TEST1

Part1

Hello William. This is Amber - you said to phone if I wanted to get more information about the job agency you mentioned. Is now a good time?

• 喂，威廉。我是安布尔，你说如果我想了解更多关于你提到的职业介绍所的信息，就给你打电话。你现在方便吗？

Oh, hi Amber. Yes. Fine. So the agency I was talking about is called Bankside – they’re based in Docklands - I can tell you the address now - 497 Eastside.

• 哦，嗨，安布尔。我现在方便。我之前提到的那家职业介绍所叫Bankside，它的总部设在达克兰，我现在可以告诉你地址——东区497号。

OK, thanks. So is there anyone in particular I should speak to there?

• 好的，谢谢。那里有没有我特别要找的人呢？

The agent I always deal with is called Becky Jamieson.

• 和我一直打交道的经纪人叫贝基·贾米森。

Let me write that down - Becky…

• 让我写下来——贝基……

Jamieson J-A-M-I-E-S-O-N.

• 贾米森 J-A-M-I-E-S-O-N。

Do you have her direct line?

• 你有她的直拨电话吗？

Yes, it’s in my contacts somewhere - right, here we are: 078 double 6,510 triple 3.

• 有，在我的通讯录里，没错，我找到了：07866510333。

I wouldn’t call her until the afternoon if I were you – she’s always really busy in the morning trying to fill last-minute vacancies.

• 如果我是你，我下午才会给她打电话，她早上总是忙着填补紧急的岗位空缺。

She’s really helpful and friendly so I’m sure it would be worth getting in touch with her for an informal chat.

• 她真的很乐于助人，很友好，所以我相信与她联系一下进行一次非正式的交谈是值得的。

It’s mainly clerical and admin jobs they deal with, isn’t it?

• 他们处理的主要是文书和行政工作，对吗？

That’s right. I know you’re hoping to find a full-time job in the media eventually - but Becky mostly recruits temporary staff for the finance sector – which will look good on your CV – and generally pays better too.

• 没错。我知道你希望最终能在媒体行业找到一份全职工作，但贝基主要是为金融部门招聘临时员工，这类工作会给你的简历增光添彩，而且通常工资也更高。

Yeah – I’m just a bit worried because I don’t have much office experience.

• 是的，我只是有点担心，因为我没有太多的办公室工作经验。

I wouldn’t worry. They’ll probably start you as a receptionist, or something like that.

• 我不担心。他们可能会让你从接待员或者类似的职位开始做起。

So what’s important for that kind of job isn’t so much having business skills or knowing lots of different computer systems – it’s communication that really matters – so you’d be fine there.

• 因此，对于这类工作来说，重要的不是拥有商业技能或了解许多不同的计算机系统而是沟通，所以你会做得很好的。

And you’ll pick up office skills really quickly on the job. It’s not that complicated.

• 而且你在这类工作中很快就能学会办公室技能。这并没有那么复杂。

OK good. So how long do people generally need temporary staff for?

• 好的。人们通常需要临时员工工作多久呢？

It would be great if I could get something lasting at least a month.

• 如果我能获得持续至少一个月的工作就太好了。

That shouldn’t be too difficult.

• 这应该不会太难。

But you’re more likely to be offered something for a week at first, which might get extended.

• 但你在一开始更有可能获得为期一周的工作，之后可能会延长。

It’s unusual to be sent somewhere for just a day or two.

• 被派去某个地方工作一两天是很不寻常的。

Right. I’ve heard the pay isn’t too bad – better than working in a shop or a restaurant.

• 没错。我听说薪水还不错，比在商店或餐馆工作要好。

Oh yes – definitely. The hourly rate is about 10, 11 pounds if you’re lucky.

• 哦，是的，当然。如果幸运的话，每小时的工资大约是10到11英镑。

That’s pretty good. I was only expecting to get eight or nine pounds an hour.

• 太好了。我原以为每小时只能挣八、九英镑。

Do you want me to tell you anything about the registration process?

• 你想让我告诉你一些关于注册程序的事情吗？

Yes. please. I know you have to have an interview.

