Take Away English-Crazy Competitions 疯狂竞赛

Flying ironing in one of the extreme sports in the UK

You might not know it, but many sports and games that are played all over the world were invented by the British. Football, tennis, cricket, snooker, rugby, and golf all originated in the British Isles¹.

However, if you thought that here in the UK we are only interested in mainstream² sports then think again. That’s because Britain has become a breeding ground for increasingly bizarre sports. This week’s Take Away English looks at some of the strangest sports and competitions to be found in the UK (all of them are 100% true).

Every year the Welsh Village of Llanwrtyd Wells hosts the World Bog-Snorkelling Championships. In this event competitors are required to put on a face mask, wetsuit and snorkel³ then swim face down in a water-filled ditch.

If you think that sounds painful, then you probably won’t want to take part in the World Nettle⁴ Eating Championships. This competition takes place in the village of Marshwood in the south-west of England. The rules are simple: each competitor has one hour to eat as many stinging nettles⁵ as they can. You’ll have to work hard to win it – last year’s winner munched⁶ his way through 14.6 meters of nettles!

You don’t always have to have physical strength to be a winner in British silly sports. A Nottingham pub plays host to the annual competition to be ‘The World’s Greatest Liar’. This competition invites competitors to tell the most unbelievable story they can make up. Last year’s winner won the prize after entertaining the crowd with a whopper about his parents who just happen to be vampires⁷!

In recent years we have seen the rise of what must be the silliest sport of them all – extreme ironing. Invented in Leicester in 1997, extreme ironing has become a global phenomenon. Extreme ironers attempt to do their ironing in the strangest and most dangerous places – under the sea, on top of mountains, even at the end of a parachute falling to earth.

Britain is proud to still be a world-beater in this event. This year a team of British extreme ironers broke the world record when they dived to a depth of 126 meters to do their ironing.

GLOSSARY 词汇表
mainstream sports 主流的体育项目 bizarre 奇异的 bog-snorkelling 沼泽潜水 wet suit 紧身潜水衣 ditch 沟渠, 壕沟 stinging 刺痛, 针刺 silly 愚蠢的, 无聊的 make up 虚构 vampires 吸血鬼 global phenomenon 全球性现象	breeding ground 繁殖地 Welsh 威尔士的 face mask 面具 snorkel (潜水用的)通气管 nettle 荨麻 munched 用力咀嚼, 大声咀嚼 liar 说谎者 whopper 弥天大谎 extreme ironing 极限烫衣板运动 dived 潜水, 跳水

 

1 isles   

岛( isle的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• the geology of the British Isles 不列颠群岛的地质
• The boat left for the isles. 小船驶向那些小岛。

2 mainstream   

n.（思想或行为的）主流；adj.主流的

参考例句：

• Their views lie outside the mainstream of current medical opinion.他们的观点不属于当今医学界观点的主流。
• Polls are still largely reflects the mainstream sentiment.民调还在很大程度上反映了社会主流情绪。

3 snorkel   

n.泳者所戴的通气管，潜水艇的吸、排气装置

参考例句：

• With a snorkel,however,a diver can stay under water for quite a long time.潜水员携带一根通气管就可以在水下呆很长时间。
• I did buy a mask and fins and a snorkel.我买了面镜、蛙鞋和一个呼吸管。

4 nettle   

n.荨麻；v.烦忧，激恼

参考例句：

• We need a government that will grasp the nettle.我们需要一个敢于大刀阔斧地处理问题的政府。
• She mightn't be inhaled as a rose,but she might be grasped as a nettle.她不是一朵香气扑鼻的玫瑰花，但至少是可以握在手里的荨麻。

5 nettles   

n.荨麻( nettle的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• I tingle where I sat in the nettles. 我坐过在荨麻上的那个部位觉得刺痛。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• This bleak place overgrown with nettles was the churchyard. 那蔓草丛生的凄凉地方是教堂公墓。 来自辞典例句

6 munched   

v.用力咀嚼（某物），大嚼( munch的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• She munched on an apple. 她在大口啃苹果。
• The rabbit munched on the fresh carrots. 兔子咯吱咯吱地嚼着新鲜胡萝卜。 来自辞典例句

7 vampires   

n.吸血鬼( vampire的名词复数 )；吸血蝠；高利贷者；（舞台上的）活板门

参考例句：

• The most effective weapon against the vampires is avampire itself. 对付吸血鬼最有效的武器就是吸血鬼自己。 来自电影对白
• If vampires existed, don`t you think we would`ve found them by now? 如果真有吸血鬼，那我们怎么还没有找到他们呢？ 来自电影对白