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Do Zoos Have a Place in Society？-空中英語教室
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Do Zoos Have a Place in Society？
「動物園」的社會角色(上)
空中英語教室 20250421
(使用CapCut 自動字幕功能)
只要修正英文文法，保留原文，同時將簡體中文修改為繁體中文
hello friends,
My name is Anne Marie, and today is a great day to learn something new.
So let’s do that together, friends!
My name is John, and this is Studio Classroom.
We have a great lesson for you today, friends,
and we are starting off with a question—
it’s today’s Talk About It question:
Are you in favor of zoos or not? Explain well.
I actually volunteered at zoos for many years in high school.
It was the Brookfield Zoo in Chicago, Illinois—
one of the best zoos in the U.S., in my humble opinion.
I think a really good zoo is a wonderful thing.
But there are a lot of zoos that might not be taking
quite the same level of care of the animals,
and that could be a problem.
I agree with you, John.
Generally, I am in favor of zoos,
if they are taking proper care of the animals.
There are many reasons to be in favor of zoos,
and many reasons to oppose zoos.
We’re going to talk about those reasons in our article today.
Let’s get right into our first reading.

Do Zoos Have a Place in Society?
Should we support zoos?
Mark and Sarah, who are co-workers, are having lunch,
and Mark invites Sarah to go to the zoo with him.
“Hey Sarah, do you want to go to the zoo tomorrow?”
“No thanks. Honestly, I don’t think zoos are moral.
Wild animals shouldn’t be confined to areas where they
can’t live freely. It’s like they’re in prison for our entertainment.”
ChatGPT翻譯
動物園在社會中有存在的價值嗎？
我們應該支持動物園嗎？
馬克和莎拉是同事，他們正在吃午餐，
馬克邀請莎拉跟他一起去動物園。
「嘿，莎拉，妳明天想去動物園嗎？」
「不用了，謝謝。說實話，我不認為動物園是道德的。
野生動物不應該被限制在不能自由生活的地方。
那就像是為了我們的娛樂把牠們關進監獄一樣。」

Hi everyone, welcome to Language Lab! I’m Jack.
我們首先來看 moral 這個形容詞，意思是「道德的」。
來看例句：
My boss is a very moral man who values honesty and being faithful to his wife.
我的老闆是一個非常有道德的人，他重視誠實與對妻子的忠誠。
Moral 也可以當名詞，有「寓意」的意思。
譬如：
The story about the mouse helping the lion has a simple moral: no act of kindness is ever wasted.
老鼠幫助獅子的故事蘊藏著一個簡單的寓意：任何善舉都不會白費。
名詞 morality 則是指「道德觀」。
譬如：
Knowing that the morality of Hollywood was typically low, Jim’s mother worried about his plan to be an actor.
Jim 的媽媽知道好萊塢的道德水準不高，因此對他想當演員的計畫感到擔心。
Okay, friends—
The title of today’s article is:
Do Zoos Have a Place in Society?
And yes, this is our What’s Your Opinion article!
So we’re going to be looking at two different points of view
when talking about this topic.
Now, the first thing we need to talk about is something
here in the title:
“To have a place in something or somewhere.”
If you have a place in something,
it means you have a role or you play a part in some kind of plan or activity.
Do you have a place in anything?
Here’s an example of how you could use that in a sentence:
Negativity has no place in this class.
Now, let’s read on, friends, and see a question:
Should we support zoos?
This word support here means that you’re giving assistance to someone,
or financially giving them money.
Yeah, you can use it in a really financial way.
You could say:
Her parents supported her through many years.
Or you could just use it in a general way and say:
I like and support the new law.
That’s right!
And generally speaking, if you’re going to the zoo,
you’re buying tickets—so you are financially supporting the zoo
if you go there.
But we see here we have two friends: Mark and Sarah.
They are co-workers, they’re having lunch,
and Mark invites Sarah to go to the zoo with him.
Mark says:
“Hey, Sarah, do you want to go to the zoo tomorrow?”
And Sarah responds:
“No thanks.”
Why? Well, she says:
“Honestly, I don’t think zoos are moral.”
Now, this word moral—you saw it in your Language Lab already, friends.
But Sarah uses another word in this sentence as well—
that’s the word honestly.
Now, we use this a lot of times in conversation.
When would we use this, John?
Well, you’d use it if your real opinion hadn’t been shared,
or might not be popular.
You could substitute it with the word truthfully or really.
It’s preparing someone for you to open your heart
and give them your real opinion.
That’s right.
Sometimes we use this in conversation if what we’re about to say
might be the opposite of what people think we think,
or when we’re about to share something
that might be hard for them to hear.
So here we see,
Sarah says, “Honestly, I don’t think zoos are moral.”
Another example of this could be:
“Honestly, I didn’t like the dish that you made.”
Telling someone that their cooking isn’t your favorite would be a hard thing to be honest about.
Oh yes—what are you honest about?
Hopefully, you are honest with everybody.
But honestly is a great phrase to use.
And she explains why she doesn’t like zoos, too.
She says wild animals shouldn’t be confined to areas where they can’t live freely.
It’s like they’re in prison for our entertainment.
Okay, first—this phrase confined to—what does that mean?
Well, if something or someone is confined to something,
it means they are restricted in area or volume,
or they’re very cramped.
I see. So you could say:
“He was confined to his room after getting grounded by his parents for causing trouble.”
And the animals really are confined.
They can’t really escape those.
Some zoos or wild animal parks let the animals roam or wander around more freely.
But she makes a pretty serious point here—
about the animals being in prison for our entertainment.
Anne Marie, this is a phrase we use, right?
For one’s entertainment. Could we use that in other sentences?
Yeah, we sure could. For example:
“While at dinner, the band played music for our entertainment.”
All right, friends, we have more to learn from this conversation.
Let’s hear the next part of it right now.

