【英语听和读】剑桥郡

 Callum: Hello, I'm Callum Robertson. In this special programme we head into the

English country to experience a bit of life in rural Cambridgeshire.
Only 76 km from London the city of Cambridge is in the heart of the
countryside of east England. Cambridge is well known for its university but the
area has a thriving rural as well as academic community.
In today's programme we're going to hear from one member of this community,
Michael Beaumont, a butcher from the Cambridgeshire town of Fulbourn. As
well as being a butcher he has now diversified 1 into cattle production – what
reason does he give for this development?
Michael Beaumont
Right, I'm Michael Beaumont, I'm the local butcher in Fulbourn. About nine years ago we had
a supermarket come quite close to us and to sustain 2 our butchery business, we've gone into
cattle production.
Callum: He moved into cattle production so he could 'sustain' the butchery business – so
he could continue the business and make it successful. A supermarket had
opened near him which was a threat to his business so he had to do something
more than just being a butcher. Listen again. 
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Michael Beaumont
About nine years ago we had a supermarket come quite close to us and to sustain our butchery
business, we've gone into cattle production.
Callum: He goes on to talk about why having his own cattle is an advantage over what
he calls the 'big boys' the supermarkets.
Michael Beaumont
Why we've survived is because we're doing something different to what the supermarkets are.
We can prove that all of our… we've got full traceability on all these cattle. They're all
locally produced etcetera. So, it's a way forward for us as a small butcher's shop competing
with the big boys.
Callum: Producing his own cattle means that the customers know the meat is locally
produced – they have full traceability – they can trace the meant to a particular
cow – essentially 3 this means that they know exactly where the meat has come
from. This is something that you can't tell in a supermarket so as he says, it's a
way forward for them a small butcher's shop. Listen again.
Michael Beaumont
Why we've survived is because we're doing something different to what the supermarkets are.
We can prove that all of our… we've got full traceability on all these cattle. They're all
locally produced etcetera. So, it's a way forward for us as a small butcher's shop competing
with the big boys.
Callum: Michael Beaumont was brought on a farm and has farming in his blood. He
developed an interest in cattle at agricultural college and in a way although
they are competition he thinks the supermarkets have given him a chance to
become more involved in what he really loves doing. What does he say he is
passionate 4 about? 
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Michael Beaumont Dur: 23"
With my agricultural college experience I was always interested in cattle and, in one way, the
supermarket has done me a favour because it's letting me do something else that I really like
to do. I'm passionate about both of them; I'm passionate about how the animals are raised,
what they're fed on, their welfare and also passionate about the meat I sell.
Callum: He says he is passionate about how the animals are raised – how they are fed,
cared for and looked after. He is also passionate about the meat that he sells.
Michael now introduces us to his cattle. The collective noun for cattle is 'herd 5'
and Michael talks about how he got his herd of Limousin cows. He says he
bought them as a present but for which celebration in his life?
Michael Beaumont Dur: 43"
These are a pedigree herd of Limousin; a small herd I've just acquired. The people who had
got them had got about three or four different herds 6 and they wanted to get rid of this one.
So, I got this really as a 40th anniversary wedding present, but, er…, wife said 'that's a bit
different from the box of chocolates that she was going to get me' [laughter]… I think it came
as a bit of a shock for her when I told her I'd actually bought them, but, no, she's accepted
them and she likes them as much as I do.
Callum: He got the herd from another farmer who had three or four herds already and
wanted to get rid of one. To get rid of something means to not have something
anymore – so it could mean to throw something away or sell it, here it means to
sell. Michael bought the herd as a 40th wedding anniversary present! Aah, a
true romantic. How did his wife feel about this? Listen again. 
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Michael Beaumont
So, I got this really as a 40th anniversary wedding present, but, er…, wife said 'that's a bit
different from the box of chocolates that she was going to get me' [laughter]… I think it came
as a bit of a shock for her when I told her I'd actually bought them, but, no, she's accepted
them and she likes them as much as I do.
Callum: Well at first it was a bit of a shock for his wife – not quite the box of
chocolates she was expecting. But he says she doesn't really mind, she likes
them as much as he does.
Well, that's all from the Cambridgeshire countryside.