剑桥大学校园英语情景对话11：庭院中的赛跑（mp3+中英）

J： There are so many time-honored buildings in Trinity College and I guess that’s one of the reasons that they call Trinity College the most aristocratic college in College.

J：三一学院有很多历史悠久的建筑，我猜这就是他们为什么认为三一学院是剑桥大学最具贵族气质的学院的原因之一。

L: And Trinity College is also famous for its Great Court. It’s the main court of Trinity College and reputed to be the largest enclosed court in Europe.

L:三一学院还以它的巨大庭院出名。那是三一学院的主要庭院，据说是欧洲最大的 封闭式庭园。

J: We are walking on the Great Court now. It feels really good.

J：我们现在就走在巨庭的道路上，感觉真好。

L: Yeah. The court was completed by Thomas Nevile, master of the college, in the early years of the 17th century, when he rearranged the existing buildings to form a single court.

L:是啊。这个庭院是在17世纪早期，在时任学院院长的托马斯纳维尔的指导下建 成的，他重新规划了已有的建筑，构建了一个单独的庭院。

J： And there is a great competition in the The Great Court. Do you know?

J：有一个重大的比赛在巨庭举行，你知道吗？

L: Of course I know. It’s The Great Court Run. It’s an attempt to run round the perimeter of Great Court (approximately 367 metres), in the 43-45 seconds during the clock striking twelve.

L:我当然知道了，是巨庭赛跔，在学院大 钟敲12下的43 ~ 45秒内（正午和午夜，大钟都要敲12下），沿着巨庭跔一圈（大 概367米)。

J: Students of Cambridge like to challenge themselves by taking part in it. They traditionally attempt to complete the circuit on the day of the Matriculation Dinner.

J：剑桥大学的学生都想参加这个比赛，挑战自我。他们通常在举行入学晚宴当天会 尝试跑完一圈。

L: It’s a rather difficult challenge: one needs to be a fine sprinter to achieve it.

L:这个挑战相当困难，只有优秀的短跑选手才能完成比赛。

J: But it is by no means necessary to be of Olympic standard, despite assertions made in the press.

J:虽然媒体声称这是个艰难的挑战，但是选手并不需要具备参加奥运会的水平。

L: David Burghley, who in 1927 first beat the clock, running the course in 43.1 seconds, went on to win gold in the 400-metre hurdles at the 1928 Olympic Games.

L:大卫伯利1927年用了 43.1秒跔完全程，首次"击败了°大钟。随后他在1928 车的奥运会中夺得了 400米栏的冠军。

J: Sebastian Coe, another gold medalist and chairman of the organizing committee for 2012 London Olympics, is generally accepted as the second person to have completed the race.

J：另一位金牌得主，2012年伦敦奥运会组委会主席塞巴斯蒂安科被人们认为是完 成该项比赛的第二个人。

L: Yes. Sebastian Coe successfully completed the run when he beat Steve Cram in a charity race in October 1988.

L:是的。在1988年10月的一个慈善赛跔中，塞巴斯蒂安科击败了史蒂夫克拉姆， 成功跔完了全程。

J; Coe’s time on 29th October 1988 was reported to have been 45.52 seconds, but it was actually 46.0 seconds (confirmed by the video tape), while Cram’s was 46.3 seconds.

J：他在1988年10月29号跑完全程的时间据报道是45.52秒,但实际上是46.0秒(录 像带证实），而克拉姆的成绩是46.3秒。

L: The clock on that day took 44.4 seconds and the video film confirmed that Coe was some 12 metres short of his finish line when the fateful final stroke occurred.

L:那天的大钟敲完12下用了 44.4秒。纪录片证实，当决定命运的最后一下敲响时， 他离终点大概还有12米远呢。

J: The television commentators were more than a little disingenuous in suggesting that the dying sounds of the bell could be included in the striking time, thereby allowing Coe’s run to be claimed as successful.

J：电视评论员很不真诚地点评到，大钟最后的声响延续的时间应该被算到敲钟时间 内，所以他的赛跑桃战被认为是成功的。

L： One reason Olympic runners Cram and Coe found the challenge so tough is that they started at the middle of one side of the Court, thereby having four right-angle turns.

L:奥运会选手科和克拉姆之所以认为这个挑战很难的原因之一是因为他们分别在巨 庭两侧道路的中心起跑，所以要经历4个直角转弯。

J： But in the days when students started at the corner, only three turns were needed.

J：但到了学生们可以在巨庭转角处起跑的时代时，他们只需经历3个直角转弯。

L: Until the mid 1990s, the run was traditionally attempted by first year students, at midnight following their Matriculation Dinner,

L:直到20世纪90年代中期，这个跑步比赛传统上仍是由大一学生参加，校方在入 学晚宴当天的午夜就举行比赛。

J： Following a number of accidents of drunken undergraduates running on slippery cobbles, the college now organizes a more formal Great Court Run, at 12 noon* The challenge is only open to fresher, many of whom compete in fancy dress.
 

J:但是有些本科生喝醉后，经常跔到光滑的鹅卵石上，在许多这样的事件发生后， 现在三一学院决定在正午12点组织一个比较正式的巨庭赛跔。这项活动只允许 大一新生参加，他们当中很多人穿着奋装异服来参加比赛。