Do Zoos Have a Place in Society?
“I see what you’re saying, Sarah.
But zoos today aren’t just about entertainment.
Many zoos focus on protection and education.”
“That can be done in other ways.”
“Well, they have breeding programs that have saved numerous species.
Take the giant panda or African elephant—without zoos, those species might have disappeared.”
Some zoos help with restoring populations, and in the wild,
some rare species have trouble finding mates—
not to mention they are threatened by poachers,
loss of habitats, and climate change.
ChatGPT翻譯
動物園在社會中有存在的價值嗎？
「我了解妳的意思，莎拉。
但是今天的動物園不僅僅是為了娛樂。
許多動物園專注於保護和教育。」
「這些可以通過其他方式來做。」
「嗯，動物園有一些繁殖計劃，已經拯救了許多物種。
像是大熊貓或非洲象——如果沒有動物園，這些物種可能早已滅絕。」
一些動物園幫助恢復物種數量，在野外，
一些稀有物種很難找到配偶——
更不用說它們還面臨著偷獵者、
棲息地喪失和氣候變遷的威脅。

今天的 Usage Tip 是 WH 疑問詞的用法。
WH 疑問句包括 what, which, why, who, how 等，以及表示「是否」的 whether 和 if，
還有重數連接詞 that，都可以引導名詞子句。
名詞子句可以作為受詞，放在及物動詞或片語動詞的後面。
譬如課文中的這句：
I see what you’re saying, Sarah, but zoos today aren’t just about entertainment.
名詞子句 what you’re saying 是及物動詞 see 的受詞。
另外要注意：
名詞子句中的順序是 主詞 + 動詞。
如果寫成：
I see what are you saying 那就是錯誤的寫法喔！
來看一個例句：
We need to think twice about whether this approach will work.
我們必須三思這種方法是否可行。
All right, we have more to learn from this conversation, friends.
Mark says:
“I see what you’re saying.”
Now that was our Usage Tip for today.
And this is said to show that he can kind of see where Sarah is coming from—
he can understand why she might have this opinion.
Yeah, this is a great expression if you want to remind somebody
that you understand or are aware of what they’ve said.
So Mark says:
“I see what you’re saying, Sarah, but—”
And then he makes his points:
Zoos today aren’t just about entertainment.
Many zoos focus on protection and education.
We know what education is, of course,
but to focus on something means to
make something your goal or your priority, right?
For example, maybe you have a lot of schoolwork this week—tests and homework.
You could say:
“I’m going to focus on studying for my test tomorrow
and then wait to finish my homework after I finish my test.”
Now, we also see the word here—protection.
If something is being protected, it means that
it is being kept safe from harm or injury.
That’s right. The verb protected is really useful.
You could say:
“The paint protected the wall.”
But protection, as a noun,
is something we talk about in a lot of different areas.
Here, we’re talking about keeping animals from dying out or being hurt in the wild.
We also read that Sarah isn’t convinced.
She says, “That can be done in other ways.”
And Mark brings up another thing that zoos are doing.
That’s right. Mark says:
“Well, they have breeding programs that have saved numerous species.”
Now, what do we mean here when we’re talking about breeding programs or endangered animals?
A breeding program is a plan to help them multiply and reproduce.
It’s a great way to bring species back from near extinction.
There’s also a word he mentions—the giant panda or African elephant—
and says without zoos, those species might have disappeared.
And we learn a really important word here, don’t we?
Species.
That’s right. Species is a group of organisms that have similar genes or similar DNA.
We can also use the word species to talk about a certain kind or sort of animal or organism.
That’s right. You know the word special, right—like something unique or set apart?
