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Protect Wetlands 保護溼地-空中英語教室
2025/06/21 15:54
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Protect Wetlands 保護溼地很重要！(上)
空中英語教室 20250620
(使用CapCut 自動字幕功能)
修正英文文法，句首要大寫，不要斷句，保留原文，同時將簡體中文修改為繁體中文，不要將原文的英文翻譯成中文
Hello friends
My name is Anne Marie
And today is a great day to learn something new
So let’s do that together. I’m David, and this is Studio Classroom.
So glad you’ve joined us for our lesson today.
We are talking all about protecting wetlands. Okay, so first of all, let’s ask this question:
Have you ever visited a wetland before? Yes, I went to the 高美濕地.
Wow, right near Tijuang. I’ve been there before as well.
That is a really beautiful area. It is, and I went there back when you could still go down into the wetland area.
Me too, before they closed it off for very good reasons.
So that was a really great experience.
I remember when I went there that there were a lot of little crabs and birds, and you could even see some fish there as well.
And I thought that it was really cool that there was so much diversity in one habitat.
Yes, and we’ll learn more about what makes wetlands so fantastic and so diverse in this article.
Let’s get right into our first reading for today:

Protect Wetlands
Why wetlands are important and how you can protect them
All life on Earth depends on water, but not all life requires the same amount of water in its environment.
The most obvious distinction lies between land animals and aquatic animals.
But many species also live in wetlands—areas of land that are covered by water either during certain seasons or all year round.
Many people do not prioritize preserving wetlands because they cannot be used for construction or farming.
But little do they realize that these areas are vital for the environment and for human well-being.
保護濕地
濕地為何重要，以及你可以如何保護它們
地球上的所有生命都依賴水而生，但並非所有生命都需要相同數量的水來維持其生存環境。
最明顯的區別在於陸地動物與水生動物之間的不同。
然而，許多物種也生活在濕地中——這些是全年或季節性被水覆蓋的陸地區域。
許多人並不重視濕地的保存，因為這些地區無法用來建築或耕作。
但他們往往沒有意識到，這些地區對環境以及人類福祉都至關重要。

