2019年翻譯資格考試中級筆譯練習題：綠色長城
漢譯英
司恩高利村的老人們常說，他們記得曾經該村周邊樹木多得遮天蔽日。如今，司恩高利這個塞內加爾 西北小村已被綿延數英里的紅棕色沙子包圍，沙子上零星散布著灌木叢和樹叢。干結的動物糞便到處都是， 但干枯的草卻很難到處可見。 過度放牧和氣候變化是導致撒哈拉沙漠擴張的主要原因，人類學家吉勒思·波特舍這樣說道，他帶領 的一隊法國科學家正和塞內加爾研究員一道在此開展研究工作。“當地的頗耳族人以放牧為生，且常常是 流動放牧。但是畜群對草地帶來的壓力太大以致于植被無法復生，”波特舍先生在一次采訪中說道。 不過，塞內加爾自 2008 年起就一直抗擊不斷擴張的沙漠的侵襲。每年，該國將約 200 萬株樹苗沿 545 千米(約 340 英里)長的狹長地帶栽種，這塊狹長地帶是“綠色長城”這一泛非洲植被再生工程在塞內加 爾境內的部分�！熬G色長城”這一工程在 2005 年被提出，它將塞內加爾和其他 10 個地處撒哈拉的國家聯 接成同盟來通過植樹創(chuàng)建一個 15 千米寬、7100 千米長的綠化帶，以此阻擋沙漠的擴張。隨著主管其境內 的“綠色長城”工程的一個國家級機構的成立，塞內加爾在植樹治沙方面已經走在了前列，而許多國家甚 至都還沒有著手建設它們境內的綠化帶屏障。 “這個半干燥地區(qū)正變得越來越不適宜居住。我們想讓人們還能夠繼續(xù)在此居住，”帕薩上校在一次 采訪中說道，他是這個新成立的機構的技術主任。薩上校已促成塞內加爾研究人員和波特舍領導的法國科 學家團隊在土壤微生物學、生態(tài)學、藥學和人類學方面組成研究聯盟。薩上校說：“隨著其他國家變得更 積極起來，我們希望塞內加爾嘗試的不同治沙方式能讓這些國家受益” 。自 2008 年起，每年 4 月到 6 月， 約 400 名工人會受雇于 8 個苗圃室，他們要挑選種子、照看種子的發(fā)芽，然后修剪幼苗直到這些幼苗能用 于載種。到了 8 月，1000 多人將被調動來栽種一排排樹苗，約 200 萬株，這就使得這些樹苗在漫長而干燥 的旱季到來前能有足足兩個月的雨季來扎根。 在經歷了第一個旱季之后，這些小樹苗看上去都枯死了，只剩棕色的枝條從地上的洞中凸出來，但 80% 的樹苗都會存活。6 年之后，這些 2008 年栽下的樹苗已經長到了 3 米之高(約 10 英寸)。迄今已有 30000 公頃，約 75000 英畝的地帶已經栽上了樹木，其中 4000 畝是今年夏天栽種的。 “植樹對微氣候的影響已經顯現，”法國克萊蒙費朗市布萊斯•帕斯卡大學物理地理學教授讓·呂克·派 瑞說道，他在一些已經栽種了樹木的地帶放置了 30 個傳感器來記錄溫度變化。 “初步的結果顯示 4 至 8 棵 樹組成的樹叢能對溫度產生重要影響，”派瑞教授在一次采訪中說道。 “樹木體表的水分蒸發(fā)能創(chuàng)造一個微 氣候，這個微氣候能降低每日溫度的上限�！� “同時，這些樹木在減輕大風造成的土壤流失、減少沙塵以及 起到粗糙的地墊作用方面功不可沒，從而阻斷從撒哈拉刮來的滿是沙子的大風”他補充說道。野生動物因 這些變化而改變了行為。波特舍先生說：“遷徙的鳥類重現此地。” 該工程所用的 8 個地下水泵站建于 1954 年，即在塞內加爾 1960 年脫離法國統(tǒng)治取得獨立之前。這些 水泵抽取地下水灌滿巨型蓄水盆，而這些蓄水盆為動物、苗圃室和種植有果樹的花園供水。
參考譯文
Old people in Thiengoly say they can remember when there were so many trees that you couldn’t see the sky. Now, miles of reddish-brown sand surround this village in northwestern Senegal, dotted with occasional bushes and trees. Dried animal dung is scattered everywhere, but hardly any dried grass is.
Overgrazing and climate change are the major causes of the Sahara’s advance, said Gilles Boetsch, an anthropologist who directs a team of French scientists working with Senegalese researchers in the region.“The local Peul people are herders, often nomadic. But the pressure of the herds on the land has become too great,” Mr. Boetsch said in an interview. “The vegetation can’t regenerate itself.”
Since 2008, however, Senegal has been fighting back against the encroaching desert. Each year it has planted some two million seedling trees along a 545-kilometer, or 340-mile, ribbon of land that is the country’s segment of a major pan-African regeneration project, the Great Green Wall.First proposed in 2005, the program links Senegal and 10 other Saharan states in an alliance to plant a 15 kilometer-wide, 7,100-kilometer-long green belt to fend off the desert. While many countries have still to start on their sections of the barrier, Senegal has taken the lead, with the creation of a National Agency for the Great Green Wall.
“This semi-arid region is becoming less and less habitable. We want to make it possible for people to continue to live here,” Col. Pap Sarr, the agency’s technical director, said in an interview here. Colonel Sarr has forged working alliances between Senegalese researchers and the French team headed by Mr. Boetsch, in fields as varied as soil microbiology, ecology, medicine and anthropology. “In Senegal we hope to experiment with different ways of doing things that will benefit the other countries as they become more active,” the colonel said. Each year since 2008, from May to June, about 400 people are employed in eight nurseries, choosing and overseeing germination of seeds and tending the seedlings until they are ready for planting. In August, 1,000 people are mobilized to plant out rows of seedlings, about 2 million plants, allowing them a full two months of the rainy season to take root before the long, dry season sets in.
After their first dry season, the saplings look dead, brown twigs sticking out of holes in the ground, but 80 percent survive. Six years on, trees planted in 2008 are up to three meters, or 10 feet, tall. So far, 30,000 hectares, or about 75,000 acres, have been planted, including 4,000 hectares this summer.
There are already discernible impacts on the microclimate, said Jean-Luc Peiry, a physical geography professor at the Université Blaise Pascal in Clermont-Ferrand, France, who has placed 30 sensors to record temperatures in some planted parcels.“Preliminary results show that clumps of four to eight small trees can have an important impact on temperature,” Professor Peiry said in an interview. “The transpiration of the trees creates a microclimate that moderates daily temperature extremes.” “The trees also have an important role in slowing the soil erosion caused by the wind, reducing the dust, and acting like a large rough doormat, halting the sand-laden winds from the Sahara,” he added. Wildlife is responding to the changes. “Migratory birds are reappearing,” Mr. Boetsch said.
The project uses eight groundwater pumping stations built in 1954, before Senegal achieved its independence from France in 1960. The pumps fill giant basins that provide water for animals, tree nurseries and gardens where fruit and vegetables are grown.