• 是的。请说。我知道你得去面试。

The interview usually takes about an hour and you should arrange that about a week in advance.

• 面试通常需要一个小时左右，你应该提前一周左右安排。

I suppose I should dress smartly if it’s for office work – I can probably borrow a suit from Mum.

• 如果是办公室工作，我想我应该穿得时髦些，我也许可以向妈妈借一身套装。

Good idea. It’s better to look too smart than too casual.

• 好主意。看起来太时髦总比太随意好。

Will I need to bring copies of my exam certificates or anything like that?

• 我需要带考试证书的复印件或类似的东西吗？

No – they don’t need to see those, I don’t think.

• 不，我认为他们不需要看那些。

What about my passport?

• 我的护照呢？

Oh yes – they will ask to see that.

• 哦，是的，他们会要求看护照。

ОK.

• 好的。

I wouldn’t get stressed about the interview though.

• 不过，我不会因为面试而感到紧张。

It’s just a chance for them to build a relationship with you – so they can try and match you to a job which you’ll like.

• 这只是他们与你建立关系的一个机会，这样他们就可以试着把你和你喜欢的工作相匹配。

So there are questions about personality that they always ask candidates - fairly basic ones.

• 因此，他们总是会问候选人一些关于性格的问题——非常基本的问题。

And they probably won’t ask anything too difficult like what your plans are for the future.

• 他们可能不会问任何太难的问题，比如你对未来的计划是什么。

Hope not.

• 希望不会。

Anyway, there are lots of benefits to using an agency – for example, the interview will be useful because they’ll give you feedback on your performance so you can improve next time.

• 无论如何，使用职业介绍所有很多好处，例如，面试会很有用，因为他们会对你的表现提出反馈意见，这样你下次就可以改进了。

And they’ll have access to jobs which aren’t advertised.

• 而且他们还能找到那些没有登广告的工作。

Exactly – most temporary jobs aren’t advertised.

• 的确如此，大多数临时工作都没有登广告。

And I expect finding a temporary job this way takes a lot less time – it’s much easier than ringing up individual companies.

• 我希望通过这种方式找到一份临时工作所需的时间要少得多，这比给个别公司打电话要容易得多。

Yes indeed. Well I think…

• 的确如此。我觉得……

Part2

Good morning. My name’s Erica Matthews, and I’m the owner of Matthews Island Holidays, a company set up by my parents.

• 早上好。我叫艾丽卡·马修斯，我是马修斯岛屿假日公司的老板，这是我父母创办的一家公司。

Thank you for coming to this presentation, in which I hope to interest you in what we have to offer.

• 感谢您来听这次演讲，我希望您能对我们所提供的产品感兴趣。

We’re a small, family-run company, and we believe in the importance of the personal touch, so we don’t aim to compete with other companies on the number of customers.

• 我们是一家小型的家族企业，我们相信个人特色的重要性，所以我们不打算在客户数量上与其他公司竞争。

What we do is build on our many years’ experience – more than almost any other rail holiday company – to ensure we provide perfect holidays in a small number of destinations, which we’ve got to know extremely well.

• 我们依靠的是我们多年的经验——比几乎任何其他铁路度假公司都多——以确保我们在少数目的地提供完美的假期，我们已经非常了解这些目的地。

I’ll start with our six-day Isle of Man holiday.

• 我将先从我们为期六天的马恩岛假期开始介绍。

This is a fascinating island in the Irish Sea, with Wales to the south, England to the east, Scotland to the north and Northern Ireland to the west.

• 这是爱尔兰海中的一个迷人的岛屿，南接威尔士，东接英格兰，北接苏格兰，西接北爱尔兰。

Our holiday starts in Heysham, where your tour manager will meet you, then you’ll travel by ferry to the Isle of Man.

• 我们的假期从希舍姆开始，您的旅游经理会在那里迎接您，然后您将乘坐渡轮前往马恩岛。

Some people prefer to fly from Luton instead, and another popular option is to go by train to Liverpool and take a ferry from there.