Hello, I’m Jack. 今天的 Usage Tip 又來看將否定副詞放在句首的句型。
課文這一句：
But little do they realize that these areas are vital for the environment and for human well-being.
“Little” 是否定副詞，所以後面是倒裝的結構：主動詞或 be 動詞加主詞，以增強否定語氣。
動詞 “realize” 後面接 “that” 的子句，引出所沒有意識到的事情。
與 “realize” 類似的動詞像是 “know,” “recognize,” “understand” 也可以使用在這樣的句型中。
來看例句：
Little did the athlete recognize that his life story could inspire others to push beyond their limits.
這位運動員並沒有意識到他的生命故事可以激勵其他人超越自我的極限。
Thank you so much, Jack.
Well friends, today we are going to learn why wetlands are important and how you can protect them.
How does our article continue?
Well, it starts with one of the most important elements of life: water.
All life on Earth depends on water, but not all life requires the same amount of water in its environment.
We want to see that the most obvious distinction lies between land animals and aquatic animals.
Okay, so we see a couple of words here in the first part of this sentence.
We want to talk about the word distinction.
When we’re talking about a distinction, we’re talking about a difference or a special quality that something has.
That’s right.
So I might say: What is the main distinction between waffles and pancakes?
Well, waffles look a lot different than pancakes.
It’s mostly the shape, right?
That’s the main shape, definitely.
But here, we’re talking about the distinction between land animals and aquatic animals.
What is an aquatic animal?
Aquatic is a very exotic or interesting word that just means “related to water.”
Ah, okay.
So these are animals that live in water or need a lot of water to live.
So for example, dolphins are an aquatic animal—they live in the water.
Okay.
So many species also live in wetlands.
We’ve said this word many times already.
Let’s define it right now:
A wetland is an area of land covered with water, like a swamp or a marsh.
It’s kind of between a regular dry ground and an aquatic environment.
It’s land that’s covered by water.
So this isn’t something like a lake or a river.
This is an area that has usually a lot of grass growing in it, even though there’s water there.
Or maybe there are times that the land is covered with water and times that the land isn’t covered with water.
That’s a wetland.
Now, many types of birds tend to live in wetlands, and we’ll talk about that more later.
That’s right.
So we see that wetlands are areas of land that are covered by water either during certain seasons or all year round, as you mentioned.
Many people, however, do not prioritize preserving wetlands because they cannot be used for construction or farming.
Okay, this is a really interesting point.
We’ll talk about it in just a moment after we define this word: prioritize.
This is the idea of putting the most important things first.
If you prioritize something, it means that you make it important or do it first.
That’s right.
For example, you should prioritize studying for a test over playing video games.
So what are people not prioritizing here?
They’re not prioritizing preserving the wetlands.
And these are for some very—I would say—selfish human reasons.
That’s right.
You can’t use wetlands to produce anything for human benefit, for example.
You can’t farm on a wetland.
You can’t build a new apartment building or a mall on a wetland.
So many people might just find ways of just getting rid of them.
But little do they realize that these areas are vital for the environment and for human well-being.
Okay, so we see this phrase: little do they realize that, and this you saw in your Usage Tip today—thank you, Jack, for explaining that to us.
But we also see this word: vital.
This means that something is very, very important—important enough that it might be needed for life.
That’s right.
There are so many ways where the environment, and the different kinds of terrain, and the diversity of creatures—or the difference of different creatures living in a particular area—can actually really affect humans if they suddenly disappear.
That’s right, and it makes me think of the word we talk about a lot of times on the program — ecosystem — the way that different living things interact with each other.
And oftentimes, if you mess with the ecosystem or destroy it, it has consequences in other areas of life.
That’s right.
Now we will learn more about that in our next reading, but it just makes me think about one situation in the United States — actually, in a few areas — they got rid of all the wolves because they wanted to protect their livestock, like their sheep, their cows, their pigs.
But as a result, all the deer that the wolves hunted suddenly started multiplying like crazy, eating all the grass, which meant that the cows, the sheep, and the pigs had nothing to eat.
If you’ve been around for a few years, friends, you probably remember the article we taught just about that.
The way we treat ecosystems and the way things work together—it’s really important.
We’ll continue learning more in just a moment.
Let’s get into our next reading.

Protect Wetlands
Wetlands teem with life, including many endangered animals.
Their water helps break down plant stems and leaves, providing food for aquatic insects, small fish, and shellfish.
These small creatures, in turn, are eaten by larger creatures.
Even some species that do not live in the wetlands year-round rely on them for food or shelter.
For example, many birds stop over at wetlands while migrating because they offer safety and abundant food.
保護濕地
濕地充滿了生命，包括許多瀕臨絕種的動物。
濕地中的水有助於分解植物的莖葉，為水生昆蟲、小魚和貝類提供食物。
而這些小型生物反過來又成為體型較大的生物的食物。
即使是一些全年不生活在濕地的物種，也依賴濕地來獲取食物或棲息之所。
例如，許多候鳥在遷徙途中會停留在濕地，因為這些地區既安全又有豐富的食物來源。