The word species means something that is different from other things.
You could say:
“What kind of species is that bird?”
That’s right. Okay, so Sarah says, “Okay,”—she agrees a little bit.
Some zoos help with restoring populations.
Populations is a great term for you to know, friends.
Can you explain that for us, John?
Yeah, you can either say population or populations (plural).
It means the total number of species or creatures in an area.
You could have a population of buffalo, for example.
Here’s another example:
“Populations of honeybees have been disappearing in recent years.”
But we move on. Here, Mark says:
“And in the wild, some rare species have trouble finding mates.”
Now, we’re talking here about the animal finding a partner to have babies with.
This is especially difficult for some endangered species.
That’s right.
The term mate is one that Australians often use to mean “friend,” by the way.
So you might see it used differently in Australia.
But finally, Mark makes this point:
“Not to mention, they are threatened by poachers, loss of habitats, and climate change.”
We’ve talked about those other things,
but poachers are illegal hunters who kill or capture animals and profit from harvesting them.
Yes, that’s right.
For example:
“The poachers hunted the elephants for their ivory.”
我們將繼續討論關於動物園是否道德的議題，在這之前來看看今天的 Info Cloud！
Hello friends, welcome to Info Cloud!
Hey Rex, I heard you and some of our co-workers went over to Mike’s house to check on him.
How did it go?
I have to say—not very well.
Oh? What? How come?
I thought he was going to be happy to see you guys. What happened?
Since Mike broke his foot, he can’t really walk or go out.
I think he feels like a bird in a cage.
A bird in a cage—that’s an interesting expression.
Can you explain what it means?
Sure!
A bird in a cage refers to someone who feels trapped or confined,
even if their surroundings are comfortable.
I see—so it’s about feeling restricted despite having a nice environment.
There’s another similar expression: to be in a golden cage.
It means being in a situation where you have all the things money can buy,
but still feel trapped.
So a bird in a cage and to be in a golden cage
both highlight the feeling of being trapped,
regardless of how comfortable the situation might seem.

a bird in a cage 籠中鳥
重要的是要認識到：物質上的舒適，並不總是等於真正的自由與快樂。
很多人表面上看起來很好，但內心有可能正在受苦。
今天跟大家介紹的用語是 a bird in a cage，字面上是「籠中鳥」，
而這個用語是指那些活在舒適環境中，但內心卻感到被困住的人。
例如：
Mike is trapped like a bird in a cage because of his love of video games.
Mike 很像一隻籠中鳥，因為沉迷於電玩。
另一個類似的用語是：to be in a golden cage「在金色籠子裡」，形容一個人擁有一切物質享受，但仍然感到不快樂，跳脫不了那種感覺。
這就是今天的 Info Cloud，我們下次雲端見！

Do Zoos Have a Place in Society?
“But most animals in zoos are not endangered,
and captivity often stresses them out.”
“What do you mean?”
“Elephants suffer in small spaces.
No zoo can provide the kind of space elephants need.
Some animals rock, sway, walk in circles,
or even hurt themselves because their spaces are so small.
I read animals sometimes have to be given antidepressants to help with their behavior.”
But many zoos are expanding their spaces and creating more natural habitats.
They’re improving all the time.
ChatGPT翻譯
動物園在社會中有存在的價值嗎？
「但大多數動物園裡的動物並不瀕臨絕種，
而且囚禁環境常常會讓它們感到壓力。」
「妳是什麼意思？」
「大象在狹小的空間中會受苦。
沒有一個動物園能提供大象所需的空間。
有些動物會搖擺、擺動、圍著圈子走，
甚至因為空間太小而傷害自己。
我讀到有些動物有時候需要服用抗憂鬱藥來幫助改善它們的行為。」
「但許多動物園正在擴大它們的空間，並創造更多自然的棲息地。
它們一直在進步。」

