美語情景對話 第658期:Camels,Koalas,Kangaroos 駱駝考拉和袋鼠

Todd: Rebecca, I'm a huge animal lover. I love animals and Australia has lots of wildlife and animals. I was wondering, could you talk about them and starting with, what's the deal with the camels? Why do you have camels?

託德：麗貝卡，我非常喜歡動物。我喜歡動物，我知道澳大利亞有很多野生動物和其他動物。我想請你談一談，先從駱駝開始怎麼樣？澳大利亞爲什麼會有駱駝？

Rebecca: Camels are not really Australian animals but Australia's really big. It has a lot of desert in the center part of Australia so when white people first arrived in Australia, they decided to explore inland and because it's so dry, there's no water, the couldn't use horses so they brought camels over, but some got away and they went wild and they started breeding and now there's hundreds, maybe thousands, of camels running around wild in the desert.

麗貝卡：駱駝並不是澳大利亞特有的動物，不過澳大利亞的駱駝非常大。澳大利亞中部有大片的沙漠，所以當白人抵達澳大利亞時，他們決定開發內陸，可是因爲那裏太乾了，又沒有水，所以沒辦法用馬，所以他們帶來了駱駝，不過有些駱駝逃跑了，他們很生氣，所以他們開始飼養駱駝，現在澳大利亞沙漠區大概有數百頭，甚至是上千頭駱駝。

Todd: No, way, really. So these camels are just free to do whatever, like, do people try to catch them or just let them be or what's the deal?

託德：天哪。這些駱駝可以自由活動嗎？人們會把駱駝拴起來嗎？還是就讓它們自由地待着？是怎麼樣的？

Rebecca: As far as I know they have no jobs, no obligations. I think they can just do what they want. No, but in the northern part of Australia, actually they have a famous camel race every year, and it's like a horse race but with camels. That's pretty funny.

麗貝卡：據我所知，駱駝沒有做事的義務。它們可以自由活動。澳大利亞北部地區每年會舉辦著名的駱駝賽跑比賽，就像賽馬比賽一樣。駱駝賽跑非常有意思。

Todd: Cool. That would be cool to see. OK, I got to ask about the Koala. Now I heard that the Koala actually is not such a cute creature. That it has sharp claws and this and that. Is that true?

託德：真酷。觀看駱駝賽跑比賽一定很酷。好，下面我要問考拉了。我聽說考拉其實並不是那麼可愛的生物。考拉的爪子很鋒利，是嗎？

Rebecca: Yeah, something I could never really understand is why tourists want to cuddle a koala. I've never cuddled one and I don't want to because I've heard that they don't smell very nice. They're a little bit, not very friendly. Yes, they do have sharp claws and they can hurt you if they choose to. I think they genuinely are pretty peaceful, but I think they would rather sleep so.

麗貝卡：對，所以我非常不理解爲什麼遊客要去抱考拉。我從來沒有抱過考拉，我也不想這麼做，因爲我聽說考拉身上有不太好聞的味道。考拉其實不太友好。而且考拉的爪子很鋒利，可能會傷到你。我認爲其實考拉很平靜，它們可能寧願睡覺。

Todd: OK, and could the same be said for the kangaroo? So the kangaroo, are they these fun loving creatures or are they kind of wild and dangerous?

託德：好，那袋鼠的情況也是一樣嗎？袋鼠是可愛的動物還是危險的動物？

Rebecca: Kangaroos are definitely wild and dangerous. I think wallabies are safer. They're smaller and usually more friendly with people. You do have to be careful especially with male kangaroos. When I was a kid I tried to feed a kangaroo but the kangaroo got a little bit over excited about my sandwich and he pushed me over and he stole my sandwich.

麗貝卡：袋鼠絕對是又野又危險的動物。我認爲沙袋鼠要安全的多。沙袋鼠體型比袋鼠小，而且對人類更友好。接觸雄性袋鼠的時候一定要特別小心。我小時候曾試圖喂袋鼠，但是那隻袋鼠看到我的三明治以後有點興奮過頭了，所以它把我推倒，然後拿走了我的三明治。

Todd: Man. Whoa. Cool. Well, it's kind of cool that a kangaroo has an attitude. Ok, thans a lot, Rebecca.

託德：天哪，哇，酷。一隻袋鼠有這種心理也挺酷的。謝謝你，麗貝卡。

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重點講解：
1. get away （使）逃跑；（使）逃脫；
例句：The bank robbers used a stolen car to get away.
搶劫銀行的人坐一輛偷來的汽車逃跑了。
2. as far as I know （用於表示不太確信）據我所知；
例句：As far as I know, she didn't ask for a day off.
就我所知，她並沒有請假。
3. would rather do sth. 寧願；寧可；
例句：If it's all the same to you, I'd rather work at home.
如果對你來說沒什麼差別，我寧願在家中工作。
4. push over 把…推倒；
例句：Anna is always attacking other children, pushing them over.
安娜總是攻擊其他孩子，把他們推倒。