英语博客：Entertainment at half time.

　　Entertainment at half-time is a big deal over here. Whenever you go to a college level or professional level sporting event, there is entertainment half way through the game. I saw some interesting half-time performances the other day in Spokane. My family and I had gone with my in-laws to see Whitworth's men's basketball against Lewis and Clark. Three of my husband's second cousins actually play on the Whitworth team, so there was an added incentive¹ to go.  At the moment, Whitworth's team is second place in the nation, as far as college level goes. And Lewis and Clark have only been defeated by them. The rivalry² was quite intense³. I actually have never seen players play so hard. Both teams were really trying to win. Someone made a good point, that at the college level, you often see a better game because the players are so intense. At the professional level, often there is a lot of showmanship, and playing for the crowd. Anyway, half time came, and there were two performances. One was a modern dance troup who performed to rap⁴ music. The other was a group of little girls who looked like fairies. They danced in a fairly modern style to a song entitled⁵ 'It's all about me'. It was perfect for the age of the girls who were dancing, because, after all, they are really into themselves. It would have been great if my daughter had been there. I'm sure that she would have come home, dressed herself up, and danced to the same song. Mind you, it's a good job that she didn't because we didn't get home until after 1am. Spokane is three hours away from Wenatchee, so all together, its a long trip. And, on top of the distance that we had to drive, there were thick patches⁶ of fog on the highway, so getting to the game was an ordeal⁷! But, when there is a good game going on, you have to find a way to get there. And when you do, there is not just a great game, but also some half-time entertainment.
Grammar notes.
Related⁸ vocabulary: intense, fairy, ordeal.
1. This chocolate is 90% cocoa; the taste is intense.
2. My daughter said that she thinks there are fairies in our garden.
3. The flight was a real ordeal. First it was delayed by three hours. Then the plane was grounded because of technical difficulties.

1 incentive   

n.刺激；动力；鼓励；诱因；动机

参考例句：

• Money is still a major incentive in most occupations.在许多职业中，钱仍是主要的鼓励因素。
• He hasn't much incentive to work hard.他没有努力工作的动机。

2 rivalry   

n.竞争，竞赛，对抗

参考例句：

• The quarrel originated in rivalry between the two families.这次争吵是两家不和引起的。
• He had a lot of rivalry with his brothers and sisters.他和兄弟姐妹间经常较劲。

3 intense   

adj.认真的，专注的；强烈的；紧张的；热情的

参考例句：

• Susan was an intense young lady.苏珊是一个热情的年轻姑娘。
• The quarrel caused her intense unhappiness.争吵令她极其不快。

4 rap   

n.轻敲，拍击，责骂，厉声说出，说唱音乐，谈话，最少量；vi.轻敲，敲门，表演说唱音乐，畅谈；vt.抓，抢，拍击

参考例句：

• I heard a rap on the door.我听到有轻轻的敲门声。
• Today we are going to rap about relationships.今天我们要聊聊关系的问题。

5 entitled   

有资格的

参考例句：

• You will be entitled to your pension when you reach 65. 你到65岁就有资格享受养老金。
• He entitled us to enter his office at any time. 他授权给我们可以随时进入他的办公室。

6 patches   

n.小块( patch的名词复数 )；斑；补丁；小块土地v.补( patch的第三人称单数 )；修理；调停；解决

参考例句：

• The dog's coat is white with black patches. 这只狗的皮毛白色中带有黑斑。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• She sewed patches on the elbows of jacket. 她在夹克肘部缝了几块补丁。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 ordeal   

n.苦难经历，（尤指对品格、耐力的）严峻考验

参考例句：

• She managed to keep her sanity throughout the ordeal.在那场磨难中她始终保持神志正常。
• Being lost in the wilderness for a week was an ordeal for me.在荒野里迷路一星期对我来说真是一场磨难。

8 related   

adj.有关系的，有关联的，叙述的，讲述的

参考例句：

• I am not related to him in any way.我和他无任何关系。
• We spent days going through all related reference material.我们花了好多天功夫查阅所有有关的参考资料。