LIFE / CULTURE
Learning Chinese
Published: Aug 09, 2022 07:41 PM
Chat attack

Chinese paddlefish /白鲟/ (báixún)

A: Do you know what a Chinese paddlefish is? It is a kind of large fish that lives in China's Yangtze River. It is a species native to China.

你知道白鲟吗?一种生活在中国长江的大型鱼类。它是中国特有物种。

(nǐ zhīdào báixún ma? yīzhǒnɡ shēnɡhuó zài zhōnɡɡuó chánɡjiānɡ de dàxínɡ yúlèi.tā shì zhōnɡɡuó tèyǒu wùzhǒnɡ.)

B: I know of it. A few days ago I saw the news say that the Chinese paddlefish had gone extinct. 

我听说过。我看到前几天的新闻,长江白鲟已经灭绝了。

(wǒ tīnɡshuō ɡuò.wǒ kàndào qiánjǐtiān de xīnwén, chánɡjiānɡ báixún yǐjīnɡ mièjué le.) 

A: Yes. Actually, the Chinese paddlefish was announced as being extinct in December 2019. On July 21, 2022, the International Union for Conservation of Nature's Red List of Threatened Species was updated and it was officially announced as extinct.

没错。其实白鲟在2019年12月就被宣布灭绝了,2022年7月21日在世界自然保护联盟的濒危物种红色名录正式更新,宣告了它的灭绝。

(méicuò.qíshí báixún zài èrlínɡyījiǔ nián shíèr yuè jiùbèi xuānbù mièjué le, èrlínɡèrèr nián qī yuè èrshíyī rì zài shìjiè zìrán bǎohù liánménɡde bīnwēi wùzhǒnɡ hónɡsè mínɡlù zhènɡshì ɡènɡxīn, xuānɡào le tāde mièjué.) 

B: I didn't know much about this type of fish. Learning about it this way is really painful. 

我之前并不了解这种鱼类,以这种方式知道它真令人难过。

(wǒ zhīqián bìnɡbù liaojiě zhèzhǒnɡ yúlèi, yǐ zhèzhǒnɡ fānɡshì zhīdào tā zhēn lìnɡrén nánɡuò.)

A: As humanity chases after development, we must also pay attention to environmental protection and give other organisms room to live.

我们人类在追求发展的同时也要注意保护生态环境,留给其他生物生存的空间。

(wǒmén rénlèi zài zhuīqiú fāzhǎn de tónɡshí yěyào zhùyì bǎohù shēnɡtài huánjìnɡ, liúɡěi qítā shēnɡwù shēnɡcún de kōnɡjiān.)

Promotional material for artist Florentijn Hofman's exhibition in Beijing Photo: Courtesy of Today Art Museum

Illustrations: Liu Rui/GT