我們來看形容詞 abundant，意思是豐富的、充足的。
來看幾個例句：
The wedding feast was not only abundant but also delicious.
這場婚宴不僅豐盛，而且非常美味。
副詞是 abundantly，意思是極其地、非常地。
譬如：
You’ve made your dislike for this music abundantly clear. There’s no need to keep complaining.
你已經充分表達不喜歡這首音樂了，沒必要一直抱怨。
Abundant 的名詞是 abundance，是指豐富或大量。
比如：
Out of an abundance of caution, we don’t allow students to work out in the gym unsupervised.
出於謹慎考量，我們不允許學生在無人看管的情況下使用健身房。
Okay friends, let’s continue learning about why wetlands are so important.
We read here: Wetlands teem with life, including many endangered animals.
Teem with is a great phrase for you to know.
This just means to be full of something.
Yes, for example: The river is teeming with fish.
There’s a lot of fish in that river.
We do use this a lot of times to talk about life or some type of animal that is inhabiting an environment.
“Teeming with” and then a certain kind of animal.
And it’s very interesting that the kinds of animals that are in wetlands—a lot of them are endangered.
That’s right.
We see that wetlands teem with life, including many endangered animals.
Their water helps break down plant stems and leaves, providing food for aquatic insects, small fish, and shellfish.
What a variety—that is a big variety!
Now, we see break down here in this sentence, and this has two different meanings.
And I want to talk about both of them right now.
In our article, break down means to separate into parts.
A lot of times, if something is being broken down, it’s being reduced to something very, very small, or to its original state.
But it can also mean to explain something.
If you break something down, it means that you explain it in a way that is easy for others to understand.
For example, the teacher will break down the math problem after everyone tries to solve it in order to help them understand.
You know, this word break down can also mean that something stops working.
Oh, that’s true too.
For example, his car broke down on the freeway, and he had to call a tow truck.
That happened to me, actually.
It’s happened to me before too, to be honest.
Terrible, terrible experience.
Not a good experience.
No, no, no.
Okay, but what’s getting broken down here is plants, stems, and leaves.
That’s right.
And these things are broken down so that they can be food for other creatures.
We see that these small creatures are, in turn, eaten by larger creatures.
Even some species that do not live in the wetlands year-round rely on them for food or shelter.
So, there’s a lot going on here.
There is a lot going on here.
And it’s interesting that some of the animals in these wetlands don’t even live there all the time.
There’s a special word that we use for animals that come and go depending on the seasons.
And we see that in our next sentence.
Can you read it for us?
I would love to.
For example, many birds stop over at wetlands while migrating because they offer safety and abundant food.
There’s that word migrating.
We’ll talk about it in a moment.
But first, let’s look at the idea of stopping over.
If you stop over somewhere, it means that you make a short visit or a short stay somewhere while you’re on the way to go somewhere else, right?
Maybe if you’re on a road trip, you will stop over in Elon on your way to Wandan.
That’s usually what we do.
Yeah, yeah, it’s a long drive.
But we see here migrating means animals that move from one place to another, and this is usually for a season.
A lot of animals that migrate go to one environment because of the temperature or other environmental factors for a while, and then during a different time of the year, come back to the original place.
For example, some species of butterfly will migrate south for the winter, sometimes the whole way down to Mexico.
That’s right.
If you’re a monarch butterfly, that’s what you do.
A lot of times, types of animals that migrate are birds and butterflies.
So we see that’s what’s happening here in our article.
These birds are stopping over at wetlands while migrating because they offer safety and abundant food.
Friends, we have more to talk about in just a moment, right after today’s Info Cloud.
Hello and welcome to Info Cloud!
Hey Rex, what’s your dream vacation?
Well Garrett, I would love to go to an all-inclusive resort.
That way I don’t have to worry about finding meals or planning activities.
I can just relax.
What about you?
My ideal vacation couldn’t be more different.
I dream about getting away from people and living off the land.
Living off the land?
That sounds more like just a camping trip.
Right.
To live off the land means to get everything you need from the area around you.
For example, you cut wood from trees and build your own fire or shelter, and you hunt or fish for your food.
That sounds like a lot of work.
That wouldn’t be a relaxing vacation for me.
It would require a lot of time and effort.
True.
But think about the sense of accomplishment you’d get from truly living off the land.
You would know that you have the skills to survive anywhere.
So when we live off something, it means we depend on it to survive.
For example, many people in developing countries live off as little as a dollar a day.
That’s really not a lot.
They probably need to live off the land for some of their basic needs.
In that case, living off the land might not be a choice but a matter of survival.

living off the land 遠離塵囂，到野外生活
很多人喜歡遠離城市的喧囂，到野外生活一段時間。
西方人稱呼這種生活是 living off the land。
Live off 代表靠著某樣東西生活，living off the land 就是依靠土地生活。
不管是吃的、用的、住的，都從周遭的環境當中去尋找一切所需。
例如肚子餓了可以摘樹上的果子，或是去河邊釣魚，然後砍樹木生活、煮飯等等。
I dream about getting away and living off the land.
我夢想著遠離一切，靠著土地生活的日子。
Living off the land 可能只適合某些類型的人，因為真的要付出很多體力和勞力。
這就是今天的 Info Cloud，我們下次雲端見！

