VOA标准英语2011--Pooch Parks Are All the Rage

Pooch Parks Are All the Rage

 

A popular trend in American landscape architecture is the dog park or, as the Chicago Tribune newspaper calls it, the “bark park.” There are now thousands of these fenced areas for dogs to play off-leash, some of which have one section for big dogs and another for little ones.

Canines¹ are getting their own pleasure grounds because in most American towns, you can be fined for letting your mutt run free. But in a bark park, dogs of every breed and size can frolic, meet and greet, and feel absolutely free to leave their scent² on trees and shrubs³. Their owners have to remove whatever else they leave on the grounds, though.

Since 1997, Chicago has built 11 such parks - or what it calls “dog-friendly areas” - including a veritable Versailles Gardens for pooches in Grant Park.

That’s a people park on Lake Michigan, across from Chicago’s famous “Loop” of downtown skyscrapers⁴ and elevated subway tracks. The 1,200-square-meter bark park features wrought-iron gates, ornamental⁵ trees, dog waste receptacles and lots of small, plastic pick-up bags.

There’s lots of room for romping6 - for both mutts and their mistresses and masters - at this bark park in Mecca, Florida.

There’s even a miniature version of Grant Park’s spectacular Buckingham Fountain for splashing.

Dog parks give cheer to humans, who get their own exercise. Enthusiasts⁷ become fast friends but don’t always bother to learn each other’s names. They’re just “Princess’s Mom” or “Buster’s Dad.”

Dog haters, of course, aren’t always happy about such expenditure⁸ of public funds. Having all these hounds together, they say, will mean you’ll constantly be stepping into - well - dogfights, for one thing. Rarely, reply Chicago’s happy dog owners. And the more dogs we segregate⁹ in the bark park, they add, the more of the “people park” you grouches¹⁰ have to yourselves.

1 canines   

n.犬齿( canine的名词复数 )；犬牙；犬科动物

参考例句：

• For example, the teeth are more primitive. There are large canines and unusually shaped incisors. 譬如，牙齿更为原始，有大的犬齿和非常合适的门齿。 来自辞典例句
• Well-to-canines can attend doggy daycare centers while their owners work. 富人家的狗在主人上班的时候可以去狗狗托管中心。 来自互联网

2 scent   

n.气味，香味，香水，线索，嗅觉；v.嗅，发觉

参考例句：

• The air was filled with the scent of lilac.空气中弥漫着丁香花的芬芳。
• The flowers give off a heady scent at night.这些花晚上散发出醉人的芳香。

3 shrubs   

灌木( shrub的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The gardener spent a complete morning in trimming those two shrubs. 园丁花了整个上午的时间修剪那两处灌木林。
• These shrubs will need more light to produce flowering shoots. 这些灌木需要更多的光照才能抽出开花的新枝。

4 skyscrapers   

n.摩天大楼

参考例句：

• A lot of skyscrapers in Manhattan are rising up to the skies. 曼哈顿有许多摩天大楼耸入云霄。
• On all sides, skyscrapers rose like jagged teeth. 四周耸起的摩天大楼参差不齐。

5 ornamental   

adj.装饰的；作装饰用的；n.装饰品；观赏植物

参考例句：

• The stream was dammed up to form ornamental lakes.溪流用水坝拦挡起来,形成了装饰性的湖泊。
• The ornamental ironwork lends a touch of elegance to the house.铁艺饰件为房子略添雅致。

6 romping   

adj.嬉戏喧闹的，乱蹦乱闹的v.嬉笑玩闹( romp的现在分词 )；（尤指在赛跑或竞选等中）轻易获胜

参考例句：

• kids romping around in the snow 在雪地里嬉戏喧闹的孩子
• I found the general romping in the living room with his five children. 我发现将军在客厅里与他的五个小孩嬉戏。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

7 enthusiasts   

n.热心人，热衷者( enthusiast的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• A group of enthusiasts have undertaken the reconstruction of a steam locomotive. 一群火车迷已担负起重造蒸汽机车的任务。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Now a group of enthusiasts are going to have the plane restored. 一群热心人计划修复这架飞机。 来自新概念英语第二册

8 expenditure   

n.(时间、劳力、金钱等)支出；使用，消耗

参考例句：

• The entry of all expenditure is necessary.有必要把一切开支入账。
• The monthly expenditure of our family is four hundred dollars altogether.我们一家的开销每月共计四百元。

9 segregate   

adj.分离的，被隔离的；vt.使分离，使隔离

参考例句：

• We have to segregate for a few day.我们得分离一段日子。
• Some societies still segregate men and women.有的社会仍然将男女隔离。

10 grouches   

n.爱抱怨的人( grouch的名词复数 )；脾气坏的人；牢骚；生气

参考例句：

• One of the biggest grouches is the new system of payment. 人们抱怨最多的一点就是这种新的支付方式。 来自辞典例句
• One of my main grouches against the council is that they don't run enough buses. 我对市议会不满，主要是投入营运的公共汽车不够用。 来自辞典例句