Should tourists go to Antarctica?

你認為現代的旅遊科技讓觀光客可以去遙遠的地方（例如南極）旅遊是件好事嗎？What's your opinion?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/learningenglish/english/features/6-minute-english/ep-150212

討論原文：Should tourists be banned from Antarctica?

 

About 37,000 tourists are expected to visit Antarctica this season.

But should they be going to a region with such a sensitive environment? 

Penguins aside, what large resource can be found in Antarctica?

● Antarctica [ænˋtɑrktɪkə] 南極洲

● South Pole 南極

Antarctica. It is considered the last great wilderness on Earth. 

Wilderness means an area with no people and no agriculture because of the difficult living conditions.

I love travelling but I wonder how that very sensitive environment in Antarctica is going to be preserved.

In Antarctica there are only research stations (研究站) with scientists and a few tourists. 

I've been reading that the ice caps are melting due to global warming.

● ice caps – these are the thick layers of ice permanently covering a vast area of land in the Arctic and Antarctic.

Global warming is the increase in world temperatures due to the presence of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. 

I would like to visit Antarctica before it melts too much. I want to see the penguins. They are very amusing animals!

 

 

I'm all too aware that this is not my habitat.  

     = well aware of 充分意識到

Like a scuba diver under the sea, I'm an alien visitor in the penguins' world.

Which makes me wonder: should I be here at all?

Am I just by setting foot on this extraordinary continent polluting the last great wilderness on Earth?

All visitors leave a footprint, admits my tour leader.

And we all go to the same places, the accessible coastline, which is also where the penguins and seals go to breed.

Nonetheless, he argues, carefully controlled tourism is not just okay but useful.

● nonetheless (adv.)(conj.)但是，仍然 =in spite of the fact...

Without a native population of its own, Antarctica needs advocates.

And tourism creates a global constituency of people ready to support and indeed fund its preservation.

● constituency 全體選民

Not everyone is convinced that the benefits outweigh the risks, but most are pragmatic.

● outweigh 比...更重要 (vt)

● pragmatic  [prægˋmætɪk] 務實的 

 

 

A：

it's good that some people go to Antarctica and then, when they go back to their countries,

they defend conservation and give money to organisations which work for the preservation of the environment.

Some people might not agree because if there are some companies making profit,

it might be difficult to prevent an increase in tourism to Antarctica.

● conservation 對自然資源的保存和維護 (傾向「消極的不去破壞、任其自由發展」)

● preservation 保護與保存 (傾向「積極的採取措施，發展更多生存機會」)

 

 

Q：What control do they have over the tourists?

We're given a mandatory briefing before gathering for a “vacuum party”.

● mandatory 強制，義務的，必須去做的事

We bio secure ourselves hovering our clothes and kit and disinfecting our boots to ensure we introduce no alien species to Antarctica.

● hover (v)圍繞、盤旋

● disinfect 消毒殺菌 - clean something using chemicals or, in this case, vacuum to kill or remove bacteria. This is to avoid the risk of contaminating the region.

 

There's no eating or smoking on land, and we're instructed to take nothing away, except photographs, and leave nothing behind.

Not even a bit of yellow snow.

So, don't drink too much at breakfast.

 

 

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