The Natural History Museum

Face to face with dinosaurs at the Natural History Museum

Neil: That's true. Welcome to On the Town from BBC Learning English, I'm Neil. This is the programme where we visit some of the most interesting places in London.

Sun Chen: 還有我，孫晨。我們今天的 On the Town 我們要去倫敦最著名的一個景點。那我們今天到底要去哪兒呢？

Neil: Well, standing here in front of this enormous dinosaur, there's only one place we can be – the Natural History Museum.

Sun Chen: Dinosaur 恐龍。我們今天來的，就是倫敦的自然曆史博物館。

Neil: Here's Chloe, who works here at the museum.

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We're standing right at the entrance of our central hall. Right in front of us we've got Dippy, our diplodocus, who stands about the height of two people at the highest point.

Neil: Entrance Hall.

Sun Chen: 入口大廳。

Neil: In the entrance hall there's a life-size model of a diplodocus skeleton. Life-size.

Sun Chen: 實際大小– life-size 是一支梁龍。這裏展出了這支恐龍的骨骼. 那英國人平時都管這梁龍叫什麼呢？

Neil: Its nickname is Dippy. Nickname.

Sun Chen: 就是外號。說起來，英語當中的外號，的確在生活當中到處都是。通常呢，就是在名字後麵，加上 "y" 就行了。比如說 Jim/Jimmy, Rob/Robby, Mick/Micky.

Neil: But the Natural History Museum's not just about skeletons. You can also see life-size, moving models of dinosaurs.

Sun Chen: 你在這裏，還能看到能動的，跟實際大小一樣的恐龍。 Are they scary 這些看著不害怕嗎?

Neil: What do think Chloe?

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They're surprisingly scary. They're the most realistic we've ever made. They're formed by the latest research. They move, they chew, they can be seen to even poo in places.

Neil: They are realistic, aren't they?

Sun Chen: Yes, very realistic 是有一種身臨其境的感覺。

Neil: They move and chew.

Sun Chen: 嘴還在動個不停 chew.

Neil: And they even poo.

Sun Chen: Urgh! 他們還拉屎。

Neil: And quite a lot, by the look of it. Here's Chloe again.

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They're surprisingly scary. They're the most realistic we've ever made. They're formed by the latest research. They move, they chew, they can be seen to even poo in places.

Neil: So, here we are in the Natural History Museum in London.

Sun Chen: We've seen lots of dinosaurs, but what else is there? 那除了恐龍以外，我們在這兒還能看見什麼呢？

Neil: Well, it's about the natural world in all its different forms.

Sun Chen: Not just animals. 倫敦自然曆史博物館從各個方麵展出一個豐富多彩的大自然。

Neil: Hang on, what's going on here? The ground's shaking.

Sun Chen: 怎麼現在地在動啊？

Neil: It's a re-creation of the earthquake which destroyed the Japanese city of Kobe in 1995.

Sun Chen: 啊，這是在展示地震時的場麵。1995年的日本神戶大地震，把整個城市都給毀了。 I need a bit of peace and quiet after all these dinosaurs and earthquakes.

Neil: Well, what could be more peaceful than a Giant Panda?

Sun Chen: A Giant Panda 大熊貓。

Neil: Well it's only a stuffed one...

Sun Chen: Ahh, 是一個大熊貓標本。

Neil: Here's Chloe.

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Here we are in the back of the central hall in the cafe where you can sit and have your lunch alongside Chi Chi, a Giant Panda who was caught in Sichuan in China in 1957 and came to London Zoo in 1958.

Neil: Chi Chi the panda came from Sichuan in 1957 and was in London Zoo until she died in 1972. Then they preserved her body and put her on display in the museum.

Sun Chen: 這支叫做奇奇的大熊貓，1957年從中國四川，到英國的倫敦動物園落戶，一直到他1972年去世。然後這兒的工作人員，就把奇奇做成了標本，在自然曆史博物館裏展出。

Neil: Well, we're nearly out of time. I wonder what these people thought about the Natural History Museum.

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I've never seen dinosaur bones before, so it's pretty cool.

It's beautiful but we don't have enough time to see all the things.

Neil: It was the first time she'd seen dinosaur bones. She though it was pretty cool.

Sun Chen: Cool 非常酷。

Neil: Pretty cool.

Sun Chen: 在英語當中，人們經常用 pretty 來說很怎麼樣。

Neil: She's right – the museum is pretty cool. And it's true – it's impossible to see everything in just one visit. Well, that's about all we have time for today on BBC Learning English.

Sun Chen: If you want to learn more, go to our website www.bbc.co.uk/china.

Neil: See you next time.

Sun Chen: Bye.