介绍:
Xiaohua: Hello and welcome to RoundTable’s Word of the Week. This week we’re talking about dogs, again one of Mark’s favorite topics.
Mark: I do like dogs. You know when I was a boy, we had a couple of dogs at home, and just ones that we got from an animal rescue center. And then when I became an adult and left home, I had a cat. And now I’m in Beijing, I’ve got a dog. And you know, I think I’m a dog person. I prefer dogs to cats I think.
Xiaohua: And we’re going to talk about some breeds of dogs. One of the most popular ones in China is the golden retriever.
Mark: That’s right, yes. I see a couple of these every evening when I’m walking my own dog. And these are said to be quite intelligent dogs. If we look at the word retriever, this gives us an indication of what that dog was bred to do. It was supposed to run out and bring back things like pheasants and other birds that had been shot by people going game hunting. So that’s why it was called a retriever, because it retrieves or brings things back.
Xiaohua: Golden retriever, 金毛，是作为用来猎捕野禽的寻回犬而培养出来的，它们非常聪明，而且友善热情。But interestingly, because of their being over-friendly, they’re not very suitable to become a guard dog.
Mark: Yeah, you don’t want that, do you? You don’t want a burglar breaking in, and befriending the dog, and then stealing your stuff. You want something a bit more aggressive.
Xiaohua: Yeah, that’s right. Let’s talk about another kind of dog, the husky.
Mark: Do you know the word husky actually originates from a word referring to Arctic people in general, the Inuits or Eskimos, known as Huskies. The word’s actually a contraction of the word Huskimos.
Xiaohua: 哈士奇犬也是有很多人养的犬种。它的全称实际上是西伯利亚雪橇犬, it’s the Siberian husky, that’s the full name.
Mark: That’s right. These dogs are very tough. I went to Alaska once, and when I was in Alaska, I saw the start of a husky dog race. It’s called the iditarod. And it goes for hundreds of miles across the snowy wilderness of Alaska. And you can see from the fur on them, I mean they’re quite sort of hairy dogs really, and they need that to keep warm.
Xiaohua: Husky跑得非常快。哈士奇是狼的近亲，性格也比较多变，有的是非常胆小，但有的却比较暴力。另外在中国哈士奇由于它的表情非常可爱也被称作表情帝。
Mark: Isn’t that the dog in Game of Thrones? You’re not a fan, are you? I’m perhaps the person to answer my own question. (Xiaohua: Yes, please.) Cause I’m a big fan of Game of Thrones. I think it is actually. I think these are the Dire Wolves, and I think that it’s a type of husky that they use for that character in the Game of Thrones. This has actually led to a surge in the popularity of husky breeds. People want to have their own Game of Thrones dog. But of course, you gotta remember, you know, a dog needs love and affection for all 15 or 16 years of its life, not just until the end of the next season of the TV show.
Xiaohua: Yeah, you have to be a responsible dog owner. And we’ve talked about some big dogs. Let’s now talk about a very, very small dog, a Chihuahua.
Mark: The Chihuahua! These are funny little dogs, aren’t they? These are the dogs that women of a certain age perhaps and a certain social status, like to have in their handbags.
Xiaohua: That’s right. I’m always afraid of stepping into one whenever I come across them.
Mark: They look so fragile, don’t they, these little dogs? But the temperaments actually differ according to the temperament of the human owner. That’s what people say that own Chihuahuas. And they can be quite easily provoked to attack, which is very brave of them, considering how tiny they are, isn’t it really. They’re not said to be suitable for homes where there’re small children. But they are said to be very loyal, and may actually become overprotective of their owner.
Xiaohua: 吉娃娃是属于小型犬种里的最小型，它有坚韧的意志，优雅、警惕和粘人的特性，另外它也不喜欢外来狗。There’s another kind of dog that you see a lot in Chinese homes, that is called the teddy bear.
Mark: So I know the ones you mean. They’re sort of light brown, quite fluffy. They do look like a teddy bear come to life, really, don’t they? It’s supposed to be a type of poodle. These are said to be quite intelligent. The hair doesn’t fall out very often. They’re not known as shedding dogs, which is very good for people who might be allergic to dogs, or who don’t want to have their rugs to be full of dog hair.
Xiaohua: 泰迪犬其实是贵宾犬的美容造型之一，但是因为泰迪犬不经常掉毛，所以也是受到很多人的喜爱。And there’s another kind of dog that actually originates from China. But today you don’t see it a lot on the streets of Beijing, and that’s the Pekingese.
Mark: Oh the Pekingese dog! How could we forget that? Yes, that’s right. You know, some people used to call them lion dogs, because they said they look a bit like the Chinese guardian lions. And that breed is over 2,000 years old, and has hardly changed in all that time.
Xiaohua: Pekingese叫京巴，也有叫狮子狗的。这其实是一种非常古老的犬种了。And it’s supposed to be favored by the imperial families.
Mark: I heard they also make very good watch dogs as well. You know Xiaohua, I’d love to stay and chat more about dogs, but you know what, I’ve got to go now. I’ve got to go and walk the dog
Xiaohua: And that wraps up this edition of RoundTable’s Word of the Week.
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