Protect Wetlands
Wetlands also help limit the effects of pollution.
They trap dangerous chemicals and heavy metals in the soil, thus limiting their spread.
Similarly, they trap carbon dioxide so that it doesn’t enter the atmosphere.
They also convert nitrogen to a form that plants can use as nourishment.
保護濕地
濕地同樣有助於減緩污染的影響。
它們能將有害化學物質與重金屬困在土壤中，從而限制其擴散。
同樣地，濕地也能捕捉二氧化碳，防止其進入大氣中。
此外，濕地還能將氮轉化為植物可吸收的養分形式。

接下來看 nourishment 這個名詞，也就是「營養」。
來看例句：
Good poetry is nourishment for my soul.
優美的詩歌是我心靈的養分。
它的形容詞是 nourishing，是指「有營養的」。
譬如：
Eating nourishing food and staying hydrated are great ways to speed up your recovery.
吃有營養的食物並保持水分充足，是加快康復的好方法。
Nourishing 的反義詞是 malnourished，是指「營養不良的」。
比如：
When we finally found our cat, she was malnourished and her fur was full of fleas.
當我們終於找到我們的貓時，牠營養不良，全身都是跳蚤。
Okay friends, let’s keep learning about the importance of wetlands.
We read here: Wetlands also help limit the effects of pollution.
How do they do this?
Well, they trap dangerous chemicals and heavy metals in the soil, thus limiting their spread.
Ah, very interesting.
Now, the word trap here means to catch something and hold on to it.
Hmm.
For example: The spider’s web can trap insects that fly into it.
That’s right.
Now we also see something else here: the idea of heavy metals.
These are metallic elements that have relatively high densities—or you could say high atomic weights—or their number on the periodic table is very high as well.
And a lot of times, these metals are considered to be toxic to humans.
That’s right.
Now, a less toxic form of heavy metal is the genre of music, which involves very loud, powerful, distorted electric guitars.
But we’re talking about the scientific, chemical heavy metal, which you could use in a sentence like this:
The factory released heavy metals into the river, which affected a nearby town.
And that’s what’s going on here in wetlands, friends.
They are trapping these heavy metals so that they don’t spread as quickly.
Similarly, they trap carbon dioxide so that it doesn’t enter the atmosphere.
That’s right.
Carbon dioxide entering the atmosphere is one of the leading causes, scientists theorize, of global warming.
In our next sentence we also see that they can also convert nitrogen to a form that plants can use as nourishment.
A few words here, right?
Yes, that’s right.
We first want to look at this word convert.
If you’re converting something, you’re taking it and turning it into something else—you’re changing it into a different form.
That’s right.
For example: Solar panels convert sunlight into energy.
That’s right.
And we also have this word nitrogen.
Now, nitrogen is a special kind of gas that is found in the air and soil, and it’s very essential for certain processes.
That’s right.
Plants need nitrogen to grow.
And we see here that that’s what wetlands are doing—they’re converting nitrogen to a form that plants can use as nourishment.
All right, friends, this has been a very interesting lesson so far.
Let’s do something fun now and go to today’s fun fact.
Hello, fact friends!
I am Detective Ernest Finder and I have a fun wetlands fact for you today.
Did you know the largest wetland in the world is in South America?
It is called the Pantanal.
The Pantanal is the home of many different animals and plants.
It is also fun to say: Pantanal, Pantanal!
And that is today’s fun Pantanal fact.
Friends, it’s the end of today’s lesson, which means it’s time for today’s Talk About It question.
Here it is: What do you feel is the most important feature of wetlands?
What do you think, Dave?
Well, I’m just amazed by how they have so many different functions in the food chain.
Right.
I think that probably the most important feature of wetlands is their ability to turn plants, stems, and leaves into food that other insects can eat, and then birds eat those insects, and then other creatures eat those birds.
And just, it’s like a very long chain of connections.
It’s really, really cool.
I’m looking forward to learning more about wetlands tomorrow, friends.
Well, that’s all the time we have for today.
My name is Anne Marie, and I’m David, and we’ll see you next time right here on Studio Classroom.


