Big hills and small mountains

Big hills and small mountains
is there any difference between a really big hill and a small mountain?
Hill和mountain有什么区别，你知道吗？
Yvonne:Hello, I’m Yvonne Archer¹ - this is '6 minute English' - and today, Callum's with me. Hi Callum…
Callum: Hi Yvonne .
Yvonne: Now this week, we ask: is there any difference between a really big hill and a small mountain? Dictionaries basically say that a hill is not as high as a mountain - and a mountain is higher than a hill! Anything to add, Callum?
Callum:Well, if big hills and small mountains were the same, we probably wouldn't need separate（分开的，单独的）nouns for them in English for them, would we?
Yvonne: Good point. But before we find out more, here's a question for you: Which of these three places is proud to have the world's highest hill? Is it: a) Beverley Hills b) Dar Es Salaam² or c) Oklahoma
Callum:Ummm - this is just going to be a guess because I really have no idea. I'm going to guess at Oklahoma.
Yvonne: Okay, we'll find out the answer at the end of the programme! Recently, a report from the BBC's David Bamford had some people thinking that in Snowdonia, North Wales, people were making a mountain out of a molehill!(琐事) But before we hear about that story, here's a look at some of the language we'll come across. Callum, what can you tell us about 'Ordnance³ Survey maps'?
Callum: Well, 'Ordnance Survey' is the name for Great Britain's official mapping agency. So their maps are known as the most accurate（准确的，精确的）, the most up-to-date （最新的，现代的）and most reliable maps available –even the government relies on them. And even – and I do too. When I go walking, I always take an Ordance Survey map with me and my compass.
Yvonne: Excellent! So we'll hear 'Ordnance Survey maps' in today's report - but listen out for the answer to this question as well: How high is a mountain?
For many years now, Wales has been very popular with both tourists and mountaineers – people who enjoy climbing mountains. So, how would you feel if what you proudly think of as your local mountain is officially classified as - a mere⁴ （纯粹的，仅仅的，只不过）hill?
DAVID BAMFORD
That's been the case 'til now for Mynydd Graig Goch, in North Wales. The locals KNEW it was a mountain -that's why they called it Mynydd -the Welsh word for 'mountain'. But British Ordnance Survey maps classified it as a hill because it was assumed （假定的）to be under two thousand feet high - that's six hundred and nine metres -the recognized minimum height(最低高度) for a mountain.
Yvonne: So how high is a mountain? Callum?
CallumWell anything over two thousand feet high – now that's six hundred and nine metres high – that's a mountain.
Yvonne: And anything under - or less than - two thousand feet high is officially - a hill. So what happened - with our mountain in Wales – what happened there?
Callum: The report said that Ordnance Survey assumed it was less than two thousand feet high - but they didn't actually know for sure that that was true.
Yvonne: Ooh - a big mistake, eh?! But luckily, a group of mountaineers who live in the area used very reliable equipment to measure their mountain and they proved that it's definitely not a hill. It's six inches high – or fifteen point two centimetres higher than the minimum - so Ordnance Survey will change their map.
Callum: Hurray for Wales, they've finally got their extra mountain!
Yvonne: Yeah… Callum – you're a film buff… do you know anything about a film with a similar story?
Callum: Well yes, there was a romantic comedy with the actor Hugh Grant in 1995. And that was called "The Englishman Who Went Up a Hill, But Came Down a Mountain".
Yvonne: I love that title! Now as we hear what the film is about, try to guess what 'a cartographer（地图制作者，制图师）' is – what's 'a cartographer'?
 
DAVID BAMFORD
In the film, a Welsh community fought the attempts of two English cartographers to downgrad（使降低，使降级） their local mountain to a hill. And they did so by carrying mounds⁵ of earth up to the summit when the cartographers weren't looking.
Yvonne: Oooh -that was very naughty! Callum, what did the community do to make sure that their mountain wouldn't become a hill – making it less important?
Callum: Well, what they did was they took 'mounds of earth' – which is piles of soil - up to the summit – and that's the highest point on a mountain or hill, that's the summit. And so they did that to make sure that it was high enough to be a mountain when the officials measured it.
Yvonne: Crafty⁶ - and what's 'a cartographer', Callum?
Callum: Well, a cartographer is an official whose job it is to draw maps.
Yvonne: Great. Now onto today's big question: Which of these three places is proud to
have the world's highest hill? Is it:
a) Beverley Hills
b) Dar Es Salaam - or
c) Oklahoma
Callum, what was your answer?
Callum: Well, my answer was just – purely⁷ just a guess. I guessed at Oklahoma because Beverley Hills, well that's a very rich suburb of Los Angeles and I don't think there are any really big hills there. Dar Es Salaam – I don't know anything about Dar Es Salaam – I've never been there. But I've never been to Oklahoma but I can remember from movies and so on, that it's – quite a few mountains and hills there. So it's purely a guess but I'm going to go for Oklahoma.
Yvonne: Excellent guess and well worked out actually, because you're absolutely right!
Callum: Whoo! Excellent – oh yes!
Yvonne: So well done to you Callum. And that's all for today's '6 minute English'.
Y + Callum: Goodbye!
(本文由在线英语听力室整理编辑)

1 archer   

n.射手，弓箭手

参考例句：

• The archer strung his bow and aimed an arrow at the target.弓箭手拉紧弓弦将箭瞄准靶子。
• The archer's shot was a perfect bull's-eye.射手的那一箭正中靶心。

2 salaam   

n.额手之礼，问安，敬礼；v.行额手礼

参考例句：

• And the people were so very friendly:full of huge beaming smiles,calling out "hello" and "salaam".这里的人民都很友好，灿然微笑着和我打招呼，说“哈罗”和“萨拉姆”。
• Salaam is a Muslim form of salutation.额手礼是穆斯林的问候方式。

3 ordnance   

n.大炮，军械

参考例句：

• She worked in an ordnance factory during the war.战争期间她在一家兵工厂工作。
• Shoes and clothing for the army were scarce,ordnance supplies and drugs were scarcer.军队很缺鞋和衣服，武器供应和药品就更少了。

4 mere   

adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过

参考例句：

• That is a mere repetition of what you said before.那不过是重复了你以前讲的话。
• It's a mere waste of time waiting any longer.再等下去纯粹是浪费时间。

5 mounds   

土堆，土丘( mound的名词复数 )； 一大堆

参考例句：

• We had mounds of tasteless rice. 我们有成堆成堆的淡而无味的米饭。
• Ah! and there's the cemetery' - cemetery, he must have meant. 'You see the mounds? 啊，这就是同墓，”——我想他要说的一定是公墓，“看到那些土墩了吗？

6 crafty   

adj.狡猾的，诡诈的

参考例句：

• He admired the old man for his crafty plan.他敬佩老者的神机妙算。
• He was an accomplished politician and a crafty autocrat.他是个有造诣的政治家，也是个狡黠的独裁者。

7 purely   

adv.纯粹地，完全地

参考例句：

• I helped him purely and simply out of friendship.我帮他纯粹是出于友情。
• This disproves the theory that children are purely imitative.这证明认为儿童只会单纯地模仿的理论是站不住脚的。