接下來看 sway 這個字。它有很多不同的意思。
當動詞時，是指「搖擺」或「使搖動」。
Phew! Look at the way that tree is swaying back and forth. I think a typhoon is coming.
看那棵樹前後搖擺的樣子，我覺得颱風要來了。
或是：
When I see the wind swaying the grass, I imagine I am seeing ocean waves.
當我看到風吹動草地，我會想像自己看到的是海浪。
Sway 當名詞時，則有「影響力」的意思。
例如：
Because of his wealth, the businessman had a lot of sway with the city government.
這位商人財力雄厚，對市政府有很大的影響力。
Alright, well—Sarah has a few more negative things to say about zoos here, friends.
Let’s see what her first point is in this next section.
She says:
“Most animals in zoos are not endangered,
and captivity often stresses them out.”
Now, when we’re talking about captivity here,
we’re talking about the state of being confined or imprisoned.
Sometimes you’ll use phrases like:
to be brought into captivity
taken into captivity
or just going into captivity.
For example:
The prisoners went into captivity after the huge battle.
Okay, well, Mark says:
“What do you mean?”
And Sarah answers:
“Elephants suffer in small spaces.”
Suffer is really a strong word here. What does it mean, John?
Well, suffering means to experience pain,
and usually sadness. No one likes suffering, right?
That’s right.
Sometimes we also say that someone is suffering from an illness.
Here’s an example:
If you feel sick, you shouldn’t suffer—go to the doctor and get some medicine.
How does our lesson continue, John?
Well, she makes the point that no zoo can provide the kind of space elephants need.
Some animals rock, sway, walk in circles,
or even hurt themselves because their spaces are so small.
So she’s making a case for more space.
She uses two verbs here: to rock and to sway.
We learned about swaying—moving from side to side. What does it mean to rock?
Well, to rock is a similar idea,
but rocking can be forward and backward, or side to side as well.
Interesting!
I think this is actually where we got the term rock and roll
for a certain kind of movement in dance and that music style.
But if an animal is rocking and swaying—it’s probably suffering.
We read about the solution that some zoos give.
She says:
“I read animals sometimes have to be given antidepressants to help with their behavior.”
Antidepressants—that’s a type of medicine, right?
Yes, and it helps remove some of the symptoms of depression.
Antidepressants are also sometimes given for anxiety or sleeplessness.
For example:
The doctor prescribed her an antidepressant so that she could sleep better at night.
Now, we also see something else in that sentence—
the term to help with something.
What does that mean?
It means to assist, to cause something to improve, or provide aid.
So you could say:
“I like to help my mom with the dishes.”
(I don’t really love doing dishes, so that was a lie. Sorry, guys.)
Okay, here’s another example:
“Eat an orange. It will help with your cold.”
Now we read on here, friends, that Mark says:
“But many zoos are expanding their spaces and creating more natural habitats.”
If something is expanding, it means it is being made larger or more.
That’s right—it’s getting bigger.
And we also read:
“They’re improving all the time,” says Mark.
Improving again means getting better.
Well friends, I hope your English is improving!
I’m sure it is.
Let’s go to today’s Fun Fact, though, to learn a little bit more.
Hello Fact Friends!
I am Detective Ernest Finder and I have a fun fact for you today:
Did you know a special kind of zoo that features water animals is called an aquarium?
Aqua is an old Latin word that means water. Aha! Did you know that?
And the largest aquarium in the world is the Georgia Aquarium.
It has more than ten million gallons of water!
And that is today’s Fun Fact.
Well John, the idea of whether zoos are ethical or not can be a controversial topic.
Were there any points in our article today that you really agreed with or really disagreed with?
Definitely—they both make some good points.
I think Sarah makes a good case that animals should not suffer.
But Mark makes a strong argument that zoos and their breeding programs have saved many animals from extinction.
It’s really nice that we can still see some of these beautiful animals—thanks in part to zoos.
That’s a really good point.
I think the point I agree with the most from our article today was the fact that animals need a lot of space.
Now, some zoos are able to do that, and some are not.
Maybe there could be a zoo that’s just for little animals—like frogs!
I’m sure there are, friends.
But I do know that I enjoy the zoo,
and I’ll enjoy talking in English about the zoo tomorrow—with you.
Girlfriends, that’s all the time we have for today.
My name is Anne Marie—
And my name is John.
Friends, thanks for going to the zoo with us today.
We’ll see you next time—right here on Studio Classroom! 🎉


