英语听力—环球英语 1220 Racing Dragon Boats
时间:2019-02-14 作者:英语课 分类:环球英语 Spotlight
英语课
Voice 1
Welcome to Spotlight 1. I’m Liz Waid.
Voice 2
And I’m Nick Page. Spotlight uses a special English method of broadcasting. It is easier for people to understand - no matter where in the world they live.
Voice 3
“Time seems to slow down during the race. There is a lot of noise from the other teams. Every team has a drummer on the front of the boat. As she hits the drum we push through the water in time with the drumbeat. Many teams use whistles 2 as a signal 3 to speed up or slow down. And there is a lot of shouting.”
Voice 1
These are the words of Jacob Hamstra. He lives in Hong Kong, where he races dragon boats. In this sport, teams in special boats race through the water. Today’s Spotlight is on the sport of dragon boat racing 4. Hamstra told Spotlight more about his favourite sport:
Voice 3
“Everyone in the boat is excited and a little worried while waiting on the starting line. The team has trained for many hours every week. But the dragon boat races are usually only five hundred meters long. This takes a good team about two minutes.”
Voice 2
Dragons are creatures that look like large snakes with legs and wings. A dragon boat is long and narrow. One end is shaped like the head of a dragon. The other end is shaped like a dragon’s long tail. In stories, dragons can fly and even breathe fire. Dragon boats seem to fly as they move very quickly and smoothly 5 over the surface of the water.
Voice 1
Each dragon boat usually has twenty people in it. They sit in pairs - so the boat has ten lines of two people each. Each person uses a paddle 6. She holds the top of the paddle. She reaches forward and pulls the water back with the paddle’s wide end. This moves the boat forward. When many people move this way at the same time, the boat goes very fast!
Voice 2
Working together like this is the most difficult part of dragon boat racing. Each person must paddle at exactly the same time. To help them do this, each boat also has a drummer. The drummer beats the drum to signal when to paddle. Each person must quickly paddle over and over again. Some teams move their paddles 7 up to one hundred times in only one minute. Jacob Hamstra tells Spotlight how this feels:
Voice 3
“By the end of the race, everyone is too tired to talk for a few minutes. Sometimes we lose feeling in our legs or arms because they are so tired. Or our legs get so tired that we cannot move them for a while. But there is a moment of pure joy after you cross the finish line. That feeling makes it worth all the work.”
Voice 1
Hong Kong, where Hamstra lives, is a major world centre for dragon boat racing. Dragon boat racing began in Southern China many years ago. No one knows exactly how this tradition began. But many people say it started with an ancient Chinese poet named Qu Yuan. Rena Dam tells the story of this famous man:
Voice 4
“Qu Yuan lived about two thousand years ago. During this time there was war in the country of China. China was broken into states. And these states fought each other for power. Qu Yuan was a minister in the government. But he and the king of his state did not agree. The king became angry with Qu Yuan and sent him away.
Qu Yuan went to the countryside. There he collected traditional stories. He wrote poems about his love for his country. He became one of the most famous poets in China. But he was very sad about the fighting in his country. When another state invaded 8 Qu Yuan’s home, he had no more hope for the future. Qu Yuan jumped into the river with a large stone. He killed himself by drowning.
Many people loved Qu Yuan and his poems. They wanted to save him from drowning. When they heard he was in the river they ran quickly to their boats. They paddled 9 them quickly up and down the river looking for Qu Yuan. They hit drums to make a loud noise. They used the boat paddles to hit the water. They wanted to frighten away the fish so they would not eat Qu Yuan’s body.”
Voice 2
Qu Yuan drowned on the fifth day of the fifth month of the Chinese calendar. People in China celebrate a public holiday on this summer day. It is also called the Duanwu Festival. People celebrate with special food. They eat soft rice tied up with leaves into a triangle shape.
Voice 1
People also remember Qu Yuan with dragon boat races on this day. While teams race the dragon boats, many people stand on the side of the river. They make noise with drums. They cheer and shout. The races are a wild and fun celebration 10 for the whole city!
Voice 2
Many other Asian countries also have traditional boat races like this one. Thailand, Korea 11, Vietnam 12, Japan and parts of India have similar cultural sports. The sport of dragon boat racing is also spreading to other countries around the world. There are races in many North and South American cities as well as Asia, Australia and many places in Europe.
Voice 1
One of the world’s largest dragon boat races outside of China is in Vancouver, Canada. One in every five people in Vancouver is Chinese. They want to remember and celebrate their Chinese traditions. Dragon boat racing is a fun way to do this. Thousands of people of all cultures celebrate the dragon boat races in Vancouver every year.
Voice 2
People from any culture can enjoy dragon boat racing. Jacob Hamstra explains why dragon boat racing is so appealing to so many people:
Voice 3
“I like dragon boat racing because it requires many qualities I like – team-work, self-awareness, humility 13, hard work, dedication 14, practice and physical strength. I also like being under the sun and on the water. And I like the feeling of 20 people moving together as everyone tries as hard as they can.
