美国国家公共电台 NPR--As towns across the Great Plains shrink, how can they preserve rural lifestyles?

As towns across the Great Plains shrink, how can they preserve rural lifestyles?

Transcript¹

Towns across the Great Plains are shrinking. Some families in western Kansas are now looking to youth rodeo as a way to preserve their rural lifestyle.

LEILA FADEL, HOST:

As America's rural areas see populations decline, they're looking for ways to keep their lifestyle alive for the next generation. Some families in western Kansas think youth rodeo will help.

David Condos of the Kansas News Service reports.

DAVID CONDOS, BYLINE³: Mesa Hedland is decked out in a brown Western shirt with leather tassels⁴ dangling⁵ from leopard⁶ print shoulder patches.

MESA HEDLAND: Well, it's that...

CONDOS: She's only 5 years old, but this is far from her first rodeo.

MESA: I were here since I was 2.

CONDOS: She's waiting for her favorite event, which involves untying⁷ a ribbon from a goat's tail with help from her trusty steed named Ott.

MESA: He loves kids. That's the best special (ph) about him. And he's addicted⁸ to me. We can't spend a day without hanging out with each other.

CONDOS: This is the Young Guns Extravaganza in Dodge⁹ City, Kan.

UNIDENTIFIED RODEO ANNOUNCER: Okey-doke. Next to go is going to be Mindy Tuckshorn (ph).

CONDOS: So how do you turn kindergartners into wranglers¹⁰?

MELISSA VANDER HAMM: Little bitty saddles for little bitty kids.

CONDOS: That's Melissa Vander Hamm. She started Young Guns eight years ago with a few other rodeo parents who wanted their kids to get more practice during the winter when other competitions shut down.

VANDER HAMM: They're pretty competitive little 6-year-olds.

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #1: Yes, they are. They are.

CONDOS: She expected to get 50 kids the first year. A hundred and twenty showed up. This year, it welcomes nearly 400 little cowpokes into the arena¹¹.

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #1: Go, go.

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #2: Go, go, go, go, go, go.

CONDOS: In a region where farming and ranching¹³ go back generations, rodeo is sown deep into the cultural fabric¹⁴, but small-town populations have been shrinking for decades as young people leave the rural Western life for bigger cities. And parents like Vander Hamm hope that introducing kids to rodeo might spur them to fall in love with their hometown's cowboy culture. Then maybe when those kids grow up, they'll want to get back in the saddle again and take on the family farm or ranch¹².

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "BACK IN THE SADDLE AGAIN")

GENE² AUTRY: (Singing) I'm back in the saddle again.

CONDOS: The sport of rodeo was born from real cowboy work. Ranch hands would try to one-up each other at the end of long cattle drives.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "BACK IN THE SADDLE AGAIN")

AUTRY: (Singing) Where the longhorn cattle feed on the lowly gypsum weed.

CONDOS: But what started out as a pastime for tough guys on the range has become big business all over. Between the horses, the gear, the trucks, trailers and travel, being a rodeo family today takes a lot of money. A good saddle could cost $2,000. But youth rodeo keeps growing. The number of fifth grade to 12th grade kids competing in Kansas jumped more than 15% in the past few years. Gene Theodori, a rural sociologist¹⁵ at Sam Houston State University in Texas, isn't surprised. He says it comes back to the idea that rural America is the last remnant of a bygone, simpler, better lifestyle. He calls it the rural mystique, and rodeo is a picture of that in its purest form.

GENE THEODORI: Whether it's real or not, in our minds, it represents that wholesome¹⁶, rural way of life. And we as a society - we yearn¹⁷ for that.

CONDOS: And while city slickers might get anxious seeing a 5-year-old ride a full-size horse, serious injuries in youth rodeo are relatively¹⁸ rare. Kids often wear safety helmets. And instead of clinging to a 1,500-pound bull, these kids are riding their own horses through a timed obstacle course, chasing goats or lassoing fake steer¹⁹ heads. Back in the arena, 9-year-old Braylin Barratt climbs onto the back of her speckled gray horse named Jesse.

BRAYLIN BARRATT: What I love about him is that...

CONDOS: She's been competing for five years, so she's been bucked²⁰ off before, dragged too, but nothing that kept her out of the saddle. And that is where she wants to stay.

BRAYLIN: I never want to quit rodeoing. I just want to teach my kids how to ride and train and be, like, just like me.

CONDOS: For NPR News, I'm David Condos in Dodge City, Kan.

