【一起听英语】游泳
游泳是一项生存技能也是一个锻炼身体的好方式.....
Rob: Hello, I'm Rob…
Callum: And I'm Callum.
Rob: And this is 6 Minute English from BBC Learning English. Today we're talking
about swimming. Now, Callum, how old were you when you started to swim?
Callum: I suppose, before ten. Before I was ten, I think.
Rob: Quite young.
Callum: Yes.
Rob: Well, swimming is a very popular activity in the UK. According to a recent
survey, one in five adults in the UK cannot swim. What's more, millions of
children in the UK can't swim a length of a pool. I think most people recognise
that swimming is very important for safety and good for fitness 1. But maybe
some people weren't introduced to the water early enough and they don't have
the confidence to start swimming later in life. In a moment we'll hear from
some people who coach swimming for adults and children, but first I have this
week's question for you, Callum.
Callum: I thought you might.
Rob: In 2007, the Slovenian swimmer Martin Strel broke his own world record for
long-distance swimming. But what distance did he swim?
6 Minute English © bbclearningenglish.com 2011
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Was it:
a) 3, 268 kilometres
b) 4, 268 kilometres
c) 5, 268 kilometres
Callum: 4, 268 kilometres. I say that. But I really don't know.
Rob: OK, well, we'll see if you're right at the end of the programme. First let's hear
from the BBC reporter Sophie van Brugen. She went to a swimming pool to
find out more about swimming classes for adults and children. Let's have a
listen to the clip 2; how many children does she say have taken swimming
classes in the last year?
Sophie van Brugen, BBC
Not everybody's confident in the water, and many of us learn to swim later on in life. And in
fact experts now say that the best time to learn is when we're babies and children. And in the
last year alone, over 300,000 little ones have gone through classes.
Rob: She says that over 300,000 little ones have taken swimming classes.
Callum: By 'little ones' of course she means children or toddlers. Toddlers are children
who are just learning to walk – usually when they're about 2 years old.
Rob: That's right. And the best time to learn how to swim is when you're a baby.
Callum: That makes sense. I think a lot of babies are natural swimmers, so it's good for
them to be in the water from an early age.
Rob: As long as they've got the proper supervision 3!
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Callum: Definitely! To supervise 4 means to watch over something. The noun
supervision is when someone watches over someone else, like a parent
watching over, taking care of a child.
Rob: It really is natural for babies to be in the water. As long as they have the proper
supervision, babies as young as three months old can start swimming. We have
a clip from baby swimming teacher Jenni May. She says that if babies spend
time swimming from the earliest opportunity, it becomes second nature for
them to be in the water.
Callum: Second nature. This is when you do something so often that it becomes totally
natural to you. So when a child starts to swim very early on, swimming
becomes second nature to them.
Rob: OK, let's listen to the clip. Listen out for the phrase second nature, and see
Jenni May, swimming teacher
When they're under six months it's just almost a natural thing for them to be under the water.
And then it just becomes second nature to them so as they're older, they don't know any
different then being under the water and being wet.
Rob: So if a baby starts swimming early enough, it becomes second nature to them
and they don't know any different from being under water and being wet.
Callum: But what about people who don't learn to swim when they're young? The one
in five British adults who can't swim – what can they do?
6 Minute English © bbclearningenglish.com 2011
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Rob: Ah, well there are a number of schemes to encourage people to swim,
including the BBC's 'Big Splash 6' campaign, which celebrates swimming and
wants to get more people into the water, whether they're adults or children.
Callum: The Big Splash campaign. A splash is the sound that's made when something
hits water. You can hear the word making the same sound –Splaasssssh!
Rob: It's a great word. And there are lots of classes for adults to learn how to swim!
Vicki Carter, who teaches swimming to adults, told the BBC about some of the
techniques she uses to encourage people to swim.
She suggests diving down for bricks and going through hoops 8 as two methods
to make swimming more fun.
Callum: To dive here means to go under the surface of the water. And it can also mean
to jump head-first into water. And a hoop 7 is a circular band, usually made of
metal or plastic. So she suggests diving down for bricks or swimming through
hoops as a way to make swimming more interesting.
Rob: Right, it's time to go back to today's question, Callum. The Slovenian swimmer
Martin Strel broke the world record for long-distance swimming in 2007. But
what was his record-breaking distance? Was it:
d) 3, 268 kilometres
e) 4, 268 kilometres
f) 5, 268 kilometres
Callum: Well, I chose 4, 268 kilometres but it's just a guess. They are all extraordinary
long distances.
Rob: Well, he actually swam 5,268 kilometres along the length of the Amazon River
to break his own world record. Incredible 9! OK, well we're almost at the end of
6 Minute English © bbclearningenglish.com 2011
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the programme, so Callum could you remind us of some of the vocabulary
we've heard in today's programme?
Callum: Of course! We had:
Toddlers
To supervise
Supervision
Second nature
Splash
To dive
Hoops
Rob: Thanks, Callum. If you've enjoyed today's programme, why not write to us
about your favourite places to swim, or ways to make swimming more
interesting, for children and adults. See you next time!
Both: Bye!
- They're doing exercises to improve their fitness.他们为增强体质而做体操。
- No one questions her fitness for the job.没人怀疑她能胜任这项工作。
- May I clip out the report on my performance?我能把报道我的文章剪下来吗？
- She fastened the papers together with a paper clip.她用曲别针把文件别在一起。
- The work was done under my supervision.这项工作是在我的监督之下完成的。
- The old man's will was executed under the personal supervision of the lawyer.老人的遗嘱是在律师的亲自监督下执行的。
- We must supervise and speed up the fulfilment of assigned tasks.已经布置了的工作，应当认真督促检查。
- Tomorrow he will supervise all the pupils taking the English examination.明天全体学生考英语，他将担任监考。
- You can always tell the meaning of a word from its context.你常可以从上下文中猜出词义来。
- This sentence does not seem to connect with the context.这个句子似乎与上下文脱节。
- I fell into the water with a splash.我跌入水中，激起水花四溅。
- There's a splash of paint on the white wall.白墙上溅上了一片油漆。
- The child was rolling a hoop.那个孩子在滚铁环。
- The wooden tub is fitted with the iron hoop.木盆都用铁箍箍紧。
- a barrel bound with iron hoops 用铁箍箍紧的桶
- Hoops in Paris were wider this season and skirts were shorter. 在巴黎，这个季节的裙圈比较宽大，裙裾却短一些。 来自飘（部分）
- Some planets run at incredible speed.某些星球以难以置信的速度运行着。
- Her answer showed the most incredible stupidity.她的回答显示出不可思议的愚蠢。