VOA慢速英语2011--Test Your Word Knowledge With a Quiz About Farm Terms

Agriculture Report - Test Your Word Knowledge With a Quiz About Farm Terms

 

This is the VOA Special English Agriculture Report.

Today we have a vocabulary quiz. We start with two questions about terms for plants.

OK, first question: What is the name for a plant that lives only one year or one growing season? This kind of plant is called an annual. Think of an "annual report," a report published just once a year.

You can probably guess the next question. What do we call a plant that produces new growth year after year? Plants that keep growing back are called perennials². So a perennial¹ is the opposite of an annual. Perennials come back year after year.

Now some questions about terms for livestock³.

What is another name for a male cow? A bull, right? Well, not always. A male cow is usually called a bull only if it still has its reproductive organs. If not, we call it a -- what? The answer: a steer⁴.

Next question: What is another name for a young cow? A very young cow is called a calf⁵. But a young female cow, especially one that has not had a calf yet, has a special name. Do you know what it is? The answer: a heifer. Maybe you knew that. But here is question just for our radio listeners -- can you spell it? Heifer is spelled H-E-I-F-E-R.

Two heifers at the Pennsylvania Farm Show

Cows, like all mammals, lactate. Our next question is: do you know what that means? To lactate means to produce milk. Cows lactate for up to ten months.

In milk, fat rises to the top. But some people do not like to drink milk that way. So there is a process that reduces the size of the fat particles and mixes them all through the milk. This process has a name -- a long name. What is it? It's called homogenization.

Still with us? OK, another question. Milk can be made into cheese. Some people like cheese made with milk from a sheep. What do you call a female sheep? The answer: a ewe, spelled E-W-E.

Male sheep have their own name. A male sheep is a -- what? A ram⁶.

Rams⁷ and ewes produce lambs. A lamb is a sheep less than a year old. But what do you call the meat from a sheep over a year old? Then we call it mutton.

Age also plays a part in terms for horses. For example, a mare⁸ is generally a female three years or older. But what do you call a female horse under three? The answer: a filly. And for extra credit: do you know the name for a male horse under four? A colt.

If you want to take this quiz again, you can find it at voanews.cn. And that’s the VOA Special English Agriculture Report.

1 perennial   

adj.终年的；长久的

参考例句：

• I wonder at her perennial youthfulness.我对她青春常驻感到惊讶。
• There's a perennial shortage of teachers with science qualifications.有理科教学资格的老师一直都很短缺。

2 perennials   

n.多年生植物( perennial的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Name six perennials and six annuals suitable for indoor flower arrangement. 列出多年生及一年生花朵各六种，它们必须是适合插花的。 来自互联网
• Herbage can be divided into three categories: annuals, biennials, and perennials. 草本植物可分成一年生、二年生和多年生。 来自互联网

3 livestock   

n.家畜，牲畜

参考例句：

• Both men and livestock are flourishing.人畜两旺。
• The heavy rains and flooding killed scores of livestock.暴雨和大水淹死了许多牲口。

4 steer   

vt.驾驶，为…操舵；引导；vi.驾驶

参考例句：

• If you push the car, I'll steer it.如果你来推车，我就来驾车。
• It's no use trying to steer the boy into a course of action that suits you.想说服这孩子按你的方式行事是徒劳的。

5 calf   

n.小牛，犊，幼仔，小牛皮

参考例句：

• The cow slinked its calf.那头母牛早产了一头小牛犊。
• The calf blared for its mother.牛犊哞哞地高声叫喊找妈妈。

6 ram   

(random access memory)随机存取存储器

参考例句：

• 512k RAM is recommended and 640k RAM is preferred.推荐配置为512K内存，640K内存则更佳。

7 rams   

n.公羊( ram的名词复数 )；(R-)白羊（星）座；夯；攻城槌v.夯实（土等）( ram的第三人称单数 )；猛撞；猛压；反复灌输

参考例句：

• A couple of rams are butting at each other. 两只羊正在用角互相抵触。 来自辞典例句
• More than anything the rams helped to break what should have been on interminable marriage. 那些牡羊比任何东西都更严重地加速了他们那本该天长地久的婚姻的破裂。 来自辞典例句

8 mare   

n.母马，母驴

参考例句：

• The mare has just thrown a foal in the stable.那匹母马刚刚在马厩里产下了一只小马驹。
• The mare foundered under the heavy load and collapsed in the road.那母马因负载过重而倒在路上。