(SOUNDBITE OF MY DAD VS YOURS' "TANZ MIT UNS")

1 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

2 gene   

n.遗传因子，基因

参考例句：

• A single gene may have many effects.单一基因可能具有很多种效应。
• The targeting of gene therapy has been paid close attention.其中基因治疗的靶向性是值得密切关注的问题之一。

3 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

4 tassels   

n.穗( tassel的名词复数 )；流苏状物；（植物的）穗；玉蜀黍的穗状雄花v.抽穗， （玉米）长穗须( tassel的第三人称单数 )；使抽穗， （为了使作物茁壮生长）摘去穗状雄花；用流苏装饰

参考例句：

• Tassels and Trimmings, Pillows, Wall Hangings, Table Runners, Bell. 采购产品垂饰，枕头，壁挂，表亚军，钟。 来自互联网
• Cotton Fabrics, Embroidery and Embroiders, Silk, Silk Fabric, Pillows, Tassels and Trimmings. 采购产品棉花织物，刺绣品而且刺绣，丝，丝织物，枕头，流行和装饰品。 来自互联网

5 dangling   

悬吊着( dangle的现在分词 )； 摆动不定； 用某事物诱惑…； 吊胃口

参考例句：

• The tooth hung dangling by the bedpost, now. 结果，那颗牙就晃来晃去吊在床柱上了。
• The children sat on the high wall,their legs dangling. 孩子们坐在一堵高墙上，摇晃着他们的双腿。

6 leopard   

n.豹

参考例句：

• I saw a man in a leopard skin yesterday.我昨天看见一个穿着豹皮的男人。
• The leopard's skin is marked with black spots.豹皮上有黑色斑点。

7 untying   

untie的现在分词

参考例句：

• The tying of bow ties is an art; the untying is easy. 打领带是一种艺术，解领带则很容易。
• As they were untying the colt, its owners asked them, "Why are you untying the colt?" 33他们解驴驹的时候，主人问他们说，解驴驹作什么？

8 addicted   

adj.沉溺于....的，对...上瘾的

参考例句：

• He was addicted to heroin at the age of 17.他17岁的时候对海洛因上了瘾。
• She's become addicted to love stories.她迷上了爱情小说。

9 dodge   

v.闪开，躲开，避开；n.妙计，诡计

参考例句：

• A dodge behind a tree kept her from being run over.她向树后一闪，才没被车从身上辗过。
• The dodge was coopered by the police.诡计被警察粉碎了。

10 wranglers   

n.争执人( wrangler的名词复数 )；在争吵的人；（尤指放马的）牧人；牛仔

参考例句：

11 arena   

n.竞技场，运动场所；竞争场所，舞台

参考例句：

• She entered the political arena at the age of 25. 她25岁进入政界。
• He had not an adequate arena for the exercise of his talents.他没有充分发挥其才能的场所。

12 ranch   

n.大牧场，大农场

参考例句：

• He went to work on a ranch.他去一个大农场干活。
• The ranch is in the middle of a large plateau.该牧场位于一个辽阔高原的中部。

13 ranching   

adj.放牧的

参考例句：

• They cleared large tracts of forest for farming, logging and ranching. 他们清除了大片的森林以经营农耕、采伐与畜牧。
• This is a trade center in a ranching and oil-producing region. 这是一个牧场与产油区的贸易中心。

14 fabric   

n.织物，织品，布；构造，结构，组织

参考例句：

• The fabric will spot easily.这种织品很容易玷污。
• I don't like the pattern on the fabric.我不喜欢那块布料上的图案。

15 sociologist   

n.研究社会学的人，社会学家

参考例句：

• His mother was a sociologist,researching socialism.他的母亲是个社会学家，研究社会主义。
• Max Weber is a great and outstanding sociologist.马克斯·韦伯是一位伟大的、杰出的社会学家。

16 wholesome   

adj.适合；卫生的；有益健康的；显示身心健康的

参考例句：

• In actual fact the things I like doing are mostly wholesome.实际上我喜欢做的事大都是有助于增进身体健康的。
• It is not wholesome to eat without washing your hands.不洗手吃饭是不卫生的。

17 yearn   

v.想念；怀念；渴望

参考例句：

• We yearn to surrender our entire being.我们渴望着放纵我们整个的生命。
• Many people living in big cities yearn for an idyllic country life.现在的很多都市人向往那种田园化的生活。

18 relatively   

adv.比较...地，相对地

参考例句：

• The rabbit is a relatively recent introduction in Australia.兔子是相对较新引入澳大利亚的物种。
• The operation was relatively painless.手术相对来说不痛。

19 steer   

vt.驾驶，为…操舵；引导；vi.驾驶

参考例句：

• If you push the car, I'll steer it.如果你来推车，我就来驾车。
• It's no use trying to steer the boy into a course of action that suits you.想说服这孩子按你的方式行事是徒劳的。

20 bucked   

adj.快v.（马等）猛然弓背跃起( buck的过去式和过去分词 )；抵制；猛然震荡；马等尥起后蹄跳跃

参考例句：

• When he tried to ride the horse, it bucked wildly. 当他试图骑上这匹马时，它突然狂暴地跃了起来。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The plane bucked a strong head wind. 飞机顶着强烈的逆风飞行。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》