Part I Getting ready

A. The following words and phrases will appear in this unit. Listen carefully and study the definitions.

 1. habital: the natural home of a plant or animal

 2. species: a group of plants or animals of the same kind, which are alike in all important ways and can breed together

 3. bludgeon: hit with a heavy object

 4. census: a count of a total population

 5. logistics: the planning and implementation of the details of any operation

 6. degrade: bring down

 7. adversely: in the manner of going against, opposing

 8. refuge: a place that provides protection or shelter from danger

 9. aquatic: living in or on water

10. mussel: a small sea animal living inside a black shell whose soft body can be eaten as food

B. Listen to some abbreviations and acronyms of some organizations and some innformation about them. Fill in the blanks.

Tapescript:

 1. IUCN--- International Union for the Conservation of Nature, is the organization established by the United Nations to promote conservation of wildlife and habitats as part of the national policies of member states.

 2. CITES --- Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species, is an international agreement under the auspices of the IUCN with the aim of regulating trade in endangered species of animals and plants. The agreement came into force in 1975 and by 1991 had been signed by 110 states. It prohibits any trade in a category of 8,000 highly endangered species and controls trade in a further 30,000 species.

 3. UNEP --- United Nations Environmental Program, aims to provide leadership and encourage partnerships in caring for the environment by inspiring information and enabling nations and people to improve their quality of life without compromising that of future generations.

 4. WWF --- World Wide Fund for Nature (formerly World Wildlife Fund), is an international organization established in 1961 to raise funds for conservation by public appeal. Projects include conservation of particular species, for example, the tiger and giant panda. With almost five million supporters distributed throughout five continents, WWF has a global network active in over 90 countries. Its headquarters are in Gland, Switsland.

C. Listen to the conversation. Match column A, which is a list of the names of some endangered animals, with column B, which gives the information about those endangered animals. Then answer the questions.

       Column A                           Column B

 1. Whales                             2   bludgeoned to death for fur coats

 2. Seals                               4   killed to make handbages and shoes

 3. Turtles                             5    hunted for their ivory

 4. Crocodiles                          1,6   hunted to extinction

 5. Walruses                            3    eggs rolled off and slaughtered for meat and oil

 6. Dolphins

Questions:

 1. What do people at the World Wildlife Fund work for according to the woman?

   They work to conserve natural areas that contain endangered wildlife.

 2. What are they doing in order to protect those endangered animals?

   They are campaigning to provide sea sanctuaries for some of these endangered species. Protected-nesting sites for turtles have been set up.

 3. Can you guess the meaning of “sea sanctuaries”?

   It refers to the places of safety in the sea where sea animals are protected and allowed to live freely.

Tapescript:

A: Hello, I’m calling on hehalf of the World Wildlife Fund.

B: The what?

A: The World Wildlife Fund. If you’ve got a few  minutes I’d like to tell you what that means.

B: Oh, all right.

A: We work to conserve natural areas that contain endangered wildlife. The seas, for example, have become polluted by the industrialized world; whales are being hunted to extinction; turtles are rolled off their eggs when they come ashore to breed or are slaughtered for their meat and oil…

B: Oh.

A: Crocodiles are killed to make hanbags and shoes; walruses are hunted for their ivory.

B: I see.

A: Seals are bludgeoned to death to provide fur coats and the threat of extinction hangs over several species of whale, dolphin and porpoise.

B: Really.

A: We are now campaigning to provide sea sanctuaries for some of theses endangered species.

B: Very interesting.

A: Aided by our campaign, protected nesting sites for turtles have already been set up. As you can see, this is very valuable work and I wonder therefore if you like to make a donation?