• 有些人更喜欢从卢顿坐飞机，另一个受欢迎的选择是坐火车去利物浦，然后从那里乘渡轮。

You have five nights in the hotel, and the price covers five breakfasts and dinners, and lunch on the three days when there are organised trips: day four is free, and most people have lunch in a café or restaurant in Douglas.

• 您在酒店住五晚，其中包括五顿早餐和晚餐，以及三天有组织的旅行的午餐：第四天自由选择，大多数人在道格拉斯的咖啡馆或餐厅吃午餐。

The price of the holiday includes the ferry to the Isle of Man, all travel on the island, the hotel, and the meals I’ve mentioned.

• 假日旅行的费用包括到马恩岛的渡轮费，所有在岛上的旅行费用，酒店费用和我刚才提到的餐费。

Incidentally, we try to make booking our holidays as simple and fair as possible, so unlike with many companies, the price is the same whether you book six months in advance or at the last minute, and there’s no supplement for single rooms in hotels.

• 顺便说一句，我们会尽量让度假旅游产品的预订方式变得简单和公平，所以与许多公司不同的是，无论您提前六个月预订还是在最后一分钟预订，价格都是一样的，而且酒店的单人间没有额外费用。

If you make a booking then need to change the start date, for example because of illness, you’re welcome to change to an alternative date or a different tour, for a small administrative fee.

• 如果您预订后需要更改开始日期，例如因为生病，您只需支付少量的管理费就可以更改为其他日期或不同的行程。

OK, so what does the holiday consist of?

• 好的，那这个假日旅行包括什么呢？

Well, on day one you’ll arrive in time for a short introduction by your tour manager, followed by dinner in the hotel.

• 第一天您将会及时听取您的旅游经理做的简短介绍，然后在酒店吃晚餐。

The dining room looks out at the river, close to where it flows into the harbour, and there’s usually plenty of activity going on.

• 餐厅面朝河流，靠近河流流入港口的地方，那里通常会举行许多活动。

On day two you’ll take the coach to the small town of Peel, on the way calling in at the Tynwald Exhibition.

• 第二天，您将乘坐长途汽车去皮尔小镇，途中参观提恩沃德展览。

The Isle of Man isn’t part of the United Kingdom, and it has its own parliament, called Tynwald.

• 马恩岛不是英国的一部分，它有自己的议会，名为提恩沃德。

It’s claimed that this is the world’s oldest parliament that’s still functioning and that it dates back to 979.

• 据称，这是世界上最古老的议会，至今仍在运作，其历史可以追溯到979年。

However, the earliest surviving reference to it is from 1422, so perhaps it isn’t quite as old as it claims!

• 然而，现存的关于它的最早资料是1422年，所以它可能并不没有它声称的那样古老！

Day three we have a trip to the mountain Snaefell.

• 第三天，我们要去斯奈菲尔山旅行。

This begins with a leisurely ride along the promenade in Douglas in a horse-drawn tram.

• 我们先乘坐一辆马车悠闲地沿着道格拉斯的滨海步行大道行进。

Then you board an electric train which takes you to the fishing village of Laxey.

• 然后您会登上一列电动火车，它会把你带到拉克西的渔村。

From there it’s an eight-kilometre ride in the Snaefell Mountain Railway to the top.

• 从那里乘坐斯奈菲尔登山火车到达山顶，全程8公里。

Lunch will be in the café, giving you spectacular views of the island.

• 我们将会在咖啡馆吃午餐，在那里您可以欣赏到岛上的壮丽景色。

Day four is free for you to explore, using the pass which we’ll give you.

• 第四天是自由行，您可以使用我们给您的通行证进行自由探索。

So you won’t have to pay for travel on local transport, or for entrance to the island’s heritage sites.

• 因此，您不必支付当地交通工具的费用，也不必支付进入该岛文化遗产遗址的费用。

Or you might just want to take it easy in Douglas and perhaps do a little light shopping.

• 或者，您可能只想在道格拉斯放松一下，或者稍微购物一下。

The last full day, day five, is for some people the highlight of the holiday, with a ride on the steam railway, from Douglas to Port Erin.

