雅思练习总结（十二）

雅思练习总结（十二）

本文章是雅思练习总结（十二），总结了文章《Climate Change and the Inuit》，内容包括原文精翻，文章脉络总结，单词扩展学习3个部分

1 文章原文及翻译

Climate Change and the Inuit

翻译：气候变化与因纽特人

The threat posed by climate change in the Arctic and the problems faced by Canada’s Inuit people

翻译：北极气候变化带来的威胁以及加拿大因纽特人面临的问题

A
Unusual incidents are being reported across the Arctic. Inuit families going off on snowmobiles to prepare their summer hunting camps have found themselves cut off from home by a sea of mud, following early thaws. There are reports of igloos losing their insulating properties as the snow drips and refreezes, of lakes draining into the sea as permafrost melts, and sea ice breaking up earlier than usual, carrying seals beyond the reach of hunters. Climate change may still be a rather abstract idea to most of us, but in the Arctic it is already having dramatic effects - if summertime ice continues to shrink at its present rate, the Arctic Ocean could soon become virtually ice-free in summer. The knock-on effects are likely to include more warming, cloudier skies, increased precipitation and higher sea levels. Scientists are increasingly keen to find out what’s going on because they consider the Arctic the ‘canary in the mine’ for global warming - a warning of what’s in store for the rest of the world.

翻译：不同寻常的事情正发生在北极各地。乘坐雪地摩托去准备夏季狩猎营地的因纽特人家庭，却发现雪融化后泥泞的海洋将他们与家隔绝。有报道称，随着冰雪滴落并重新结冰，因纽特人冰屋也失去了隔热性能。随着永久冻土的融化，湖泊流入大海，海冰也比平时更早破裂，使得海豹无法被猎人捕获。气候变化对我们大多数人来说可能仍然是一个相当抽象的概念，但在北极，它已经产生了巨大的影响——如果夏季冰继续以目前的速度缩小，北冰洋很快就会在夏季几乎无冰可用。这一连串的反应可能包括进一步气候变暖、天空多云、降水增加和海平面上升。科学家们越来越热衷于了解正在发生的事情，因为他们认为正在发生在北极的这一连串时间是全球变暖的“矿井中的金丝雀”（在矿井中，矿工们会拎着一个笼中的金丝雀，当矿洞内的氧气稀薄或者发生瓦斯泄露时，金丝雀会在人们察觉到之前发出叫声来告警，是英语中的一种常用搭配）——警告世界的其他地区，他们将会面对什么。

B
For the Inuit the problem is urgent. They live in precarious balance with one of the toughest environments on earth. Climate change, whatever its causes, is a direct threat to their way of life. Nobody knows the Arctic as well as the locals, which is why they are not content simply to stand back and let outside experts tell them what’s happening. In Canada, where the Inuit people are jealously guarding their hard-won autonomy in the country’s newest territory, Nunavut, they believe their best hope of survival in this changing environment lies in combining their ancestral knowledge with the best of modern science. This is a challenge in itself.

翻译：对于因纽特人来说，气候问题迫在眉睫。因纽特人的生活环境是地球上最恶劣的，他们的生活与环境保持着一种不稳定的平衡。无论气候变化的原因是什么，都直接威胁着他们的生活方式。作为最了解当地环境情况的因纽特人不会满足于袖手旁观，也不会只让外来专家告诉他们正在发生的事情。在加拿大，因纽特人小心翼翼地守护着他们在该国最新领土努纳武特地区来之不易的自治权，他们相信，在这个不断变化的环境中生存的最大希望在于将他们的祖先知识与现代科学的精华结合起来。这本身就是一个挑战。

C
The Canadian Arctic is a vast, treeless polar desert that’s covered with snow for most of the year. Venture into this terrain and you get some idea of the hardships facing anyone who calls this home. Farming is out of the question and nature offers meagre pickings. Humans first settled in the Arctic a mere 4,500 years ago, surviving by exploiting sea mammals and fish. The environment tested them to the limits: sometimes the colonists were successful, sometimes they failed and vanished. But around a thousand years ago, one group emerged that was uniquely well adapted to cope with the Arctic environment. These Thule people moved in from Alaska, bringing kayaks, sleds, dogs, pottery and iron tools. They are the ancestors of today’s Inuit people.

翻译：加拿大在北极地区的部分领土是一片广阔、没有树木的极地沙漠，这里一年中大部分时间都被白雪覆盖。一踏入这片土地就能体会到任何以此为家之人，所面临的艰辛。在这片土地上，农业的进行是基本不可能的，大自然也只能提供微薄收入。距离人类首次在北极定居仅仅 4,500 年前，当地人仅靠捕食海洋哺乳动物和鱼类为生。环境对当地人们进行了极限的生死考验：不成功，便成仁。但大约一千年前，出现了这么一个特别适应北极环境的族群。因纽特人的祖先，图勒人从阿拉斯加迁徙而来，带来了皮划艇、雪橇、狗、陶器和铁制工具。当今因纽特人的祖先。

D
Life for the descendants of the Thule people is still harsh. Nunavut is 1.9 million square kilometres of rock and ice, and a handful of islands around the North Pole. It’s currently home to 2,500 people, all but a handful of them indigenous Inuit. Over the past 40 years, most have abandoned their nomadic ways and settled in the territory’s 28 isolated communities, but they still rely heavily on nature to provide food and clothing.

Provisions available in local shops have to be flown into Nunavut on one of the most costly air networks in the world, or brought by supply ship during the few ice-free weeks of summer. It would cost a family around f7,000 a year to replace meat they obtained themselves through hunting with imported meat. Economic opportunities are scarce, and for many people state benefits are their only income.

翻译：图勒人后裔在北极的生活依然艰苦。努纳武特有 190 万平方公里的岩石和冰雪，以及北极周围的一些岛屿。目前，这里居住着 2,500 人，除了少数人之外，其余都是土著因纽特人。在过去的 40 年里，大多数人放弃了游牧生活，定居在该地区 28 个孤立的社区，但他们仍然是靠天吃饭。

当地商店出售的食品必须通过世界上最昂贵的航空网络之一空运到努纳武特，或者在夏季无冰的几个星期里通过补给船运送。一个家庭每年要花费大约 7,000 法郎来用进口肉来代替他们自己打猎获得的肉。在经济机会稀缺的北极，国家福利是大家唯一的收入来源。

E
While the Inuit may not actually starve if hunting and trapping are curtailed by climate change, there has certainly been an impact on people’s health. Obesity, heart disease and diabetes are beginning to appear in a people for whom these have never before been problems. There has been a crisis of identity as the traditional skills of hunting, trapping and preparing skins have begun to disappear. In Nunavut’s ‘igloo and email’ society, where adults who were born in igloos have children who may never have been out on the land, there’s a high incidence of depression.

翻译：虽然气候变化导致狩猎活动减少不会让因纽特人挨饿，但当地人们的健康肯定会受到影响。肥胖、心脏病和糖尿病这些因纽特人从未遭受过的疾病开始在这个民族身上出现。随着狩猎、捕捉和处理兽皮的传统技能开始消失，当地人也出现了身份危机。在努纳武特的“冰屋和电子邮件”社会中，出生在冰屋里的孩子可能从未在野外捕猎，这导致他们的抑郁症发病率很高。

F
With so much at stake, the Inuit are determined to play a key role in teasing out the mysteries of climate change in the Arctic. Having survived there for centuries, they believe their wealth of traditional knowledge is vital to the task. And Western scientists are starting to draw on this wisdom, increasi