A herdsman ropes a bull in Hungary, Sep. 21, 2007.Photo: EPA 九月二十一日，匈牙利的一位牧人用繩索套住一頭公牛。照片：歐新社 Cattle roundups are mostly a thing of the past, and this story takes place in western Pennsylvania, not the Wild West. 趕牛入圈幾乎已經過時了，而且本次事件發生地點是美國賓州西部，而不是蠻荒的美國西部。
- []n.1. 趕攏;被趕在一起的家畜2. 召集;集攏;圍捕
- []ph.1. (拓荒時代)蠻荒的美國西部
None of that mattered earlier this month when a resident called to report a herd of cattle walking through her yard. 本月稍早，一位當地居民打電話報案說有一群牛走過他的院子，打破了小鎮以往的寧靜。
Mayor Bill Boyd was first on the scene. He honked his horn at the nine bulls, cows and calves that were walking along. They were barely 90m from the town's main street. 鎮長比爾．柏伊德是第一個趕到現場的人，他朝著九頭行進中的公牛、母牛和小牛鳴按喇叭，牠們距離該鎮的主要街道只有九十公尺。
- ph. []1. 出現
- []vi.1. 發雁鳴或汽車喇叭聲
"Two of them had pretty good horns on them," Boyd said. 「其中兩頭頭上都有一對漂亮的角，」柏伊德說。
Boyd got eight of the critters to stop, but the ninth just kept heading toward the town's main street. 柏伊德制止了其中八頭繼續前進，但仍有一頭持續朝著該鎮的主要街道邁進。
- []n.1. 【口】異常動物2. 【謔】生物;家畜
Nathan Claycomb, a police officer, joined the mayor in trying to stop the stubborn animal. 警員奈森．克萊康也加入，與鎮長並肩設法阻止這頭難應付的牲畜。
Then a handful of residents joined in. Together they managed to get the wandering herd locked up in a nearby field. 接著，又有一群居民加入這個行列。最後他們合力將這群四處閒晃的牛隻關在附近的一處牧場。
Boyd said he doesn't know who owns the cattle.柏伊德說，他不知道這群牛的主人是誰。
(STAFF WRITER, WITH AP)
TODAY'S WORDS 今日單字
1. cattle roundup n. phr. 趕牛入圈 (gan3 niu2 ru4 juan4)
例: We took part in a cattle roundup last week. (我們上週嘗試了趕牛入圈。)
2. herd n. 畜群 (chu4 qun2)
例: We saw a herd of elephants in Africa. (我們在非洲看到了一群大象。)
3. critter n. 動物 (dong4 wu4)
例: There's a strange looking critter in the yard.(院子裡有一隻長相奇怪的動物。)
4. stubborn adj. 頑固的 (wan2 gu4 de5)，難應付的 (nan2 ying4 fu4 de5)
例: Some people are very stubborn about petty things. (有些人對一些瑣事非常固執。)