Do Zoos Have a Place in Society？
「動物園」的社會角色(下)
空中英語教室 20250422
(使用CapCut 自動字幕功能)
只要修正英文文法，保留原文，同時將簡體中文修改為繁體中文
Hello, friends.
My name is Anne Marie, and today is a great day to learn something new.
So let’s do that together, friends.
My name is John, and this is Studio Classroom.
We are on our What’s Your Opinion? article this month, called:
Do Zoos Have a Place in Society?
We have two co-workers here, Mark and Sara, and they have different opinions about whether zoos are good or bad.
That’s right. Mark wants to go to the zoo.
He thinks zoos do a good job of helping endangered animals.
But Sara is not so sure. She does not think zoos are moral, and she does not like the fact that the animals are in a "prison"—that’s how she thinks about it.
The two disagree, but what’s your opinion?
We’re going to find out some other points about whether zoos are a good idea or a bad idea in today’s article.
So let’s get going with the first part of the conversation—right now.

Do Zoos Have a Place in Society?
But no matter what they do, zoos cannot create perfect spaces.
Animals are still being deprived of their freedom and the chance to express their natural behaviors.
Should they have to suffer the mental and physical problems that come with captivity?
Well, zoos aren’t just about the animals.
They also educate people.
Seeing these creatures in person can inspire kids to care about protecting wild animals.
ChatGPT翻譯
動物園在社會中是否有其存在的價值？
但無論動物園怎麼努力，都無法創造出完美的空間。
動物依然被剝奪了自由，無法展現牠們天生的行為。
牠們是否應該承受被圈養所帶來的心理與生理問題呢？
然而，動物園的存在並不僅僅是為了動物。
它們同時也肩負著教育人們的功能。
親眼看到這些生物，能激發孩子們保護野生動物的意識與熱情。

Hi, everyone. Welcome to Language Lab! I’m Jack.
我們先來看 "space" 這個名詞，意思是「空間」。
譬如：
When their third child was born, the couple wanted to move to an apartment that had more space.
當這對夫婦第三個孩子出生時，他們想搬到一個有更大空間的公寓。
"Space" 也指「太空」。
譬如：
Humans have always looked up into space and wondered what was there beyond the stars.
人類總是仰望太空，想知道星空之外到底有什麼。
"Space" 當動詞的時候是指「間隔」。
比如：
The teacher had spaced the desks so that she could walk up and down the rows and help each child.
老師把桌子間隔開來，以方便他來回走動，幫助每個孩子。
All right, friends.
We are continuing this conversation between Sara and Mark.
Sara says:
“But no matter what they do, zoos cannot create perfect spaces.”
So what she means by this is that no matter how good a zoo is, it’s going to be different than that animal’s natural habitat.
That’s right. "Space" here means the place where an animal lives—like that word "habitat."
And she says:
“Animals are still being deprived of their freedom and the chance to express their natural behaviors.”
What does that mean?
Well, the word "deprived" is a verb. It means "prevented from having something," especially something that’s good or enjoyable.
That’s right. So for example, you could say:
“I’ve been really deprived of sleep recently.”
A lot of times, we take something that is good or that we should have and put it at the end of "deprived of."
You could be:
Deprived of good nutrition or
Deprived of sunshine.
And here, she’s saying the animals are deprived of the chance to express their natural behaviors.
"Express" here means to show, right?
That’s right.
To express something means to convey or show a thought or a feeling—or in this case, as in our article—a type of behavior.
I see. Well, she makes a pretty good case. It’s hard to recreate the whole natural environment in a small space.
But she also asks:
“Should they have to suffer the mental and physical problems that come with captivity?”
What does Mark say?
Well, Mark says:
“Zoos aren’t just about the animals.”
I would say, this is the argument that makes me say I am for zoos, although I agree a lot with what Sara is saying.
I do agree—zoos are not just for the animals.
Now what does he mean by this, John?
Well, he makes the good point that they’re there for educating people.
And he says:
“Seeing these creatures in person can inspire kids to care about protecting wild animals.”
So it’s great to learn from the animals. And remember—we are in a relationship with them.
There’s that word "creatures," which generally means a life form that can move independently.
It suggests that everything has been created by God.
So technically, we are creatures.
Often we use this for animals, though, don’t we?
For example:
The unicorn is a mythical creature.
It is a being that lives and moves.
And we see here—yes, the way that zoos can educate people is by allowing them to see animals in person.
I know for me and my family, when my kids are able to see a creature in person, they are able to learn more about it than if they were to just see it in a book.
So I do think that Mark makes a good point.
Definitely. You know, when I was in high school, I was part of what was called the Youth Volunteer Program that I mentioned yesterday.
And this actually really helped me love animals a lot more.
I think both of them are making good points though.
If you have a zoo that doesn’t take care of the animals, honestly—it’s also not going to be doing a good job of educating people about these animals.
But they’ll each continue to make some other points.
We’ll see if either of them convinces the other in this conversation.
All right. Well, we also see here that Mark says this can inspire people to take care of animals.
I like this here, because sometimes if you don’t know about a problem, you don’t know how to help.
And here, when kids see that animals might need help, or they learn about different kinds of creatures—it can inspire them to do good.
That word "inspire" is really cool. It literally means to "put breath of life into something."
So if you can imagine,
the word—to break it down—
"in-" means into, and
"spire" is like that word respiration.
It comes from a Latin word spirare, which means to breathe.
So basically, you’re breathing this education and excitement into kids by taking them to the zoo.
All right, friends,
let’s continue learning now with the next part of our conversation:

Do Zoos Have a Place in Society?
But a TV program I watched said there are few positive learning outcomes from taking a child to a zoo.
Also, excursions, hikes, boat tours, and other ways of getting kids to interact with nature are good activities.
Going to a place like an animal sanctuary, where animals are in their natural environment, is also better.
I can see that,
but most kids will never go to Africa or Asia to visit those kinds of places.
ChatGPT翻譯
動物園在社會中是否有其存在的價值？
但我看過的一個電視節目指出，帶孩子去動物園學到的東西其實不多。
此外，郊遊、健行、乘船觀察等讓孩子親近大自然的活動也是很好的選擇。
前往像是動物保護區這樣的地方，讓動物生活在自然環境中，也是更好的方式。
我可以理解這一點，
但大多數孩子一輩子可能都不會有機會去非洲或亞洲那種地方參觀。

其次來看動詞 interact 的意思是「互動」。
譬如：
Every time I interact with my aunt, she asks me about my life and makes me feel very loved.
我每次和阿姨交談時，她都會詢問我的生活情況，讓我感到很被關愛。
Interact 的名詞是 interaction。
比如：
I just had an interesting interaction in the park with a woman from Australia who was carrying a pet bird.
我剛才在公園和一位來自澳洲、帶著寵物鳥的女士，進行了一場有趣的對話。
Interactive 是形容詞，意思是「互動式的」。
比如：
My English teacher has a very fun, interactive style, giving each student a chance to speak without feeling embarrassed.
我的英文老師教學風格非常有趣且互動性強，讓每個學生在不感到尷尬的情況下都有機會開口。
Okay, friends, we’re not done with this conversation between Mark and Sara.
Sara has another good point here.
She says:
"But a TV program I watched said there are few positive learning outcomes from taking a child to a zoo."
Very interesting.
What do we mean when we’re talking about outcomes here?
An outcome means the final result of something.
And she doesn’t say a few, like there are some—she says few, which means not many.
So she’s basically saying it’s not that good.
You know—which, to be honest, I don’t agree with.
But she does provide some other options.
She says:
"Also, excursions, hikes, boat tours, and other ways of getting kids to interact with nature are good activities."
I’ve seen some of those other ones.
But what is an excursion?
Okay, an excursion is a short journey or trip, especially when taken as a leisure activity.
Oh, okay.
It comes from Latin: excurrere.
Ex- means out, and currere means to run.
It’s kind of like the word "course" or like a "track."
So an excursion is literally like running out or going out.
But getting kids to interact with nature is always really wonderful.
You learned that word interact in your Language Lab, okay?
So here in this list, Sara is offering some alternatives to taking a child to a zoo.
She suggests excursions, hikes, boat tours, or other ways of getting kids involved in nature.
Boat tours are always really interesting because that can expose kids to a whole different type of animals and habitat, and they can learn about them there.
And I know I love taking my kids on hikes.
What is another one of her points here, John?
Well, Sara says:
"Going to a place like an animal sanctuary, where animals are in their natural environments, is also better."
So a sanctuary—in history—was a holy place, kind of protected by God, where you could go for safety.
But that word sanctuary is now used to mean any place where animals are preserved and can’t be harmed.
For example,
A lot of people travel to Thailand to visit the elephant sanctuary.
I know that that is a really cool way to experience animals, but it’s not exactly the same thing as a zoo.
We see here that if you go to an animal sanctuary, the animals are in their natural environment.
So this is better for the animals.