• 最后一整天，也就是第五天，对一些人来说是假期的高潮，我们将会乘坐蒸汽火车从道格拉斯到埃林港。

After some time to explore, a coach will take you to the headland that overlooks the Calf of Man, a small island just off the coast.

• 经过一段时间的探索后，一辆长途汽车将带您去可以俯瞰卡夫曼岛的岬角，这是一个近海岸小岛。

From there you continue to Castletown, which used to be the capital of the Isle of Man, and its mediaeval castle.

• 从那里您继续前往卡斯尔敦，它曾经是马恩岛的首府以及它的中世纪城堡。

And on day six it’s back to the ferry – or the airport, if you flew to the island - and time to go home.

• 第六天，我们将回到渡轮上——或者机场，如果您是乘坐飞机到达岛上的话——是时候回家了。

Now I’d like to tell you …

• 现在我想告诉您……

Part3

Ed, how are you getting on with the reading for our presentation next week?

• 艾德，我们下周演讲的阅读材料准备得怎么样了？

Well, OK, Ruth-but there’s so much of it.

• 好吧，露丝，但是相关的阅读材料太多了。

I know, I hadn’t realised birth order was such a popular area of research.

• 我知道，我没有意识到出生顺序是一个如此受欢迎的研究领域。

But the stuff on birth order and personality is mostly unreliable.

• 但有关出生顺序和性格的信息大多不可靠。

From what I’ve been reading a lot of the claims about how your position in the family determines certain personality traits are just stereotypes, with no robust evidence to support them.

• 据我所知，很多关于你在家庭中的位置如何决定某些性格特征的说法只是刻板印象，没有强有力的证据支持。

OK, but that’s an interesting point – we could start by outlining what previous research has shown.

• 好吧，但这是一个有趣的观点——我们可以先概述一下以前的研究结果。

There are studies going back over a hundred years.

• 有些研究可以追溯到一百多年前。

Yeah-so we could just run through some of the typical traits.

• 是的，所以我们可以只介绍一些典型的特征。

Like the consensus seems to be that oldest children are generally less well-adjusted because they never get over the arrival of a younger sibling.

• 就像人们普遍认为的那样，年龄最大的孩子通常适应能力较差，因为他们永远无法适应弟弟妹妹的到来。

Right, but on a positive note, some studies claimed that they were thought to be good at nurturing-certainly in the past when people had large families they would have been expected to look after the younger ones.

• 没错，但从积极的方面来看，一些研究声称，他们被认为擅长养育孩子——当然，在过去，当人们有大家庭时，他们应该照顾年幼的孩子。

There isn’t such a clear picture for middle children – but one trait that a lot of the studies mention is that they are easier to get on with than older or younger siblings.

• 对于排行中间的孩子目前还没有一个清晰的描述——但很多研究提到了一个特点，那就是他们比哥哥姐姐或弟弟妹妹更容易相处。

Generally eager to please and helpful – although that’s certainly not accurate as far as my family goes – my middle brother was a nightmare - always causing fights and envious of whatever I had.

• 一般来说，他们渴望取悦别人，乐于助人——尽管就我的家庭而言，这肯定是不准确的——我二哥是个噩梦——他总是引起争吵，嫉妒我所拥有的一切。

As I said – none of this seems to relate to my own experience.

• 正如我所说的，所有这些似乎都与我自己的经历无关。

I’m the youngest in my family and I don’t recognise myself in any of the studies I’ve read about.

• 我是家里最小的，在我读过的任何一篇研究论文中，我都找不到贴合自己的描述。

I’m supposed to have been a sociable and confident child who made friends easily – but I was actually terribly shy.

• 我应该是一个善于交际、自信的很容易交到朋友的孩子，但实际上我非常害羞。

Really? That’s funny. There have been hundreds of studies on twins but mostly about nurture versus nature…

• 真的吗？真有趣。已经有数百项关于双胞胎的研究，但大多数是关于后天培养和先天的关系……

There was one on personality, which said that a twin is likely to be quite shy in social situations because they always have their twin around to depend on for support.

