新西兰英语 247 The Coast-to-Coast Race

　　Yesterday was the famous Coast-to-Coast multi-sport race, from the Tasman Sea on the West Coast, across mountains, down a river, then on the road to the Pacific Ocean on the East Coast. It is called ‘multi-sport’ because competitors¹ have to be good at three sports: running, cycling and kayaking.
The one day race started at 6am yesterday morning on the beach near Greymouth in the South Island. It ended 243km away on Sumner Beach in Christchurch. Competitors had a short run of 3km first to their bikes then they cycled 55km before starting a 33km run over a high mountain pass. However, yesterday the weather was terrible. There was heavy rain and strong winds so it was too dangerous to run on the mountain over slippery² rocks. Instead, the competitors ran on the road. This was not easy as it was steep³, and the rain and wind continued.
After the run, there is a 15km cycle to the Waimakariri River for a 67km kayak; however, yesterday the heavy rain in the mountains meant that the river was in flood and too dangerous for kayaking so the competitors had to continue by bike to Christchurch where they kayaked 17km on the peaceful Avon River. When the competitors had crossed the mountain, they left the rain behind. Instead, it was sunny and warm on the east coast.
Usually the race takes nearly 11 hours for men and 12 hours for women but because it was a different course yesterday, it was a shorter time. However, it was still an exhausting⁴ race. The winner of the men’s race, 37-year old Gordon Walker from Auckland⁵, had won it twice before. He is known⁶ to be very good at the kayak part of the race so he was probably disappointed⁷ that he couldn’t kayak on the Waimakariri River.
The winner of the women’s race was Elina Ussher from Nelson. She had run this race five times before. Four years ago, she was second.
Some competitors take part in the two-day race, starting on Friday and finishing yesterday. There is also a team’s race where two people can share the running, cycling and kayaking.
Questions to think about
Why do people compete in such exhausting races?
How do people train for such a race?
How do they manage to fit this training into their daily life?

1 competitors   

竞争者( competitor的名词复数 )； 对手； 参赛者； 竞赛者

参考例句：

• We are now outselling all our competitors. 我们现在比所有竞争对手都卖得多。
• We are lagging far behind our European competitors in using new technology. 我们在使用新技术方面远远落后于我们的欧洲对手。

2 slippery   

adj.滑的；油滑的，狡猾的，不可靠的

参考例句：

• We found it very slippery under foot.我们感到地上很滑。
• Mind out,the steps are slippery!注意，台阶很滑！

3 steep   

adj.陡峭的，险峻的，急剧升降的，不合理的；n.悬崖，峭壁，浸渍，浸渍液；v.浸，泡，沉浸

参考例句：

• The slope is too steep for us to climb.这斜坡太陡，我们爬不上去。
• There was a steep climb on the road out of town.市外公路上有一处很陡的上坡路。

4 exhausting   

a.疲倦的

参考例句：

• an exhausting day at work 工作得筋疲力尽的一天
• This exhausting work is enough to run everyone down. 这项费力的工作足以使人精疲力竭。

5 Auckland   

n.奥克兰(新西兰港市)

参考例句：

• Auckland is the largest city in New Zealand.奥克兰是新西兰最大的城市。
• Return to auckland by bus in afternoon.下午乘车返回奥克兰。

6 known   

adj.大家知道的；知名的，已知的

参考例句：

• He is a known artist.他是一个知名的艺术家。
• He is known both as a painter and as a statesman.他是知名的画家及政治家。

7 disappointed   

adj.失望的，不满意的，不如意的

参考例句：

• He seemed disappointed when the man refused his request.当那个人拒绝了他的要求时他看起来很失望。
• He was disappointed so often that he became hopeless.他屡次失望，以致变为了绝望。