Some sanctuaries have a lot of space,
but actually, many sanctuaries run into the same problems as other zoos.
For every kind of place where you’re feeding or keeping large animals,
it’s also really important to have a lot of visitors to maintain the quality.
So these are certainly problems that Mark and Sara are thinking about.
Mark also makes another really interesting point.
That’s right—Mark says:
"I can see that, but most kids will never go to Africa or Asia to visit those kinds of places."
Now clearly we see here, friends, that our writer is coming from the United States.
And yes, it is maybe more difficult for someone from the United States to travel to Asia to go to these types of places.
But it really does depend on where you’re from in the world, right?
There are also animal sanctuaries in the United States that they could visit.
Yeah, so I think he does make a good point.
How many of us, for example, would be able to see something like an elephant?
It’s really expensive to go to another place.
Or, if you live in Africa, how do you see a buffalo from another continent?
I do know that zoos really helped me appreciate the many creatures on this wonderful planet.
But friends, there’s a lot more to learn.
We’ll have to review some of our English right now.
Let’s go to our Info Cloud.
Hello, friends. Welcome to Info Cloud!
Rex, did you notice that nobody asked how Todd’s mother is doing this morning?
Hmm... hey Carrot, yeah, I noticed that.
The topic has become a giant elephant in the room.
Mmm, you’re right. Let’s talk about that expression.
What do people mean when they say:
"There is an elephant in the room"?
An "elephant in the room" is something obvious or important that everyone is ignoring or avoiding talking about—even though it’s right there.
Exactly.
It is like when a group of people is discussing something, but no one mentions a major problem that’s affecting them all.
For example, if a company is going through a financial crisis, but no one will talk about the financial crisis—usually that happens because it can be uncomfortable to talk about sensitive or difficult things.
Yes, but it’s important to remember that pretending something doesn’t exist can actually make things worse.
The phrase itself comes from the idea that an elephant, being so big, would be impossible to ignore—and yet people still act like it’s not there.
That makes sense.
So the next time something important is being ignored, I can say:
"We really need to talk about the elephant in the room."

elephant in the room
當你看到一個重大的問題，但是所有人選擇忽視它，你可以稱呼這種問題是："elephant in the room（房間裡的大象）"。
一頭大象這麼大，應該是不可能被忽略的，但是因為某種原因，人們假裝它不存在。
例如，如果一家公司正在面臨財務危機，但沒有人願意談論這個危機，因為談論敏感問題會讓人感到不舒服。有人可能會提出：
"We really need to talk about the elephant in the room."
我們真的應該討論這個重大問題了。
不管是什麼樣的問題，正面積極地面對通常是最好的方法。
這就是今天的 Info Cloud。下次雲端見！

Do Zoos Have a Place in Society?
And let’s not forget that some zoos are more concerned with making a profit than the welfare of the animals.
That’s a problem—I agree.
Not all zoos are moral, and some definitely need to be reformed.
But rather than shutting zoos down,
I think we should push for better conditions and stricter regulations.
Zoos have the potential to do a lot of good if they’re managed in the right way.
ChatGPT翻譯
動物園在社會中是否有其存在的價值？
別忘了，有些動物園更在乎的是盈利，而不是動物的福祉。
這確實是個問題——我同意。
不是所有的動物園都有道德可言，有些確實需要進行改革。
但與其關閉動物園，
我認為我們應該推動改善飼養環境，並制定更嚴格的規範。
如果管理得當，動物園其實有潛力帶來許多正面的影響。

