『新东方在线托福口语』为托福考生准备了ETS托福TPO/Official 32 Task 4口语练习：<img src="/upload/ti/2427000-2428000/2427234/1effd95962da4e89bcd11bb7fca96e15.jpg">
<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;原文题目答案解析，TPO/Official 32 Task 4口语原文范文音频翻译。

托福TPO/Official 32 Task 4口语原文独立/综合口语题目答案解析-范文音频翻译-新东方托福官方网校手机版

旁白：来听环境科学课上讲座的一部分。

Narrator: Listen to part of a lecture in an Environmental Science class.

教授：道路，铺好的道路到处都是，有时看起来像是自然景观的一部分。

Professor: Roads, paved roads are everywhere and sometimes seem like part of the natural landscape.

但是，当然，道路不是自然的一部分，事实上，

But of course, roads are not part of nature, and in fact,

道路建设可能对环境产生有害影响，

road construction can have harmful effects on the environment,

严重影响动物的生命和植物的生命。

and seriously impact both animal life and plant life.

One harmful environmental effect of roads,

是它们造成植物物种从一个地区到另一个地区的迁移。

is that they contribute to the movement of plant species from one area to another.

这给现有已经在那个地区生长的植物造成了问题。

This causes problems for existing plants, plants already growing in that area.

因为当一个新的植物物种被引入到一个以前没有生长的地方，

Because when a new plant species gets introduced into an area where it wasn't growing before,

新植物与现有的植物生命竞争资源。

the new plants compete for resources with the existing plant life.

例如，这发生在加利福尼亚，有一种叫做黄星蓟的杂草。

For example, this happened in California with a weed called the yellow starthistle.

发生的事情是，星蓟种子被卡在汽车轮胎上，

What happened was the starthistle seeds got stuck to the tires of cars driving down the road,

and the seeds were distributed to new areas.

这使得星蓟在如水等自然资源的竞争中，与该地区最初的植物相竞争。

This put the starthistle in competition for natural resources,  like water, with the original plant life of the area.

That made it harder for the native plants to survive.

还有道路，特别是主要的高速公路，可以起到屏障的作用，

Also roads, especially major highways, can act as barriers,

and divide up an animal's habitat into smaller ones,

那里没有足够的食物来养活动物。

where there's not enough food to support the population.

这些繁忙的高速公路，汽车在日夜里超速行驶，就像动物不敢跨越的界限，

These busy highways, with cars speeding past day and night, act like boundaries that animals are afraid to cross,

act like boundaries that animals are afraid to cross.

所以它们有时会被关在一小块土地上，那里没有足够的食物来支撑它们。

So they sometimes get shut in on a small piece of land where there isn't enough food to support them.

对于需要大量土地来寻找食物的动物来说，这是一个严重的问题。

This is a serious problem for animals that need access to large expanses of land to look for food.

例如，有这些狐狸，叫做沙狐，生活在美国的西南部。

For example, there are these foxes, called kit foxes, that live in the southwestern United States.

它们捕猎小动物，如老鼠和松鼠，

They hunt small animals like mice and squirrels,

它们分布在大片开阔的草地上。

which are spread out over large areas of open grasslands.

由于没有得到足够的食物，沙狐的数量已经大幅下降。

the kit fox population has declined significantly because now they don't get enough food.

<img src="/upload/ti/2427000-2428000/2427234/1effd95962da4e89bcd11bb7fca96e15.jpg">
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<p>Using the examples of the starthistle and the Kit fox, describe two ways roads can affect the environment.</p>