Chat attack

protective forest/ 防护林/ (fánɡhùlín)

A: The Spring Festival isn't over, how come you are already starting to check flights in mid-March? 

这春节还没过呢, 你怎么就开始查三月中旬的航班了？

(zhèchūnjié háiméiɡuòne, nǐzěnme jiù kāishǐ chásānyuè zhōnɡxúnde hánɡbānle?)

B: I saw on news that tens of thousands of hectares of desert protective forests in the Yangguan area of Dunhuang have been cut down on a large scale. I want to plant some there during the tree planting festival.

我是看到新闻报导关于敦煌阳关地区数万亩沙漠防护林被大面积砍伐,我想植树节的时候去种树。

(wǒshì kàndào xīnwén bàodǎo ɡuānyú dūnhuánɡ yánɡɡuān dìqū shùwànmǔ shāmò fánɡhùlín bèidàmiànjī kǎnfá, wǒxiǎnɡ zhíshùjié deshíhou qùzhǒnɡshù.)

A: Is the Yangguan Forest Farm very important?

阳关林场很重要吗？

(yánɡɡuān línchǎnɡ hěnzhònɡyàoma?)

B: That is the first and last green barrier in Dunhuang.

那可是敦煌的第一道、也是最后一道防沙阻沙的绿色屏障。

(nàkěshì dūnhuánɡde dìyídào, yěshì zuìhòu yídào fánɡshā zǔshāde lǜsè pínɡzhànɡ.)

A: What are the consequences if the Yangguan protective forest falls?

阳关一旦失守会有什么后果呢？

(yánɡɡuān yídàn shīshǒu huìyǒu shénme hòuɡuǒne?)

B: The efforts of several generations will be gone and wasted, and the desert might accelerate its expansion to the southeast.

几代人的努力付诸东流, 更造成沙漠加速向东南扩展。

(jǐdàirénde nǔlì fùzhūdōnɡliú, ɡènɡzàochénɡ shāmò jiāsù xiànɡ dōnɡnán kuòzhǎn.)

Illustration: Liu Xidan/GT