今天的 Usage Tip 是 "rather than" 的用法。
"Rather than" 如果放在句首，後面可接動名詞或原形動詞，然後接主要子句的主詞加動詞，來表達主詞不是做某事，而是做另外一件事。
意思與用法跟 "instead of" 相同。
"Rather than" 也可以不放在句首，以 "A rather than B" 的形式表達「是 A 而不是 B」的意思。
這時候，A 與 B 必須是對等的詞性結構，
譬如都是名詞、動詞、形容詞或介系詞片語等。
來看例句：
The study was based on oral accounts rather than written documents.
這項研究是根據口述記錄，而不是書面文件。
I really like the point that Sara brings up here at the end of our lesson, friends.
She is questioning the motivation of some zoos.
She says:
"Let’s not forget that some zoos are more concerned with making a profit."
Now, when we’re talking about making a profit, we’re usually talking about someone who is doing a type of business or selling something in order to earn money.
That’s right. For example:
He sold shoes for a living, but he barely made a profit to live off of.
Okay, we also see something else in this sentence.
Our sentence continues by saying:
"...more concerned with making a profit than the welfare of the animals."
"Welfare" is a great word for you to know, friends.
What does that mean, John?
The welfare of something or someone means the health and happiness of that thing or person.
It actually comes from an old verb, "to fare"—you can say "How are you faring?" even in modern English. It means "How are you doing?"
So welfare means "doing well."
Here’s an example of how you could use welfare in a sentence:
"She cares about the welfare of all the children in her class."
She cares that they are doing well.
Now Mark says:
"That’s a problem—I agree."
Of course, we’re talking about zoos making a profit here.
Yeah, he agrees. And friends, if you’re ever in a disagreement with someone, make sure you find the places where you do agree.
He says:
"Not all zoos are moral, and some definitely need to be reformed."
We’ve got two great words there.
We learned about moral already, didn’t we?
That’s right. "Moral" was one of our Language Lab words yesterday.
Here’s another example of how you could use it in a sentence:
"For her, supporting the movie was a moral dilemma."
Now we also see the word reformed at the end of the sentence.
If something is reformed, it means that it is changed in a way that has improved it.
That’s right.
You could say:
"The government was trying to reform its old policies."
Reformed can also mean "to be made or formed again."
You could say:
"After the school’s club was disbanded or canceled, it re-formed again."
Like, it came back together.
But I believe you’d put a hyphen between re- and formed if you’re talking about something being put back together—instead of here, where reformed means "changed for the better."
Okay, in this next sentence, we have our usage tip. We read:
"But rather than shutting zoos down, I think we should push for better conditions and stricter regulations."
We saw "rather than" there in your usage tip.
And now we want to talk about the idea of "shutting something down."
Okay, shutting something down means closing it permanently.
That’s right. For example:
"The library in our neighborhood was shut down."
That means it was closed permanently.
Now we also see the word regulations here, friends.
Regulations are rules that are made and maintained by some type of authority.
Oftentimes there are regulations for traffic, right?
You could say:
"You better obey the traffic regulations or you will get a ticket."
Now our final sentence here for our lesson, friends:
"Zoos have the potential to do a lot of good if they’re managed in the right way."
What do we mean when we’re talking about managing something here, John?
Managing something is a verb that means supervising, running, controlling, or directing something.
So basically, the people in charge are managing something.
We have a noun for that, of course: the manager is the one who manages or makes sure things are run properly.
That’s right.
Here’s an example of how you can use managed in a sentence:
"He managed the company for many years before he retired."
All right, friends.
That’s all the time we have for right now.
Let’s go right now to today’s Fun Fact!
Hello, fact friends!
I am Detective Ernest Finder, and I have a fun fact for you today!
Did you know that one of the most famous zoo animals is a baby pygmy hippo named Mudang?
Haha—Mudang is so cute!
Mudang is from Thailand and she has her own theme song:
"Mudang, Mudang—haha!"
I can still dance to that!
And that is today’s fun hippo zoo fact!
All right friends, as we finish up our lesson today, we have a Talk About It question for you:
What is something zoos could do to help the animals they have?
Oh, you know, sometimes when I go to the zoo, I see animals in just a concrete enclosure—like there’s no plants or anything.
And I always think of plants as being one of the best things an animal could have.
It takes a lot of work to run a zoo, so we have a lot of compassion for you zookeepers out there.
But making the space beautiful for the animals makes it better for everyone.
I’ve also heard that some zoos have enrichment programs that allow the animals to play or interact with each other—and it makes their lives better.
This is a good topic for you to talk about, friends, and practice your English.
That’s all the time we have for today!
My name is Anne Marie.
And my name is John.
Friends, we’ll see you next time right here on Studio Classroom.

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