【趣谈英语】奶牛有口音哦-Cows Have Accents

Pre-Listening Vocabulary

 

bovine¹: related to cows

accent: the distinctive² tone of a spoken language

herd³: a group of some types of animals, such as cows and sheep

vocalize: to say something out loud

phenomenon: an extraordinary observance

 

Cows Have Accents

Researchers who study bovine behaviour have recently discovered that cows, like humans, have different regional accents. Cows in a small herd may all sound very similar, while the same species on the other side of the country or in another country may have their own distinct accent. This phenomenon has also been observed in birds. In English, the word used for a cow sound is “moo”. This type of word is onomatopoeic. The naming of the word is based on the sound that the word makes. Words like “boom”, “tweet” and “pop” are all examples of onomatopoeia. In many languages, people use the word “moo” or something very similar to vocalize the sound of a cow. This is not the case for other animals, such as pigs. In English a pig says “oink”, while in other countries it says “boo-boo”, “oof”, or “heh-roo”.

1 bovine   

adj.牛的；n.牛

参考例句：

• He threw off his pack and went into the rush-grass andand munching,like some bovine creature.他丢开包袱，爬到灯心草丛里，像牛似的大咬大嚼起来。
• He was a gentle,rather bovine man.他是一位文雅而反应迟钝的人。

2 distinctive   

adj.特别的，有特色的，与众不同的

参考例句：

• She has a very distinctive way of walking.她走路的样子与别人很不相同。
• This bird has several distinctive features.这个鸟具有几种突出的特征。

3 herd   

n.兽群，牧群；vt.使集中，把…赶在一起

参考例句：

• She drove the herd of cattle through the wilderness.她赶着牛群穿过荒野。
• He had no opinions of his own but simply follow the herd.他从无主见，只是人云亦云。