21. Pigs豬

New Words新單詞

pig (n.)

讀音：[pɪg]

釋義：豬（名詞）

skin (n.)

讀音：[skɪn]

釋義：皮膚（名詞）

anything (pron.)

讀音：[ˈeniθɪŋ]

釋義：任何東西（代詞）

however(adv.)

讀音：[haʊˈevə(r)]

釋義：然而；可是；無論無如何（副詞）

mud (n.)

讀音：[mʌd]

釋義：泥（名詞）

muddy (adj.)

讀音：[ˈmʌdi]

釋義：泥濘的（形容詞）

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Pigs are very useful animals and they are common in most parts of Asia, Africa, North and South America, Europe and Australia. We can find pigs everywhere in the world except Antarctica.

豬是非常有用的動物，在亞洲、非洲、南北美洲、歐洲和澳洲的大多地方都很常見。除了南極洲，我們能在世界各地找到豬。

Farmers and other people keep pigs not only for their meat, but also for their skin and hair. We can eat the meat we get from pigs, and we can use their skin to make clothes and bags. The hair we get from pigs is good for making some kinds of brushes.

農民和其他人養豬不僅為了得到豬肉，而且為了得到豬皮和豬毛。我們能吃豬身上的豬肉，我們能用豬皮做衣服和包。我們從豬身上得到的毛適合製作某種刷子。

However, in some countries people do not like to use pigs in this way – or any way at all. This is especially true in some countries in Asia and North Africa. People in those countries will not eat meat that comes from pigs. Many of those people think that pigs are dirty animals and will not have anything to do with them.

但是，在有些國家人們不喜歡這樣利用豬——或者說根本不喜歡利用豬。在亞洲和北非的一些國家尤其如此。那些國家的人們不喜歡吃豬身上的肉。許多那些人認為豬是骯髒的動物，不想和豬有任何接觸。

However, pigs are not really dirty animals. They would really like to be able to keep themselves clean. Pigs’ bodies are not very good at controlling their body temperature. That is why, especially on hot days, pigs like to go in dirty water or mud. The pigs do this so the dirty water or mud can help to control their body temperature. However, doing this also makes the pigs’ skin dirty or muddy.

可是，豬這種動物並不是真的很髒。豬很想能讓自己保持乾淨。豬的身體不太善於控制體溫。那就是為什麼豬喜歡去泥水或者泥巴里，尤其在炎熱的日子裡。豬這麼做是為了讓泥水或者泥巴幫助控制體溫。不過這麼做也讓豬的皮膚變得骯髒或者泥濘。

Pigs are not the same as animals like cats. Cats and some other animals know how to keep themselves clean, but pigs don’t. Pigs are not good at cleaning themselves. However, if we keep pigs in clean places where the temperature is not too hot and where there is no mud or dirty water, the pigs will be able to keep themselves clean.

豬和像貓這樣的動物是不同的。貓和有些其他動物知道如何讓自己乾淨，但豬不知道。豬不善於清洗自己。不過如果我們把豬養在乾淨的地方，溫度不冷不熱，沒有泥水或者泥巴，豬也能自己保持乾淨。

Another thing people often think is that pigs are not intelligent. However, some people think that pigs are very intelligent. Some people even think that pigs are more intelligent than dogs! This could be true. It could even be that pigs are nearly as intelligent as monkeys!

另外人們常常認為豬不聰明。不過有些人覺得豬非常聰明。有些人甚至覺得豬比狗還聰明！這可能是真的。豬甚至可能幾乎和猴子一樣聰明！

There are millions and millions of pigs in the world, and there are more than 370 different kinds of pigs. Pigs come in many different shapes and sizes and their skin can be lots of different colors. There are pigs with black skin, pigs with white skin, pigs with brown skin and pigs with pink skin.

世界上有數百萬頭豬，豬有370多不同品種。豬有許多不同的體型和大小，豬的皮可以有許多不同的顏色。有黑皮豬，白皮豬，棕皮豬和粉皮豬。

These days, most pigs live on farms. However, there are still a few hundred thousand pigs that live in the wild. We are still able to find wild pigs in some parts of Africa and Asia. Some of those wild pigs can be dangerous, so it is best for people, especially children, to stay well away from them.

現在，大多數豬生活在農場上，但是依然有少數幾十萬頭豬生活在野外。我們仍能在非洲和亞洲的一些地方找到野豬。有些野豬有危險，所以人們尤其是孩子們，最好能離它們遠遠的。

People first started to keep pigs in Europe and Asia thousands of years ago. The first places we know about were nine thousand years ago in Asia and three thousand years ago in Europe. This tells us that people in Asia were the first people to keep pigs.

人們早在幾千年前就開始在歐洲和亞洲養豬。我們知道首次養豬的地方是九千年前的亞洲和三千年前的歐洲。這告訴我們亞洲人最早開始養豬。

Later, people took pigs to America and Australia and farmers there started to keep them. By using careful ways of controlling the pigs’ food, medicine and temperature, farmers are now able to produce pigs that grow as large as three meters long and produce lots of meat.

