蜗牛赛跑 snail racing

Hello and welcome to 6 Minute English from BBC Learning English, I’m Rosie and with me today is Rob.
大家好，欢迎来到今天的BBC六分钟英语学习，我是Rosie，和我一起的是Rob。
Hello there.
大家好。
In this programme, we take a look at an interesting story from this week’s news…
在今天的节目中，我们从本周的新闻中截取一段有趣的小故事奉献给大家...
…and we teach you some useful vocabulary while we’re doing it!
在了解故事的同时，教授大家一些有用的词汇。
This week’s story is about racing animals.Everyone will be familiar with horse racing, but can you think of any other animals that you can race?
本周的故事是关于动物比赛的。大家肯定对赛马非常了解和熟知，但你能想象其他可以用来竞赛的动物吗？
Well I know that some people race greyhounds – that’s a particular breed of dog – or my granddad used to race pigeons!
好吧，我知道一些人用灰狗（猎犬）来比赛，这是一种特殊品种的狗，还有就是我爸爸曾用鸽子来比赛！
Did he? Well the animal we’re talking about today is a lot slower than dogs or pigeons.Today we’re going to be talking about snails.
真的吗？今天我们谈论的是一种比狗或鸽子速度慢的多的动物。我们今天将讨论——蜗牛。
Snails? As in the slimy creatures with a shell that live in the garden?
蜗牛？带着黏液的壳，住在花园里的蜗牛？
Yes exactly. But before we delve into this weird sport, it is customary in 6 Minute English for me to ask you a quiz question!
是的，的确。但是在我们了解（钻研）这项奇怪的运动之前，六分钟英语的惯例是让我来问你一个问题！
Yes it is… So, is this one going to be about snails, then?
好哒...那么这个问题将是关于蜗牛的吗？
Of course it is! The Giant African snail is the biggest snail in the world.But how big can it grow? Is it:a) 18cm longb) 36cm longc) 48cm long
当然是啦！大型非洲蜗牛是世界上最大的蜗牛。但是它能长到多大？18厘米长36厘米长48厘米长
I wouldn’t like to come across any of those in my back garden!But I’ll say b) 36cm long.
尽管我不愿意在我的后花园遇到任何长度的一只！但我仍然会选36厘米长
Well, as ever, we will find out if you are right at the end of the programme.Now, let’s get back to the story about racing snails!
好的，像往常一样，在节目最后我们来看看你的答案是否正确。现在，让我们一起回到蜗牛赛跑的故事吧！
The Olympic Games may be over for another four years, but snail racing enthusiasts, or fans, hope that their sport might feature as an Olympic event one day!
对于下一个四年来说，本届奥林匹克运动会已经结束，但是蜗牛竞赛的爱好者或粉丝，却希望他们喜爱的这项运动能够在某天达到奥林匹克赛事的高度！
The 49th World Snail Racing Championships took place this week in the town of Lagardare in south west France.
第49届世界蜗牛赛跑冠军赛于本周在法国西南部的拉加戴尔镇举行。
The lively village has hosted, or held, the competition for the last thirty years and attracts many tourists to the village.
这个充满生机的村庄已经主持或举办了三十年蜗牛赛跑冠军赛，吸引了很多游客到此一游。
Listen to this first part of a report from BBC correspondent Chris Bockman.What word does he use to mean ’tired and moving slowly?’
认真听来自BBC通讯员Chris Bockman的第一段报告。看他用哪个词来表示“疲惫而缓慢的前进”？
Master of ceremonies dressed in drag launches the start of the races - around 80 competitors place their snails on slippery tables with a red circle in the middle that acts as the starting point.The rules are pretty simple: the first snail that reaches the end of the table, around 70 centimetres from the centre, goes into the play offs with a final at the end.Under a searing heat of around 30 degrees centigrade, the snails, like humans, are a little sluggish.
典礼的主持人身着女人的礼服宣布比赛开始，大约80名参赛者将他们的蜗牛放置在中央画有红线的光滑的桌子上，红线作为比赛的起点。比赛规则相当简单：第一只到达桌子终点的蜗牛，可以进入最后阶段的加赛，比赛起点是桌子的中心，中心距离桌子边缘即终点大约有70厘米。在外面大概30摄氏度的酷热环境下，蜗牛们就想人类一样，都有点无精打采的。
So, did you hear the word?
你听到了那个词了吗？
Yes, it was ’sluggish.’ It’s a really good way to describe feeling tired and slow.
是的，"sluggish”，这个词以非常贴切的形式形容了疲劳和缓慢的感觉。
And snails certainly move pretty slowly.In the report, we also heard that the master of ceremonies, or the person who introduces the competition, was dressed ’in drag.’