Protect Wetlands 保護溼地很重要！(下)
空中英語教室 20250621
(使用CapCut 自動字幕功能)
修正英文文法，句首要大寫，不要斷句，保留原文，同時將簡體中文修改為繁體中文，不要將原文的英文翻譯成中文
Hello friends, my name is Anne Marie and today is a great day to learn something new, so let’s do that together. I’m David and this is Studio Classroom. You’re just in time to talk about protecting wetlands with us. We already learned a little bit yesterday. Can you help us review, Dave?
Yes, I can review by telling you my favorite things about wetlands.
Okay, wetlands are these amazing places where it’s like a place between regular land and an aquatic environment, like a lake or a river. It is land that is covered by water. There are many different species that make their homes there—some that don’t even live there all year round.
Something about the wetlands allows them to break down plant stems and leaves so that small insects can eat those things, and then those insects are eaten by other animals. Furthermore, wetlands can even trap heavy metals—not the music, but the chemistry—and convert a gas called nitrogen into something that the plants can use to grow.
Wetlands really are amazing, friends. But unfortunately, we as humans don’t always prioritize protecting them. You can’t build anything on a wetland, and the land isn’t usable for farming, so in the past, humans haven’t done a good job of protecting them.
We’re going to learn more about that today, so let’s get started with our first reading.

Protect Wetlands
People, like many other creatures, eat animals and plants that inhabit wetlands, including fish, shellfish, rice, and some types of berries. Wetlands also help prevent floods by providing a place for excess water to gather.
保護濕地
人類和許多其他生物一樣，食用棲息於濕地的動植物，包括魚類、貝類、稻米以及某些種類的漿果。
濕地還能幫助防止洪水，因為它們提供了多餘水量的蓄積空間。

Hi everyone, welcome to Language Lab. I’m Jack.
我們首先來看 inhabit 這個動詞，意思是居住於或是棲息於。來看例句：
What kinds of plants and animals inhabit the Namib Desert?
有哪些動植物棲息在納米比沙漠呢？
或是：We recently discovered that a raccoon has been inhabiting our storage shed.
我們最近發現有一隻浣熊一直住在我們的儲藏室裡。
Inhabit 的名詞是 inhabitant，它則是指某地的居民或棲息動物。
譬如：I was astonished when I learned that there were 11 inhabitants in that tiny apartment.
當我得知那間小公寓裡住了 11 個人時，我非常驚訝。

Thank you so much, Jack. Let’s get right into our lesson, friends. People, like many other creatures, eat animals and plants that inhabit wetlands. You just saw that word inhabit in your Language Lab, and we continue reading here, seeing that things that we eat are fish, shellfish, rice, and some types of berries. Brilliant.
Now we see that wetlands also help prevent floods by providing a place for excess water to gather. A couple different words there—first word is prevent.
If you prevent something, it just means that you stop something from happening.
Exactly. Here’s an example of how you could use prevent in a sentence:
Wearing a seat belt helps prevent injuries.
Now we have some other words we want to take a look at here. We have the word excess. If something is excess, it means that it is more than what is needed.
That’s right. So if you have excess sugar in your diet, then you’re going to be a pretty unhealthy person.
Yeah, that is true. So this excess water is gathered in wetlands. Now we see this word gather, and we need to talk about that one as well.
Right. If you gather something together, it just means that you collect or bring things together.
That’s right. So, for example, if you’re going camping and you want to have a campfire where you can roast marshmallows and tell ghost stories, you first need to gather wood for the campfire.
You need to go around and find logs that you can put and burn in the campfire.
Yeah, or maybe you want to gather people together so that you can see how many people there are, so that if you want to go out and buy lunch for everyone, gather everyone together so you can count them and decide how many便當 you need to buy.
Yeah, exactly.
Now David, we’ve already talked about a lot of the positive things about wetlands—what they do, why they’re important—and unfortunately, we haven’t talked about the problems yet.
That’s right, but we’ll be getting into that in our next reading. Why don’t we check that out now?
Alright, let’s go to our next reading right now.

