數(shù)也有一定程度的影響。但是其它類似的小型機(jī)構(gòu)—Wildlife Trusts 和 British Trust for Ornithology的成員人數(shù)卻是保持增長(zhǎng)的。Wildlife Trusts是一家涵括了47種野生動(dòng)物的保護(hù)組織，現(xiàn)在已經(jīng)擁有了超過(guò)80萬(wàn)名成員。觀鳥者M(jìn)artin Garner表示“放在過(guò)去，RSPB一家獨(dú)大，但是現(xiàn)在競(jìng)爭(zhēng)非常激烈。”

RSPB的對(duì)策則是進(jìn)行一系列有吸引力的市場(chǎng)營(yíng)銷活動(dòng)—看上去似乎也起到了作用。2013年至2014年期間，成員數(shù)量增加了3%，首次突破了110萬(wàn)人。與此同時(shí)，成員的組成結(jié)構(gòu)也在發(fā)生變化。2007年家庭成員占據(jù)了15%的會(huì)員數(shù)，但現(xiàn)在這一數(shù)據(jù)達(dá)到了30%。

與此同時(shí)還存在著一些不可忽視的隱患，隨著涉足領(lǐng)域的不斷擴(kuò)大，RSPB可能會(huì)漸漸偏離維多利亞時(shí)代的創(chuàng)始人的初衷。鳥類及觀鳥者專家Mark Cocker認(rèn)為，協(xié)會(huì)有因?yàn)椤昂ε率?huì)員而沉默”的風(fēng)險(xiǎn)，這可能會(huì)阻止協(xié)會(huì)繼續(xù)維持堅(jiān)定的政治立場(chǎng)。領(lǐng)域的不斷擴(kuò)大還可能有疏遠(yuǎn)那些專注于鳥類的會(huì)員的危險(xiǎn)。BirdForum網(wǎng)的Steve Kirk 表示，很多熱衷與此的人表示他們已經(jīng)準(zhǔn)備轉(zhuǎn)投一些更加專注于鳥類保護(hù)的組織——這些組織更能采取一些“實(shí)際行動(dòng)”來(lái)保護(hù)濕地以及進(jìn)行反對(duì)獵殺珍惜品種的活動(dòng)。比于他們所追蹤的生物，可以說(shuō)，鳥兒還有回來(lái)的時(shí)候，失去的成員不太可能回來(lái)了。候鳥尚有歸來(lái)日，人去樓空不復(fù)還。

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