10 Americans and Their Pampered Pets 美国人和他们养尊处优的宠物们

仔细听

Americans love their pets a lot—especially their cats and dogs.

In fact，many Americans consider pets to be as much a part of their family as human family members.So says a two thousand nine report from the Associated Press and the petside.com website.Fifty percent of pet owners questioned said they considered their pets to be full members of the family.And forty three percent admitted to feeding the animals people food.After all，a dog is said to be man's best friend.But what happens when a pet owner has to go away？Jim Tedder has more about a business that cares for pets.

美国人很爱他们的宠物，尤其是他们的宠物猫和宠物狗。

事实上，许多美国人都把宠物看作家庭成员。此言论出自美联社和petside.com网站2009年的一篇报道。在受访的宠物主人中，50%的人表示他们将自己的宠物当作是正式的家庭成员。43%的人承认他们拿人类的食物喂养宠物。毕竟，狗被认为是人类最好的朋友。但是，当宠物主人不得不离开时会怎样呢？吉姆·泰德将为我们带来关于一个照顾宠物的行业的报道。

听力破解：full member被重读说明宠物们在美国人家庭中地位的重要性。注意admitted的发音，原动词admit以清辅音t结尾，因此-ted后读作[tid]。

仔细听

Sadaf Atashbarghi is with Olde Towne Pet Resort in Springfield，Virginia.This well-to-do hotel for animals hasbecome popular among the Washington area's pet owners.Sadaf Atashbarghi是奥尔德汤宠物酒店的员工，酒店位于弗吉尼亚州的斯普林菲尔德。这家条件优越的宠物酒店深受华盛顿地区宠物主人们的喜爱。

听力破解：重读popular意在说明宠物酒店十分受宠物主人们的青睐。词汇宝典：well-to-do指“小康的；富裕的”。在政治相关新闻中常出现well-to-do 相关短语，如：a well-to-do society（小康社会），well-to-do folks（小康人家）。

仔细听

Ms.Atashbarghi is herself a pet owner.She says her dog is very much a part of her family.And she says she too has been guilty of what some might call puppy love.Atashbarghi小姐自己也养宠物。她说，她的狗已经成了她家庭的一员。她说她也对自己这种可能被称为“恋宠”的行为感到羞愧。

词汇宝典：puppy love在新闻中意为“恋宠”，俗语中指早恋少男少女间短暂的爱情，相当于calf love，如：Existing national and local laws and regulations have no provisions on“puppy love”.现行的国家和其他地方的法律法规中，并没有关于“早恋”的规定。

仔细听

“I treat my dog as if she were my own kid.I take her to day camp.I buy her clothes.I get her nails done.”

The American Pet Products Association says pet ownership in the United States has reached an all time high.Nearly seventy three million homes have at least one pet.That includes about eighty six million cats and more than seventy eight million dogs.

“我对待我的宠物狗像对待自己的孩子一样。我带她去日营。我给她买衣服。我也替她剪指甲。”

美国宠物产品协会表示，宠物主人在美国已经达到了前所未有的数量。近7300万家庭拥有至少一只宠物。这包括约8600万只宠物猫和超过7800万的宠物狗。

听力破解：对三个数字的强调说明美国养宠物的人数量之多，all time high被重读，与后段新闻中出现的数字呼应。

学着说一说

1.be guilty of 对……感到羞愧

▶guilty 意为“内疚的”，of后接sth.，如：

I'm guilty of the mistakes that I made.我为我犯的错误感到内疚。

▶guilty of 还有另外一个含义，指“犯了……罪”，后面接罪名，比如

“犯谋杀罪”就是be guilty of murder。

2.get her nails done 替她剪指甲

▶get sth.done 意为“做成某事”，口语中常用的短语还有：get my hair cut。如：

I just got my hair cut yesterday.我昨天剪了头发。

▶如果你想尽快完成某事，不再拖沓，就可以说：

Let's get this over with.我们尽早把这件事了结吧。

3.reach an all time high达到最高纪录

▶这个短语中 all time 的意思是“空前的”，reach 意为“达到”，如：

The report says the unemployment rate reaches an all time high.

报道称，失业率达到最高纪录。

▶如果想说“历史最低点”，则是 all time low；此外，还可以用all time favorite 来形容“最喜欢的事物”，如：

Country music—One of my all-time favorites.乡村音乐——我一直以来最喜爱的音乐之一。