剑桥大学校园英语情景对话36：牛桥赛艇比赛（mp3+中英）

T： Hi, Jane! Have you heard that the boat race this year is scheduled to start on Saturday, 3 April at 4:30pm?

T:嗨，吉米！你听说了吗？今年的赛艇在4月3日星期六下午4:30举行。

J： Yes, of course. I learned of the race yesterday on TV.

J:当然啦，我昨天从电视上知道的。

T: I plan to go and have a look, would you like to come with me?

T:我打算去看看，你愿意和我一起去吗？

J: No，thanks. I'll watch that on TV.

J:不了，谢谢。我还是看电视吧。

T： But don't you think that it will be more exciting if we go the spot? You know, I've never been to the spot before. Have you?

T:但是你不认为如果去现场看的话会更有趣吗？我还从来没去过呢。你呢？

J: I went to the spot last year with Harry.

J:我去年和哈利一起去过。

T: You must have spent a very wonderful time there.

T:你们在那里肯定玩得很开心吧。

J： Yes. I do think it is more excting than watching it on TV. Large crowds of people join together just to enjoy the same event.

J：是啊。在那里看确实比在电视上看要过瘾。你想，那 么多的人聚集在一起就只是为了看一个比赛。

T: It must be fun. I will go this Saturday.

T:肯定很有趣，我这固六一定要去。

J： Get there earlier and find a vantage point in advance. When we arrived 2 hours before the competition start last year, there were so many people there already that we could not get to a good point to view the race. At first, I saw nothing but the backs of other people.

J:你要去早一点，占个好位置。去车，我们提前两小时 到达的时候，那儿已经有好多人了，根本就找不到一 个观看的好地方。刚开始的时候，我只能看到别人的 后背。

T: That's awful, I’ll  be there as early as possible. So what happened to you next, did you find a better spot?

T:那样的话就太糟糕了。我会尽早过去的。你们后来怎么样，找到好一点的地方了 吗？

J： Yes. Harry and I tried our best to find a better spot amid the crowds. Wasn't good enough but better.

J：嗯，找到了。我们在人群中挤来挤去，费了很大力气。那地方还是不够好，不过 比原来的好。

T: I see. I heard that this is the 155th race between the two.  I cannot believe that it has such a long history.

T:我知道了。听说这是两所大学第155次比赛？真不敢相信这个赛艇有这么长的历 史。

J： You're wrong. It is the 156th race! Do you know which university won more times than the other?

J：你错了，这是第156次！你知道哪所大学嬴的次数比较多吗？

T： I have no idea who won more, but I guess it might be Oxford. They were really good last year. I saw their victory on TV.

T:我不知道。可能是牛津吧，他们去年的表现真的很棒，我从电视上都看到了。

J: Actually the answer is Cambridge. It won 79 times, 4 times more than Oxford.

J:实际上，剑桥裸的次数比较多。剑桥嬴了 79次，比牛津要多4次。

T： Wow, they are almost neck and neck. I'm wondering who will be the winner this time. Is there any dead-heat?

T:哇，他们还真是不相上下。我在想，谁会是这届比赛的嬴家呢。对了，他们有设 有打过平手？

J： Yes, ever since the race initiated in 1829，there was one dead-heat in 1877.

J：有啊。从1829年这个比赛开始以来，只在1877年出现过一次平局。

T: Can women join the crew?

T:女性可以参加比赛吗？

J: Yes，women first took part in the competition in 1981 when Sue Brown served as the wheelwoman of Oxford. Oxford won that time. In 1989, both teams had women as their wheelwoman, and Oxford won again.

J:可以。在1981年首次出现了女性参加比赛，那年苏布朗担任牛津队的舵手，牛 津嬴了。而1989年，两个队都由女性担任舵手，还是牛津赢。

T: Cambridge must be very upset.

T：剑桥肯定很伤心。

J： It doesn't matter since Cambridge won more times than Oxford in total.

J：不过没关系，总数上，剑桥还是暂时领先的。

T: Are the Boat Race crews up to the standard of international crews?

T:赛艇队的成员们是不是已经达到国际比赛运动员水淮了？

J; It is difficult to judge, since the Boat Race crews train for a long-distance race early in the season, so their training schedule is quite different for crews training for international regattas.

J：这很难说。参加赛艇的选手，在赛季之前就开始了长距离的赛艇训练，而国际赛 舟会选手的训练计划和他们的很不一样。

T: I see from the TV that the course follows an S shape. How long is the course?

T:我从电视上看到，赛道呈S形，它到底有多长？

J: The course is 4 miles from Putney to Mortlake, passing Hammersmith and Barnes; it is sometimes referred to as the Championship Course, and follows an S shape, east to west. The start and finish are marked by the University Boat Race Stones on the south bank.

J：赛道从普特尼到莫特湖大约有4英里，经过汉默斯密和巴尔内斯。有时人们称它 为冠军河道，从东到西呈S。起始点的南岸都有大学赛艇的标志。

T: Well, thanks for your information.
 

T:好，谢谢你提供的信息。