美国国家公共电台 NPR World Air Guitar Champion Is In Finland To Defend His Title

 

DAVID GREENE, HOST:

All right, Ailsa, it's Friday. It's almost the weekend. I mean, I feel like we should just turn up some music.

AILSA CHANG, HOST:

Yes. I am so ready for this.

(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)

GREENE: Now, this song is really important because it put Matt Burns in a class of his own.

MATT BURNS: I'm the reigning¹ world air guitar champion. And I am in Finland right now to defend my world title.

CHANG: The Air Guitar World Championships get underway today. And to be clear, there are no guitars in sight in this competition. Matt Burns, who goes by the stage name Airistotle - get it, Airistotle? - says...

GREENE: I see what you did there.

CHANG: ...Judges score each performance in three categories.

BURNS: They're looking for technical merit², which is how much it looks like you're playing an actual guitar, stage presence, and finally and by far the most important is airness.

GREENE: Airness?

BURNS: Airness is almost impossible to define³. It's just kind of like the je ne sais quoi. What you're doing transcends⁴ the act of imitation⁵ and becomes an art form in and of itself.

CHANG: The je ne sais quoi, David.

GREENE: Yes.

CHANG: Matt Burns says he was inspired after seeing a documentary⁶ called "Air Guitar Nation."

BURNS: And I was like, that is the silliest, dumbest, most beautiful, amazing thing I've ever seen. And I signed up for the next competition that I could.

GREENE: Yeah. Burns says he starts preparing for competition months in advance. He has to find just the right song, and then he workshops it.

BURNS: I usually go to a buddy⁷ of mine's house, and we'll all just have a bunch of beers. And they kind of like help coach me. They're like, dude, if your knee's not higher, Japan's going to win the championship this year.

CHANG: And if youre thinking about trying your hand at air guitar, well, Matt Burns offers these tips.

BURNS: You do not have to be in good shape for this, which is a huge plus. And stretching does help because it is like a physical thing. I used to take Zumba classes to help get me ready for the season. I think Zumba and air guitar have a lot in common because its such over-the-top movements that the two go hand-in-hand.

GREENE: Well, there's your newest ad for Zumba. If you need to air guitar, take Zumba. That was world champion air guitarist Airistotle, also known as Matt Burns. He defends his title later today at the final of the Air Guitar World Championships in Finland. And here is what he will be shredding⁸.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "I WILL SURVIVE")

ME FIRST AND THE GIMME GIMMES: (Singing) I will survive. Oh, as long as I know how to love, I know I'll stay alive. I've got all my life to live, and I've got all my love to give. And I'll survive. I will survive. Hey, hey.

1 reigning   

adj.统治的，起支配作用的

参考例句：

• The sky was dark, stars were twinkling high above, night was reigning, and everything was sunk in silken silence. 天很黑，星很繁，夜阑人静。
• Led by Huang Chao, they brought down the reigning house after 300 years' rule. 在黄巢的带领下，他们推翻了统治了三百年的王朝。

2 merit   

n.优点，价值，功绩，成绩；vt.值得

参考例句：

• There is great merit in dealing fairly with your employees.公正地对待你的雇员有极大好处。
• History affords us lessons that merit attention.历史给我们提供了值得注意的借鉴。

3 define   

vt.解释，下定义，阐述，限定，规定

参考例句：

• Please define the words.请解释这些字的意义。
• It's hard to define exactly what has changed.很难解释清楚到底发生了什么变化。

4 transcends   

超出或超越（经验、信念、描写能力等）的范围( transcend的第三人称单数 )； 优于或胜过…

参考例句：

• The chemical dilution technique transcends most of the difficulties. 化学稀释法能克服大部分困难。
• The genius of Shakespeare transcends that of all other English poets. 莎士比亚的才华胜过所有的其他英国诗人。

5 imitation   

n.模仿；仿制，仿制品；赝品

参考例句：

• It's not real leather;it's only an imitation.那不是真皮，只不过是仿制品。
• Young children learn how to speak by imitation.儿童通过模仿学说话。

6 documentary   

adj.文献的；n.纪录片

参考例句：

• This case lacked documentary proof.本案缺少书面证据。
• I watched a documentary on the Civil War.我看了一部关于内战的纪录片。

7 buddy   

n.（美口）密友，伙伴

参考例句：

• Calm down,buddy.What's the trouble?压压气，老兄。有什么麻烦吗？
• Get out of my way,buddy!别挡道了，你这家伙！

8 shredding   

v.撕碎，切碎( shred的现在分词 )；用撕毁机撕毁（文件）

参考例句：

• Like the Tehran experience, the shredding may be all for naught. 如同德黑兰事件中的情况一样，切碎文件可能是徒劳的。 来自时文部分
• How shredding began is subject to some guesswork. 粉碎处理行业的起源是个有争议的问题。 来自时文部分