研究人員們發起瞭一項行動，這項行動追蹤野生動物在新冠肺炎疫情封鎖開始之前、期間及之後的生存狀況。這個由英國領頭的研究小組主要是為瞭研究所謂的 “人類活動暫停”（anthropause）現象，即全球范圍內人類活動暫時減緩的現象。“人類活動暫停” 可能給其它物種帶來深遠的影響。
It’s been for tragic, costly reasons, but we’ve pushed the pause button on human activity all over the world. And on an increasingly crowded planet, wildlife scientists think this will have some profound effects.
因為這場悲劇的、代價慘重的疫情 ，我們按下瞭全世界人類活動的暫停鍵。在這個日益擁擠的星球上，野生動物科學傢們認為人類活動的減少將產生一些深遠的影響。
Videos of urban wildlife encounters have been widely shared on social media, but the way to study what’s actually happening, researchers say, is with bio-loggers: tracking devices fitted to animals to record their movement, position; sometimes even audio and video.
在城市中邂逅野生動物的視頻在社交媒體上被廣泛分享，但研究人員們說，研究實際情況的方法是使用生物記錄器，就是安裝在動物身上的追蹤裝置，用來記錄它們的行動、位置，甚至可以錄音和拍視頻。
In dozens of studies, researchers have fitted trackers to species from African elephants to migrating cuckoos, and some of their data’s been automatically uploaded throughout lockdown, giving a unique insight into how our presence and absence affect those animals.
在數十項研究中，研究人員們為非洲象、遷徙的佈谷鳥等物種安裝瞭追蹤器，從它們身上獲取的一些數據在疫情封鎖期間會自動上傳，這讓我們有瞭獨特的視角，瞭解我們的存在和不存在對這些動物造成的影響。
A glimpse of how animals move around while roads are much less busy, for example, could show us where to put wildlife crossings and corridors, or where small changes in our transport network could have the most positive impact for nature.
例如，觀察動物是如何在道路不那麼繁忙的時候四處走動的，可以告訴我們在哪裡設置野生動物安全橋和通道，或提示我們在交通網絡中做出微小的變化以給大自然帶來最積極的影響。
詞匯
pushed the pause button on 按下瞭暫停鍵
human activity 人類活動
crowded 擁擠的
wildlife 野生動植物
encounters 偶然相遇
bio-loggers （用來追蹤動物行為的）生物記錄器
tracking devices 追蹤裝置
African elephants 非洲象
migrating 遷徙的
cuckoos 佈谷鳥，杜鵑
閱讀理解：請在讀完上文後，回答下列問題。
1. True or false? Scientists think the pause in human activity could have some profound impacts on nature.
2. What videos have been widely shared because of the lockdown, according to the text?
3. What are bio-loggers?
4. What could the movement of animals on a much less busy road show us?
答案
1. True or false? Scientists think the pause on human activity could have some profound impacts on nature.
True. Wildlife scientists think that pushing the pause button on human activity around the world could have some profound impacts.
2. What videos have been widely shared because of the lockdown, according to the text?
Videos of urban wildlife encounters have been widely shared on social media.
3. What are bio-loggers?
They are tracking devices fitted to animals to record their movement, position; sometimes even audio and video.
4. What could the movement of animals on a much less busy road show us?
It could show us where to put wildlife crossings and corridors, or where small changes in our transport network could have the most positive impact for nature.
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