ኣቕራቢቋንቋትግርኛ
ሰላም፡ እንቋዕ ናብዚ ሓቀኛ ዛንታት ቋንቋ እንግሊዝኛ ሰሚዕኩም ክትርድኡ ዝሕግዘኩም መደብ ብደሓን መጻእኩም። ተክለማርያም በኪት’የ።

Tom
I’m Tom! Hi everyone! Now, chickens are not famous for being clever.

ኣቕራቢቋንቋትግርኛ
ሓቂ’ዩ። ጽሟቕ እታ ተመራማሪት ዝገበረቶ ንፍርያምነት ‘productivity’ ናይ ደርሁ ዝምልከት ዛዕባ ኢና ንሰምዕ ዘለና።

Tom
The experiment looked at two different flocks of chickens – an average flock and a ‘super-flock’.

ኣቕራቢቋንቋትግርኛ
‘A flock’ ሓደ ጉጅለ ደርሁ ማለት’ዩ። ንዝዓበየ መጠን ናይ ሓደ ነገር ንምግላጽ ድማ ‘super’ ዝብል ቅደመ-መላግቦ ክንምልኣሉ ንኽእል።

Tom
We can. ‘Super’ comes from ‘superior’, meaning ‘better’. So, the ‘super-flock’ was made of chickens chosen by scientists because they were the best at producing eggs.

ኣቕራቢቋንቋትግርኛ
ነዚ ካብ መደብThe Joy of 9-to-5 ዝተወስደ ድምጺ ስምዑ። ሓንቲ ናይ ስነ-ልቦና ተመራማሪት ንመደምደምታ ናይቲ ፈተነ’ያ ትገልጽ። ክንደይ ካብተን ‘super-chickens’ ዓብየን?

Insert
He compares the two flocks over six generations. The average flock just gets better and better and better. Egg production increases dramatically. The super-flock of super-chickens, right, at the end of six generations all but three are dead. Because the other three have killed the rest.

Tom
She said ‘all but three’, which means most of the super-flock died!
We can say ‘all but’, plus a number, to mean ‘all except’. For example, Phil is on holiday today, but, all the other members of staff are at work. I can say, “All but one of the staff are here today”.

And, interestingly, the average flock of chickens were fine! Their egg production actually increased dramatically.

ኣቕራቢቋንቋትግርኛ
‘Dramatically’ መብዛሕትኡ እዋን ንከም ‘increase’ ወይ  ‘decrease’ ዝበሉ ግስታት ንምሕያል እንጥቀመሉ ተወሳኺ-ግሲ እዩ።

Insert
He compares the two flocks over six generations. The average flock just gets better and better and better. Egg production increases dramatically.

Tom
She says ‘it just gets better and better and better’.

ኣቕራቢቋንቋትግርኛ
‘Just gets’ ማለት ‘ኮይኑ ይቕጽል’ ንምባል እንጥቀመሉ ዘይስሩዕ ኣዘራርባ ኢዩ። For example, English just gets easier and easier as you practise!

Tom
Right! She also repeats an adjective to show continuing improvement over time. The adjective, which is ‘better’ is stressed. ‘And’ is unstressed. Practise saying it with me.

better
and better
better and better

ኣቕራቢቋንቋትግርኛ
Thanks! So, what can we humans learn from these chickens? 

Tom
Good question – here is the last section of our clip. Which part of our lives does she suggest the experiment is similar to?

Insert
The super-flock of super-chickens, right, at the end of six generations all but three are dead. Because the other three have killed the rest. They've achieved their individual productivity by suppressing the productivity of the rest. And that's what we do at work.

Tom
So, she compares the behaviour of the chickens to our own human behaviour at work.

ኣቕራቢቋንቋትግርኛ
ሕራይ! እተን ኣመና ሓያላት ደራሁ ንሓድሕደን ተቓቲለን፡ ምኽንያቱ፡ ነፍሲ ወከፈን ዝበለጸት ንምዃን ስለዝሃቀና።

Tom
That’s right! I think her point is that only some people can be the best, or can be bosses, or can be managers. Not everyone can be at the top of a hierarchy.

ኣቕራቢቋንቋትግርኛ
‘Hierarchy’ መዓርግ ወይ ደረጃ ማለት’ዩ። Hierarchical structures can be too competitive!

Tom
If everyone’s competing, we might create a dog-eat-dog environment.

ኣቕራቢቋንቋትግርኛ
‘Dog-eat-dog environment’ ዝብል ሓሳብ ሕሉፍ ዝኾነ ውድድር ዘይምዕጋብን፡ ኣሉታውነትን የስዕብ ንዝበሃል ኩነታት ዝገልጽ’ዩ። ኣጨናቂ ዝኾነ ቢዝነስ ብቀጻሊ ብኸምዚ ይግለጽ። Is there a more positive way we can describe hierarchies?

Tom
Yes there is, and it’s about chickens! When chickens eat, we say that they ‘peck’. We use the phrase ‘pecking order’ to describe hierarchies in a more informal, or more positive way.

ኣቕራቢቋንቋትግርኛ
So, are you at the top of the BBC pecking order?

Tom
No, I’m not! The editor is at the top! And he won’t be very happy if our programme’s too long!

ኣቕራቢቋንቋትግርኛ
That’s right! ስለ ምክትታልኩም ነመስግን።

Tom
Bye! See you next time!