奶牛能防止野火吗？ ⏲️ 6分钟英语：英语精读讲义

6 Minute English from bbclearningenglish.com.

来自 bbclearningenglish.com 的6分钟英语。

Hello,

大家好，

this is 6 Minute English from BBC Learning English.

这里是 BBC Learning English 的6分钟英语。

I'm Neil.

我是 Neil。

And I'm Beth.

我是 Beth。

Neil,

Neil，

do you remember the children's television show Lassie? 文化背景

你还记得儿童电视节目《灵犬莱西》吗？

Oh yes,

哦是的，

of course.

当然。

The show's hero was a dog named Lassie,

节目主角是一只名叫莱西的狗，

and Lassie went round helping people in trouble. 短語搭配

莱西到处帮助遇到困难的人。

Yes.

是的。

Well,

那么，

if you watched Lassie as a child, 語法

如果你小时候看过《灵犬莱西》，

you might also remember the TV shows Flipper the Dolphin and Skippy the Kangaroo.

你可能还记得电视节目《海豚飞宝》和《袋鼠斯基皮》。

The stars of these shows were animals who would also come to the rescue of humans in trouble. 講解

这些节目的明星也是动物，它们也会来拯救遇到困难的人类。

In this program,

在本期节目中，

we'll be discussing some real-life animals helping people in trouble. 用詞

我们将讨论现实生活里帮助遇难人群的动物。

It might sound strange, 表達脈絡

这听起来可能很奇怪，

but we'll be hearing how cows are helping to stop fires in Spain.

但我们将听到牛是如何帮助阻止西班牙火灾的。

Well,

嗯，

now I have a picture in my head of a cow wearing a fireman's helmet. 習語

现在我脑海中浮现出一头戴着消防员头盔的牛的画面。

But I guess that's not what you mean, 語氣意圖

但我猜你不是这个意思，

Neil.

Neil。

Not quite,

不完全是，

Beth.

Beth。

But you're right about the fires,

但关于火灾你没说错，

or wildfires to be exact. 短語搭配

确切地说是野火。

Wildfires are unplanned fires in areas like forests or grasslands,

野火是森林或草原等地区意外发生的火灾，

which spread out of control. 短語搭配

且蔓延不受控制。

They often happen in hot,

它们经常发生在炎热、

dry countries like Spain.

干燥的国家，比如西班牙。

So,

那么，

how could cows help?

牛怎么能帮忙呢？

We'll be finding out and learning some useful new vocabulary as well. 短語動詞

我们将一探究竟，并学习一些有用的新词汇。

And remember,

记住，

if you like to read along as you listen to the program,

如果你喜欢边听节目边阅读，

you'll find a script on our website,

你可以在我们的网站上找到文稿，

bbclearningenglish.com.

bbclearningenglish.com。

But now,

现在，

I have a question for you,

我有一个问题问你，

Beth.

Beth。

Some wildfires are caused naturally,

有些野火是自然引起的，

but most are the result of human activity. 短語搭配

但大多数是人类活动的结果。

So,

那么，

according to the Natural History Museum of Utah, 短語搭配

根据犹他州自然历史博物馆的数据，

what proportion of wildfires is caused by people? 短語搭配

由人引起的野火比例是多少？

Is it A,

是 A，

two out of every five,

五分之二，

B,

B，

three out of every five,

五分之三，

or C,

还是 C，

four out of every five?

五分之四？

I'm going to guess three out of every five, 語氣意圖

我要猜五分之三，

I think.

我想。

Let's find out at the end of the program.

我们将在节目结束时揭晓答案。

Thanks to increasing temperatures caused by climate change, 語法

由于气候变化导致气温不断上升，

the wildfires happening today are more intense and more destructive than ever before. 語法

当今发生的野火比以往任何时候都更加猛烈、更具破坏性。

Here,

在这里，

Craig Langran reporter for BBC World Service program People Fixing the World

BBC 世界服务节目《修复世界的人们》记者 Craig Langran

discusses the problem with Pablo Schapira of Rewilding Spain,

与 Rewilding Spain 的 Pablo Schapira 讨论这个问题，

an organisation combating wildfires in Central Spain. 用詞

该组织致力于对抗西班牙中部的野火。

One of the reasons for this is that the forests have been left to grow unchecked, 講解

原因之一是森林一直在不受控制地生长，

as there simply aren't enough animals to feed on all the trees, 短語動詞

因为根本没有足够的动物来吃掉所有的树木、

bushes,

灌木

and grass.

和草。

And the more dense this vegetation is, 語法

植被越茂密，

the more likely it is to catch fire. 短語搭配

就越容易起火。

When we had the forest in our ecosystems here in Europe,

当我们在欧洲这里的生态系统里拥有森林时，

that we had big grazers,

我们有大型食草动物，

we had the bison,

我们有野牛，

we had tauros,

我们有原牛，

we had wild horses,

我们有野马，

and now they are gone from the ecosystem because of extinction,

而现在它们因灭绝而从生态系统中消失了，

domestication.

或是被驯化了。

Many European forests have grown unchecked.

许多欧洲森林已经不受控制地生长。

If something is left unchecked,

如果某种事物 unchecked（不受控制地留下），

nobody controls it or prevents it from increasing. 語法

就没有人控制它或阻止它增加。

The problem is that when trees,

问题在于当树木、

grass,

草

and vegetation are left to grow,

和植被任其生长时，

they're more likely to catch fire.

