Neil: Welcome to On the Town from BBC Learning English, the programme where we visit interesting places in Britain. I'm Neil.

Oliver: And I'm Oliver 我是 Oliver.

Neil: We're at a very different type of museum.

Oliver: What's different about it?

Neil: Well, here's Andrew Willshire, who works at the Horniman Museum in south London.

Well the Horniman Museum provides a window onto our world. We have a fine collection of musical instruments, anthropological items and natural history specimens alongside some living collections where we have an aquarium and sixteen acres of gardens.

Andrew Willshire, employee at the Horniman Museum

Neil: We're at the Horniman Museum, which he says is a window onto our world.

Oliver: 霍尼曼博物馆。 A window on the world 意思就是在那里你可以看到来自世界各地的、数量众多的展品。从人类历史到自然世界，应有尽有。

Neil: There are musical instruments, anthropological items.

Oliver: 人类学方面的展品。

Neil: Natural history specimens.

Oliver: 动植物学，博物学 natural history. 标本 specimens.

Neil: And there's an aquarium.

Oliver: 水族馆。

Neil: And a sixteen-acre garden.

Oliver: 就是相当于六万五千平方米面积的大花园。Wow, this place sounds really interesting. Let's start with the musical instruments.

Neil: Well, there are one and a half thousand instruments from all over the world here from past to present, including some very strange ones from little-known cultures and civilisations.

Oliver: Ah, 在那里你还可以看到很多来自鲜为人知的人类文明创造出来的各种奇特的乐器。

Neil: And you can hear exactly what they sound like and even play some of them. Here's Andrew again:

It's a unique opportunity to look at music and the way music has an influence all over the world. And as part of the music gallery we have a hands-on area, which gives people the opportunity to come and try some things for themselves. So as well as just looking and listening to instruments, they can physically go and have a play.

Andrew Willshire, employee at the Horniman Museum

Neil: There's a hands-on area.

Oliver: 互动区。在这里 hands-on 的意思就是你可以亲自抚摸和演奏那些乐器。Hmm, I think you need some more practice, Neil.

Neil: I think you're right Oliver.

We're at the Horniman Museum in London.

Oliver: Let's have a look at the natural history section. 接下来，让我们去看一看博物馆里的动植物学展区。

Neil: It's full of stuffed animals from all over the world.

Oliver: 填充的 stuffed. 在这里的意思就是通过填充材料让动物标本看起来更立体、更逼真。

Neil: And right in the middle is the most iconic symbol of the museum: a walrus.

Oliver: 标志性的 iconic. 海象 walrus. It's huge!

Neil: There's a funny story about the walrus and the taxidermist who stuffed it.

Oliver: 制作标本的人，剥皮师 taxidermist. Here's Andrew again:

The taxidermist had no idea at that time what a walrus looked like so assumed that he should just keep on stuffing the animal until it was full to bursting.

Andrew Willshire, employee at the Horniman Museum

Neil: The museum's over a hundred years old, so not many people in Britain knew what a walrus looked like – including the taxidermist – so this one's actually much fatter than it should be!

Oliver: 原来如此！霍尼曼博物馆已经有一百多年的历史了，在那个时候没有几个人知道海象到底长的是什么样子，就连制作标本的师傅也不知道，所以我们看到的这个标本就比他实际的尺寸大了好多。

Neil: OK Oliver, how about some live animals now?

Oliver: Yes, let's have a look at the aquarium.

Neil: There are tanks of seahorses.

Oliver: 有一个养海马的池子。

Neil: And jellyfish.

Oliver: 水母。

Neil: And tropical fish.

Oliver: 各种各样的热带鱼。

Neil: Well Oliver, the sun is shining, so why don't we go and have a look at the garden? Nice isn't it.

Oliver: 哦，多美的风景啊！

Neil: You can see lots of iconic buildings.

Oliver: 标志性建筑。

Neil: Andrew from the museum can describe the view:

One of the spectacular things that we have is fabulous views over the centre of London. So you can see such iconic buildings as St. Paul's Cathedral, the new arch at Wembley Stadium, you can see the famous 'Gherkin' building, which is a recent addition to the city skyline.

Andrew Willshire, employee at the Horniman Museum

Oliver: 这个比较有意思“小黄瓜”。这是一个坐落在伦敦城中心的新建筑的昵称。因为这个建筑的外形非常象一条腌制的小黄瓜，所以伦敦人给了他一个可爱的名字：‘the Gherkin'.

Neil: That's right, it's a recent addition to the city skyline.

Oliver: 城市建筑风景线。

Neil: Well I hope you enjoyed our trip to the Horniman Museum. If you want more help with your English, look at our website www.bbcchina.com.cn

Oliver: 再见。

Neil: Bye.