【英语趣味课堂】增多的动物-Animals are Growing

 Shiloh: So you guys don't have larger animals but you still have smaller ones like possums and raccoons. Do they cause problems? I know they're a nuisance for the garbage and things like that.

Adria: Yeah, actually, even though I live in kind of a suburban¹ kind of area, raccoons and possums are quite a problem, and they actually can kill cats, like your pet cat. And my cat actually had to get rabies shot, because she was attacked by a raccoon. And sometimes, you know, they do get through your trash, which is, first of all, gross², and it's kind of scary when you go to take out the trash and then there's big eyes looking back at you.

 

Shiloh: Yeah, I can see that.

 

Adria: Yeah. So what about wolves and coyotes? You mentioned mountain lions, but what about these other animals?

 

Shiloh: Oh, we have a ton of coyotes, and it's kind of cool. I love laying in bed at night, listening to the coyotes howl. It's kind of eerie³. My dogs don't like it; my dogs go crazy at night.

 

We don't have wolves where I'm from, but the government has initiated⁴ a program to put them back in Ontario, because they were originally there, and they were killed out by the farmers and the ranchers in the area 150 years ago. But now, they're meeting a lot of opposition⁵ from the same farmers and ranchers, because wolves are aggressive and they do cause a lot of damage to cattle herds⁶.

 

But the coyotes don't cause a problem. You might hit one in a car on the road occasionally and people get hurt in car accidents because they'll hit coyotes, and they might steal cats and dogs, small cats and dogs, but other than that, people enjoy coyotes because it's kind of a little sense of the wild in the city. It's kind of nice.

 

Adria: So, what about like getting rid of the wolves? You said that some farmers had opposition to it. Do you agree that they should be allowed to shoot them?

 

Shiloh: I think that farmers should have the ability to kill a wolf if they see the wolf killing⁷ their animals or molesting⁸ their animals. I think that if a wolf pack kills an animal and the farmer is not there at the time, or the rancher is not there, the farmer shouldn't have the right to go out and hunt the wolf and kill him. I think if he sees the action taking place, he can kill the wolf because it's causing damage to him. But otherwise, I think they're wolves, they need to eat. Leave them alone, as long as they're not causing too much damage. It's better to have a natural species⁹ there than one cow that's going to be eaten.

 

重点学习内容：

 

Learn Vocabulary from the lesson

suburban

 

I live in a suburban area.

 

A suburban area or the suburbs as they are called, is an area just outside the city. There are many houses and small apartments, but not many tall buildings. Notice the following:

 

Jennifer grew up in a suburban area.

My hometown is mostly suburbs.

shot

 

My cat had to get a rabies shot.

 

A shot is an informal name for a medical injection. Notice the following:

 

Has your dog had its shots yet?

I went to the doctor for a flu shot yesterday.

eerie

 

It's kind of eerie.

 

Something that is eerie is frightening or scary in a way that we don't understand. Notice the following:

 

There was an eerie silence outside.

We heard an eerie noise from upstairs.

opposition

 

Some farmers were in opposition.

 

When we are in opposition to something, that means we are against it. Notice the following:

 

I'm in opposition to the new budget.

Most people there were in opposition to nuclear power.

natural species

 

It's better to have a natural species.

 

Here, natural species means a wild animal, not a pet or farm animal. Notice the following:

 

We observed the natural species of the forest.

The number of natural species is slowly deceasing.

1 suburban   

adj.城郊的，在郊区的

参考例句：

• Suburban shopping centers were springing up all over America. 效区的商业中心在美国如雨后春笋般地兴起。
• There's a lot of good things about suburban living.郊区生活是有许多优点。

2 gross   

adj.全部的，粗俗的，肥胖的；vt.获得...总收入

参考例句：

• The gross weight of the box of chocolates is 500 grams.那盒巧克力的全部重量是500克。
• I consider this a gross oversight on your part.我把这件事看作是你的一大疏忽。

3 eerie   

adj.怪诞的；奇异的；可怕的；胆怯的

参考例句：

• It's eerie to walk through a dark wood at night.夜晚在漆黑的森林中行走很是恐怖。
• I walked down the eerie dark path.我走在那条漆黑恐怖的小路上。

4 initiated   

n. 创始人 adj. 新加入的 vt. 开始，创始，启蒙，介绍加入

参考例句：

• He has not yet been thoroughly initiated into the mysteries of computers. 他对计算机的奥秘尚未入门。
• The artist initiated the girl into the art world in France. 这个艺术家介绍这个女孩加入巴黎艺术界。

5 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

6 herds   

兽群( herd的名词复数 )； 牧群； 人群； 群众

参考例句：

• Regularly at daybreak they drive their herds to the pasture. 每天天一亮他们就把牲畜赶到草场上去。
• There we saw herds of cows grazing on the pasture. 我们在那里看到一群群的牛在草地上吃草。

7 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

8 molesting   

v.骚扰( molest的现在分词 )；干扰；调戏；猥亵

参考例句：

• He was accused of sexually molesting a female colleague. 他被指控对一位女同事进行性骚扰。 来自辞典例句
• He was charged with molesting a woman. 他被指控调戏妇女。 来自辞典例句

9 species   

n.物种，种群

参考例句：

• Are we the only thinking species in the whole of creation?我们是万物中惟一有思想的物种吗？
• This species of bird now exists only in Africa.这种鸟现在只存在于非洲。