骑自行车On your bike

Hello and welcome to 6 Minute English. I’m Sophie…
大家好，欢迎收听六分钟英语，我是爱丽丝。
And I’m Neil. Did you watch the Tour de France cycle race this summer, Sophie?
我是尼尔。你看今年夏天的环法自行车赛了吗？
No, I didn’t. I’m not a cycling enthusiast, Neil – unlike you!
没有。我不是自行车爱好者，像你一样！
It was pretty exciting stuff – in fact just thinking about it, makes me want to jump on my bike and ride off right now!
骑自行车是一件挺有意思的事，光是想一想，我现在就像跳上自行车，开始骑行！
Don’t go just yet, because today’s show is all about bicycles and I’ve got a question for you.Who invented the first pneumatic – or air-filled – cycle tyre in 1888?Was it …a) John Boyd Dunlop?b) Charles Goodyear?Or c) Harvey Samuel Firestone?
现在你不能走，因为今天的节目都是关于自行车的，我还有一个问题要问你。是谁在1888年发明了第一个气胎，充气式自行车轮胎？a)约翰·登禄普？b) 查尔斯·古德伊尔？还是 c) 哈维·塞缪尔·费尔斯通?
Well, I’m going to go for a) John Boyd Dunlop.Can I go now?
我选a)约翰·登禄普。我现在可以走了吗？
No, you can’t.We’ll find out later on in the show if you got the tyre question right or not.But first, I’d like you to tell us a bit about the history of the bike.
不可以。节目的最后我们再看你回答得是否正确。首先，我想让你给我们讲一讲自行车的历史。
If you insist. Well, before the modern bike was invented in 1885, people rode boneshakers, high wheelers, and even tricycles.
如果你坚持的话，好吧。在1885年现代自行车发明以前，人们都骑老式自行车，高轮车，甚至三轮车。
A tricycle is a three-wheeler bike that young children ride before they learn to balance on a two-wheeler.But what’s a boneshaker, Neil?
三轮车是小朋友们骑的三个轮子的自行车，帮助他们在骑两轮自行车前学会平衡。什么是老爷车呢？
It was the first bike with pedals, called a velocipede by its manufacturers. Others called it a boneshaker because its tyres were made of iron so it was very uncomfortable to ride – especially over cobblestone streets.
那是第一辆带脚踏板的自行车，被制造商称为脚蹬两轮车。也有人将它们称为老式自行车。因为它的轮胎是用铁做的，所以骑起来非常不舒服，尤其是骑在鹅卵石路上。
It sounds awful! Now, moving on, the bicycle started out as an expensive toy for the middle classes– but when manufacturing costs dropped, they became a vehicle for social change.
听起来好可怕！我们继续说，自行车刚开始是作为中产阶级昂贵的玩具的，但随着制造成本下降，它们带来了社会变化。
By the late nineteenth century, bikes had become affordable for a large proportion of the population– and the technology had moved on so they weren’t so dangerous – or so uncomfortable to ride.
直到19世纪末，大多数人都能买得起自行车了。科技也在进步，自行车骑起来不那么危险了，也就是不那么不适了。
And for the first time in history, people had the freedom to travel where they wanted when they wanted – including women! Let’s hear more about women and cycling from Robert Penn, UK author, and lifelong cyclist.
历史上，人们第一次有了出行的自由，人们想去哪就去哪，包括女性！我们听听英国作家及终身自行车手Robert Penn关于女性和骑行的观点。
In very practical terms, it had a very significant effect on what women wore in public.And when they first rode bicycles they were expected to ride in long ankle length skirts and voluminous petticoatsand of course that was entirely impractical so they adopted what was called rational dress. And rational dress was a better fitting jacket and pantaloon trousers which were cinched below the knee, which meant that nothing got caught in the chain. And at first there was massive public outrage. There were court cases about whether or not women were allowed to be served in pubs wearing this sort of dress.
实际点说，自行车给女性在公共场合的衣着方面造成了巨大影响。女性第一次骑自行车时，人们要求他们穿至脚踝长度的裙子，好几层衬裙，当然，这样的穿着完全不切合实际，所以他们采用了更为合理的穿着。合理的穿着是指合身的夹克衫，膝盖下收紧的马裤。这样就不会夹到自行车链子里了。但最初也引起了社会的不满。当时有很多案件都是处理是否允许在酒馆中招待这样着装的女性。
So women in the nineteenth century typically wore long skirts and voluminous – or large – petticoats.A petticoat is a piece of clothing worn under a dress or skirt.But what does rational dress mean exactly, Sophie?
