ChinesePod
@ 40244 Exotic Animals
A 我有位朋友曾說，比起鑽戒，她更寧願要恐龍蛋化石。就算孵不出小恐龍，放在家裡看看也挺酷的。
wǒ yǒu wèi péngyou céng shuō, bǐqǐ zuànjiè, tā gèng nìngyuàn yào kǒnglóng dàn huàshí. jiù suàn fū bù chū xiǎo kǒnglóng, fàng zài jiā li kànkan yě tǐng kù de.
A friend of mine once said that she would prefer having a dinosaur egg fossil over a diamond ring, because the egg would be cool to admire, even if it could never hatch a baby dinosaur.
B 哈哈，她挺聰明的。恐龍蛋可比鑽戒值錢多了。不過世上要是真的還有恐龍存在，估計她就不會那麼想要收藏恐龍蛋了吧。
hāhā, tā tǐng cōngming de. kǒnglóng dàn kě bǐ zuànjiè zhíqián duō le. bùguò shìshàng yàoshì zhēnde hái yǒu kǒnglóng cúnzài, gūjì tā jiù bùhuì nàme xiǎng yào shōucáng kǒnglóng dàn le ba.
Ha ha, she's pretty smart. A dinosaur egg is worth a whole lot more than a diamond ring. But if there really were dinosaurs still living on earth, she probably would rethink keeping a dinosaur egg.
A 是呀。我想大多數人對稀有動物都是又愛又怕。
shì yā. wǒ xiǎng dàduōshù rén duì xīyǒu dòngwù dōu shì yòu ài yòu pà.
That's true. I think most people who profess affection for rare and exotic species both love and fear them at the same time.
B 其實也還好呀。像中國的國寶大熊貓，不是挺可愛的嘛。又憨厚又溫順，可愛極了。
qíshí yě hái hǎo yā. xiàng Zhōngguó de guóbǎo dàxióngmāo, bùshì tǐng kěài de ma. yòu hānhòu yòu wēnshùn, kěài jí le.
Actually, it's not always that bad. Take pandas for example, our ``national treasure". Aren't they adorable? They're both cuddly and docile, as well as extremely cute.
A 啊，大熊貓呀，是人都知道，不稀奇。你見過金絲猴嗎？也一樣機靈可愛。不過現在金絲猴的數量已經不多了，非常珍貴。
ā, dàxióngmāo yā, shì rén dōu zhīdao, bù xīqí. nǐ jiàn guo jīnsīhóu ma? yě yīyàng jīling kěài. bùguò xiànzài jīnsīhóu de shùliàng yǐjīng bù duō le, fēicháng zhēnguì.
That's a different story, because people are familiar with pandas, they're not that exotic. Have you ever seen a golden-haired monkey? They are also smart and cute, but there are not many of them left. They are extremely rare.
B 我覺得同樣珍貴的還有藏羚羊。它們只生長在高原地帶，只有在中國西藏一帶才能見到。這可是中國特有的動物，可惜因為過度捕殺現在已經快沒有了。
wǒ juéde tóngyàng zhēnguì de hái yǒu zànglíngyáng. tāmen zhǐ shēngzhǎng zài gāoyuán dìdài, zhǐyǒu zài Zhōngguó Xīzàng yīdài cái néng jiàndào. zhè kě shì Zhōngguó tèyǒu de dòngwù, kěxī yīnwèi guòdù bǔshā xiànzài yǐjīng kuài méiyǒu le.
The same goes for the Tibetan antelopes, also called Tibetan gazelles. They only inhabit plateaus. Tibet is the only place in China where they can be seen. They are a species unique to China, but sadly, they are on the verge of extinction due to poaching.
A 我倒是想起一種比較常見，光聽名字就很浪漫的動物：鴛鴦。他們總是成雙成對地在一起，在水上快活地遊著。真甜蜜。
wǒ dàoshì xiǎngqǐ yīzhǒng bǐjiào chángjiàn, guāng tīng míngzi jiù hěn làngmàn de dòngwù: yuānyang. tāmen zǒngshì chéngshuāngchéngduì de zài yīqǐ, zài shuǐ shàng kuàihuó de yóu zhe. zhēn tiánmì.
Actually, I'm thinking of an animal that's not so rare, but whose name has a distinctly romantic feel: the mandarin duck. They are always in pairs, swimming contentedly in the water. It's so sweet.
B 是呀，鴛鴦在中國一直都是甜蜜情侶的代名詞，真可謂是'只羨鴛鴦不羨仙'。
shì yā, yuānyang zài Zhōngguó yīzhí dōu shì tiánmì qínglǚ de dàimíngcí, zhēn kěwèi shì"zhǐ xiàn yuānyang bù xiàn xiān".
That's true. Mandarin ducks have always been the symbol of a loving couple in Chinese culture. That's why there's the saying, ``a pair of mandarin ducks is more enviable than an immortal".
Key Vocabulary
收藏 shōucáng
捕殺 bǔshā
憨厚 hānhòu
只羨鴛鴦不羨仙 zhǐ xiàn yuānyang bù xiàn xiān
化石 huàshí
恐龍 kǒnglóng
溫順 wēnshùn
金絲猴 jīnsīhóu
機靈 jīling
藏羚羊 zànglíngyáng
高原 gāoyuán
Supplementary Vocabulary
針對性 zhēnduìxìng
滅絕 mièjué
捕捉 bǔzhuō
傻乎乎 shǎhūhu
溫順 wēnshùn
寄託 jìtuō
羨慕 xiànmù
仙子 xiānzǐ
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