Protect Wetlands
Wetlands face a variety of dangers, many related to development. As cities expand, wetlands are sometimes drained to gain additional space. Other infrastructure, such as dams, can separate wetlands from the rivers that are the source of their water. This not only shrinks the wetlands but also prevents them from stopping floods by absorbing water.
And although wetlands can filter out pollution, this capacity is not infinite. When there is more pollution than a wetland can handle, it can produce areas where the small organisms that make wetlands so valuable cannot survive.
保護濕地
濕地面臨各種危險，許多都與開發有關。隨著城市擴張，濕地有時會被排乾以取得更多土地空間。其他基礎設施，例如水壩，可能會將濕地與其水源——河流隔離開來。這不僅縮小了濕地面積，也阻礙了濕地透過吸收水分來防止洪水的功能。
雖然濕地能過濾污染，但其能力並非無限。當污染量超過濕地能承受的範圍時，會產生小型生物無法存活的區域，而這些生物正是讓濕地如此珍貴的重要因素。

今天的 Useless Tip 要來解釋一課文這一句：
Wetlands face a variety of dangers, many related to development.
它是一個結構完整的句子，加上以 many 所引導的非限定關係詞句的省略用法，補充修飾了逗點前面的 dangers。這裡的 "many related to development" 可以還原為 "many of which are related to development"。這種保留引導詞 many 加分詞的分詞短語，在敘事上相當常見哦，它能夠使句子更為簡潔有力。
來看個例句：
He bought a collection of books, several containing fascinating stories about history.
他買了一套書，其中幾本包括了精彩的歷史故事。