所以19世纪女性的典型着装是长裙和大大的衬裙。衬裙是指裙子下的一层布。但合理的着装是指什么呢？
Rational here means logical.It wasn’t logical to wear ankle length skirts with voluminous petticoats on a bike, so women started wearing pantaloon trousers.
合理的是指符合逻辑的。骑自行车穿长至脚踝的裙子，还带衬裙，很不符合逻辑。所以女性开始穿马裤。
Pantaloon trousers were baggy – though they were cinched – or gathered in – below the kneeso they wouldn’t catch in the bicycle chain.
马裤是指宽松，但在膝盖下收紧的裤子。这样就不会夹到自行车链子里了。
But pantaloons for women still caused outrage – or shock and anger– because although they were baggy, they were still trousers and they didn’t go down to the ankle.So bikes played a part in women’s struggle for emancipation – or freedom. But let’s listen now to Robert Penn, who claims that it also played a role in our evolutionary history.
但女性穿马裤引起了社会的轰动和不满。因为马裤即便很宽松，还是裤子，而且长度不到脚踝处。所以自行车在女性自由方面也发挥了一定的作用。让我们在听听Robert Penn， 讲述自行车在进化史方面也发挥了重要作用。
It definitely shored up the gene pool in countries like Britainbecause it meant that people could go further than they ever had before in order to find a partner for life and to mate.And so what started as a really faddish leisure pursuit, within a decade of 1885, the bicycle became the most popular form of transport on the planet, and it has been ever since.
自行车也支持了像英国这样国家的基因库。因为自行车的出现，意味着人们可以比以往走的更远，去寻找伴侣，进行生育繁殖。所以在自行车发明的头十年，它成为风靡一时的休闲活动。自行车成为全世界最受欢迎的出行方式，从未像当时那么流行过。
What does shore up mean, Sophie?
shore up是什么意思呢？
It means support.And gene pool here refers to the collection of genes in a particular population. So, when people travelled further to marry and have children, they were making the gene pool bigger and healthier.
是指支持。基因库是指在某一人群基因的集合。当人们走的更远，寻求结婚生子时，基因库越来越大，越来越健康。
And Robert Penn uses the word faddish he says cycling started as a faddish thing. A fad – or faddish activity – means an enthusiasm for something that doesn’t last very long.
在提到自行车风行一时时，Robert Penn使用了faddish一词。时尚，或时尚的活动，是指对某物的喜爱，通常不会持续很久。
But your enthusiasm for cycling is not a fad.
但你对自行车的热情并不是一时的追逐流行。
No, it isn’t.Do you think lycra wearing is a fad and we’ll all go back to wearing pantaloons in the future, Sophie? No? Not a good look? OK, maybe it’s time for the answer to today’s quiz question.
没错。你觉得穿莱卡的衣服是时尚吗，要不之后我们都穿马裤吧？不要？不好看？好吧，我觉得是时候公布今天问题的答案了。
I asked: Who invented the first cycle tyre in 1888?Was it … a) John Boyd Dunlop, b) Charles Goodyear or c) Harvey Samuel Firestone?
我问你：谁在1888年首次发明了自行车胎？a)约翰·登禄普，b) 查尔斯·古德伊尔，还是c) 哈维·塞缪尔·费尔斯通？
And I said John Boyd Dunlop.Tell me I’m right!
我选的是a)约翰·登禄普。快告诉我我回答对了！
You are… right! Well done, Neil.Scottish inventor and veterinary surgeon John Boyd Dunlop developed the pneumatic rubber tyre. Although it was invented as an improvement on the bicycle, the pneumatic tyre arrived on the scene just in time to contribute to the success of the car.
你的回答是正确的！做得好！苏格兰发明家兼兽医约翰·登禄普发明了充气橡胶轮胎。尽管只是在自行车上进行了改进，但自行车胎的问世之后也为汽车的成功做出了贡献。
Now, here are the words we heard today.
我们听听今天学到的单词：
They are:
分别是：
pneumatic
气胎
voluminous
大量的
petticoat
衬裙
rational
合理的
pantaloon
马裤
cinched
收紧的
outrage
愤怒
emancipation
解放
shore up
支持
gene pool
基因库
fad or faddish
流行或流行的
Well, that’s the end of today’s 6 Minute English.Please join us again soon!
今天的六分钟英语就到这里。我们下期再见。
And we are on social media too.Make sure to visit our profiles on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.
我们也有社交媒体。欢迎在Facebook，推特，Instagram 和 YouTube上浏览我们的主页。
You can get on your bike, now, Neil!
尼尔，你现在可以骑上你的自行车了！
Bye!
再见！