2006年NPR美国国家公共电台七月-Fixing a Broken Bike in the City

There is still a month left before most children go back to school, and for some kids that means another whole month of afternoon bike rides. Here is a commentary about three of them. They live in Katie Davis' neighborhood of Washington DC.

Three boys lean over an upside-down mountain bike, turn the pedal back, spin it. Smooth the spoke¹, true the wheel. Leon is wearing a faded T-shirt, the one with a picture of his father on it, Julio says I wish my father were dead. Leon looks down at his 12-year-old chest at the letters "rest in peace daddy". He died in prison, says Leon. But the boys already know this. Leon unbends the spoke and sends the wheel spinning. Cyrus grabs the tire, stops it cold. I've never seen my dad, he might be dead. Mine' s in Arizona, Julio says and spits into the street. Last time I saw him, I was eight, Julio spins the wheel again hard and the chain pops off. If he walked up right now, says Julio I'd beat him with this chain. Yeah, nods Cyrus.

I watch these three boys. Truing one wheel and I see the father wheel. They keep working because when a wheel is true, it is steady and balanced, it can take them down Snake Hill to Rock Creek² Park in the river. It can take them away.

【WORLD BANK】
true
to make level, square, balanced, or concentric : bring or restore to a desired mechanical accuracy or form *true up a board* *true up an engine cylinder
pop
[intransitive and transitive] to burst, or to make something burst, with a short explosive sound
A balloon popped.

1 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

2 creek   

n.小溪，小河，小湾

参考例句：

• He sprang through the creek.他跳过小河。
• People sunbathe in the nude on the rocks above the creek.人们在露出小溪的岩石上裸体晒日光浴。