VOA慢速英语--庆祝10月4号世界动物日

Animal Lovers Celebrate World Animal Day

This is What’s Trending Today…

World Animal Day has been celebrated¹ on October 4 for many years.

The World Animal Day website says it was first celebrated in 1925 in Berlin, Germany on a different date. It moved to October 4 in 1929.

October 4 is the day Roman Catholics honor Saint Francis of Assisi, who was the patron saint of animals.

What happens on World Animal Day? Aside from Twitter getting filled up with lots of cute photos of animals, the day is designed to promote the rights of animals.

The group that organizes the day wants to make sure animals are treated well around the world.

In honor of the day, many organizations held special events. For example, some shelters held adoption² events. Other organizations held workshops to make sure owners learned the best way to take care of their animals.

One Twitter account called TheDodo has almost 500,000 followers³. The account owners made a video showing people treating animals "with love."

The video showed a man taking a beached dolphin back to the water, a police officer helping⁴ free a deer from a backyard volleyball net and a driver stopping to move a kitten off a busy roadway.

The television channel Nat Geo WILD posted a video of a baby elephant taking its first steps.

The actor Ricky Gervais presented a photo of himself with his dog, writing: “Happy #WorldAnimalDay. We’re nothing without them.”

Al Jazeera English made a video celebrating the work of a man in Kenya. He drives a truck over 70 kilometers more than once a week to transport water to thirsty animals. His truck holds 12,000 liters of water. He said some of the animals recognize him.

While animal welfare is a serious issue, many people had fun with the day.

One sports organization, the UEFA Champions League, wrote a story highlighting the soccer players with animal-oriented nicknames.

Over the years, some players have been known as “The Eel,” “The Mosquito,” “Snake-man” and “The Trout⁵.”

And that’s What’s Trending Today.

Words in This Story

patron saint – n. a saint who is believed to protect a particular place or type of person

cute – adj. having a pleasing and usually youthful appearance

promote – v. to make people aware of something

workshop– n. a class or series of classes in which a small group of people learn the methods and skills used in doing something

beached– v. when a large ocean animal has come out of the water onto land and is unable to return to the water.

1 celebrated   

adj.有名的，声誉卓著的

参考例句：

• He was soon one of the most celebrated young painters in England.不久他就成了英格兰最负盛名的年轻画家之一。
• The celebrated violinist was mobbed by the audience.观众团团围住了这位著名的小提琴演奏家。

2 adoption   

n.采用，采纳，通过；收养

参考例句：

• An adoption agency had sent the boys to two different families.一个收养机构把他们送给两个不同的家庭。
• The adoption of this policy would relieve them of a tremendous burden.采取这一政策会给他们解除一个巨大的负担。

3 followers   

追随者( follower的名词复数 )； 用户； 契据的附面； 从动件

参考例句：

• the followers of Mahatma Gandhi 圣雄甘地的拥护者
• The reformer soon gathered a band of followers round him. 改革者很快就获得一群追随者支持他。

4 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

5 trout   

n.鳟鱼；鲑鱼(属)

参考例句：

• Thousands of young salmon and trout have been killed by the pollution.成千上万的鲑鱼和鳟鱼的鱼苗因污染而死亡。
• We hooked a trout and had it for breakfast.我们钓了一条鳟鱼，早饭时吃了。