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Now listen to a part of lecture on the topic you just read about.
現在來聽一段關于你剛剛讀到的話題的演講。
The passage claims that there will be fewer and fewer birds, but the arguments used to support this claim are unconvincing.
文章聲稱會有越來越少的鳥類，但是用來支撐這一斷言的論據沒有說服力。
First, it's true that urban growth has been bad for some types of birds, but urban development actually provides better and larger habitats for other types,
首先，城市擴張確實是對一些種類的鳥有壞處，但是城市發展事實上給別的種類提供了更好更大的棲息處，
so much so that city and suburban dwellers often complain about increased birds populations — seagulls at landfills, pigeons on the streets and so on.
以至于城市和郊區的居民經常抱怨增加的鳥類數量--垃圾填埋場里的海鷗、街上的鴿子等等。
Even birds like hawks and falcons can now be found in cities, where they prey on the increasing populations of pigeons and rodents.
甚至像鷹和隼這樣的鳥類現在也能在城市里找到，在這里他們捕食數量越來越多的鴿子和嚙齒動物。
So it's not going to be a story of uniform decline of bird populations in the future.
所以這不會是一個鳥類數量在未來統一下降的故事。
Some populations may shrink, but others will grow.
有些種群會縮小，但是其他的會增長。
As for agriculture, it's true that it too will increase in the future, but not in the way assumed by the reading passage.
對農業來講，它在未來也確實會增加，但是不是以閱讀文章中假設的方法。
The truth is, in the United States, less and less land is being used for agriculture every year.
事實是，在美國，每年越來越少的土地被用于農業。
Increases in agricultural production have resulted from and will continue to result from the introduction of new, more productive varieties of crops.
農業產量的增加已經并將繼續得益于引進新的更加多產的農作物品種。
These new crops produce more food per unit of land, and as a result, there's no need to destroy wilderness areas.
這些新的農作物每單位的土地能生產更多的食物，所以，沒有必要破壞自然保護區。
And third, while it's certainly true that traditional pesticides have been destructive to birds, it's incorrect to project this history into the future.
第三，雖然傳統的農藥對鳥類有害確實是真的，但是把這個歷史投進未來是不對的。
Now that people are aware of the possible consequences of traditional pesticides, two changes have occurred.
現在人們意識到傳統的農藥可能的后果，兩個變化已經出現。
First, new and much less toxic pesticides have been developed, and that's important.
第一，新的、毒性更少的農藥已經開發出來，這很重要。
Second, and perhaps more importantly, there is a growing trend to develop more pest resistant crops, crops that are genetically designed to be unattractive to pests.
第二，可能是更重要的，有一個開發更多抗蟲農作物的發展趨勢，這農作物從基因上設計得對害蟲沒有吸引力。
Pest resistant crops greatly reduce the need for chemical pesticides. And best of all, pest resistant crops don't harm birds at all.
抗蟲農作物大大地減少了化學農藥的需求。而且最好的是，抗蟲農作物根本不會危害鳥類。
