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Cricket 101 板球101

课文朗读

课文讲解

繁體中文譯本

To the uninitiated, the game of cricket might resemble baseball. Both games pit a batter against a player who hurls a ball. If the batter hits successfully, he tries to score runs for his team while the fielders try to get him out. Such similarities are unsurprising, for cricket gave rise to a number of ball and bat games, foremost among them baseball.

门外汉会以为板球和棒球很像。两项球类比赛都让一位打者和一位投球的投手对阵。若打者顺利击出，他会试着为本队跑垒得分，而对方的内外野手会试着封杀他。这样的雷同并不令人意外，因为板球带动一些打击球类运动的兴起，其中最显著的就是棒球。

No one is exactly sure of cricket’s origins. Historical records indicate that cricket dates from the 1300s, easily making it the oldest team game in contemporary sport. One theory holds that it began as a game played by English shepherds in which one player stood in front of a gate while another bowled a stone at him. What began as a humble shepherd’s diversion has spread to almost every corner of England’s former Pax Britannica.

无人能确认板球的起源。历史记录显示，板球可追溯到十四世纪，在现代运动项目中无疑是最古老的团体运动。有一个理论相信它最初是由英国牧羊人开始玩的，玩法是打者站在一个大门前，而另一个人向他丢一块石头。一开始只是卑微牧羊人的消遣，后来就流传到几乎整个英国前身的大英帝国。

The game of cricket officially went international in 1877, when Australia and England’s national teams first played in Melbourne. There still remains no longer-standing international sports rivalry than that contested every two years between England and Australia for the “Ashes” cricketing trophy. The intense competitiveness of these matches set the tone for the development of a game renowned for its gentlemanly rivalry and, before all else, an inviolable sense of fair play.

板球在1877年正式成为国际化的运动，当时澳洲与英国的国家队首度在墨尔本交锋。至目前仍无其他的国际运动项目比这英国和澳洲每两年举行一次的对抗赛持续更长的时间，而双方争夺叫做「艾许」的板球冠军锦标。这些比赛始终竞争激烈，它也为所谓的绅士竞赛，尤其是不容侵犯的公平性立下了典范。

Vocabulary

单词发音

cricket [ˋkrɪkɪt] n.【體】板球

uninitiated [͵ʌnɪˋnɪʃɪetɪd] adj. 缺乏某種特定知識和經驗的；不識此道的

pit [pɪt] v. 使相鬥；使對立；使競爭[（+against）]

hurl [hɝl] v. 猛力投擲[（+at/upon）]

run [rʌn] n.(板球或棒球运动中击球后跑动得到的)一分

fielder [ˋfildɚ] n.〔板球或棒球比賽中〕守場員﹐外野手

give rise to 引起, 引發, 導致…to be the cause or origin of; bring about

foremost [ˋfor͵most] adj. 最重要的

shepherd [ˋʃɛpɚd] n. 牧羊人

bowl [bol] v. 投（球）；滾（鐵環等）

diversion [daɪˋvɝʒən] n. 娛樂，消遣

Pax Britannica（尤指19世纪）英国强权下的世界和平

pax [pæks] n.（常作P-）由一大国控制下的国际和平

long-standing [ˋlɔŋˋstændɪŋ] adj. 存在已久的，長年的 of long duration or existence

rivalry [ˋraɪv!rɪ] n. 競爭；對抗

set the tone for 定下基调

gentlemanly [ˋdʒɛnt!mənlɪ] adj. 有禮貌的﹐ 紳士風度的

before all else 先于一切; 特別 especially

inviolable [ɪnˋvaɪələb!] adj. 不可侵犯的

Sentence of the Day

Cheating is unacceptable, of course, but most of all, it’s just not cricket.

欺骗当然令人不能接受，但最重要的是，那样一点都不正派。

cricket【口】光明正大；公正

课文讲解

The greatest cricketer of all time was Australian batsman Donald Bradman. A batting average above 50 denotes a great batsman, yet Bradman’s average was a stupefying 99.94. In the early 1930s, he batted Australia to a series of victories over England. When the Ashes series began in Australia in 1932, the English team were desperate to win, but how far were they willing to push fair play.

有史以来最伟大的板球运动员是澳洲的打击手唐纳德布莱德曼。一般平均打击率在50以上就表示这位运动员是位杰出的打击手，而布莱德曼的平均打击率竟然是令人震撼的99.94。在1930年代早期对抗英国队时，他为澳洲打出一连串的胜利。当1932年艾许的板球连续赛事在澳洲开赛时，英国队急欲求胜，但他们愿意公平竞争到什么程度？

The English employed the unheard-of tactic of bowling at the batsman’s upper body and head. Known as the “bodyline” strategy, such throws were difficult to hit, not to mention extremely dangerous.

英国队采用一种闻所未闻的打击策略，即对准打者的上半身和头部掷球。这种叫做「人体线」的策略，使得投出的球很难被击中，更别说极具危险性了。

A game played by the two countries in Adelaide that year may have been the most unpleasant ever. Several Australian batsmen were seriously injured and one received a fractured skull. The crowd came close to rioting while diplomats and cricket administrators dispatched telegrams to England protesting bodyline tactics. Though England won back the Ashes, diplomatic relations between the two countries were damaged. The bodyline strategy was swiftly outlawed.

那一年有一场两国在阿雷德雷举行的比赛可说是有史以来最令人不快的一场板球赛。好几位澳洲打击手严重受伤，有一位头骨裂伤。群众闹场几至叛乱的地步，而外交人员和主管板球运动官员都致电英国抗议他们的人体线战术。虽然赢回艾许冠军锦标，但两国的外交关系却因而受损。人体线策略很快地就被宣布禁止使用。

In November 2003, Pakistan and India, close to war just months earlier, initiated a rapprochement. To the greater public in both countries, this involved one thing: the reopening of cricketing ties. The gentlemanly spirit of cricket, it seems, does move nations.

2003年11月，就在巴基斯坦与印度两国濒临战争边缘的前几个月，双方协议回归和睦状态。对大多数的两国人民而言，此举牵涉到一件事：重启两国的板球关系。似乎，板球的绅士运动精神确实能改变国家间的交往关系。

－by Colin Gread

Vocabulary

单词发音

denote [dɪˋnot] v. 意思是…

stupefying [ˋstjupə͵faɪɪŋ] adj. 使人目瞪口呆的

unheard-of 從未聽說的；不為人所知的

fracture [ˋfræktʃɚ] v. 使破裂；使骨折

come close to 将近；非常接近

rioting [ˋraɪətɪŋ] n. 暴亂，騷亂

dispatch [dɪˋspætʃ] v. 派遣；發送；快遞

telegram [ˋtɛlə͵græm] n. 電報

outlaw [ˋaʊt͵lɔ] v. 宣布……為不合法

rapprochement [͵ræproʃˋmɑŋ] n.【法】（國家之間）友善關係的建立；恢復邦交；友好

Sentence of the Day

“There are two sides out there. One is trying to play cricket, the other is not. The game is too good to be spoilt.”

两队对阵一对想好好打板球，另一对却不如此，这样有意思的竞争赛被搞坏实在太可惜。