它们更容易着火。

Hundreds of years ago,

数百年前，

animals known as grazers would simply have eaten this vegetation up. 講解

被称为食草动物的动物只需把这些植被吃光即可。

To graze means to eat grass and other wild plants, 用詞

graze 意思是吃草和其他野生植物，

and grazers are the animals,

而 grazers 就是指这样的动物，

including horses,

包括马、

cows,

牛

and goats,

和山羊，

which do this.

它们会这么做。

In English,

在英语中，

you can also say a person is grazing if they continually eat snacks or little bites of food. 用詞

如果一个人不断吃零食或小口吃食物，你也可以说他们在 grazing。

But in modern times,

但在现代，

numbers of grazing animals have declined sharply because of extinction, 講解

食草动物的数量因灭绝而急剧下降，

when a species of animal,

即一种动物，

the dinosaurs for example,

例如恐龙，

no longer exist,

不再存在，

and domestication, 用詞

以及驯化，

when wild animals are controlled by humans to work or for food.

即野生动物被人类控制用于劳作或作为食物。

And as numbers of grazing wild animals decrease,

随着野生食草动物数量减少，

forest and grasslands continue to grow unchecked,

森林和草原继续不受控制地生长，

leading to the large wildfires which now regularly happen in Spain. 語法

导致了现在西班牙经常发生的大型野火。

And that's where our four-legged friends, 習語

这就是我们四条腿的朋友，

the cows,

牛，

come to the rescue.

前来救援的地方。

Supported by Rewilding Spain,

在 Rewilding Spain 的支持下，

Pablo has reintroduced herds of tauros, 文化背景

Pablo 重新引进了成群的 tauros，

the species of cow similar to the now extinct wild aurochs, 文化背景

这种牛类似于现已灭绝的野生 aurochs，

the ancestor of the modern domestic cow

即现代家牛的祖先

into the forests of Central Spain.

到西班牙中部的森林里。

Here's reporter Craig Langran again for BBC World Service program People Fixing the World.

这里再次请出 BBC 世界服务节目《修复世界的人们》记者 Craig Langran。

Along with the cows' voracious appetite, 用詞

除了牛贪婪的食欲，

they trample the vegetation,

它们还践踏植被，

and it's that trampling that helps to open up the forest, 講解

正是这种践踏有助于打通森林，

so it's not so densely packed full of flammable vegetation. 短語搭配

这样里面就不至于密布易燃的植被了。

Tauros eat everything from grass and leaves to tree branches and bark. 語法

Tauros 什么都吃，从草、树叶到树枝和树皮。

Craig says the cows are voracious,

Craig 说这些牛是 voracious 的，

or very eager for lots of food.

也就是非常渴望大量食物。

What's more, 表達脈絡

此外，

by wandering freely around the forest, 語法

通过在森林里自由漫游，

they trample down dead trees, 短語動詞

它们踩倒了枯树，

reducing the amount of flammable, 講解

减少了易燃的，

meaning easily burnt,

意思是容易燃烧的，

vegetation.

植被的数量。

They don't wear firemen's helmets,

它们没戴消防员头盔，

but these four-legged fire-fighting friends are really coming to the rescue in Spain. 習語

但这些四条腿的消防朋友正在西班牙真正前来救援。

Okay,

好了，

Neil.

Neil。

Isn't it time to reveal the answer to your question? 語氣意圖

是不是该揭晓你问题的答案了？

Yes,

是的，

I asked you what proportion of wildfires are caused by people.

我问你由人类引起的野火比例是多少。

And I said three out of five.

我说是五分之三。

Was I right?

我答对了吗？

I'm afraid you're wrong, 語氣意圖

恐怕你错了，

Beth.

Beth。

The answer was C.

答案是 C。

According to the Natural History Museum of Utah,

根据犹他州自然历史博物馆的数据，

four out of every five wildfires are manmade. 講解

五分之四的野火是人为引起的。

Okay,

好的，

let's recap the vocabulary we've learned from this program, 表達脈絡

让我们回顾一下从这个节目中学到的词汇，

starting with the adjective unchecked.

从形容词 unchecked 开始。

If something harmful is left unchecked,

如果有害事物被 left unchecked，

nobody controls it or prevents it from growing.

就没人控制它或阻止它增长。

To graze means to eat grass and vegetation.

To graze 意思是吃草和植被。

Grazers are animals like cows which do this.

Grazers 是像牛一样做这件事的动物。

And a person who grazes continually eats little bites of food.

而一个 graze 的人则不断小口吃东西。

Extinction is when an animal species no longer exists.

Extinction 是指动物物种不再存在。

The dinosaurs and the wild aurochs are two examples of extinct animals.

恐龙和野生 aurochs 是灭绝动物的两个例子。

Domestication is when wild animals become controlled by humans for work,

Domestication 是指野生动物受到人类控制，用于劳动、

food,

食物，

or as pets.

或作为宠物。

The adjective voracious means very eager for something,

形容词 voracious 意思是对某物非常渴望，

especially a lot of food.

尤其指大量的食物。

And finally,

最后，

if something is flammable,

如果某物是 flammable，

it easily burns or catches fire.

它很容易燃烧或着火。

Once again,

再次，

our 6 minutes are up.

我们的6分钟到了。

If you enjoyed this program,

如果你喜欢这个节目，

why not check out the accompanying worksheet and quiz, 語氣意圖

不妨看看配套的练习表和小测验，

both available at bbclearningenglish.com.

都在 bbclearningenglish.com 上有提供。

Goodbye.

再见。

Goodbye for now.

暂别了。

6 Minute English from bbclearningenglish.com.

来自 bbclearningenglish.com 的6分钟英语。