The British Countryside

The script of this programme 本节目台词

Dan: Hello and welcome to On the Town. I'm Dan Walker Smith.

Wang Fei: 大家好，我是王飞。

Dan: This week's quite an unusual On the Town: we're actually getting out of town, and heading into the British countryside.

Wang Fei: The British countryside 英国的乡村。

Dan: I'll just drop the music there... Now, Wang Fei what do you think are the main differences between the British and Chinese countryside?

The British countryside

Wang Fei: Hmmm. Let me see... 我觉得不同之处有很多。但是最大的一个区别是：大部分英国人都生活在 urban areas 城市地区，但是大部分中国人都生活在 rural areas 农村地区。About 60% of China's population live in the countryside.

Dan: Yeah, around 90% of the UK is rural, but 80% of the British population live in urban areas. So quite a lot of British people don't live in the country, and they don't know the countryside very well.

Let's have a listen to the BBC journalist John McCarthy talking about discovering Britain's rural areas. He uses quite an interesting phrase here: he tells us that we'll find lots of plants and animals if we scratch beneath the surface of the British countryside.

Wang Fei: To scratch the surface 只触及皮毛、表面，scratch beneath the surface 简单地接触。

Dan: Let's have a listen to the clip. What unusual words does he use for plants and animals?

Insert

Scratch beneath the surface of the British countryside and you'll be rewarded by more flora and fauna than you might have thought possible.

Dan: He says that if you scratch beneath the surface of the countryside, there's more flora and fauna – that's more plants and animals – than you thought possible.

Wang Fei: Flora 植物群 and fauna 动物群。 So what flora and fauna is he talking about here Dan?

Dan: Well I'm not an expert on animals in the country, but I expect you'd probably hear and encounter cows... sheep... pigs... cuckoos... maybe an owl!

Birdwatching, fishing and rambling in the countryside are three really popular hobbies in the UK.

Wang Fei: Birdwatching 观察鸟、赏鸟, fishing 钓鱼, and rambling 郊游漫步，这在英国都是很常见的活动。Also, I know, some people like to collect butterflies, or at least take pictures of them.

Dan: Exactly. Let's listen to the journalist Patrick Barkham explaining how his love of butterflies allows him to escape into the country. What does he say here about the appeal of butterfly-hunting?

Insert

Generally the beauty of butterfly-hunting is that it gets you out into wild places where there aren't many people, and it's something you can do on your own or with a friend, and it's very much you and the natural world, and you're surrounded by nature and you're very still.

Dan: So as well as watching the wildlife, he likes the calm of butterfly-hunting, the serenity. He says he's very still.

Wang Fei: 他喜欢寻找野生动物，wildlife. 他同时喜欢乡村的宁静，serenity.

Dan: Here's Patrick Barkham again, this time talking about getting off the beaten track and getting involved in nature.

Wang Fei: 在下面的对 Patrick 的采访中你会听到两个词，footpath 步行小道和 beaten track 被踩出来的小道。Patrick 说有时候人们喜欢 get off the beaten track, 就是离开乡间的步行道，直接走到田野中去。

Dan: To get off the beaten track usually means to do something different from the majority, or to go somewhere that isn't visited very often. But here Patrick is literally leaving the beaten track by stepping off the footpath.

Also, listen out for the words plunge and advocate. Plunge means to jump or dive into something, and advocate here means to encourage.

Insert

Without wanting to advocate that people leave footpaths or whatever, I think it can be really nice to plunge off the beaten track and really get involved in nature. And particularly if you're in pursuit of a butterfly you kind of have to!

Wang Fei: So if he's chasing a butterfly he might accidently plunge off the beaten track, 从小道上突然离开了，but that's not a bad thing. Let's listen again.

Insert

It can be really nice to plunge off the beaten track and really get involved in nature. And particularly if you're in pursuit of a butterfly you kind of have to!

Dan: I'm sure plunging off the beaten track is a good way to discover new types of wildlife as well.

Wang Fei: Yeah, there's plenty of flora and fauna to be found in the British countryside, whether you're into birdwatching, fishing, butterfly-hunting or just rambling through nature.

Dan: Or you can just enjoy the serenity of not being surrounded by people, which is my favourite reason for getting out of town. I love the calmness of the British countryside.

Wang Fei: Yes, me too. And if you're looking for something a bit more urban, don't forget there are a lot more On the Town programmes on our website, that's bbcukchina.com. Bye for now.

Dan: Bye!