国家地理-2008-09-15 狗狗天堂在美国(在线收听

Transcript ——by myconsent (Your suggestion on improving this transcript is welcomed!)

 From the playful to the practical. To the cute, to the honored, dogs are everywhere in America. Today there are about 70 million dogs in United States alone, one for every four people. But what is our obsession with them, and how much do we really love them? To find out, we travel to see the love firsthand. Doggie pampering is a big business. Billions of dollars each year are spent to keep them happy, healthy and well groomed.

 This is Samson and this is Delilah with the ponytails. They are Yorkshire terriers, and they were bred to be tiny. So they are not gonna be much more than four pounds.

 Patricia Young lives in the suburb outside Washington D.C.

 They have plenty of clothes; they have almost as many clothes as I do.  I can’t go anywhere without somebody stopping us. I guess they're filling my emptiness because I have grown children and there is nobody here. So they are good company for me.

 They have robes when they come out of the shower or the bath. They have a couple of vests, a couple of jackets here. They have hat too; they also have boots. They don’t like wearing the hats or the boots. It's a little cold for them but I think this is cute, this is such crowdy outfit, and since it is so cold, I will put these on them.

 When we get ready to go to Old Town, so we have to get dressed and then they will have to get into our little bag so that I can take them to the car to their car seat.

 Samson and Delilah aren’t just closehorses or dogs; they also enjoy the delights of some R n R at the spa.

 This is the Old Town Pet Resort in Fairfax County, Virginia, the most luxurious largest pet resort in the, probably in the world. We have a truly dedicated staff that loves animals. We hear many customers and dog owners say “You know, my dog is so happy here, he doesn’t seem to wanna go home.” Because the dogs can play up to 12 hours a day if they are in day camp, and they get walked three to four times a day.

 This is our grooming salon and it's state of the art (一流的,采用了最新技术的)and may be nicer than a lot of your barber shops. Here we have Laird, Ginger Biscuit and Toots who are sharing a Rotunda Five Star Luxury Suite. These guys all have television. And if you really miss your dog, you can watch your dog on the Internet camera provided here.

 She just loves it. She wants to get into the water so bad.

 Here we have our hydrotherapy(水疗) room, originally we designed it with hip dysplasiatic(那个speaker也许是想说dysplastic发育异常的) and geriatric (衰老的)dogs in mind, but increasingly we have a lot of Labs and Goldens, just real high-energy dogs. They all wear life jackets unless they are really talented or they’ve been coming for a long time. Maybe this seems indulgent and over luxurious for dogs, but you know, that, that is how Americans are living, and the dogs sort of are cheaper than psychotherapy.(心理治疗)

 And as people in our lives come and go, it is comforting to know we’ll always have someone to play with and call family.

  原文地址:http://www.tingroom.com/lesson/gjdl2008/61901.html