Learning English, the British experience of B-B-C IS, "WHY NOT LEARN ENGLISH THE WAY YOU LEARN YOUR MOTHER TONGUE?" "Everyone learns their mother tongue first and then learns to read words, right? I heard that it should precede reading.
B-B-C's slow English collection and sorting out a lot of life topics, it starts from the things around you, guides everyone to learn step by step, focuses on listening practice, and allows you to learn English unconsciously.
The Arctic tern is a special bird. When they migrate, they fly from the Arctic Circle to the Antarctic Circle and back to their starting point, an extraordinary journey that lasts an extraordinary year. These birds have the longest migration routes in the world, but they also stop to rest along the way. Arctic terns breed in northern Britain, feeding on fish from the middle of the North Atlantic to build up their strength for the long journey. This episode introduces the bird's long and arduous migration journey.
Click below to listen to audio
Word list
Listen to it first, there must be new words, it doesn't matter, take a look at the word list below.
⇒ tracking device
⇒ Arctic tern
⇒ migration
⇒ Arctic Circle
⇒ Antarctic Circle
⇒ route
⇒ Northern hemisphere
⇒ breeding reproduction
⇒ southward to the south
⇒ continent
⇒ feeding ground foraging grounds
⇒ flight path
⇒ wind system
⇒ round-trip round trip
⇒ lay (egg)
⇒ nest bird's nest, bird's nest
⇒ incubation hatching
⇒ hatch (chicks) hatch hatch and emerge from the shell
⇒ chick chicks
⇒ stop off stopover
⇒ zooplankton zooplankton zooplankton
⇒ beak (bird) beak, beak.
See the original English manuscript
After learning the new words, I went back and listened to them a few times, striving to understand every sentence, and compared the English manuscript below if I didn't hear it.
Back in 2010, an international research team fitted tracking devices to birds they believed to be special – Arctic terns. And it turns out they were right, as described in US journal, PNAS. The Arctic tern has an extraordinary year-long migration from the Arctic Circle to the Antarctic Circle and back again.
What does this route look like? Arctic terns begin their migration in the Northern hemisphere in the summer, which is breeding season. As it gets colder and darker, turning to winter, the birds fly southward, parallel to the coast of South America or hugging the coast of the African continent to reach their winter feeding ground, the Antarctic Circle. And they do not always fly in a straight line. While heading back up north, their flight path mimics an S-shape which they follow to save energy while navigating the wind systems in the different hemispheres. This journey is a round-trip of up to 35,000km long, which makes the Arctic tern's migration the longest of any bird. Plus, they see more daylight than any other animal on Earth!
But, on this epic journey, the birds do take some well-deserved breaks. Heading northward, the population stops on the north and west coast of the UK to breed. A female lays one to three eggs in a nest, and after an incubation period of around three weeks, they hatch, and fluffy brown and grey chicks emerge. Meanwhile, the adult birds feed in the shallow coastal waters on fish, such as sand-eels. In contrast, while heading south, the birds appear to stop off in the middle of the North Atlantic Ocean, where they indulge on fish and zooplankton, preparing themselves for their long journey ahead.
So, if you ever see a little black and white bird with red legs and a red beak, show them some appreciation. They have flown a long way to see you!
This series is led by Xiaoliuyang Jennifer, if you want to hear what to tell us, welcome to learn and study together. ➥ Follow "Little Liuyang" to get more overseas K12 education materials.