鸣叫的一天
时间:2013-07-26 02:18:20
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(单词翻译)
BIRDS SINGING
Rob: Hello and welcome to 6 Minute English with me, Rob, and a very beautiful sound…
Jen: Ahhh, the sound of birdsong. Hello, I’m Jennifer and that’s what we’re talking about today - birdsong.
Rob: In Britain, this is the sound of summer - lots of different species - or types - of birds tweeting.
Jen: Tweeting? You mean they are using Twitter - the social media site?!
Rob: Of course not! Tweeting is a way of describing the sounds birds make. We sometimes say they
chirp1 or trill too - making short, high-pitched sounds.
Jen: Yes, I knew that really. But a BBC radio station in the UK is playing a different birdsong every day. They're calling it ’Tweet of the Day’ - which is a clever title.
Rob: It is and we’ll talk more about that soon. But first I need to see if you are a twitcher - another name for a person who watches birds for a hobby. Do you know how many species of birds there are on Britain's official bird list?
a) 396
b) 496
c) 596
Jen: Wow, there are lots but I have no idea so I will guess a) 396.
Rob: That is quite a lot, isn't it? We’ll find out if you are right at the end of the programme. So, let’s talk more about tweeting - of the bird kind. Where I live, there are many fields and trees and there is nothing more beautiful - and noisy- than the sound of the dawn chorus.
Jen: That’s when all the birds start singing at sunrise - so first thing in the morning. It’s not so beautiful if you are trying to sleep! But I know what you mean about birdsong - it makes you think about different places. Listen to this birdsong, for example…
SEAGULL SOUND FX
Jen: Yes, it reminds me of the seaside, although I wouldn’t describe that as a beautiful sound - more of a
screech4. Let’s hear another sound from one of our feathered friends - or in other words, birds…
BLACKBIRD SOUND FX
Rob: That’s the call of a blackbird - something I hear in my back garden. It’s a very
distinctive5 song - easy to recognise and something you hear a lot of in the British summer.
Jen: And how about this bird - what does it make you think of?
CUCKOO SOUND FX
Rob: That has to be a cuckoo - its call sounds like its name - ‘cuckoo’. It reminds me of springtime because that’s when you first hear them. It’s incredible that there are so many different birdsongs.
Jen: Well, that’s why BBC Radio 4’s Tweet of the Day features 265 different birdsongs. Sound engineers have been outside and captured - or recorded - the sounds of birds with strange names like the wood warbler, nightjar,
lesser6 whitethroat and yellowhammer.
Rob: Great names. But listening to these strange-named birds may be enjoyable but their tweeting could also be useful.
Jen: That’s right. Sound experts say some birdsongs can help you concentrate when you're studying.
Rob: Yes, a writer called Julian Treasure says birdsong can relax the body and make your mind more alert. He thinks the dawn chorus is like nature’s alarm clock - ‘it
stimulates7 us cognitively’ - so gets our brains working and thinking.
Jen: Another study found the natural sounds of birdsong might stop you getting tired and sleepy after eating a meal. An experiment found playing birdsong to school children after lunch made them more alert. We should try it here Rob.
Rob: We should. There’s even a smartphone app that plays birdsong and claims to help you work better. But there’s no need for an app, all I need to do is open the window and listen to the birds outside…
BIRDS SINGING
Rob: …but are they all of the bird species I asked you about earlier? My question was how many species of birds are there on Britain's official bird list?
a) 396
b) 496
c) 596
Jen: I said a) 396.
Rob: Sorry Jen, you're wrong. Incredibly there are 596 types of species in Britain. 286 of them are rare - so not many of them left. OK Jen, there’s just time to remind us of some of the vocabulary that we heard today:
Jen: We heard…
species
tweeting
chirp
twitcher
dawn chorus
scavenger
screech
feathered friends
captured
nature’s alarm clock
rare
Rob: Thanks. Time, now, for some more tweeting. Join us again soon for 6 Minute English from BBC Learning English.
Both: Bye.
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