VOA慢速英语:Test Your Word Knowledge With a Quiz About Farm Terms

Today we have a vocabulary quiz. We start with two questions about terms for plants.
今天我们做单词测试，首先是两个关于植物名词的问题。

OK, first question: What is the name for a plant that lives only one year or one growing season? This kind of plant is called an annual. Think of an "annual report," a report published just once a year.
好了，第一个问题：有一种植物只能生长一年或一个生长期？这种植物叫什么名字？这种植物叫annual（一年生植物），想想annual report（年度报告），就是一年只出版一次的报告。

You can probably guess the next question. What do we call a plant that produces new growth year after year? Plants that keep growing back are called perennials. So a perennial is the opposite of an annual. Perennials come back year after year.
你或许能猜到下一个问题：哪种植物能每年都生长呢？能生长很多年的植物叫perennial（多年生植物）。所以perennial就是annual的反义词，perennial是每年都有的。

Now some questions about terms for livestock.
下面是几个关于牲畜的词汇。

What is another name for a male cow? A bull, right? Well, not always. A male cow is usually called a bull only if it still has its reproductive organs. If not, we call it a -- what? The answer: a steer.
表示公牛(male cow)的另一个名词是什么？Bull！喔，不是所有的公牛都是bull。只有具备繁殖系统的公牛才能称作bull，如果没有，就叫做steer。

Next question: What is another name for a young cow? A very young cow is called a calf. But a young female cow, especially one that has not had a calf yet, has a special name. Do you know what it is? The answer: a heifer. Maybe you knew that. But here is question just for our radio listeners -- can you spell it? Heifer is spelled H-E-I-F-E-R.
下一个问题：小牛的另一个名字叫什么？非常小的牛叫calf（牛犊）。不过小母牛，特别是还没有产仔的小母牛，有个专门的名字。你知道叫什么吗？答案是：heifer（小牝牛）。或许你已经知道了。不过我们有个问题要留给听众，你能拼写吗？Heifer拼作H-E-I-F-E-R。

Cows, like all mammals, lactate. Our next question is: do you know what that means? To lactate means to produce milk. Cows lactate for up to ten months.
像所有的哺乳动物一样，牛能lactate。下个问题是：你这道这是什么意思吗？能lactate意思是能分泌乳液。牛可以为幼崽哺乳10个月。

In milk, fat rises to the top. But some people do not like to drink milk that way. So there is a process that reduces the size of the fat particles and mixes them all through the milk. This process has a name -- a long name. What is it? It's called homogenization.
脂肪漂浮在牛奶的上面，但有的人不喜欢喝这种奶。所以就有了一种加工程序，能打碎牛奶中的脂肪粒，使之均匀分布。这个过程有个很长的名字。你知道是什么吗？叫homogenization（均质化）。

Still with us? OK, another question. Milk can be made into cheese. Some people like cheese made with milk from a sheep. What do you call a female sheep? The answer: a ewe, spelled E-W-E.
继续回答吗？好，下个问题：牛奶可以制成奶酪，有的人喜欢羊奶做的奶酪。那么母羊叫什么名字？答案是ewe，拼作E-W-E。

Male sheep have their own name. A male sheep is a -- what? A ram.
公羊也有自己的名字，公羊叫什么？Ram。

Rams and ewes produce lambs. A lamb is a sheep less than a year old. But what do you call the meat from a sheep over a year old? Then we call it mutton.
公羊和母羊生出羊羔，羊羔是指一岁以下的羊。但你知道一岁以上的羊的羊肉叫什么？答案是Mutton（羊肉）。

Age also plays a part in terms for horses. For example, a mare is generally a female three years or older. But what do you call a female horse under three? The answer: a filly. And for extra credit: do you know the name for a male horse under four? A colt.
不同年龄的马也有不同的名字，比如，mare（母马）通常是指三岁以上的马。但你知道三岁以下的母马叫什么吗？答案是filly（小牝马）。回答下面的问题可得到额外分：你知道4岁以下的公马叫什么？答案是colt（小雄驹）。