• 其中有一项关于性格的研究称，双胞胎之一在社交场合可能会很害羞，因为他们身边总有另一个人可以依靠。

My cousins were like that when they were small - they were only interested in each other and found it hard to engage with other kids.

• 我的表兄妹小时候就是这样的，他们只对彼此感兴趣，很难与其他孩子打交道。

They’re fine now though. Only children have had a really bad press – a lot of studies have branded them as loners who think the world revolves around them because they’ve never had to fight for their parents’ attention.

• 不过，他们现在都很好。独生子女一直饱受诟病，很多研究称他们是不合群的人，他们认为世界都是围绕着他们转的，因为他们从来不需要争取父母的关注。

That does seem a bit harsh.

• 这似乎有点苛刻。

One category I hadn’t considered before was children with much older siblings – a couple of studies mentioned that these children grow up more quickly and are expected to do basic things for themselves - like getting dressed.

• 我以前没有考虑过的一个类别是那些有比自己大得多的兄弟姐妹的孩子，有几项研究提到，这些孩子成长得更快，且应该自己做一些基本的事情，比如穿衣服。

I can see how that might be true – although I expect they’re sometimes the exact opposite - playing the baby role and clamouring for special treatment.

• 我知道这可能是真的，尽管我认为他们有时恰恰相反——扮演婴儿的角色，并叫嚣着要特殊待遇。

What was the problem with most of these studies, do you think?

• 你认为这些研究中的大多数都有什么问题？

I think it was because in a lot of cases data was collected from only one sibling per family, who rated him or herself and his or her siblings at the same time.

• 我认为这是因为在许多情况下，数据只从每个家庭的一个孩子那里收集，这个孩子同时给自己和兄弟姐妹打分。

Mmm. Some of the old research into the relationship between birth order and academic achievement has been proved to be accurate though.

• 然而，之前一些关于出生顺序和学业成绩之间关系的研究已经被证明是准确的。

Performances in intelligence tests decline slightly from the eldest child to his or her younger siblings.

• 从最年长的孩子到他或她的弟弟妹妹，智力测试的成绩略有下降。

This has been proved in lots of recent studies.

• 最近的许多研究都证明了这一点。

Yes. Although what many of them didn’t take into consideration was family size.

• 是的。尽管他们中的许多人没有考虑到家庭规模。

The more siblings there are, the likelier the family is to have a low socio-economic status - which can also account for differences between siblings in academic performance.

• 兄弟姐妹越多，家庭的社会经济地位就越低，这也可以解释兄弟姐妹在学习成绩上的差异。

The oldest boy might be given more opportunities than his younger sisters, for example.

• 例如，年龄最大的男孩可能会比他的妹妹们得到更多的机会。

Exactly.

• 一点儿没错。

But the main reason for the marginally higher academic performance of oldest children is quite surprising, I think.

• 但我认为，年龄最大的孩子学习成绩略高的主要原因是相当令人惊讶的。

It’s not only that they benefit intellectually from extra attention at a young age – which is what I would have expected.

• 这不仅是因为他们在很小的时候就从额外的关注中获得了智力上的优势——这是我所期望的。

It’s that they benefit from being teachers for their younger siblings, by verbalising processes.

• 还因为他们通过言语过程成为弟弟妹妹的老师，从而从中受益。

Right, and this gives them status and confidence, which again contribute, in a small way, to better performance.

• 没错，这给了他们地位和信心，这也在一定程度上有助于他们有更好的表现。

So would you say sibling rivalry has been a useful thing for you?

• 那么，你认为兄弟姐妹之间的竞争对你来说是一件有用的事情吗？

I think so - my younger brother was incredibly annoying and we fought a lot but I think this has made me a stronger person.

• 我想是的，我的弟弟非常烦人，我们经常吵架，但我认为这让我变得更坚强了。

I know how to defend myself.

• 我知道如何保护自己。

We had some terrible arguments and I would have died rather than apologise to him - but we had to put up with each other and most of the time we co-existed amicably enough.

