【英语趣味课堂】罕见的食物-Rare Food

Todd: So, Greg, in your travels have you ever eaten any wild food?

 

Greg: Oh, yeah, in Thailand I ate a lot of different wild food. One time, I had a really unusual experience. I was with one of the teachers from my school, and a couple of his friends and those guys are hunters. We went into the rain forest of Thailand, and we slept that night in an old tin mine.

 

Todd: A tin mine? Was it open, or was it still?

 

Greg: No, it was closed down, there were still a couple of old buildings there and you could have a fire. It was very exciting, and then in the morning, we went walking through the woods, but actually in the rain forest, it's really hard to walk. The only place you can really walk is through, up the river. There are so many thick branches,... but I was talking a photographs, at one point in the forest, and I saw in the corner of my eye my friend suddenly pick up their rifles¹ and the were shooting at something in a tree, and then this animal came down, and I was amazed². It was a, in Thai they say "mi meow", which means bearcat, very low to the ground, thick fur animal and it came running down the stream towards me and my friends were shooting. At first, I was all, "Oh, this is so interesting" taking a picture and then I thought, "Oh, my God! This wounded animal is coming towards me and that is the most dangerous animal, and they kept shooting and it actually died about one meter away from me.

 

Todd: Whoa! It almost got you!

 

Greg: Yeah, and my friends

 

Todd: It wanted revenge³.

 

Greg: They should have gone to the hunters.

 

Todd: Right. Right. Wrong guy.

 

Greg: My friend's tied the bear up to a piece of bamboo and carried it back through he forest to where we were camping, and they cut up the meat and they cooked it, very hot and spicy⁴ Thai dish. It was delicious, and the next day, they brought the rest of the meat back to their village, and I thought it was very interesting, but then the next week, I went into another town and I saw an exhibition about endangered animals in Thailand, and that animal was an endangered animal, (Oh!) so I felt really bad about it, afterwards. (Yeah) I would never have eaten an endangered animal if I had known.

 

Todd: Wow! Man. Well, you know, at least you didn't pull the trigger⁶.

 

Greg: That's true. I used the chopsticks. 

 

学习内容：

 

wild food

 

In your travels, Greg, have you ever eaten any wild food? 

'Wild food' refers to food that is very different or strange. It can also refer to wild animals that are hunted and then eaten. Notice the following:

 

We saw a lot of wild food at the market, but I was too scared to try any of it.

Most of what they eat here is wild food.

rainforest

 

In the morning, we went walking through the woods, but actually in the rainforest, it's really hard to walk. 

A 'rainforest' is a tropical⁷ forest with many tall trees and dense⁸ plants. It is an area that receives a lot of rain every year. Notice the following:

 

These mammals are found mostly in the rainforest of Brazil.

Now there is a lot of effort to protect the rainforest.

saw in the corner of my eye

 

I was taking photographs when I saw in the corner of my eye my friends suddenly picked up their rifles. 

When you see something 'in the corner of your eye' it is off to one side of you or the other and you can just barely⁹ see it in your area of vision¹⁰. Notice the following:

 

I thought I just saw something moving in the corner of my eye.

I could see him waving in the corner of my eye.

exhibition

 

I thought it was very interesting, but then I saw an exhibition about endangered animals, and it was one of them. 

An 'exhibition' is an exhibit⁵ where things like art or artifacts are put on display for people to see and to learn. Notice the following:

 

He has an exhibition of his paintings in his house every month. 

An exhibition of ancient tools is at the history museum right now.

endangered

 

I would never have eaten an endangered animal if I had known. 

If an animal is 'endangered' it means that there are few few of this type of animal alive in the world. Notice the following:

 

Harpy eagles are one of the largest birds of prey¹¹, but they are endangered so you can only see them in zoos.

This groups tries to protect many endangered animals and give them a safe place to reproduce¹².

1 rifles   

步枪( rifle的名词复数 )； 来福枪

参考例句：

• They have a few rifles. 他们有几支步枪。
• Rifles and cannons volleyed on all sides. 枪炮向各方面齐发。

2 amazed   

adj.吃惊的，惊奇的v.使大为吃惊，使惊奇( amaze的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Just the size of the place amazed her. 仅仅地方之大就使她十分惊奇。
• I was amazed at her knowledge of French literature. 她的法国文学知识之丰富使我大为惊奇。

3 revenge   

v.报...之仇，为...报仇 ；n.报仇，复仇

参考例句：

• She poisoned his mind with ideas of hate and revenge.她用复仇的思想来毒害他的心灵。
• There was anger in his eyes and revenge in his heart.他两眼闪现怒火，一心只想复仇。

4 spicy   

adj.加香料的；辛辣的，有风味的

参考例句：

• The soup tasted mildly spicy.汤尝起来略有点辣。
• Very spicy food doesn't suit her stomach.太辣的东西她吃了胃不舒服。

5 exhibit   

vt.展览，展出，陈列；n.展览品；陈列品

参考例句：

• Next week those goods will exhibit in that shop. 下个星期，这些货物将在那家商店展出。
• The economy continued to exhibit signs of decline in September.9月份，经济继续呈现出衰退的迹象。

6 trigger   

n.触发器，板机，制滑机；v.触发（事件）

参考例句：

• His index finger tightened on the trigger but then relaxed again.他的食指扣住扳机，然后又松开了。
• He pulled the trigger but the gun didn't go off.他打了一枪，没有发火。

7 tropical   

adj.热带的，热带的，炎热的

参考例句：

• You must grow these tropical flowers in a glasshouse.你必须把这些热带花卉种在温室里。
• This disease is widespread in tropical areas.这种疾病在热带地区蔓延很广。

8 dense   

a.密集的，稠密的，浓密的；密度大的

参考例句：

• The general ambushed his troops in the dense woods. 将军把部队埋伏在浓密的树林里。
• The path was completely covered by the dense foliage. 小路被树叶厚厚地盖了一层。

9 barely   

adv.仅仅，几乎没有，几乎不

参考例句：

• The male bird is barely distinguishable from the female.雄鸟和雌鸟几乎无法辨别。
• He took barely enough money to keep the children in bread.他赚很少的钱仅够孩子们勉强糊口。

10 vision   

n.视觉，先见之明，光景，视力，眼力，幻想，影像；vt.幻想

参考例句：

• The wall cuts across our line of vision.那面墙挡住了我们的视线。
• Much reading has impaired his vision.大量读书损害了他的视力。

11 prey   

n.被掠食者，牺牲者，掠食；v.捕食，掠夺，折磨

参考例句：

• Stronger animals prey on weaker ones.弱肉强食。
• The lion was hunting for its prey.狮子在寻找猎物。

12 reproduce   

v.生育，繁殖，复制，重做

参考例句：

• The machine can reproduce a key in two minutes.这机器能在两分钟内复制一把钥匙。
• The picture will reproduce well.这照片会印得很清楚。