节目介绍

BBC 6 Minute-English 是BBC针对全球英语学习者推出的一款谈话类学习节目。每期一个时尚的话题，两个播音员以聊天的形式进行讲解，包括核心词汇讲解。内容活泼有趣，语速适中，适合雅思考生、大学生、中学生和想提升听力能力的在职人士，每天更新1期

听力方法田老师手把手教你练习英语听力田老师：英语听力，曾经让我痛不欲生北外校长告诉你：为什么听了那么多英语录音，听力水平还是上不来小宠物为什么可以找到回家的路

Welcome to 6 Minute English, the programme where we bring you an interesting topic and six useful words or phrases. I’m Neil.欢迎来到6分钟英语，本节目将为您带来有趣的话题以及6个实用单词。我是尼尔。And I’m Dan. Today we’re talking about one of the last mysteries of science.No, not if the universe will keep expanding forever, but this: how do cats and dogs find their way home over long distances?我是丹。今天我们将探索一个科学界的未解之谜。但是如果宇宙继续延伸下去，可能就不算了。但是，猫和狗是怎样从很远的地方找到回家的路的呢？We hear incredible stories of lost pets travelling tens and even hundreds of miles home – but scientists struggle to explain how they do it.我们时常听到这样的故事，很多不慎丢失的宠物能够从几十甚至几百英里意外走回家。但科学家似乎还不能解释它们是怎么找回家的。We’ll hear the view of one scientist today. But before that – I have to ask an important question: Neil, are you a cat person or a dog person?今天我们将听到一位科学家观点。但是在那之前，我需要问你一个重要问题，尼尔，你是一个cat person还是dog person？Oh, that’s easy – I’m a cat person, for sure. Dogs are just a… well, they are hard work, aren’t they?简单，我是个猫奴。狗的话有点...不太好处理，不是吗？If you say you are ’a cat person’ it means you prefer cats. ’A coffee person’ prefers coffee.A ’something’ person likes or prefers that thing, often over another thing.如果你说你是个cat person，意思就是你很喜欢猫。“coffee person”就是很喜欢咖啡的人。一个“……人”喜欢或偏好某个东西，通常更甚于另外一种。Back to the topic, I’m a cat person. But can you answer this, Dan? Recently, a cat called Omar made headlines for being, possibly, the world’s longest cat.How long is Omar? Is it…a) 120 cm b) 80 cm Or c) 180 cm回到原来的话题。我很喜欢猫。但是丹你能回答一下这个问题么？最近一只叫Omar的猫登上头条，原因似乎是它是世界上最长的猫。它有多长呢？A 120厘米  B 80厘米  C 180厘米I’m gonna say c) 180 cm.我猜是C 180厘米。Now, from long cats to long-distance cats.Scientists were scratching their heads a couple of years ago when a lost cat called Holly travelled 200 miles to get home. How did it do it?现在我们要从身体很长的猫谈到长途猫了。几年前一只叫Holly的猫丢在离家200英里外的地方，但它最后成功找到回家的路。科学家对此很费脑筋。它究竟是如何做到的呢？

