《中英對照讀新聞》World’s primates facing extinction crisis, new report says 新報告說，世界靈長類動物瀕臨滅絕危機

◎蔡子岳

Gorillas, monkeys, lemurs and other primates are in danger of becoming extinct, and scientists say it’s our fault that our closest living relatives are in trouble, a new international study warns.

大猩猩、猴子、狐猴及其他靈長類正處於絕種危險，科學家認為，人類造成其最親密的現存親戚陷入危機，一份新的國際研究警告。

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About 60 percent of the more than 500 primate species are "now threatened with extinction’’ and 3 out of 4 primate species have shrinking populations, according to a study published in Wednesday’s journal Science Advances .

超過500種靈長類物種有約6成「目前面臨絕種威脅」，4分之3的靈長類族群規模衰減，「科學前沿」期刊週三刊出的研究顯示。

The decline has been blamed on human activities including hunting, mining and oil drilling.

（族群數）衰減歸咎於狩獵、採礦、鑽油等人類活動。

Logging, ranching and farming have also destroyed precious habitat in Africa, Asia and South America.

伐木、畜牧與農耕也破壞了非洲、亞洲與南美洲珍貴的棲地。

Primates, which include apes, monkeys and humans, have forward-facing eyes and grasping ability that set them apart from other mammals.

靈長類，包括人猿、猴子和人類，擁有前視的雙眼與抓握的能力，這是與哺乳類不同之處。

Scientists study them to learn about human behavior and evolution.

科學家透過研究牠們來理解人類行為與演化。

新聞辭典

shrink：動詞，縮減、體積變小。例句：Your sweater will shrink if you wash it at too high a temperature.（若洗衣水溫過高，你的毛衣將會縮水。）

be blamed on：動詞片語，是…的原因。例句：The hot weather is partly to blame for the water shortage.（炙熱的天氣是缺水的原因之一。）

evolution：名詞，進化。例句：Humans first evolved in Africa, and much of human evolution occurred on that continent.（人類演化首先出現在非洲，人類演化也多半發生在非洲大陸。）