後來人們把豬帶去了美洲和澳洲，那裡的農民開始養豬。通過小心控制豬的食物、藥物和體溫，農民現在能培養出長達三米的大型豬，它們能產很多肉。

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Lee and Pat are talking about pigs.

李和佩特正在談論豬。

Lee

Pat, what do you think about pigs?

Pat

Pigs? I don’t like them. I don’t like them at all!

Lee

Why not? What’s wrong with pigs?

Pat

Everything is wrong with pigs. I don’t like anything about them!

Lee

What? What don’t you like about them?

Pat

Pigs are noisy, dirty animals. They always make a lot of noise and they’re always muddy. They always have mud all over their bodies!

Lee

So what?

Pat

So they don’t know how to keep themselves clean. They are just like you. You’re not interested in keeping yourself clean. You are always dirty or muddy.

Lee

No, I’m not.

Pat

Yes, you are. Look at yourself. You’re dirty now. Your clothes and shoes are all muddy. This morning, outside school, you were playing in the mud with your friends. Your clothes got all muddy and your face is dirty, too.

Lee

Well, so what?

Pat

So Mom will get angry with you. She always has to tell you to go and wash yourself when you come home from school. You’re not like me – I know how to keep myself clean.

Lee

Oh, yes. Girls are like that.

Pat

And another thing I don’t like about pigs – they are not careful about what they eat. Pigs will eat anything!

Lee

Pigs just eat what people give them. If people give them good food, they will eat good food.

Pat

Pigs are just like you and your friend, Tom. Tom will eat anything, too. That’s why he’s so fat.

Lee

Well, I like pigs. I’m going to ask Dad if I can have one as a pet.

Pat

There you go again! You always want to have pets that you can’t have – animals like rats, snakes or owls. Nobody keeps pigs as pets. Farmers keep them for their meat, skin and hair. Nobody keeps them as pets!

Lee

Yes, they do!

Pat

No, they don’t!

Lee

Yes, they do!

Pat

No, they don’t. And if you think Dad will let you get a pig, you are wrong. Mom and Dad would never let you get a pig as a pet!

Lee

Well, you wait. You wait and see.

Pat

Oh Lee, you really are not very intelligent, are you? You don’t really know anything, do you?

Lee

Yes, I do. I know more than you do. I know more about animals than you do!

李

佩特，你覺得豬怎麼樣？

佩特

豬？我不喜歡它們。我一點都不喜歡它們！

李

為什麼不？豬哪裡不好了？

佩特

豬哪兒都不好。我不喜歡它們的任何東西！

李

什麼？你不喜歡它們什麼？

佩特

豬是又吵又髒的動物。它們總是製造很多噪音，它們總是沾滿泥巴。它們總是全身是泥！

李

所以呢？

佩特

所以它們不知道怎麼保持乾淨。它們就像你一樣。你對保持自身乾淨一點兒都不感興趣。你總是很髒或沾滿泥巴。

李

不，我不是這樣的。

佩特

是的，你就是。看看你自己。你現在就很髒。你的衣服和鞋子都沾滿泥巴。今天早上在學校外面，你和你的朋友們在泥巴里玩。你的衣服沾滿泥巴，你的臉也很髒。

李

好吧，所以呢？

佩特

所以媽媽會生你的氣。當你從學校回家的時候，她總是得告訴你去洗洗你自己。你不像我——我知道怎麼讓我自己乾淨。

李

噢，是啊。女孩都喜歡那樣。

佩特

而且我不喜歡豬的另一方面——它們不計較它們吃的東西。豬什麼都能吃！

李

豬隻是吃人們給它們的東西。如果人們給它們好食物，它們就會吃好食物啊。

佩特

豬就像你和你朋友湯姆。湯姆也什麼都能吃。那就是為什麼他那麼胖。

李

好吧，我喜歡豬。我會去問爸爸我是否能養一隻當寵物。

佩特

你又來了！你總是想養你不能養的寵物——像老鼠、蛇或者貓頭鷹這樣的動物。沒人養豬當寵物。農民們養它們是為了它們的肉和皮毛。沒人養它們當寵物！

李

有。

佩特

沒有！

李

有！

佩特

不，沒有！如果你覺得爸爸會讓你養一頭豬，你就錯了。爸媽永遠不會讓你養一頭豬當寵物！

李

好吧，你等著，你等著瞧。

佩特

哦李，你真的不太聰明，不是嗎？你真的什麼都不知道，不是嗎？

李

是的，我知道。我知道的比你多。我瞭解動物比你多！

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Questions

1. Why do farmers keep pigs?

2. What are we able to make from the skin of pigs?

3. What do pigs like to do when they get hot?

4. Are pigs intelligent?

5. How many different kinds of pigs are there?

6. Why doesn’t Pat like pigs?

7. What do you think about pigs?

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