A dragon boat team is like a small community. Everyone has his own special purpose that is necessary for the whole to work. Racing requires every member of the team to perform perfectly 15 at the same time. Individual effort is not enough for success. Winning 16 is rewarding 17 because the whole team has achieved together more than each person could do on his own.”
Voice 1
The writer and producer of this program was Rena Dam. The voices you heard were from the United 18 Kingdom and the United States. All quotes 19 were adapted for this program and voiced by Spotlight. You can listen to this program again, and read it, on the internet at http://www.radioenglish.net This .program is called, ‘Racing Dragon Boats’.
Voice 2
You can also leave your comments on our website. Or you can email us at radio@radioenglish.net. You can also find us on Facebook - just search for spotlightradio. We hope you can join us again for the next Spotlight program. Goodbye
n.公众注意的中心,聚光灯,探照灯,视听,注意,醒目
- This week the spotlight is on the world of fashion.本周引人瞩目的是时装界。
- The spotlight followed her round the stage.聚光灯的光圈随着她在舞台上转。
n.哨子( whistle的名词复数 );汽笛;口哨声;汽笛声v.吹口哨( whistle的第三人称单数 );鸣笛;呼啸着前进;空指望
- She was fed up with the builders' wolf whistles each morning. 每天早上都有建筑工人冲她挑逗地吹口哨,她烦都烦死了。
- Round one ends, to a tumult of whistles, screams and shouts. 第一局比赛结束了,口哨声、尖叫声与呼喊声一片喧哗。 来自辞典例句
n.信号,暗号
- This is a signal failure.这是明显的失败。
- A train must not pass a signal that is at danger.火车切不可越过危险信号。
n.竞赛,赛马;adj.竞赛用的,赛马用的
- I was watching the racing on television last night.昨晚我在电视上看赛马。
- The two racing drivers fenced for a chance to gain the lead.两个赛车手伺机竞相领先。
adv.平滑地,顺利地,流利地,流畅地
- The workmen are very cooperative,so the work goes on smoothly.工人们十分合作,所以工作进展顺利。
- Just change one or two words and the sentence will read smoothly.这句话只要动一两个字就顺了。
vi.划桨;涉水;vt.用桨划;n.短浆;划浆
- Each man had a paddle for an hour and then a rest.每个人划了一小时桨,然后休息。
- They paddle their boat up the river.他们划着小船往上游去了。
n.划船( paddle的名词复数 );桨状物;(机具的)桨状部份v.涉水( paddle的第三人称单数 );趟水;用桨划船;用戒尺打(孩子)
- Paddles are used especially to propel canoes and kayaks. 短桨特别用于划独木舟和小艇。 来自《简明英汉词典》
- He paddles his own canoe. 他自己划独木舟。 来自辞典例句
v.侵入,侵略( invade的过去式和过去分词 );涌入;侵袭;侵犯
- Troops invaded on August 9th that year. 军队是在那年的8月9日入侵的。
- The diseased tissue can be easily invaded by these microorganisms. 有病的组织容易被微生物侵袭。 来自《简明英汉词典》
v.涉水( paddle的过去式和过去分词 );趟水;用桨划船;用戒尺打(孩子)
- The natives paddled us over to the other side of the river. 当地人划桨送我们到河的对岸。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
- They paddled down the river in a canoe. 他们坐在独木舟上向下游划去。 来自《简明英汉词典》
n.庆祝,庆祝会;典礼
- The celebration passed off successfully.庆祝活动圆满结束。
- The celebration of Christmas is a custom.庆祝圣诞节是一种习俗。
n.朝鲜(亚洲)
- Korea lies to the east of China.韩国位于中国东面。
- Korea and China are separated by only the Yalu River.朝鲜和中国只隔一条鸭绿江。
n.越南
- Vietnam is suffering from food shortage.越南正遭受食物短缺之苦。
- Laos is on the west of Vietnam.老挝在越南西面。
n.谦逊,谦恭
- Humility often gains more than pride.谦逊往往比骄傲收益更多。
- His voice was still soft and filled with specious humility.他的声音还是那么温和,甚至有点谦卑。
n.奉献,献身,致力,题献,献辞
- We admire her courage,compassion and dedication.我们钦佩她的勇气、爱心和奉献精神。
- Her dedication to her work was admirable.她对工作的奉献精神可钦可佩。
adv.完美地,无可非议地,彻底地
- The witnesses were each perfectly certain of what they said.证人们个个对自己所说的话十分肯定。
- Everything that we're doing is all perfectly above board.我们做的每件事情都是光明正大的。
adj.获胜的,胜利的;吸引人的,有说服力的
- Team A has no chance of winning.A队没有获胜的可能。
- They have great hopes of winning.他们获胜的希望极大。
adj.令人满意的;利益的
- Gardening is a very rewarding pastime.园艺劳动是非常有益的消遣。
- She finds motherhood very rewarding.她认为做母亲得偿所愿。
adj.和谐的;团结的;联合的,统一的
- The whole nation is closely united.全国人民紧密团结。
- The two men were united by community of interests.共同的利益使两个人结合在一起。