• 我们有过一些可怕的争吵，我宁愿死也不愿向他道歉，但我们不得不容忍彼此，大多数时候我们都很友好地相处。

Yes, my situation was pretty similar.

• 是的，我的情况很相似。

But I don’t think having two older brothers made me any less selfish - I was never prepared to let my brothers use any of my stuff…

• 但我认为有两个哥哥让我变得很自私，我从不乐意让我的哥哥们用我的任何东西……

That’s perfectly normal, whereas…

• 这很正常，然而……

Part4

Today I’m going to talk about the eucalyptus tree.

• 今天我要讲的是桉树。

This is a very common tree here in Australia, where it’s also sometimes called the gum tree.

• 这是一种在澳大利亚非常常见的树，在那里它有时也被称为橡胶树。

First I’m going to talk about why it’s important, then I’m going to describe some problems it faces at present.

• 首先，我要谈一谈它很重要的原因，然后我要描述它目前所面临的一些问题。

Right, well the eucalyptus tree is an important tree for lots of reasons.

• 没错，桉树是一种重要的树木，原因有很多。

For example, it gives shelter to creatures like birds and bats, and these and other species also depend on it for food, particularly the nectar from its flowers.

• 例如，它为鸟类和蝙蝠等生物提供庇护，这些物种和其他物种也从它身上获取食物，尤其是它的花蜜。

So it supports biodiversity.

• 因此，它支持生物多样性。

It’s useful to us humans too, because we can kill germs with a disinfectant made from oil extracted from eucalyptus leaves.

• 它对我们人类也很有用，因为我们可以用从桉树叶中提取的油制成的消毒剂杀死细菌。

The eucalyptus grows all over Australia and the trees can live for up to four hundred years.

• 桉树生长在澳大利亚各地，这些树可以存活长达四百年。

So it’s alarming that all across the country, numbers of eucalyptus are falling because the trees are dying off prematurely.

• 但令人担忧的是，由于树木过早死亡，澳大利亚各地的桉树数量都在下降。

So what are the reasons for this?

• 那么，造成这种情况的原因是什么？

One possible reason is disease.

• 一个可能的原因是疾病。

As far back as the 1970s the trees started getting a disease called Mundulla Yellows.

• 早在20世纪70年代，桉树就开始患上一种名为蒙杜拉黄化的疾病。

The trees’ leaves would gradually turn yellow, then the tree would die.

• 树的叶子会逐渐变黄，然后树就会死亡。

It wasn’t until 2004 that they found the cause of the problem was lime, or calcium hydroxide to give it its proper chemical name, which was being used in the construction of roads.

• 直到2004年，他们才发现问题的原因是石灰，它的化学名称是氢氧化钙，当时人们用石灰铺设道路。

The lime was being washed away into the ground and affecting the roots of the eucalyptus trees nearby.

• 石灰被冲进了地下，影响了附近桉树的根部。

What it was doing was preventing the trees from sucking up the iron they needed for healthy growth.

• 它阻止了桉树吸收它们健康生长所需的铁。

When this was injected back into the affected trees, they immediately recovered.

• 当给受影响的桉树注射铁时，它们立即恢复了健康。

But this problem only affected a relatively small number of trees.

• 但这个问题只影响了相对较少的树木。

By 2000, huge numbers of eucalyptus were dying along Australia’s East Coast, of a disease known as Bell-miner Associated Die-back.

• 到2000年，澳大利亚东海岸有大量桉树死于矿吸蜜鸟枯梢病。

The bell-miner is a bird, and the disease seems to be common where there are high populations of bell-miners.

• 矿吸蜜鸟是一种鸟，这种疾病似乎在矿吸蜜鸟数量较多的地方很常见。

Again it’s the leaves of the trees that are affected.

• 同样，受影响的是桉树的叶子。

What happens is that insects settle on the leaves and eat their way round them, destroying them as they go, and at the same time they secrete a solution which has sugar in it.

• 昆虫停留在树叶上，在树叶周围觅食，它们边移动边破坏树叶，同时它们分泌一种含有糖的溶液。

The bell miner birds really like this solution, and in order to get as much as possible, they keep away other creatures that might try to get it.

