美語情景對話 第1040期:The Big Five 五大動物

Ana: I heard that South Africa is famous for its wild animals.

安娜：我聽說南非以野生動物聞名。

Mike: That's true. We have many different kinds of animals in South Africa. Have you heard of the big five?

邁克爾：沒錯。南非有很多種動物。你聽說過南非五大動物嗎？

Ana: I think so but I don't remember what it is.

安娜：我應該聽過，不過我不記得是哪五大動物了。

Mike: So the big five are the animals that foreign tourists like to come and see in South Africa. And there are safaris and trips you can go on to wildlife reserves to see these animals.

邁克爾：五大動物指外國遊客想去南非欣賞的動物。有那種帶你去野生動物保護區觀賞這些動物的旅行。

Ana: So what are they?

安娜：那是哪五大動物？

Mike: So would you like to guess?

邁克爾：你想猜猜嗎？

Ana: I guess lions.

安娜：我猜有獅子。

Mike: Yes, that's one of them.

邁克爾：對，獅子是其中之一。

Ana: And elephants.

安娜：還有大象。

Mike: Yes.

邁克爾：對。

Ana: And giraffes.

安娜：長頸鹿。

Mike: No. The giraffe is definitely a big animal but it's not one of the big five. The other three are rhinoceros, the — is it the water buffalo, I think. And the final one is — what is the final one?

邁克爾：錯。長頸鹿的確是大型動物，不過它並不包括在五大動物裏。其他三種動物是犀牛，還有水牛。你猜最後一種是什麼？

Ana: Is it the cheetah?

安娜：是非洲豹嗎？

Mike: Yes, the cheetah. Yes. The cheetah can run very, very fast.

邁克爾：對，非洲豹。非洲豹的奔跑速度非常非常快。

Ana: Okay, and have you seen all of these animals?

安娜：好，這些動物你都看見過嗎？

Mike: Let me think. It's been a while since I visited a wildlife reserve but I've seen elephants before. And let's see; I've seen a lion. I don't think I've ever seen a cheetah. I've seen a rhinoceros from far away.

邁克爾：我想一下。我已經很久沒去野生動物保護區了，我以前看到過大象。我想想啊，我也看到過獅子。我想我沒有看到過非洲豹。我從遠處看到過犀牛。

Ana: I've heard they're quite dangerous.

安娜：我聽說它們非常危險。

Mike: I don't think that there are not many of them in the wild. I don't know if there are any in the wild. They're all in wildlife enclosures so that actually I don't think many people are injured or killed by rhinoceroses. But actually, do you know what the most dangerous animal is in Africa?

邁克爾：我想自然環境中沒有多少這種動物。我不知道自然環境中有沒有。它們都生活在野生動物保護圈地中，所以我想不會有很多人被犀牛咬傷或咬死。你知道非洲最危險的動物是什麼嗎？

Ana: Is it the lion?

安娜：是獅子嗎？

Mike: No, it's not. It's the hippopotamus.

邁克爾：不是。是河馬。

Ana: Really?

安娜：真的嗎？

Mike: I think they killed more people every year in the world than any other animal.

邁克爾：我認爲相比於其他動物來說，每年世界上被河馬咬死的人最多。

Ana: Wow, that's very surprising.

安娜：哇哦，這太令人吃驚了。

Mike: Maybe mosquitoes kill more with malaria but in terms of big animals, it's definitely the hippopotamus.

邁克爾：也許蚊子傳播的瘧疾致死人數更多，不過就大型動物來說，最危險的動物一定是河馬。

Ana: Wow.

安娜：哇哦。

Mike: They have very long teeth as well.

邁克爾：河馬也有非常長的牙齒。

Ana: That's scary.

安娜：太可怕了。

Mike: Yeah. It is pretty scary. You don't want to be — you know, they can swim as well. So they would — and if you go out on the river in a little bit on a dam and there's a hippopotamus, he can tip your boat over and bite you in half.

邁克爾：對，非常可怕。你並不想……你知道，河馬也會游泳。如果你在大壩划船，那裏如果有河馬，它可以掀翻你的船，把你咬成兩半。

Ana: All right. So you should definitely look out for hippos when you go to South Africa.

安娜：好吧。去南非玩的時候一定要小心河馬。

Mike: Yeah. You should be careful. Crocodiles can also be nasty.

邁克爾：對。一定要小心。鱷魚也非常可怕。

Ana: Okay.

安娜：好。

譯文屬僅供學習交流使用，未經許可請勿轉載

重點講解：
1. be famous for 因……出名；
例句：Austria is famous for its music.
奧地利以音樂而聞名。
2. in terms of 在…方面；從…角度看；根據…來說；
例句：Now you can compare the sections in terms of clarity and unclarity.
現在，你可以依據清晰和模糊程度來比較各部分。
3. tip over 打翻；翻倒；
例句：He tipped the table over in front of him.
他把面前的桌子打翻了。
4. look out for 留心；注意；留意；
例句：The group are warned to look out for pickpockets.
這些人得到警告說要當心扒手。