兔子是可爱的朋友还是狡猾的骗子？
Rabbits: cuddly friends or cunning tricksters?
Hello. This is 6 Minute English, I'm Neil. And joining me is Rob.
大家好。这里是六分钟英语，我是尼尔。和我搭档的是罗伯。
Hello.
大家好。
Rob, when we think of Easter, what do you think of?
罗伯，当想起复活节时，你会想到什么？
Chocolate!
巧克力！
Well, yes chocolate Easter eggs are an obvious symbol of Easter.
嗯，是的，巧克力复活节彩蛋是复活节的一个明显象征。
But there is an animal people often associate with Easter...
但有一种动物人经常与复活节联系在一起……
Rabbits! Cute, adorable and fluffy – what's not to like about a rabbit?
兔子！可爱，讨人喜欢又蓬松——对兔子有什么不喜欢呢？
Well, not everyone is a fan of them – by not a fan of I mean they don't like them.
好吧，不是每个人都是它们的喜爱者——说不是它们的喜爱者，我的意思是他们不喜欢兔子。
Some people think they are a pest.
有些人认为它们是害虫。
But we'll be telling you more about rabbits shortly.
但我们很快就会告诉你更多关于兔子的内容。
That's good to know.
很高兴要知道。
Well, I'll tell you what I am a fan of and that is your quiz questions – so what are you going to ask me today?
好吧，我会告诉你我是谁的喜爱者，是你的测验问题的喜爱者——所以你今天要问我什么？
It's all about wild rabbits.
问题都和野兔有关。
In the last rabbit survey in 1995, how many were estimated to exist in the UK?
在1995年最近一次对兔子的调查中，估计有多少只存在于英国？
Is it... a) 370,500 b) 3,750,000, or c) 37,500,000?
是……a）370,500 b）3,750,000还是c）37,500,000？
I know rabbits are everywhere in the UK but not 37 million of them – so I'll go for b) 3,750,000.
我知道兔子在英国无处不在，但不会是3700万——所以我会选b）3,750,000。
Well, you’ll have to wait until the end of the programme to find out.
好吧，你必须等到节目结束才能找到答案。
But you're right when you say rabbits are everywhere in the UK.
但是你说兔子在英国到处都是是对的。
It's probably true in other countries too.
在其他国家也可能如此。
You could say they are endemic – meaning very common or strongly established in a place or situation.
你可以说它们是地方性的——意味着在一个地方或情况下非常普遍或强烈存在。
But are they a typically British wild animal?
但它们是典型的英国野生动物吗？
They are now but it's believed they were brought to the country by invaders – some say The Romans, others The Normans.
它们现在是，但据说它们是被入侵者带到这个国家——有人说是罗马人，有些人说是诺曼人。
But they eventually spread across the UK.
但它们最终遍布整个英国。
Victoria Dickinson is author of a book called Rabbit and she's been telling the BBC Radio 4 programme Costing The Earth about what helped them spread...
维多利亚·迪金森是一本名为《兔子》的书籍的作者，她告诉BBC广播4频道Costing The Earth节目是什么帮助兔子繁衍的……
It was really by the middle of the 17th Century when people really started to think about rabbit as being particularly British...
真的是在17世纪中叶人们真正开始认为兔子尤其在英国……
and certainly there were more rabbits in Britain than in the rest of Europe.
当然，英国的兔子比欧洲其它地方的兔子多。
There was a calculation done that there are over 400 villages and towns in Britain with the word 'warren' in their name.
据计算英国有超过400个乡镇的名字里有“养兔场”字样。
So the rabbits were raised in Britain but they really kept to their warrens until there was the rise of fox hunting
所以英国的兔子数量增加，但它们真的被养在养兔场里是直到狐狸捕食加剧
- when their predators disappeared rabbits do what rabbits do best, and they started to multiply and become wild, feral rabbits throughout the land.
——当它们的捕食者消失时，兔子活得最好，然后它们开始繁殖，成为野生的兔子。
So Victoria knows a thing or two about rabbits – and said the word 'warren' used in town and village names, is evidence that they've been in the UK since the mid-17th Century.
所以维多利亚知道关于兔子的二三事——而且说村镇名字中使用“养兔场”这个单词证明了兔子自17世纪中叶以来一直存在于英国。
A warren is the area underground where rabbits live with lots of holes and connected passages.
“养兔场”是兔子住着的地下区域，有很多洞和相连的通道。
But today we use the word warren to mean a building or part of a town where there are lots of confusing passageways or streets.
但今天我们用“养兔场”这个词来表示一个建筑物或城镇的一部分，那里有许多令人困惑的通道或街道。
It's a kind of place where you get lost.
它是一个让你迷路的地方。
But it was rabbit warrens where rabbits would live until hunting, particularly fox hunting, was introduced and that killed many of the rabbit's predators.
但兔子生活的地方是养兔场是直到捕食，特别是狐狸开始捕食，那杀死了许多兔子的捕食者。
A predator is an animal that hunts and kills another animal.
