时间:2019-01-07 作者:英语课 分类:2007年VOA标准英语(一月)


英语课
By George Dwyer
New York City, NY
25 January 2007
 
watch Kite Fighting report


Throughout much of Asia, kite fighting has been a popular activity for generations. Now a bestselling novel by an Afghan-American author has stirred new interest in the sport in the United States. And as VOA's Jim Bertel reports, kite fighting is more than just a sporting diversion, it is an important cultural touchstone for many South Asian immigrants in the U.S.






Some kites used in kite fighting


Some kites used in kite fighting



The skies over a park in New York City have been filled with kites in recent months.


On the ground, Afghan, Indian, Pakistani, and other South Asian devotees of "kite fighting" battle for supremacy 1 of the skies. Bangladeshi Qaiser Khan says, "It is very special. I got this from my father, from my childhood. This is the only thing I (have) been doing since a very young age."


Sheryar Choudhry, Director of the World Control Board of Kite Flying says kite fighting is a highly competitive sport, but it is also considered an art form across South Asia -- a touchstone of shared experience.


"It's not only a sport. It's also a culture,” says Choudrhry. “It's a very big part of Pakistan, Indian culture. And you know it keeps you basically in touch that you left home and you are here now but you know all the guys and families come out to the park and they fly kites. It is basically a way of staying in touch with your heritage."


Introduced in the U.S. just over a decade ago, kite fighting has been on the ascent 2 ever since. But with the 2004 publication of the novel "The Kite Runner" by Afghan-American author Khaled Hosseini, the sport has really taken off says kite fighter Rizwan Basit.


"No matter what, even if it's windy, rainy, sunny, they are here Saturdays and Sundays flying kites. Firstly, we started twelve years ago. I was like one of the three people that were here (and) started this sport. Now we have a bunch of people."


It takes two men to operate the kite. Mastery of the sky goes to the team whose kite line cuts the cord of its challenger, sending the defeated kite into a free-fall.


"It's like winning a match. When two kites have a match together one of them is going to (be) cut. Whoever cuts the kite, he wins the match," explains Arshad Butt 3.


These "experienced hands" know how to prepare their kite strings 4 with powdered glass and glue to snap their opponent's line. And they understand that winning takes patience, strategy, and some luck.


More than two years after its publication, "The Kite Runner" is still a hot seller. Hundreds turned out at a recent Washington DC book festival to have him sign copies of his books. In New York the sport of kite fighting is flying higher than ever.




n.至上;至高权力
  • No one could challenge her supremacy in gymnastics.她是最优秀的体操运动员,无人能胜过她。
  • Theoretically,she holds supremacy as the head of the state.从理论上说,她作为国家的最高元首拥有至高无上的权力。
n.(声望或地位)提高;上升,升高;登高
  • His rapid ascent in the social scale was surprising.他的社会地位提高之迅速令人吃惊。
  • Burke pushed the button and the elevator began its slow ascent.伯克按动电钮,电梯开始缓慢上升。
n.笑柄;烟蒂;枪托;臀部;v.用头撞或顶
  • The water butt catches the overflow from this pipe.大水桶盛接管子里流出的东西。
  • He was the butt of their jokes.他是他们的笑柄。
n.弦
  • He sat on the bed,idly plucking the strings of his guitar.他坐在床上,随意地拨着吉他的弦。
  • She swept her fingers over the strings of the harp.她用手指划过竖琴的琴弦。
学英语单词
alpha-proton reaction
alpinia officinarum
alterna-
answer-back signal
archimimes
Arequipite
as like as chalk to cheese
autonomous amplitude limiter
autoregressive deconvolution
avantgardistic
benzhydryl amine
Bermudian rig
bertalanffies
biennial bearing
bitser
blue tulips
Booth, Edwin (Thomas)
brass instrument
bus-fare
casting surface
cherogrils
Chinese lexicology
CORDAT
craplets
critical melting point
descended upon
DIS/SEC
ephedine
epidermolysis acquisita
ethenylene
Ferospace
fibre optic memory
film disk
floating sludge
flobber
fluorocomplex
free-response
gamed
gastrostyle
good wishes
Gr. S.
gradient projection method
graduates
hemochromatosis
hunting-cat
hydroxy-malonic acid
hyperboloidal mirror
industrially advanced country
Kirovskaya
Lytton, Edward George Earle Lytton Bulwer-,lst Baron Lytton
manograph
Mansonia annulatus
mid ordinate
miediling
modulation formats
native vermilion
onerari non debet
orizio
part-time bowler
peltate tentacle
pigeonhole principle
point-contact
polychromism
postboat
preemulsion
primary tentacle
promote the sale of products
Pueblan
rail loading machine
renal fibroid sarcoma
rescue cutter
rich chromium ball bearing steel wire
rio bravoes
rogueish
Sarcosperma arboreum
scientific notation
search frequency generator
second reserve
signal instructions
smart structure technology
sodium dodecylsulfate
spelye
square normal closed double head wrench
steam-powers
steering engine valve
subnuclear particle
subsizar
Syringa julianae
tarsal pulvilli
text-understanding
twin-cams
unnarratable
uova
vacuum diffusion pump
valley girls
varitypers
Villiers
vinylcarbenoids
vizament
walruslike
Web Pad
withametelins