鸟语时光
Tweet of the day
Hello and welcome to 6 Minute English with me, Rob, and a very beautiful sound…
大家好，欢迎收听本期BBC六分钟英语，欣赏这优美的声音。我是Rob。
Ahhh, the sound of birdsong. Hello, I’m Jennifer and that’s what we’re talking about today – birdsong.
啊，鸟叫声~大家好，我是Jennifer。今天我们讨论的主题是鸟鸣。
In Britain, this is the sound of summer – lots of different species – or types – of birds tweeting .
在英国，这是夏天的声音。多种小鸟，各种鸣叫。
Tweeting? You mean they are using Twitter – the social media site?!
Tweeting？你是说它们用社交媒体网站Twitter？
Of course not! Tweeting is a way of describing the sounds birds make.
当然不是！Tweeting是种描述鸟叫的方法。
We sometimes say they chirp or trill too – making short, high- pitched sounds.
有时我们也会说chirp（唧唧）或trill（啭鸣），就是短促、高调的声音。
Yes, I knew that really. But a BBC radio station in the UK is playing a different birdsong every day.
没错，这个我知道。但英国BBC广播电台每天都在播放不同的鸟鸣声。
They’re calling it 'Tweet of the Day’ – which is a clever title.
它叫做‘鸟语时光’，我觉得这个标题很棒。
Yes, it is and we’ll talk more about that soon. But first I need to see if you are a twitcher – another name for a person who watches birds for a hobby.
是啊，的确很好。稍后我们再详细谈一谈。现在我要看看你是不是观鸟迷（即把观鸟当作业余爱好的人）。
Do you know how many species of birds there are on Britain’s official bird list? a) 396 b) 496 c) 596
请问，英国官方鸟名单上有多少种鸟？A.396 B.496 C.596
Wow, there are lots but I have no idea so I will guess a) 396
哇，这么多啊~但我不知道答案，蒙一个吧，A.396
That is quite a lot, isn’t it? We’ll find out if you are right at the end of the programme. So, let’s talk more about tweeting – of the bird kind.
的确很好。节目最后我会揭晓答案。现在咱们聊聊鸟鸣吧。
Where I live, there are many fields and trees and there is nothing more beautiful – and noisy - than the sound of the dawn chorus.
我住的地方有很多田地和树木，当然也有噪音。但是最美好的，莫过于清晨的鸟鸣声。
That’s when all the birds start singing at sunrise – so first thing in the morning. It’s not so beautiful if you are trying to sleep!
那时所有小鸟开始鸣叫，这可是清晨的第一件事。倘若你一直睡着，那就错过好听声音了！
But I know what you mean about birdsong – it makes you think about different places. Listen to this birdsong , for example…
我知道你什么意思。鸟鸣会让人想起很多地方。先来听听下面这段鸟叫声。
Yes, the seagull - a scavenger which eats food scraps or other dead animals.
啊，是海鸥，一种进食杂碎或其他动物尸体的食腐动物。
Yes, it reminds me of the seaside, although I wouldn’t describe that as a beautiful sound – more of a screech.
没错，虽然其声音谈不上动听，更多是尖叫，但让我想起了海边。
Let’s hear another sound from one of our feathered friends – or in other words, birds…
下面我们再来听一段鸟叫声。
That’s the call of a blackbird – something I hear in my back garden.
啊，是画眉！我家后花园里就能听到。
It’s a very distinctive song – easy to recognise and something you hear a lot of in the British summer.
它的声音非常独特，容易辨识，夏天常能听见。
And how about this bird – what does it make you think of?
那这种鸟呢？它让你想起了什么？
That has to be a cuckoo – its call sounds like its name – ‘cuckoo’.
这肯定是布谷鸟，它的叫声就如其名，‘布谷’。
It reminds me of springtime because that’s when you first hear them. It’s incredible that there are so many different birdsongs.
这让我想起了春天，因为那时能首次听到它们的叫声。哇，真是难以置信，竟然有这么多不同鸟鸣声。
Well, that’s why BBC Radio 4’s Tweet of the Day features 265 different birdsongs.
是啊，所以BBC第四广播台的‘鸟语时光’节目里有265种声音。
Sound engineers have been outside and captured – or recorded - the sounds of birds with strange names like the wood warbler, night jar, lesser whitethroat and yellowhammer.
录音师们走到室外，捕捉记录鸟叫声，并起些奇怪名字，如林柳莺，欧夜鹰，白喉林莺，金翼啄木鸟。
Great names. But listening to these strange- named birds may be enjoyable but their tweeting could also be useful.
好名字。它们或许会让人心情愉悦，但鸟叫声更可能起作用。
That’s right. Sound experts say some birdsongs can help you concentrate when you’re studying.
没错。声音专家表示，某些鸟叫声有助于大家学习时集中注意力。
Yes, a writer called Julian Treasure says birdsong can relax the body and make your mind more alert.
是的，作家Julian Treasure称鸟鸣声可放松身体，让大脑更清醒。
He thinks the dawn chorus is like nature’s alarm clock – ‘it stimulates us cognitively’ – so gets our brains working and thinking.
他认为清晨鸟鸣就像自然闹钟，刺激我们的认知性，并让大脑思考工作。
Another study found the natural sounds of birdsong might stop you getting tired and sleepy after eating a meal.
另一项研究表明，鸟鸣声或可阻止大家饭后疲乏困倦。
An experiment found playing birdsong to school children after lunch made them more alert. We should try it here Rob.
实验发现，午餐后给学生放鸟鸣声可让其更清醒。Rob，咱俩应该试试哈。
We should. There’s even a smartphone app that plays birdsong and claims to help you work better.
恩。你知道吗，智能手机上还有播放鸟鸣的应用，声称有助于更好工作。
But there’s no need for an app, all I need to do is open the window and listen to the birds outside…
但应用也没必要啊，我只需打开窗户，听听外面的鸟叫就行了。
…but are they all of the bird species I asked you about earlier? My question was how many species of birds are there on Britain’s official bird list?
可那不是所有鸟叫吧？对了，我之前问你，英国官方鸟名单上有多少种鸟？
And I said a) 396 .
我选的A.396
Sorry Jen, you’re wrong. Incredibly there are 596 types of species in Britain. 286 of them are rare – so not many of them left.
抱歉，Jen，回答错误。实际上，英国有596种鸟，其中286种是稀有品种。
OK Jen, there’s just time to remind us of some of the vocabulary that we heard today:
好了，Jen，该带大家回顾下今天所听词汇了。
We heard… species, tweeting, chirp, twitcher, dawn chorus, scavenger, screech, feathered friends, captured, nature’s alarm clock, rare.
species（物种、品种） ，tweeting（啁啾、鸟叫）， chirp（唧唧）， twitcher（观鸟迷） ，dawn chorus（清晨鸟叫声）， scavenger（食腐动物），screech（尖叫），feathered friends（鸟）， captured（捕捉）， nature’s alarm clock（自然闹钟）， rare（稀有、罕见）
Thanks. Time, now, for some more tweeting. Join us again soon for 6 Minute English from BBC Learning English .
谢谢你。好了，想听更多鸟鸣声，敬请收听BBC六分钟英语。
Bye.
拜拜~