英语听力精选进阶版 6261

What's that loud, droning noise?

Is it a telephone?

Or maybe a pigeon?

No, it's Smokey. This English cat might soon be named the world's loudest purrer after she made an official attempt at a world record.

Smokey's strident purr was recorded as being an ear-splitting 73 decibels². To put that in context, normal room atmosphere is a hushed 40 decibels, whereas a jet engine is a deafening³ 120 decibels.

Smokey's purr is roughly the same volume as a loud telephone ring and 16 times louder than a normal cat.

The 12-year-old was recorded by a sound expert in front of four witnesses. Smokey's owner, Ruth Adams, said that her cat was surprisingly timid for an animal that makes such a racket.

"Smokey is actually quite camera-shy so I was very conscious not to upset her during the record attempt, so we kept it all very calm and low-key."

Smokey may enjoy a calm atmosphere but she's certainly not as quiet as a mouse... or indeed any pet that doesn't says boo.

The evidence from Smokey's record attempt has now been submitted to the Guinness Book of World Records.

With any luck, Smokey will have delivered a record-breaking purr-formance.

Quiz 小测验

Is Smokey the world's loudest cat? 

She is not officially the loudest cat according to this article, but she might be named the loudest cat soon.

True or false: Smokey is very loud and outgoing. 

False. She's loud, but at times timid.

Why did Ruth Adams make sure the record attempt was "low key"? 

So that Smokey didn't become upset and not perform well.

Look at the article. Find a common idiom usually used to describe a quiet person. 

As quiet as a mouse.

In the last line, the word purr-formance is a pun. What is a pun? 

It is a joke that is made using two words, or one word which has two meanings.

Glossary⁴ 词汇表

droning 声音低沉单调的 

purrer 咕噜咕噜叫的猫 

strident 刺耳，尖锐的 

ear-splitting 震耳欲聋的（声音） 

decibel¹ 分贝 

hushed 安静的 

deafening 震耳欲聋的（声音） 

witness 见证人 

to make a racket 搞得噼啪乱响 

camera-shy 不愿上镜头的 

low-key 低调的 

as quiet as a mouse 用来形容人或动物非常安静不作声的成语 

to not say boo （美国英语）安静不出声 

purr-formance 这是一种押运效果，purr 和 performance 两个词都以字母p开头。

1 decibel   

n.分贝(音量的单位)

参考例句：

• The noise pollution reached a high decibel level.噪音污染达到了很高分贝。
• In sound we use the decibel scale.在声学中我们采用分贝标度。

2 decibels   

n.分贝( decibel的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The typical lawn mower makes about 90 decibels of noise. 典型的割草机发出的声响约为90分贝。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• A normal conversation reaches 55 decibels. 普通的谈话即可达55分贝。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 deafening   

adj. 振耳欲聋的, 极喧闹的 动词deafen的现在分词形式

参考例句：

• The noise of the siren was deafening her. 汽笛声震得她耳朵都快聋了。
• The noise of the machine was deafening. 机器的轰鸣声震耳欲聋。

4 glossary   

n.注释词表；术语汇编

参考例句：

• The text is supplemented by an adequate glossary.正文附有一个详细的词汇表。
• For convenience,we have also provided a glossary in an appendix.为了方便，我们在附录中也提供了术语表。