Okay friends, let’s learn about some of the dangers that wetlands are facing. Wetlands face a variety of dangers, many related to development. So what does that phrase mean, Dave, to face a variety of dangers? If you face a variety of dangers, it means that you encounter many different risks.
Ah, so there are a lot of different risks that wetlands are facing. Here’s an example of how you could use "to face a variety of dangers" in a sentence: Hikers face a variety of dangers when they go up high and hike in the mountains.
Now we see the rest of this sentence was in your usage tip for today, and we see here that these dangers that wetlands are facing are related to development, which is so kind of ironic, which was a word just meaning, well, this is a lot of kind of contradictions or things that clash.
Humans are developing, but nature is paying the price, right? We see here that as cities expand, wetlands are sometimes drained to gain additional space. Water’s the most important part of being a wetland, but we see here that the wetlands are occasionally drained. If you’re drained, it means that you are emptied, or it can also mean that you feel very tired.
That’s right. So you could drain things like a bathtub after you take a bath, or if you’re an introvert, maybe you feel drained after a big party. Both of these words have the idea of being or feeling empty.
That’s right. And we go on to see that other infrastructures, such as dams, can separate wetlands from the rivers that are the source of their water. So if you have a wetland that is getting its water from a river, someone might build a dam, which is something that’s constructed and can be very good in order to control the flow of water or focus it into another place.
But if you focus it this way and it’s no longer flowing to the wetland, then uh-oh, you have a problem.
That’s right. Now we see something that we want to talk about here, and that is “source of.” Now if something is the source of something else, that’s where that thing comes from—it is the origin.
For example, if you use solar panels to power your house, then the sun is a source of energy for you.
Okay, so what are these dams doing to the wetlands? This not only shrinks the wetlands but also prevents them from stopping floods by absorbing water. So even though you’re holding off the water with that dam from certain areas, other areas might become flooded.
That’s right. And in the whole issue of how wetlands are able to protect from pollution and heavy metals, we see that although wetlands can filter out pollution, this capacity is not infinite.
Right. Now if you filter something out, it means that you remove the unwanted parts of something.
That’s right. Maybe you have a water filter at home, or a machine that filters out dirt or chemicals from your water. I know that I have a water filter at my house to make sure that I have clean drinking water.
That’s right. We also see that this ability to filter out pollution is not infinite.
Right. Infinite just means if something is infinite, it means that it is without limits or end.
Here’s a question for you, David. Is space infinite?
This is a very big question, and by some theories, yes it is. But by other theories, there might be some finite or not-infinite boundary that controls how far space is able to expand.
Very interesting. Okay, let’s come back from space to wetlands.
We read: Where there is more pollution than a wetland can handle, it can produce areas where the small organisms that make wetlands so valuable cannot survive.
Right. And if the small organisms cannot survive, that means the things that eat those small organisms will have trouble surviving, and it will have a—what we call—a ripple effect up the food chain, from tiny little insects up to something as big as a wolf, or a wild boar, or a bull, or a cow, or a human.
Okay, so what can we do about it? How can we help wetlands? That’s what we’re going to talk about in our next section, right after today’s Info Cloud.
Welcome to Info Cloud, friends.
Hey Garrett, do you know anyone who has a strong personality?
Sure Rex, my old boss. She was a force of nature. When she had an idea, she would use all of her strength to get it done.
She sounds impressive.
So when you say she was a force of nature, you are comparing her to something strong like a storm or the wind, right? If someone has a lot of energy and power, they are like a typhoon that can’t be stopped, so we might use "a force of nature" to describe someone who is energetic or goal-oriented. Yes, those are very positive qualities, but it could also mean someone who is a little stubborn and can’t be stopped or controlled, again just like a big storm. A force of nature is something that has a big impact on others.
Let’s talk about the verb "to force." It means to control or make something happen or to push something with a lot of energy. For example, police said the robber forced open a window on the first floor. Here’s another one: many parents force their children to learn English; they don’t give them a choice. But hopefully, the children can also find some motivation to study on their own. If you learn English well, you can become a force of nature in an international company.
force of nature 勢不可擋的人／極具影響力的人（比喻用法）
指某人有強大、無法忽視的能量或影響力，像自然力量一樣驚人。
例句："She’s a force of nature in the courtroom."
「她在法庭上如同一股勢不可擋的力量。」 
當我們碰到一些性格強烈的人，我們可以用今天分享的用語 "force of nature" 來稱呼他。"Force of nature" 字面上就是大自然的力量。"Force of nature" 就是形容一個人充滿能量，就像颱風或是龍捲風一樣無法抵擋。"Force of nature" 也代表一個人非常的目標導向，他會用盡全力去實現自己的夢想。這就是今天的 Club，我們下次雲端見。

Protect Wetlands
Government agencies attempt to conserve wetlands by designating some areas as off limits for developers. They also work to restore wetlands that have already been damaged by human activity. Individuals can also protect natural areas they visit, including wetlands, by staying in designated areas and refraining from littering. Minimizing the amount of garbage that one produces at home can also help because so much garbage ends up in wetlands. Wetlands are an often overlooked but essential part of the natural world that play a vital role in preserving animal and human life.
保護濕地
政府機關透過劃定部分區域為禁建地，試圖保護濕地不受開發者侵擾。它們也致力於恢復已遭人類活動破壞的濕地。個人也能保護自己造訪的自然區域，包括濕地，方法是待在指定區域內並避免亂丟垃圾。在家中減少垃圾產生量也有助於保護濕地，因為大量垃圾最終會流入濕地。濕地是自然界中常被忽略但卻不可或缺的一部分，對於維護動物與人類的生命扮演著重要角色。

