Name: 奶牛能預防野火嗎？⏲️ 6 分鐘英語 (Can cows prevent wildfires? ⏲️ 6 Minute English)
Uploaded: 2025-05-01T12:44:12.000Z
Duration: 6 min 15 s

This is 6 Minute English from BBC Learning English.

這裡是來自 BBC Learning English 的 6 分鐘英語。

Neil, do you remember the children's television show Lassie?

尼爾，你還記得兒童電視節目《萊西》嗎？

The show's hero was a dog named Lassie and Lassie went round helping people in trouble.

節目的主角是一隻名叫 "萊西 "的狗，"萊西 "到處幫助有困難的人。

Well, if you watched Lassie as a child, you might also remember the TV shows Flip of the Dolphin and Skippy the Kangaroo.

如果你小時候看過《萊西》，你可能還記得電視節目《海豚翻轉》和《袋鼠 Skippy》。

The stars of these shows were animals who would also come to the rescue of humans in trouble.

這些節目的主角都是動物，它們也會來拯救陷入困境的人類。

In this programme, we'll be discussing some real-life animals helping people in trouble.

在本節目中，我們將討論現實生活中一些幫助有困難的人的動物。

It might sound strange, but we'll be hearing how cows are helping to stop fires in Spain.

這聽起來可能有些奇怪，但我們將聽到奶牛是如何幫助西班牙制止火災的。

Well, now I have a picture in my head of a cow wearing a fireman's helmet.

現在，我的腦海裡出現了一頭戴著消防員頭盔的奶牛。

But I guess that's not what you mean, Neil.

但我猜你不是這個意思，尼爾。

But you're right about the fires, or wildfires to be exact.

但你對火災的看法是對的，確切地說，是野火。

Wildfires are unplanned fires in areas like forests or grasslands which spread out of control.

野火是在森林或草地等地區發生的計劃外火災，火勢會失控蔓延。

They often happen in hot, dry countries like Spain.

這種情況經常發生在炎熱乾燥的國家，如西班牙。

We'll be finding out and learning some useful new vocabulary as well.

我們還將發現和學習一些有用的新詞彙。

And remember, if you like to read along as you listen to the programme, you'll find a script on our website, bbclearningenglish.com.

請記住，如果您喜歡邊聽節目邊閱讀，您可以在我們的網站 bbclearningenglish.com 上找到腳本。

但現在我有個問題要問你，貝絲。

Some wildfires are caused naturally, but most are the result of human activity.

有些野火是自然引起的，但大多數是人類活動的結果。

So, according to the Natural History Museum of Utah, what proportion of wildfires is caused by people?

那麼，根據猶他州自然歷史博物館的數據，由人類引起的野火佔多大比例？

Is it… a. 2 out of every 5 b. 3 out of every 5 c. 4 out of every 5 I'm going to guess 3 out of every 5, I think.

是...... a. 每 5 人中有 2 人 b. 每 5 人中有 3 人 c. 每 5 人中有 4 人 我猜是每 5 人中有 3 人。

Let's find out at the end of the programme.

讓我們在節目的最後一探究竟。

Thanks to increasing temperatures caused by climate change, the wildfires happening today are more intense and more destructive than ever before.

由於氣候變化導致氣溫升高，如今發生的野火比以往任何時候都更加猛烈，破壞力也更大。

Here, Craig Langren, reporter for BBC World Service programme People Fixing the World, discusses the problem with Pablo Shapira of Rewilding Spain, an organisation combating wildfires in central Spain.

在這裡，英國廣播公司世界服務節目《修復世界的人們》的記者克雷格-蘭格倫（Craig Langren）與西班牙中部野化組織（Rewilding Spain）的巴勃羅-沙皮拉（Pablo Shapira）討論了這個問題。

One of the reasons for this is that the forests have been left to grow unchecked, as there simply aren't enough animals to feed on all the trees, bushes and grass.

造成這種情況的原因之一是，森林一直在肆意生長，因為根本沒有足夠的動物來吃掉所有的樹木、灌木和草。

And the more dense this vegetation is, the more likely it is to catch fire.

而植被越茂密，就越容易著火。

What we had before in our ecosystems here in Europe is that we had big grazes.

在歐洲，我們以前的生態系統是大牧場。

We had bison, we had otters, we had wild horses, and now they are gone from the ecosystem because of extinction, domestication.

我們曾有野牛、水獺和野馬，現在它們因為滅絕和馴化而從生態系統中消失了。

Many European forests have grown unchecked.

If something is left unchecked, nobody controls it or prevents it from increasing.

如果放任不管，就沒人能控制它或阻止它的增長。

The problem is that when trees, grass and vegetation are left to grow, they're more likely to catch fire.

問題是，如果任由樹木、草和植被生長，它們就更容易著火。

Hundreds of years ago, animals known as grazers would simply have eaten this vegetation up.

