*an endless expanse of hostile wilderness 一片无尽的充满敌意的荒原
*bison 野牛
*Potomac 波托马克河(美国中东部最重要的河流，流经首都华盛顿)
*grizzly bear 灰熊（产于北美西部）；*stroll 漫步，散步
*conceivable 可以想到的；*Wyoming 怀俄明州（美国州名）
*a sobering fact 一个发人深省的事实
*The Endangered Species Act
美国濒危动物保护法于1970年代通过，是美国12条环保法案之一，也是世界范围内最富效力的物种保护法律之一。该法案不仅止于保护动物，而是将整个生态环境包括在内，植物、菌类以及无脊椎动物也包含在内。
David and Susan’s quest to photograph the endangered species of America has taken them over hundreds of thousands of miles through all 50 states and every conceivable American landscape. (Susan’s voice) “When you’re driving across America, you understand why so many plants and animals are endangered. They’re losing their homes. We are building a human world and losing a wild one.” From Wyoming, the road goes east to Cambridge, Massachusetts. But they’re not going to find an endangered creature, they’re meeting one of the greatest experts on why species go extinct — distinguished scientist, Edward O. Wilson. (Edward’s voice) “ It’s a sobering fact there is an extinction crisis. There have always been species going extinct from time to time. But now human activity has pushed it up a hundred to a thousand times. We are in the midst of a biological catastrophe. That’s the greatest since the end of the age of dinosaurs 65 million years ago. What I hope you’ll succeed in doing is to make endangered species a vivid presence in the lives of people.
Make it clear to them that every endangered species has a name, has a billion year history, has a place in the world. Bring us face to face with each one of those species. Make us know that they’re our companions in the biosphere. They’re not just something out there you look at once in a while, but they’re part of our existence. They’re part of us. Human beings are the masters of this world now. We can take these animals and plants with us as we travel into the future or we can say good-bye and send them into the night. But whether we realize it or not, we depend utterly on other creatures for our very survival. They are part of our existence. They are part of us.”
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