接下來看動詞 "conserve"，意思是保護或是保存。來看例句：
In high school, I wrote a proposal to conserve the wetland behind our school, which was published in the local newspaper.
我高中時寫了一份保護校園後方濕地的提案，並在當地報紙上發表。
或是：Children, please conserve your energy for when we arrive at Disneyland.
孩子們，請保留體力，等到到達迪士尼時再用吧。
"Conserve" 的名詞是 "conservation"，它的意思是保育或是保存的意思。
譬如：The library’s conservation program has preserved hundreds of manuscripts from further deterioration.
圖書館的文物保存計畫已使得數百份手稿免於進一步損壞。
Okay, what can we do about it, friends? How can we protect wetlands? What does our article say? Well, we see that government agencies attempt to conserve wetlands by designating some areas as off limits for developers.
Okay, this sounds like a really good policy. If something is off limits, it means that you’re not allowed to enter that area or you’re not allowed to use something.
That’s right. For example, the back of a restaurant is off limits to the guests at that restaurant.
And there was—I almost said the wrong word when I said “designating,” because there’s another word that comes from the word “design,” right? Now, to designate something is kind of like if you set a certain area or a certain place for something.
And here we see that government-organized agencies are designating some areas as off limits for developers. Developers here are people or organizations who create buildings.
That’s right. They could also build other things as well. Sometimes we use this word "developers" when we’re talking about people building, for example, a game or an app—the app developers, those are the people who designed it.
Now, the developers here are probably talking about a construction company or someone who wants to build, for example, a high-rise or a mall on the wetland.
For sure, but the government agencies are saying, “No, no, no. These areas are not for that kind of development.”
Moving forward, they also work to restore wetlands that have already been damaged by human activity. Also, here we see that they’re looking for areas that are already being affected by human development and they’re trying to protect them.
Okay, so this is how government agencies can help wetlands. What can we do as individuals?
Well, individuals can also protect natural areas they visit, including wetlands, by staying in designated areas and refraining from littering.
This makes me think of what you were talking about yesterday about Gaomei Wetlands and how when we visited many, many years ago, there was no designated viewing area. You could walk right into the wetland and kind of interact with the environment there, which felt really fun and interesting.
But if everybody did that, what would happen to the wetland?
Well, it would be affected for sure. And here we see that there’s even some people who were littering, so they had to refrain people from littering.
If you refrain someone or something, then it means that you hold it back from doing something.
Exactly. So for example, if you’re trying to be healthy, you should refrain from eating junk food. And when you visit these types of areas, you should definitely refrain from littering or refrain from touching the plants and the animals in that environment.
Minimizing the amount of garbage that one produces at home can also help.
Very interesting. Let’s talk about the idea of minimizing something. If you minimize something, it means that you are making it as small as possible, either in size or in amount.
Okay. So you could minimize the volume of something. The company is minimizing the volume of waste that they are producing.
Now how does this help wetlands? Well, we see here because so much garbage ends up in wetlands.
This is so true. Oftentimes we throw things away and we don’t really think about where those things go after we put them in the trash can.
That’s right. It falls into the water, and then the water flows into the wetland, and then the wetland is full of plastic and garbage.
The truth is, wetlands are an often overlooked but essential part of the natural world that play a vital role in preserving animal and human life.
This article has definitely helped me see why wetlands are so important, and it’s reminded me to make sure that I am protecting the environments that I go into, especially if they are natural and untouched.
Yeah, it’s important to remember that everything in our environment was made to be connected together. Nothing is like its own separate thing. So what you do to one area will affect another.
That’s a great point.
All right, friends, we’ll be right back after today’s Fun Fact.
Hello, Fact Friends! I am Detective Ernest Finder, and I have a fun fact for you today. Did you know the world’s largest snake, the anaconda, lives in wetlands? Anacondas can swim very well and can even catch and eat crocodiles. I had an anaconda for you today, but he escaped—and that is today’s fun fact!
It’s time to think about our own opinion when it comes to wetlands, friends. Here’s the question: Do you agree that some wetlands should be off limits for developers? Why or why not?
I definitely do. If you don’t set any areas that are off limits for developers, they will just develop and develop and develop, and then sooner or later we’ll look around and we won’t see any trees, you won’t hear any birds singing—it’ll be a very sad, gray, cold world.
Yeah, I agree. I think there should be some areas of nature that are off limits. People can’t develop there, they can’t build things there, and maybe even people can’t go in there or can only go to designated areas.
What do you think, friends? This is something for you to talk about in English.
That’s all the time we have for today. My name is Anne Marie.
And I’m David, and we’ll see you next time right here on Studio Classroom.

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