蜗牛肯定移动的特别缓慢。报告中，我们还听说了典礼主持人，或者称之为介绍比赛的人员，身着一种叫做“drag”的服装。
That’s a way to describe a man who is wearing women’s clothes.
这个词用来形容穿着女人服装的男人。
He starts the race off.Instead of the traditional phrase “Ready, steady, go,” the snail racing championships begin with “Ready, steady, slow!”
他宣布比赛的开始。与传统的“准备，稳定，出发”不同，蜗牛赛跑冠军赛的发令口号却是“准备，稳定，慢慢的！”。
Well, I suppose snails aren’t the fastest creatures in the world, and they are even slower when it’s hot outside.We heard in the report that the heat was described as ’searing’ – that means it’s very, very hot.
好吧，我想蜗牛并不是世界上最快的生物，当外面很炎热时，他们爬行的更加缓慢。从报告中我们听到用searing来形容天气炎热，意思是非常非常热。
Even though the snails only have to travel 70 centimetres, the race is definitely not a sprint.A sprint is a short, very fast race.
即使蜗牛们只爬行70厘米，可比赛依然不能算是全速短跑。sprint是一种短而快的比赛。
It may not be fast, but there is a very important incentive - or reason to motivate - the snails.
虽然蜗牛比赛并不能称之为快，但是对于蜗牛来说，这种比赛已经非常激励它们了。
In the second part of the report, we’ll hear from Patrick Dubos, the mayor of the town.Listen out for the reason why a snail might want to be crowned the winner of the race…
在报告的第二段，我们听来自举办蜗牛比赛的小镇镇长Patrick Dubos的讲话。认真听为什么蜗牛想要被冠以比赛冠军称号...
After the competition, we sit down for a snail feast and eat 170kg of snails.We eat all of them, except for the winner, which I pardon, a bit like in bull fighting.
比赛结束后，所有人坐下来庆祝蜗牛节，吃掉170千克的蜗牛。我们把除了冠军以外的所有参赛蜗牛吃掉，这个比赛有点类似于斗牛赛。
So all of the snails are cooked and eaten at the end of the competition!
比赛最后，所有的蜗牛都被烹饪和吃掉。
Well, except the winning snail, which is pardoned.That means it is spared or saved from being eaten! Lucky thing!
除了冠军蜗牛可以得到赦免。意思是他可以被免除被吃的命运!幸运的蜗牛！
Some people may think that it is cruel, or unkind, to eat the competitors.
一些人认为吃掉参赛蜗牛很残忍或者不人道。
But snails are a very popular dish in this part of the world, of course.
但是在法国，蜗牛是人们餐盘中一道流行的美食。
Let’s hear the final part of the report from Chris Bockman.What are the snails cooked in?
让我们听来自Chris Bockman的最后一段报告。蜗牛放在什么锅中煮？
And this is the sound of the cook stirring two massive steaming cauldrons full of snails cooked in ham, tomatoes and garlic.They’ll be eaten and washed down with local red wine.
两口巨大的蒸汽锅中，所有的蜗牛和火腿、番茄以及大蒜一起翻炒。然后蜗牛被人们就着当地红酒一起吃掉。
So all of the snails are cooked in massive cauldrons.That’s a huge cooking pot.
因此所有的蜗牛被放在巨大的蒸汽锅中烹煮。这是很巨大的烹饪锅。
Well, all but one. This year’s winner was a seven year old snail named Sebastian, who was given a trophy at the end of the competition.
是的，所有的蜗牛除了冠军。本年度的冠军是一只7年大的蜗牛，名叫塞巴斯蒂安，在比赛结束时候被颁发奖杯。
I wonder if he’ll be back to defend his title next year?
我猜想这只蜗牛明年会不会再度参赛保住它的头衔？
Well, we’ll just have to wait and see!Now, we’re coming to the end of the programme, so it’s time to find out the answer to the quiz question.I told you about the world’s biggest snail, the Giant African snail. Is it:a) 18cm longb) 36cm longc) 48cm long
我们等等看！节目基本到了尾声，让我们来找到问题的答案。我告诉过你世界上最大的蜗牛，巨型非洲蜗牛，18厘米长36厘米长48厘米长
And I said b) 36cm long. So was I right?
我选B，对吗？
And you were wrong! The world’s biggest snail is 18cm long and has a shell with a 9cm diameter.
世界上最大的蜗牛是18厘米长，它的壳有9厘米的直径。
That’s still pretty big for a snail!
这真是相当大的蜗牛啊！
Yes it is. That’s all from us, but do join us again for more 6 Minute English from bbclearningenglish.com. Bye for now!
的确！这就是今天的所有内容，期待下一次加入我们的六分钟英语，拜拜！
Bye!
拜拜！