听考研真题|2024年英二阅读2:只顾着保护生态,却没木头盖房子!

The UK is facing a future construction crisis because of a failure to plant trees to produce wood, Confor has warned. 

【翻译】Confor 公司警告称，由于未能通过植树来生产木材，英国正面临未来的建筑危机。

The forestry and wood trade body has called for urgent action to reduce the country’s reliance on timber imports and provide a stable supply of wood for future generations. 

【生词】timber n.木材，木料

【翻译】林业与木材贸易机构已呼吁采取紧急措施，以降低该国对木材进口的依赖，并为子孙后代保障稳定的木材供应。

Currently only 20 percent of the UK’s wood requirement is home-grown while it remains the second-largest net importer of timber in the world.

Coming at a time of fresh incentives from the UK government for landowners to grow more trees, the trade body says these don’t go far enough and fail to promote the benefits of planting them to boost timber supplies.

【生词】incentive n.动机, 刺激, 诱因, 鼓励

【翻译】正值英国政府为土地所有者增加植树提供新激励措施之际，该行业协会指出，这些措施仍显不足，且未能有效发挥植树以增加木材供应的积极作用。

“Not only are we facing a carbon crisis now, but we will also be facing a future construction crisis because of failure to plant trees to produce wood. “said Stuart Goodall, chief executive of Confor. 

【翻译】“我们不仅如今正面临碳危机，由于未能通过植树来生产木材，未来还将面临建筑危机，”Confor 首席执行官 Stuart Goodall 表示。

“For decades we have not taken responsibility for investing in our domestic wood supply, leaving us exposed to fluctuating prices and fighting for future supplies of wood as global demand rises and our own supplies fall.”

【生词】fluctuating 波动的

The UK has ideal conditions for growing wood to build low-carbon homes and is a global leader in certifying that its forests are sustainably managed, Confor says.

【生词】certify v.（出具）证明, 给…颁发结业证书

While around three quarters of Scottish homes are built from Scottish timber,  the use of home-grown wood in England is only around 25 percent.

While productive tree planting can deliver real financial benefits to rural economies and contribute to the UK’s net-zero strategy, the focus of government support continues to be on food production and the rewinding and planting of native  woodland solely for biodiversity. 

【生词】net-zero strategy 净零战略,净零排放目标

rewind v.倒回, 恢复

【翻译】尽管高效植树造林能为农村经济带来切实的经济效益，并助力英国实现净零排放目标，但政府支持的重点仍集中于粮食生产，以及仅为提升生物多样性而重新开垦并种植原生林地。

Goodall add: “While food production and biodiversity are clearly of critical importance, we need our land to also provide secure supplies of wood for construction, manufacturing and contribute to net zero.”

【翻译】古多尔补充道：“尽管粮食生产与生物多样性显然至关重要，但我们仍需确保土地不仅能提供用于建筑和制造的可靠木材供应，还能助力实现净零排放目标。”

While the UK government has stated its ambition for more tree planting, there has been little action on the ground. “Confor is now calling for much greater impetus behind those aspirations to ensure we have enough wood to meet increasing demand.”

【生词】impetus n.动力, 促进, 势头, 声势

aspiration n.强烈的愿望