实战口语情景对话 第1040期:The Big Five 五大动物

Ana: I heard that South Africa is famous for its wild animals.
安娜：我听说南非以野生动物闻名。

Mike: That's true. We have many different kinds of animals in South Africa. Have you heard of the big five?
迈克尔：没错。南非有很多种动物。你听说过南非五大动物吗？

Ana: I think so but I don't remember what it is.
安娜：我应该听过，不过我不记得是哪五大动物了。

Mike: So the big five are the animals that foreign tourists like to come and see in South Africa. And there are safaris and trips you can go on to wildlife reserves to see these animals.
迈克尔：五大动物指外国游客想去南非欣赏的动物。有那种带你去野生动物保护区观赏这些动物的旅行。

Ana: So what are they?
安娜：那是哪五大动物？

Mike: So would you like to guess?
迈克尔：你想猜猜吗？

Ana: I guess lions.
安娜：我猜有狮子。

Mike: Yes, that's one of them.
迈克尔：对，狮子是其中之一。

Ana: And elephants.
安娜：还有大象。

Mike: Yes.
迈克尔：对。

Ana: And giraffes.
安娜：长颈鹿。

Mike: No. The giraffe is definitely a big animal but it's not one of the big five. The other three are rhinoceros, the — is it the water buffalo, I think. And the final one is — what is the final one?
迈克尔：错。长颈鹿的确是大型动物，不过它并不包括在五大动物里。其他三种动物是犀牛，还有水牛。你猜最后一种是什么？

Ana: Is it the cheetah?
安娜：是非洲豹吗？

Mike: Yes, the cheetah. Yes. The cheetah can run very, very fast.
迈克尔：对，非洲豹。非洲豹的奔跑速度非常非常快。

Ana: Okay, and have you seen all of these animals?
安娜：好，这些动物你都看见过吗？

Mike: Let me think. It's been a while since I visited a wildlife reserve but I've seen elephants before. And let's see; I've seen a lion. I don't think I've ever seen a cheetah. I've seen a rhinoceros from far away.
迈克尔：我想一下。我已经很久没去野生动物保护区了，我以前看到过大象。我想想啊，我也看到过狮子。我想我没有看到过非洲豹。我从远处看到过犀牛。

Ana: I've heard they're quite dangerous.
安娜：我听说它们非常危险。

Mike: I don't think that there are not many of them in the wild. I don't know if there are any in the wild. They're all in wildlife enclosures so that actually I don't think many people are injured or killed by rhinoceroses. But actually, do you know what the most dangerous animal is in Africa?
迈克尔：我想自然环境中没有多少这种动物。我不知道自然环境中有没有。它们都生活在野生动物保护圈地中，所以我想不会有很多人被犀牛咬伤或咬死。你知道非洲最危险的动物是什么吗？

Ana: Is it the lion?
安娜：是狮子吗？

Mike: No, it's not. It's the hippopotamus.
迈克尔：不是。是河马。

Ana: Really?
安娜：真的吗？

Mike: I think they killed more people every year in the world than any other animal.
迈克尔：我认为相比于其他动物来说，每年世界上被河马咬死的人最多。

Ana: Wow, that's very surprising.
安娜：哇哦，这太令人吃惊了。

Mike: Maybe mosquitoes kill more with malaria but in terms of big animals, it's definitely the hippopotamus.
迈克尔：也许蚊子传播的疟疾致死人数更多，不过就大型动物来说，最危险的动物一定是河马。

Ana: Wow.
安娜：哇哦。

Mike: They have very long teeth as well.
迈克尔：河马也有非常长的牙齿。

Ana: That's scary.
安娜：太可怕了。

Mike: Yeah. It is pretty scary. You don't want to be — you know, they can swim as well. So they would — and if you go out on the river in a little bit on a dam and there's a hippopotamus, he can tip your boat over and bite you in half.
迈克尔：对，非常可怕。你并不想……你知道，河马也会游泳。如果你在大坝划船，那里如果有河马，它可以掀翻你的船，把你咬成两半。

Ana: All right. So you should definitely look out for hippos when you go to South Africa.
安娜：好吧。去南非玩的时候一定要小心河马。

Mike: Yeah. You should be careful. Crocodiles can also be nasty.
迈克尔：对。一定要小心。鳄鱼也非常可怕。

Ana: Okay.
安娜：好。