美国有线新闻 CNN 2016-7-28

AZUZ: The U.S. has a national bird, the bald eagle. A national tree, the oak. A national anthem¹, a National Mall.

阿祖兹：美国的国鸟是秃鹰。国树是橡树。美国还有国歌和美国国家广场。

Lawmakers in Congress are pushing for a national mammal, and they want that to be the bison, aka, the buffalo².

国会议员正在争取一个国家性的哺乳动物，他们希望这个动物是野牛，野牛也叫做水牛。

A bipartisan bill passed the House this week. If it's passed by the Senate and then signed by President Obama, it will be official. Supporters from politicians to wildlife conservation society praised the animal's history, strength and inextricable connection to the American west.

本周，美国众议院通过了一份两党议案。如果这份议案获得参议院批准，并由美国总统奥巴马签署，那该议案就会正式生效。支持该议案的包括政治家和野生动物保护协会等，他们称赞了野牛的历史、力量以及其与美国西部不可分割的联系。

There's a complicated history of the North American bison. There used to be millions of them in the plains. But during America's westward³ expansion, hunting took their numbers down to around a thousand.

北美野牛拥有复杂的历史。以前平原地区有上百万头野牛。但是在美国西进运动期间，人类的狩猎行为导致野牛的数量下降到只剩1000只左右。

Former U.S. President Teddy Roosevelt led conservation efforts to preserve the mammal. And now today, there are an estimated half million bison in the U.S. and you can find them in every state.

美国前总统“泰迪”罗斯福领导了保护这一哺乳动物的努力。现在，美国约有50万只野牛，而且每个州都有野牛。

AZUZ: We spend a lot of time focused on time, and I don't just mean the clock, I mean the word. Time is the most commonly noun in the English language. Others in the top 10 include day, year, and life — also measures of time. So, from time to time, if you feel you don't have the time or don't want to take the time, the time out time in a timely manner, it could be just because we spend so much time talking about it.

阿祖兹：我们花费很多时间来关注时间，我指的不是时钟，我说的是是时间这个词。时间是英语中最常见的名词。最常见的10个还包括排行天、年、生命、以及时间的度量方式。所有，有时你感觉自己没有时间或者是不想浪费时间，那时间就会刚刚好。这可能是因为我们花费了太多的时间来谈论时间。

Now, that's random⁴!

但，那是偶然的！

1 anthem   

n.圣歌，赞美诗，颂歌

参考例句：

• All those present were standing solemnly when the national anthem was played.奏国歌时全场肃立。
• As he stood on the winner's rostrum,he sang the words of the national anthem.他站在冠军领奖台上，唱起了国歌。

2 buffalo   

n.(北美)野牛；(亚洲)水牛

参考例句：

• Asian buffalo isn't as wild as that of America's. 亚洲水牛比美洲水牛温顺些。
• The boots are made of buffalo hide. 这双靴子是由水牛皮制成的。

3 westward   

n.西方，西部；adj.西方的，向西的；adv.向西

参考例句：

• We live on the westward slope of the hill.我们住在这座山的西山坡。
• Explore westward or wherever.向西或到什么别的地方去勘探。

4 random   

adj.随机的；任意的；n.偶然的(或随便的)行动

参考例句：

• The list is arranged in a random order.名单排列不分先后。
• On random inspection the meat was found to be bad.经抽查，发现肉变质了。