VOA慢速英语 2007 1009a

This is the VOA Special English Agriculture Report.

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When Americans think of where coyotes live, they probably think of desert states in the Southwest like Arizona. But over time, these wild dogs have spread all the way to the East Coast.

Some farmers have guards to protect their sheep from coyotes. These guards are llamas. Llamas are South American animals usually raised in the United¹ States for their fiber² or for show or as pets.

But farmers and ranchers noticed that llamas get along well with sheep. They also noticed that over time, coyotes were killing³ fewer sheep. So they chose llamas for guard duty.

Llamas do not need any training. Farmers usually place only one with a group of sheep. Llamas are social animals. Two llamas together will not pay attention to the sheep. A lone⁴ llama has no choice.

In the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia, farmer Leo Tammi has several hundred sheep. His dogs help him control and protect the flock⁵ of sheep. But the dogs are not always available. So he uses llamas.

Whenever anything enters the fields, they know about it. He says their natural interest, and willingness to face almost anything that comes near, is enough to scare⁶ away a shy animal like a coyote.

Their size also helps. Llamas can weigh as much as one hundred thirty-six kilograms⁷. And they look something like a small horse -- a funny looking horse with a lot of fine, soft fur.

Llamas are not vicious⁸ animals. However, if they are not around people at a very young age, they will not like to be touched. In many ways a llama is just as defenseless as a sheep. But llamas have a secret weapon. They spit⁹.

When they get angry, they spit out the contents of their stomachs. The result looks and smells terrible.

Llamas really know how to make a statement¹⁰. In fact, you can find examples of llama sounds on the Internet -- just remember that llama is spelled with two Ls, L-L-A-M-A. If they sense a threat¹¹, they make an alarm sound. This is what a male sounds like:

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And this is a female¹² alarm call.

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Llamas are New World camelids along with alpacas, vicunas and guanacos. Camelids are a family of animals that also include the camels and dromedaries of Africa and Asia.

And that's the VOA Special English Agriculture Report. To see a video report about llamas, go to voaspecialenglish.com. I'm Steve Ember.

1 united   

adj.和谐的；团结的；联合的，统一的

参考例句：

• The whole nation is closely united.全国人民紧密团结。
• The two men were united by community of interests.共同的利益使两个人结合在一起。

2 fiber   

n.纤维，纤维质

参考例句：

• The basic structural unit of yarn is the fiber.纤维是纱的基本结构单元。
• The material must be free of fiber clumps.这种材料必须无纤维块。

3 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。

4 lone   

adj.孤寂的，单独的；唯一的

参考例句：

• A lone sea gull flew across the sky.一只孤独的海鸥在空中飞过。
• She could see a lone figure on the deserted beach.她在空旷的海滩上能看到一个孤独的身影。

5 flock   

n.羊群，一群，大量；vi.群集，聚集，成群

参考例句：

• A flock of customers were waiting for the store to open.一群顾客在等候着商店开门。
• A few sheep have been lost from the flock.羊群里少了几只羊。

6 scare   

vt.恐吓；vi.受惊吓

参考例句：

• I like reading scare stories.我喜欢读恐怖故事。
• The sound of the explosion gave me quite a scare.爆炸声把我吓了一跳。

7 kilograms   

n.千克( kilogram的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• 2 kilograms of rice 2公斤大米
• Every tonne of coal contains,on average,30 kilograms of nitrogen. 每吨煤平均含30公斤氮。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 vicious   

adj.恶毒的，恶意的，凶残的，剧烈的，严重的

参考例句：

• He gave the dog a vicious blow with his stick.他朝着那只狗狠狠地打了一棍子。
• The author portrayed his father as a vicious drunkard.作者把他父亲描绘成一个可恶的酒鬼。

9 spit   

n.唾液，唾吐，小雨；v.唾吐，吐出，降小雨

参考例句：

• It's very rude to spit at someone.向人吐唾沫是非常粗野的行为。
• Don't spit on the sidewalk.别在人行道上吐痰。

10 statement   

n.陈述；声明；综述

参考例句：

• The government will put out a new statement tomorrow.政府将于明天发布一项新声明。
• Put down your statement in black and white.把你的话用白纸黑字写下来。

11 threat   

n.威胁，恐吓，造成威胁的事物

参考例句：

• Never submit to a threat.永远不要屈服于威胁。
• There was a threat of typhoon.有刮台风的兆头。

12 female   

adj.雌的，女(性)的；n.雌性的动物，女子

参考例句：

• We only employ female workers.我们只雇用女工。
• The animal in the picture was a female elephant.照片上的动物是头母象。