捕食者是捕杀另一种动物的动物。
Now, Victoria was talking about feral rabbits – so wild rabbits – not the sort people keep at pets in a rabbit hutch.
维多利亚谈到野兔——野生兔子——不像人们养在兔笼中的兔子那样。
Moving on – I'm interested to know why not everyone loves these cute little creatures, I mean, think of the rabbit characters in the Beatrix Potter stories.
继续——我很想知道为什么不是每个人都喜欢这些可爱的小动物，我的意思是，想想毕翠克丝·波特所写故事中的兔子形象。
Well they weren't always well behaved.
好吧，它们并不总是表现得很好。
And Victoria Dickinson spoke to the Costing the Earth programme about this.
维多利亚迪·金森在Costing the Earth节目中谈到了这。
What word did she use to describe rabbits having the two opposite sides to their character?
她用什么词来描述兔子的性格具有两个相反面？
The rabbit is a paradoxical animal; it has a lot of faces if you will.
兔子是一种矛盾的动物; 如果你愿意，它会有很多面孔。
It's both wild and tame, it's timid but also has its reputation as trickster rabbit
它既是野生的又能被驯服，它胆小但也有骗子兔的名声
- if you think of Peter Cottontail, or you think of Br'er Rabbits
——如果你想想彼得·科顿泰尔 ，或者你想想布里兔
- and I think our relationship with rabbit is the rabbit of the nursery rhyme, the rabbit of childhood or you think of Peter Rabbit.
——我认为我们与兔子的联系就是童谣里兔子，童年的兔子或者你可以想一下彼得兔。
She said that rabbits are paradoxical animals – that's the word that describes them having two opposing characteristics.
她说兔子是矛盾的动物——那个单词形容的是它们具有两种相反的特征。
Yes – we think of them as wild, maybe a trickster – someone who deceives people to get what they want. Like Peter – what a cheeky rabbit!
是的——我们认为它们是野生的，也许是骗子——欺骗人们获得自己想要的东西的人。 像彼得兔一样——多么无耻的兔子！
But we also think of rabbits as tame – we have nursery rhymes about them, kids have soft cuddly rabbit toys.
但我们也认为兔子是温顺的——我们有关于它们的童谣，孩子们有柔软可爱的兔子玩具。
I say that they're the perfect symbol for Easter.
我说兔子是复活节的完美象征。
OK Rob, if you say so.
好的，罗伯，如果你这么说的话。
But now let me answer the question I set you earlier.
但现在让我解答一下我之前提出的问题。
In the last survey of rabbits in 1995, how many were estimated to exist in the UK?
在1995年最近一次关于兔子调查中，英国估计有多少只兔子存在？
Was it... a) 370,500 b) 3,750,000, or c) 37,500,000?
是……a）370,500 b）3,750,000还是c）37,500,000？
Rob, what did you say?
罗伯，你说是？
I said b) 3,750,000.
我说是b) 3,750,000。
Well, you're wrong Rob!
好吧，你答错了，罗伯！
A government survey put the population in the UK at 37.5 million – so a lot more.
一项政府调查显示英国的兔子数量为3750万——所以要多得多啊。
But despite its reputation, a recent survey suggests rabbit numbers in the UK have declined by around 60 per cent over the last 20 years.
但不考虑它们的名声，最近的一项调查显示英国的兔子数量在过去20年中下降了约60％。
That is sad news.
那是个悲伤的消息。
But let's cheer ourselves up with a recap of the vocabulary we've discussed today, starting with a fan of.
但是让我们回顾今天讨论过的词汇，振作起来，从“喜爱者”开始。
When someone is a fan of something, they are keen on it, they like it a lot.
当某人喜爱某事物时，他们会热衷于它，他们非常喜欢它。
If you're not a fan of something – you don't like it.
如果你不是某种物品的喜爱者——你不喜欢它。
We mentioned endemic - meaning very common or strongly established in a place or situation.
我们提到了“地方性的”——指的是在一个地方或情况下非常普遍或强烈存在。
And we talked about a warren – an underground area where rabbits live, but also a building or a part of a town where there are lots of confusing passageways or streets where it is easy to get lost.
我们谈到了“养兔场”——兔子居住的一个地下区域，但同样是一个建筑物或城镇的一部分，那里有许多令人困惑的通道或街道，很容易迷路。
A predator is an animal that hunts and kills another animal.
捕食者是捕杀另一种动物的动物。
Paradoxical describes things that have two opposing characteristics making it hard to understand.
“矛盾的”形容具有两个相反特征的事物，使其难以理解。
And a trickster is someone who deceives people to get what they want.
骗子是欺骗人们获得自己想要的东西的人。
Well, I’m no trickster, it really has been six minutes so it's time to call it a day.
嗯，我不是骗子，真的过了六分钟，所以是时候结束了。
Please join us next time.
下次再加入我们啊。
Bye for now.
再见了。
Goodbye!
再见！