【英语趣味课堂】老虎养殖场-Tiger Farm

Paul: Hey, Todd. I saw your pictures with you and some tigers. Where's that from?

Todd: That was at a place in Southeast Asia. It was in Thailand, actually.

 

Paul: All right.

 

Todd: Yeah, it was pretty cool. I was a bit dubious¹ of it. I mean, I saw the little advertisement of Tiger World and Tiger Zoo, or whatever it was. I went and took a tuk-tuk out there and checked it out, and it was pretty cool.

 

Paul: How are the tigers treated within the zoo, the Tiger Land?

 

Todd: Well, it's actually quite weird², in that it was like a zoo but you can go in and like touch the tigers -

 

Paul: Oh, wow!

 

Todd: --and be around the tigers. And so, they seem to have a pretty big area to roam³ around, and I guess they have a pretty good life. I guess the deal is that they were all raised in captivity⁴, so they kind of give you a little spiel when you go in, and they explain that the tigers are raised in captivity, just like you would raise cows or pigs or horses or anything like that. So they're bred for the farm, and even though they're still really deadly, basically, you know, that's why they're there, because they were bred to be there.

 

Paul: Bred to entertain.

 

Todd: Yeah, kind of. It's a bit odd. You do feel a little strange, because you figure that they're tigers, and they should be out in the wild. But then again, you know, it's an opportunity for people to actually see these beautiful things.

 

Paul: Yeah, it's an opportunity. I guess it's an opportunity also to learn about these creatures, which would are found in the wild.

 

Todd: Right.

 

Paul: Okay, wow, I mean, you're really close to those tigers, Todd. I mean, how did you feel? Were you scared?

 

Todd: Actually, yeah. I mean, it's a little unsettling. Even with the little babies, you figure, - Wow! you know, or the young ones, that they are still quite big, you know. When they lie down on the ground, the full length of their body, even for a young tiger, is about the size of a human.

 

Paul: Wow.

 

Todd: And you realize that, you know, they could eat anything, so it's a bit scary.

 

Paul: Yeah, you could have been eaten at any point.

 

Todd: Well, it definitely crosses your mind. And you ask them about that, because naturally, everybody's worried about security, safety. And they say that, you know, their deal is that they know the tigers' behavior down cold, and that they know that as long as you feed the tigers early in the morning, and then they feed them again at night, then during the day, they just want to lay and sleep. They have no desire to go hunting or anything like that. So that's why they're actually safe to be around in the afternoon hours.

 

Paul: Ah, they're very like placid⁵ by that point.

 

Todd: Right. And they also say that because the tigers are born in captivity that they're used to being around humans from birth. So ever since they're little cubs⁶, you know, they've had human handlers. They've had humans around them, so they're highly familiar and comfortable with humans touching⁷ them, being around them. So that's how they can, you know, allow people to be around them and keep it safe. But it still does cross your mind.

 

Paul: Yeah, I'm sure it does, especially if you're a parent with a child, because obviously, you know, children will be a quite nice meal for a tiger.

 

Todd: Actually, you know what? I think, looking back, you couldn't take children in the cage.

 

Paul: Ah.

 

Todd: I think it was almost like an amusement park; you had to be a certain height. So they didn't want you to be---they didn't want anything small that would just be too tempting⁸ for the tiger.

 

Paul: Yeah.

 

Todd: Although that seems kind of strange, because there were really small, petite women that were going in the cage.

 

Paul: I see.

 

Todd: So there's not that much of a difference there.

 

Paul: No, I don't suppose so. I guess, if it's based on height.

 

重点词汇：

 

Learn Vocabulary from the lesson

check (it) out

 

I decided⁹ to check it out.

 

When we check something out, that means we have a look to see what it's like. Notice the following:

 

Hey, check out my new laptop.

Let's check out the new dance club tomorrow night.

spiel

 

They kind of give you a spiel.

 

A spiel is a short speech or presentation usually to get us to buy something. Notice the following:

 

I've heard that spiel a thousand times.

The writing workshop was actually a spiel to sell English books.

raised in captivity

 

The tigers are raised in captivity.

 

An animal raised in captivity is most often born in a zoo. Notice the following:

 

It's often impossible to return an animal raised in captivity to the wild.

The pandas were raised in captivity.

unsettling

 

That experience was unsettling.

 

Something that is unsettling makes us feel worried of upset. Notice the following:

 

The news of the Tsunami¹⁰ was quite unsettling.

Changing schools can be quite unsettling for kids.

crosses the mind

 

The thought crosses your mind.

 

Something that crosses the mind is a quick thought. Notice the following:

 

The danger briefly¹¹ crossed his mind.

His name? It never crossed my mind to ask.

1 dubious   

adj.怀疑的，无把握的；有问题的，靠不住的

参考例句：

• What he said yesterday was dubious.他昨天说的话很含糊。
• He uses some dubious shifts to get money.他用一些可疑的手段去赚钱。

2 weird   

adj.古怪的，离奇的；怪诞的，神秘而可怕的

参考例句：

• From his weird behaviour,he seems a bit of an oddity.从他不寻常的行为看来，他好像有点怪。
• His weird clothes really gas me.他的怪衣裳简直笑死人。

3 roam   

vi.漫游，闲逛，徜徉

参考例句：

• He used to roam the streets for hours on end.他过去常逛大街，一逛就是几个小时。
• I like to roam about over the countryside.我喜欢在乡间走一走。

4 captivity   

n.囚禁；被俘；束缚

参考例句：

• A zoo is a place where live animals are kept in captivity for the public to see.动物园是圈养动物以供公众观看的场所。
• He was held in captivity for three years.他被囚禁叁年。

5 placid   

adj.安静的，平和的

参考例句：

• He had been leading a placid life for the past eight years.八年来他一直过着平静的生活。
• You should be in a placid mood and have a heart-to- heart talk with her.你应该心平气和的好好和她谈谈心。

6 cubs   

n.幼小的兽，不懂规矩的年轻人( cub的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• a lioness guarding her cubs 守护幼崽的母狮
• Lion cubs depend on their mother to feed them. 狮子的幼仔依靠母狮喂养。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 touching   

adj.动人的，使人感伤的

参考例句：

• It was a touching sight.这是一幅动人的景象。
• His letter was touching.他的信很感人。

8 tempting   

a.诱人的, 吸引人的

参考例句：

• It is tempting to idealize the past. 人都爱把过去的日子说得那么美好。
• It was a tempting offer. 这是个诱人的提议。

9 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

10 tsunami   

n.海啸

参考例句：

• Powerful quake sparks tsunami warning in Japan.大地震触发了日本的海啸预警。
• Coastlines all around the Indian Ocean inundated by a huge tsunami.大海啸把印度洋沿岸地区都淹没了。

11 briefly   

adv.简单地，简短地

参考例句：

• I want to touch briefly on another aspect of the problem.我想简单地谈一下这个问题的另一方面。
• He was kidnapped and briefly detained by a terrorist group.他被一个恐怖组织绑架并短暂拘禁。