• 矿吸蜜鸟很喜欢这种溶液，为了尽可能多地获得它，它们会阻止其他可能试图获得它的生物靠近桉树。

So these birds and insects flourish at the expense of other species, and eventually so much damage is done to the leaves that the tree dies.

• 因此，这种鸟类和昆虫以牺牲其他物种为代价茁壮成长，最终对桉树叶造成巨大的损害，导致树木死亡。

But experts say that trees can start looking sick before any sign of Bell-miner Associated Dieback.

• 但专家表示，在矿吸蜜鸟枯梢病迹象出现之前，树木可能就开始看起来生病了。

So it looks as if the problem might have another explanation.

• 因此，看起来这个问题可能有另一种解释。

One possibility is that it’s to do with the huge bushfires that we have in Australia.

• 一种可能性是，这与澳大利亚发生的丛林大火有关。

A theory proposed over 40 years ago by ecologist William Jackson is that the frequency of bushfires in a particular region affects the type of vegetation that grows there.

• 生态学家威廉·杰克逊40多年前提出的一种理论是，特定地区丛林大火的发生频率会影响那里生长的植被类型。

If there are very frequent bushfires in a region, this encourages grass to grow afterwards, while if the bushfires are rather less frequent, this results in the growth of eucalyptus forests.

• 如果一个地区经常发生丛林大火，这就会促进草的生长，而如果丛林大火的发生频率相对较低，这就会导致桉树林的生长。

So why is this? Why do fairly frequent bushfires actually support the growth of eucalyptus?

• 为什么会这样呢？为什么相当频繁的丛林大火实际上支持了桉树的生长？

Well, one reason is that the fire stops the growth of other species which would consume water needed by eucalyptus trees.

• 其中一个原因是，大火阻止了其他物种的生长，这些物种会消耗桉树所需的水分。

And there’s another reason.

• 还有另一个原因。

If these other quick-growing species of bushes and plants are allowed to proliferate, they harm the eucalyptus in another way, by affecting the composition of the soil, and removing nutrients from it.

• 如果允许其他快速生长的灌木和植被繁殖，它们就会以另一种方式伤害桉树，即影响土壤的构成，并从土壤中去除养分。

So some bushfires are actually essential for the eucalyptus to survive as long as they are not too frequent.

• 因此，一些丛林大火实际上对桉树的生存至关重要，只要它们不太频繁发生就好。

In fact there’s evidence that Australia’s indigenous people practised regular burning of bush land for thousands of years before the arrival of the Europeans.

• 事实上，有证据表明，在欧洲人到来之前，澳大利亚的土著居民几千年来经常焚烧灌木丛林。

But since Europeans arrived on the continent, the number of bushfires has been strictly controlled.

• 但自从欧洲人抵达这片大陆以来，森林大火的数量受到了严格控制。

Now scientists believe that this reduced frequency of bushfires to low levels has led to what’s known as ‘dry rainforest’, which seems an odd name as usually we associate tropical rainforest with wet conditions.

• 如今，科学家认为，这种将丛林大火发生频率降低到低水平的做法导致了所谓的“干燥雨林”，这似乎是一个奇怪的名字，因为我们通常会将热带雨林与潮湿的环境联系在一起。

And what’s special about this type of rainforest?

• 这种类型的雨林有什么特别之处？

Well, unlike tropical rainforest which is a rich ecosystem, this type of ecosystem is usually a simple one.

• 与热带雨林丰富的生态系统不同，这种类型的生态系统通常很简单。

It has very thick, dense vegetation, but not much variety of species.

• 那里的植被非常茂密，但物种种类不多。

The vegetation provides lots of shade, so one species that does find it ideal is the bell-miner bird, which builds its nests in the undergrowth there.

• 植被提供了大量的荫凉，所以矿吸蜜鸟发现那里的环境很理想，于是就在那里的灌木丛中筑巢。

But again that’s not helpful for the eucalyptus tree.

• 但这却对桉树没有帮助。