英语听力精选进阶版 14515（在线收听）

BBC Learning English

Video Words in the News

10 September 2014

Snail farming

Transcript:

Slimy and squishy, they might not be to everyone's taste.

But snails are growing in popularity as a delicacy, according to British snail farmer Helen Howard.

She started breeding them in her spare room seven years ago, and feeds them a special meal of cereals, powdered chalk and dried milk.

Global travel has made people more adventurous in what they eat, says Helen.

Though it might be some time before these slow creatures become fast food.

Vocabulary:

squishy

soft and easy to crush

delicacy

food that is rare or expensive

breeding

keeping animals for the purpose of mating and producing more animals

powdered

made into powder (a soft substance like sand)

adventurous

keen to try new things

Exercise:

Use one of the words or phrases below to complete each of these sentences from BBC stories.

Note that you may have to change the form of a word to complete the sentence correctly.

squishy / delicacy / breeding / powdered / adventurous

1. A 90-year-old grandmother from Alabama showed it is never too late to be __________ by celebrating her birthday with a skydive.

2. Dr Chalker-Scott says that research she carried out in Seattle with newly transplanted trees showed that wood chip mulching was just as effective as adding __________ materials and gels to the soil. And it was significantly cheaper.

3. "This leads us to believe that our animal was probably eating soft, __________ things like calamari. It was probably eating squid or its relatives that were swimming in the ocean at the time."

4. It may not be as famous as an oyster, but across Asia, and especially in China, the humble abalone is a popular __________ - with a hefty price tag to match.

5. Now he is not only __________ and training ponies for profit, he is also winning trophies.

Answers:

1. A 90-year-old grandmother from Alabama showed it is never too late to be adventurous by celebrating her birthday with a skydive.

2. Dr Chalker-Scott says that research she carried out in Seattle with newly transplanted trees showed that wood chip mulching was just as effective as adding powdered materials and gels to the soil. And it was significantly cheaper.

3. "This leads us to believe that our animal was probably eating soft, squishy things like calamari. It was probably eating squid or its relatives that were swimming in the ocean at the time." 

4. It may not be as famous as an oyster, but across Asia, and especially in China, the humble abalone is a popular delicacy - with a hefty price tag to match.

5. Now he is not only breeding and training ponies for profit, he is also winning trophies.