【听音频，也可猛戳左下角“阅读原文”】
This is 6 Minute English from BBC Learning English dot com.
这里是bbclearningenglish. com英语六分钟节目。
Rob: 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英语六分钟，我是罗伯，我们一起欣赏这优美的声音。
Jen: 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，我是詹尼佛。今天节目的主题是鸟叫声。
Rob: 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--各种小鸟叽叽喳喳地叫着。
Jen: Tweeting? You mean they are using Twitter - the social media site?!
Tweeting？你是说它们用的是社交媒体网站--Twitter？
Rob: Of course not! Tweeting is a way of describing the sounds birds make. We sometimes say they chirp or trill too - making short, high- pitched sounds.
当然不是！Tweeting是用来描述鸟的叫声的。有时我们也会说chirp（唧唧）或trill（啭鸣），就是说这种声音较短而且音调高。
Jen: Yes, I knew that really. But a BBC radio station in the UK is playing a different birdsong every day. They're calling it 'Tweet of the Day' - which is a clever title.
没错，我知道。但英国BBC广播电台每天都在播放不同的鸟叫声。它叫做'鸟语时光'，这个标题真的很棒。
Rob: 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. Do you know how many species of birds there are on Britain's official bird list? a) 396 b) 496 c) 596
是啊，的确很好。稍后我们再继续探讨这一话题。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）。请问，英国官方鸟名单上有多少种鸟？A. 396 B. 496 C. 596
Jen: 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，我选A. 396
Rob: 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. Where I live, there are many fields and trees and there is nothing more beautiful - and noisy - than the sound of the dawn chorus.
确实很多。在节目的最后，我们再看你的答案是否正确。现在咱们继续聊聊鸟叫吧。我住的地方有很多田地和树木，当然也有噪音。但是最美好的声音莫过于清晨的鸟叫声。
Jen: 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! But I know what you mean about birdsong - it makes you think about different places. Listen to this birdsong , for example…
一大清早，鸟儿们就开始名叫。如果当时你想多睡会，那你就不觉得这叫声美妙了。我知道你说的'鸟叫'什么意思。鸟叫会让人想起很多地方。先来听听下面这段鸟叫声。
Rob: Yes, the seagull - a scavenger which eats food scraps or other dead animals.
这是海鸥的叫声，他们是食腐动物，专吃食物残渣或其他动物的尸体。
Jen: Yes, it reminds me of the seaside, although I wouldn't describe that as a beautiful sound - more of a screech. Let's hear another sound from one of our feathered friends - or in other words, birds…
没错，虽然我觉得这种尖叫声并不动听，但这让我想起了海边。下面我们再来听一段鸟叫声。
Rob: That's the call of a blackbird - something I hear in my back garden. It's a very distinctive song - easy to recognise and something you hear a lot of in the British summer.
这是乌鸦的叫声！在我家后花园里就能听到这种声音。它的声音非常独特，容易辨识。我们经常在夏天听到这种声音。
Jen: And how about this bird - what does it make you think of?
那这种鸟叫声呢？它让你想起了什么？
Rob: That has to be a cuckoo - its call sounds like its name - 'cuckoo'. It reminds me of springtime because that's when you first hear them. It's incredible that there are so many different birdsongs.
这肯定是布谷鸟，它的叫声听起来就像它的名字--'布谷'。这让我想起了春天，因为你第一次听到这种叫声是在春天。哇，真是难以置信，竟然有这么多种不同的鸟叫声。
Jen: Well, that's why BBC Radio 4's Tweet of the Day features 265 different birdsongs. 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.
是啊，所以BBC第四广播台的'鸟语时光'节目里有265种声音。录音师们到室外捕捉并记录鸟叫声，这些的鸟的名字都很奇怪，如林柳莺，欧夜鹰，白喉林莺，金翼啄木鸟。
Rob: Great names. But listening to these strange-named birds may be enjoyable but their tweeting could also be useful.
好名字。虽然这些鸟的名字比较奇怪，但是听着他们的叫声或许能让人心情愉悦，而且他们的叫声也会很有用。
Jen: That's right. Sound experts say some birdsongs can help you concentrate when you're studying.
没错。声音专家表示，在大家学习时，某些鸟叫声有助于我们集中注意力。
Rob: Yes, a writer called Julian Treasure says birdsong can relax the body and make your mind more alert. He thinks the dawn chorus is like nature's alarm clock - 'it stimulates us cognitively' - so gets our brains working and thinking.
是的，一位名叫朱利安·特雷热的作家称鸟叫声可放松身体、让大脑更清醒。他认为清晨的鸟叫就像自然闹钟，刺激我们的认知能力--让大脑开始工作。
Jen: Another study found the natural sounds of birdsong might stop you getting tired and sleepy after eating a meal. An experiment found playing birdsong to school children after lunch made them more alert. We should try it here Rob.
另一项研究表明，自然界的鸟叫声或许能让你在饭后不会疲乏和困倦。实验发现，午餐后，学校给学生放鸟叫声，可让学生更清醒。罗伯，咱俩应该在这里试试。
Rob: We should. There's even a smartphone app that plays birdsong and claims to help you work better. But there's no need for an app, all I need to do is open the window and listen to the birds outside…
是的。你知道吗，能播放鸟叫声的手机应用声称这些鸟叫声有助于我们更好地工作。但没必要使用这些应用，我只需打开窗户，听听外面的鸟叫声就行了。
Rob: 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?
但外面有我之前问你的那些所有的声音吗？我的问题是英国官方鸟名单上有多少种鸟？
Jen: And I said a) 396 .
我选的A. 396
Rob: 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. OK Jen, there's just time to remind us of some of the vocabulary that we heard today:
抱歉，詹尼，回答错误。实际上，英国有596种鸟，其中286种是稀有品种。好了，詹尼，该带大家回顾一下今天听到的词汇了。
Jen: We heard…
我们听到了：
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
Rob: Thanks. Time, now, for some more tweeting. Join us again soon for 6 Minute English from BBC Learning English .
谢谢你。我们现在再来听听更多的鸟叫声。欢迎继续收听我们下一期的BBC六分钟。
Both: Bye.
拜拜。
That was 6 Minute English from BBC Learning English dot com.
以上是bbclearningenglish. com英语六分钟节目。
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