VOA慢速英语2012 Agriculture Report - Do It Yourself: Raising Angora Goats

 

Agriculture Report - Do It Yourself: Raising Angora Goats

This is the VOA Special English Agriculture Report.

Has anyone ever tried to get your goat? To "get your goat" is an expression. It means to make you mad. A good friend might tell you: "Don't worry about what that person said. He was just trying to get your goat."

But there are plenty of good reasons to get a goat -- and not just for milk or meat. The animals can help control weeds. They can be friendly with children and adults. And they can make money with their hair.

Cashmere goats produce cashmere. Angora goats produce -- no, not angora. Angora fiber¹ comes from rabbits. Angora goats produce mohair. Mohair is used to make clothing, carpets and other products.

The goats came from the Anatolian plains. Their name comes from the Turkish city of Ankara. The Mohair Council² of America says the first Angora goats arrived in the United States in eighteen forty-nine. Seven females³ and two males were imported.

Today the United States is one of the world's leading producers of mohair. The other top sources are South Africa and Turkey. Ninety percent of the mohair from the United States comes from Texas.

An adult Angora can produce as much as seven kilograms of hair each year. The value of the coat depends on the age, size and condition of the goat. As Angoras get older, their hair becomes thicker and less valuable.

The goats need their mother's milk for the first three or four months. They reach full maturity⁴ at about two years. But even then they are smaller than most sheep and milk goats.

Cashmere goats are usually larger than Angoras. Cashmere goats can grow big enough to be kept with sheep and cattle.

The outer hair of the animal is called guard hair. Behind it is the valuable material on a cashmere goat. Some farmers just comb their cashmere goats to remove the hair. But if the goats do get a haircut, it often happens when they would naturally lose their winter coat, between December and March.

Angora goats generally get their hair cut twice a year, in the spring and fall. Owners do it themselves or hire a professional shearer⁵. An Angora without a coat can get cold. So it may need to be kept extra warm for about a month after shearing⁶.

And that's the VOA Special English Agriculture Report. To read, listen and learn English with our stories, go to www.voanews.cn. You can also find captioned⁷ videos of our program at the VOA Learning⁸ English channel on YouTube. I'm Jim Tedder⁹.

1 fiber   

n.纤维，纤维质

参考例句：

• The basic structural unit of yarn is the fiber.纤维是纱的基本结构单元。
• The material must be free of fiber clumps.这种材料必须无纤维块。

2 council   

n.理事会，委员会，议事机构

参考例句：

• The town council passed a law forbidding the distribution of handbills.市议会通过法律，禁止散发传单。
• The city council has declared for improving the public bus system.市议会宣布同意改进公共汽车系统。

3 females   

n.雌性动物( female的名词复数 )；女人

参考例句：

• The male birds are more colourful than the females. 这种鸟雄性比雌性更加色彩艳丽。
• The males in the herd protect the females and the young. 兽中的雄性动物保护雌性动物和幼崽。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 maturity   

n.成熟；完成；(支票、债券等)到期

参考例句：

• These plants ought to reach maturity after five years.这些植物五年后就该长成了。
• This is the period at which the body attains maturity.这是身体发育成熟的时期。

5 shearer   

n.剪羊毛的人；剪切机

参考例句：

• A bad shearer never had a good sickle. 拙匠无利器。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Eventually, Shearer lost faith, dropping him to the bench. 最终，希勒不再信任他，把他换下场。 来自互联网

6 shearing   

n.剪羊毛，剪取的羊毛v.剪羊毛( shear的现在分词 )；切断；剪切

参考例句：

• The farmer is shearing his sheep. 那农夫正在给他的羊剪毛。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The result of this shearing force is to push the endoplasm forward. 这种剪切力作用的结果是推动内质向前。 来自辞典例句

7 captioned   

a.标题项下的； 标题所说的

参考例句：

• This paper reviews the production, development and nationalization of the captioned materials. 本文就铜系合金引线框架材料的生产、发展和国产化进程作一论述。
• Please advise other considerable hotels for this captioned group. 请推荐其它一些高级的旅馆给这一群打标语的人。

8 learning   

n.学问，学识，学习；动词learn的现在分词

参考例句：

• When you are learning to ride a bicycle,you often fall off.初学骑自行车时，常会从车上掉下来。
• Learning languages isn't just a matter of remembering words.学习语言不仅仅是记些单词的事。

9 tedder   

n.（干草）翻晒者，翻晒机

参考例句：

• Jim Tedder has more. 吉姆？特德将给我们做更多的介绍。 来自互联网
• Jim Tedder tells us more. 吉姆？泰德给我们带来更详细的报道。 来自互联网