We say you ’scratch your head’ when you are confused about something.There are a few theories about how cats and dogs navigate – but we don’t yet have the full answer.当你说到“scratch your head”，你的意思是对某事感到困惑。关于猫狗如何导航回家，有许多理论研究。但是都没有得到圆满的答案。Well, both cats and dogs have an extremely powerful sense of smell, of course.Smells are like signposts – they let you know where you are. Visual landmarks also play a role, just as they do with humans.A landmark is something very easily recognised – a big building or mountain for example.猫和狗够具有强大的嗅觉能力。嗅觉就相当于指示牌，可以让他们知道自己在哪。看得见的地标也有重要作用，就像对人类的作用一样，地标很容易被认出来，比如一幢大楼或一座山。And what about this one: magnets are pieces of metal which attract certain other kinds of metal - for example, iron or steel.The Earth itself has a magnetic force.那这个呢：磁铁属于金属的一部分，但它可以吸引另一种金属，比如铁或者钢。地球本身也存在磁力。Birds use it to help them navigate over thousands of miles – it tells them where north is. It’s thought they have some iron in their beaks.鸟儿们根据磁力飞行数千英里——因此磁力可以告诉它们哪边是北方。有人认为它们的嘴里带有铁质物质。But some scientists think mammals also have this capability.但有些科学家认为哺乳类动物同样有这种能力。So we have a few ideas – smell, landmarks, magnetic forces – but can we explain how one kitty travelled over 200 miles by itself back to its home?那么我们有点思路了，嗅觉、路标、磁力——但是怎么解释一只猫能够独自徒步200多英里回到家呢？Let’s hear from cat and dog expert Dr John Bradshaw. How do cats build up the maps in their heads?来听听猫犬专家约翰·布拉德肖博士怎么说。猫咪是如何在大脑中构建地图的？What they do when they are in a new territory is explore it in a very systematic way.So they will go out in ever-increasing circles, they’ll literally construct a mental map in their heads.And so a cat that’s lost its territory probably does the same thing.They’ll rely on the idea that if they go out in ever-increasing circles or rectangles then eventually they’ll either come across the territory or they’ll come across a smell carried on the wind of the territory that they used to live in and then be able to go home.们在陌生领域会用一种非常系统化的方式探索周围环境。因此它们会以自己为中心不断扩大活动范围，在头脑中构建一张虚拟地图。一只猫离开自己领地可能也会做同样的事情。它们会有一种想法：如果将活动范围以圆圈或矩形逐渐扩大，或许它们会偶然找回曾经住过的地方，或者凭借风中传来的气味找回家。Cats have a systematic approach – which means they use a system.Which is: first they walk around their area in a small circle, then a bigger one and then a bigger one – until they have a strong mental map of the place.猫有一种系统的方式，也就是说它们利用一种系统。首先，它们会在脑海中将自己周围圈起来，然后将圆圈不断扩大直到在头脑中勾画出这个地方的地图。Yes – a mental map is a map in your head – stored in your memory. And the area cats explore – their home area - is called their territory.Cats are territorial – which means their territory is very important to them.是的，心理地图是指你头脑中的地图，保存在你的记忆中。猫所探索的地区，也就是它们的家所在的地区，就是它们的领地。猫是很有领土意识的，领地对它们来说非常重要。Having a map is great, but what happens when a cat gets lost? Dr Bradshaw says that again, it moves around in bigger and bigger circles, until it finds a clue – which is a landmark or a smell – that tells it where it is. Well, that’s the theory. Though Dr Bradshaw says we really still don’t have enough data – that’s enough information about this.能有地图是一件很棒的事，但要是一只猫走丢了呢？布拉德肖博士也说了，猫会不断扩大活动范围，直到发现线索——一个路标，或一种气味，明白自己现在的位置。就是这个理论。就是这个理论。即使布拉德肖博士表示还缺乏足够的数据，但这些信息足以回答那个问题了。When there is a scientific breakthrough - we’ll bring it to you in 6 Minute English, I hope.For now, let’s content ourselves with Omar, possibly, the world’s longest cat. How long, Dan?如果有重大科学突破，我们希望会在6分钟英语节目中告知您。现在，我们来谈谈Omar，这只传说中世界最长的猫。它有多长呢？丹？I said 180 cm.我说的是180厘米。Omar measures 120 cm – that’s over two thirds of my height – and weighs a heavy 14 kg.

Omar身长120厘米，是我身高的三分之二了。它重达14公斤。

(Omar)

Well, one thing, Neil, if Omar ever got lost, he’d be found in no time.哇，这样的话，尼尔，要是Omar走丢了，它一定立刻就能被找到。He’s a landmark in himself! Which reminds me – let’s run through today’s words again.If you’re a cat person, you prefer cats. If you’re an evening person – you prefer evenings.它自己本身就是个标志物。这个词提醒我了，我们来回顾一下今天的单词。如果你是个cat person，说明你更喜欢猫，如果你是个evening person，说明你更喜欢夜晚。I’ve always thought you were a kind person, Neil.尼尔，我一直觉得你是个善良的人。Nice of you to say, but we only use the phrase with nouns, not adjectives!很高兴听到这句话，但是我们只有名词这么用，不是形容词！Indeed. We don’t want the listeners to be scratching their heads.确实。我们不想让听众抓头皮。No, we can’t confuse them! So let’s explain the next one clearly – a landmark is something easily recognisable that lets you know where you are.The bridges in London are landmarks.不，是我们不能让他们困惑不解。来看下一个词，landmark是某种很容易让人认出来，让你想起你所在的地方的标志。这些桥在伦敦就是地标。And can we say the parks are magnets in summer? A magnet is a piece of metal that attracts iron and steel – but we can also use the word more widely to describe things that attract other things.Two more words: territory is a noun – the area of land that an animal considers to be its own.我们能不能说夏天的公园就是磁铁呢？磁铁是一种可以吸引铁和钢等物质的金属——但我们可以将这个词的用法扩展一下，描述可以吸引人的其他东西。还有两个词，territory，名词，意思是动物所以为的属于自己的领地。Animals who feel this strongly are described as territorial. Humans can be too – about land or subjects they feel they own or control.有这种强烈的领土意识的动物可以用territorial(有地盘意识的、领地性的)来形容。人类对自己所拥有或掌控的领土或事物也有这样的意识。

And finally systematic: the adjective from system. We can talk about a systematic approach, a systematic solution, a systematic study…最后一个systematic系统的，是系统system的形同词。我们可以讨论一种系统的方法，系统的解决方案，一个系统化的研究……And we have systematically worked our way through all of today’s words!今天我们已经系统地浏览了所有要学的单词！Very good! Which means – it’s time mention our own online territory – our website and social media pages.非常好！这也意味着又到时间提一下我们在网上的地盘儿：官网、以及社交网站了。Check us out on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube, and of course bbclearningenglish.com!访问我们的Facebook、Twitter、Instagram以及YouTube网站，当然还有bbclearningenglish.com！Bye bye for now.再见啦！Good Bye!再见！