幾百年前，被稱為 "食草動物 "的動物會直接吃掉這些植被。

To graze means to eat grass and other wild plants, and grazers are the animals, including horses, cows and goats which do this.

放牧的意思是吃草和其他野生植物，吃草的動物包括馬、牛和山羊。

In English, you can also say a person is grazing if they continually eat snacks or little bites of food.

在英語中，如果一個人不斷吃零食或一小口一小口地吃東西，也可以說他在吃草。

But in modern times, numbers of grazing animals have declined sharply because of extinction when a species of animal, the dinosaurs for example, no longer exist, and domestication when wild animals are controlled by humans to work or for food.

但到了現代，放牧動物的數量急劇下降，原因有二：一是動物物種滅絕，例如恐龍已不復存在；二是馴化，即野生動物被人類控制來工作或食用。

And as numbers of grazing wild animals decrease, forests and grasslands continue to grow unchecked, leading to the large wildfires which now regularly happen in Spain.

隨著吃草的野生動物數量減少，森林和草原繼續肆意生長，導致西班牙現在經常發生大面積野火。

And that's where our four-legged friends, the cows, come to the rescue.

這時候，我們四條腿的朋友--奶牛，就來拯救我們了。

Supported by rewilding Spain, Pablo has reintroduced herds of Tauros, the species of cow similar to the now-extinct wild Aurochs, the ancestor of the modern domestic cow, into the forests of central Spain.

在西班牙野化項目的支持下，巴勃羅在西班牙中部的森林中重新引進了 Tauros 牛群，這種牛類似於現已滅絕的野生 Aurochs 牛，是現代家牛的祖先。

Here's reporter Craig Langran again for BBC World Service programme, People Fixing the World.

以下是記者克雷格-蘭格蘭（Craig Langran）再次為英國廣播公司（BBC）世界服務節目 "修復世界的人們"（People Fixing the World）所作的報道。

Along with the cows' voracious appetite, they trample in the vegetation and it's that trampling that helps to open up the forest so it's not so densely packed full of flammable vegetation.

牛的食慾旺盛，它們踐踏植被，正是這種踐踏使森林變得開闊，不再密密麻麻地佈滿易燃植被。

Tauros eat everything from grass and leaves to tree branches and bark.

從草和樹葉到樹枝和樹皮，Tauros 什麼都吃。

Craig says the cows are voracious or very eager for lots of food.

克雷格說，奶牛很貪吃，或者說非常渴望大量的食物。

What's more, by wandering freely around the forest, they trample down dead trees, reducing the amount of flammable, meaning easily burnt, vegetation.

更重要的是，它們在森林中自由遊蕩，踩倒了枯樹，減少了易燃（即容易燃燒）植被的數量。

They don't wear firemen's helmets, but these four-legged firefighting friends are really coming to the rescue in Spain.

它們沒有戴消防員的頭盔，但這些四條腿的消防員朋友真的來西班牙救援了。

OK, Neil, isn't it time to reveal the answer to your question?

好了，尼爾，是不是該揭曉你問題的答案了？

Yes, I asked you what proportion of wildfires are caused by people?

是的，我問你由人類引起的野火佔多大比例？

According to the Natural History Museum of Utah, four out of every five wildfires are man-made.

據猶他州自然歷史博物館稱，每五次野火中就有四次是人為的。

OK, let's recap the vocabulary we've learned from this programme, starting with the adjective unchecked.

好了，讓我們從 "unchecked "這個形容詞開始，回顧一下我們在這個節目中學到的詞彙。

If something harmful is left unchecked, nobody controls it or prevents it from growing.

如果對有害的東西放任不管，就沒人能控制它或阻止它的發展。

To graze means to eat grass and vegetation.

Grazers are animals, like cows, which do this.

吃草的動物，如奶牛，就是這樣做的。

And a person who grazes continually eats little bites of food.

而一個不斷吃草的人，吃的東西也是一小口一小口的。

Extinction is when an animal species no longer exists.

The dinosaurs and the wild aurochs are two examples of extinct animals.

恐龍和野生駝鹿就是兩種已滅絕動物的例子。

Domestication is when wild animals become controlled by humans for work, food or as pets.

馴化是指野生動物為了工作、食物或作為寵物而被人類控制。

The adjective voracious means very eager for something, especially a lot of food.

形容詞 "貪婪 "的意思是非常渴望得到某種東西，尤其是大量的食物。

And finally, if something is flammable, it easily burns or catches fire.

最後，如果某樣東西是易燃的，它就很容易燃燒或著火。

If you enjoyed this programme, why not check out the accompanying worksheet and quiz, both available at bbclearningenglish.com.

如果您喜歡這個節目，為什麼不在 bbclearningenglish.com 上查看隨附的工作表和小測驗呢？