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(单词翻译:双击或拖选)
BBC Learning English
London Life
City Farm
Jackie: Hello welcome to London Life. Who said that
and rumbling2 buses! It is a big noisy city, but there's a
part of it that sounds like this… Welcome to Hackney City
Farm! A farm in the middle of London, complete with pigs,
sheep and goats. We're going to hear from the farm's
manager, Chris Pounds. As you listen, try to answer these
questions: for how long has the farm existed? And why was
it set up?
Chris Pounds
The farm’s been here 20 years and some local people had an
idea to have a farm in
London so that children could see farm animals.
Jackie: Did you get the answers? The farm has been
there for 20 years. It was set up so children could see
farm animals. As you can imagine, there aren't many pigs or
chickens wandering the streets of London, so some young
children in the city never get to see any animals, apart
from the occasional bird or dog! Now it's time for the next
listening comprehension question: What was there on the
site of the farm before it was built?
Chris Pounds
So it started off on this site, which is an old brewery3.
Jackie: So before the farm, there was a brewery –
a brewery – a place where the alcoholic4 drink, beer, is
made. Chris is going to tell us now about some of the
animals on the farm. How many different kinds of animals
does he name?
Chris Pounds
So it started off on this site, which is an old brewery. We
’ve got a large courtyard with cobbled stones in the
middle of it. And we have animal houses all the way round
the outside, and then the animals are let out during the
day and can go to some fields and paddocks that we have. So
around us we’ve got chickens running around, some sheep
out in the field, a donkey that brays6 at us, we have calves7
and pigs, some turkey some geese, so many different
animals.
Jackie: The answer is: seven different kinds of
animals. There are chickens and sheep. A donkey that brays
– the noise donkeys make – we say they bray5. There are
also calves (which are baby cows), pigs. And there are two
types of birds: turkeys and geese – both birds that we
traditionally at Christmas here in Britain! But seeing
animals isn't the only thing you can do at the farm. What
are some of the other activities?
Chris Pound
As well as the main courtyard and the fields, we’ve got
the main building – so we have a café in there, we have
craft classes and people sitting eating and things. And
then outside, where we are now, is actually in the garden.
We have lots of volunteers growing vegetables and getting
involved in learning about where food comes from.
Jackie: Did you catch any of those? As well as
seeing animals, they can go to a café and have some food.
There are craft classes, where you learn practical skills
with your hands. People can grow vegetables and learn about
where food comes from. The animals at the city farm are not
there just to be looked at. As at all farms, they also
serve to produce food. Listen to Chris again.
Chris Pound
We have, I would say, probably about three to four hundred
chickens on site and we sell about 10,000 eggs a year. The
calves come from a dairy farm, so we send those back to the
dairy farm once they've grown up. So they come as young
calves and we send them
as heifers back to the dairy farm. The pigs – they're not
in breeding form any more, so we've just got those for
show. The lambs, we sell every year. We don't sell them
straight to slaughter8, so we sell them to a market, where
somebody will buy them and either rear them or take them on
to slaughter themselves. And then, things like with the
chickens, once they get to the end of their lives, instead
of having them killed or anything, we normally send them
out to an old farm so they can retire in peace. So we're
not big on killing9 lots of animals, but we do try and make
sure that we're productive.
Jackie: So the eggs from the chickens are sold.
When they've grown up to become heifers (which are young
cows who haven't given birth yet), the cows go
to dairy farms – the places where they'll be used to make
milk and cheese. Chris says the pigs are not for breeding
anymore, which means they can't have children - or
'offspring'. So they're 'for show', which means they're
just there to be looked at. Chris says the lambs don't go
'straight to slaughter': they're not killed or
'slaughtered10', instead they're sold on to somewhere else.
And when the chickens get old, they're allowed to relax in
peace. As Chris said, they're not 'big on' killing animals
– 'not big on': they don't do it much. Finally, let's hear
about one of the farm's star attractions. What's he?
Chris Pound
We have a donkey here called Larry, who’s very popular
with local people, and we've been out on local parades with
him and he's often out and about. The local pubs support
him and they like to see him quite often. And he’s
actually quite busy – at Christmas time he does nativity
at Westminster Cathedral. And there [are] 2000 children
[who] turn up and he marches down the central aisle11 there,
so he’s very popular.
Jackie: The star of the farm is Larry, who is a
donkey. He's also rather famous.
Every Christmas he goes to the famous Westminster Cathedral
in London to be part of Christmas celebrations – not
something many farm animals get to do! That's it for now,
and don't forget to keep practising your English with BBC
Learning English dot com!
收听单词发音 |
1
hooting
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| （使）作汽笛声响，作汽车喇叭声( hoot的现在分词 )； 倒好儿； 倒彩 | |
参考例句： |
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2
rumbling
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| n. 隆隆声, 辘辘声 adj. 隆隆响的 动词rumble的现在分词 | |
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3
brewery
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| n.啤酒厂 | |
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4
alcoholic
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| adj.（含）酒精的，由酒精引起的；n.酗酒者 | |
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5
bray
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| n.驴叫声, 喇叭声；v.驴叫 | |
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6
brays
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| n.驴叫声，似驴叫的声音( bray的名词复数 )；（喇叭的）嘟嘟声v.发出驴叫似的声音( bray的第三人称单数 )；发嘟嘟声；粗声粗气地讲话（或大笑）；猛击 | |
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7
calves
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| n.(calf的复数)笨拙的男子，腓；腿肚子( calf的名词复数 )；牛犊；腓；小腿肚v.生小牛( calve的第三人称单数 )；（冰川）崩解；生（小牛等），产（犊）；使（冰川）崩解 | |
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8
slaughter
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| n.屠杀，屠宰；vt.屠杀，宰杀 | |
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9
killing
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| n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财 | |
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10
slaughtered
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| v.屠杀，杀戮，屠宰( slaughter的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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11
aisle
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| n.（教堂、教室、戏院等里的）过道，通道 | |
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