Take Away English-The Boat Race 划船赛(在线收听

rowers
Oxbridge boat race
Oxford and Cambridge are the oldest and most famous universities in Britain, and there has always been a great rivalry between the two institutions. But the most public competition between the two is the annual Boat Race. The 2006 Boat Race will take place on 2nd April, and will be the 152nd race of its kind.

Both universities are located near rivers, and rowing is a popular and prestigious sport. The very first race took place in 1829, when a Cambridge student challenged a school-friend studying at Oxford. Ever since, the defeated team from the previous year challenges the opposition to a rematch. The only times when no Boat Races took place were during the Firs and Second World Wars.

The race is between two crews of eight oarsmen, each led by a cox, who steers, and gives commands to the rowers. Since 1836, the rowing eights have worn different shades of blue – Oxford wear dark blue and Cambridge light blue. As a result, the rowers are known as the Blues.

The Boat Race was initially held on the River Thames at Westminster in central London, but due to overcrowding, it was moved to further upstream near Putney, in South West London, and the course is just under 5 miles long. The average race time is 20 minutes, but the record is just over 16 minutes.

Over the years that the two universities have gone head-to-head on the river, Oxford have won 70 times, and Cambridge have had 77 wins. Only once there was a dead heat. There have been three occasions when one of the boats sank and forfeited the race.

The race is a very popular spectator event, with around 250,000 people going to the Thames to watch, and several million more watching on television.

The training for the race is very tough, and rowers start practising in September in order to try to win a place on the Blue Boats. Those who don’t’ quite make the grade become the reserve team, who race before the main teams on race day. Who will win this year?

GLOSSARY 词汇表

 

rivalry
竞争对手


of its kind
此类


prestigious/享誉高的


opposition
对手


crews
划艇队员


initially
开始;最初


upstream
逆流


head-to-head
并驾齐驱


forfeited
弃权;放弃


make the grade
拔尖


institutions
(牛津和剑桥)大学;机构


rowing
划船


challenged
挑战


rematch
再次比赛


oarsmen
划桨人


overcrowding
过分拥挤的


record
纪录


a dead heat
同时抵达终点


spectator
观赏者


reserve team
预备队


 

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