美国国家公共电台 NPR Hang 20: Abbie Girl Takes Top Pooch In World Dog Surfing Championship

 

AUDIE CORNISH, HOST:

Sometimes on a Monday, you just need to spend some internet time watching the World Dog Surfing Championships or at least hear about it. Laura Klivans of member station KQED takes us to Pacifica, Calif., which hosted the event.

LAURA KLIVANS, BYLINE¹: The competitors arrive early and find a spot on the sand. There's a too-cool Goldendoodle with a blue mohawk and sunglasses, an older guy coming out of retirement² for one final ride and last year's reigning³ champion, Abbie Girl.

(SOUNDBITE OF DOG BARKING)

KLIVANS: Michael Uy is here with his surf dog prodigy⁴, Abbie. She's an Australian Kelpie.

MICHAEL UY: This is Abbie's board bag.

KLIVANS: Her board is custom built for a dog. It's short and has a bright orange blaze⁵ down the bottom with her name on it. The 11-year-old has been doing this for most of her life. When Uy first rescued Abbie from a shelter, she was an anxious dog. He'd take her to the beach to mellow⁶ her out and socialize her, and they'd swim.

UY: One time, we put her on a surfboard to rest. And she stood up on the board, and we thought, well, why don't we put it on a wave and see what happens? And she just rode it all the way into shore (laughter).

(SOUNDBITE OF DOG WHINING)

KLIVANS: In a tent nearby, Kihei gets into his wetsuit.

(SOUNDBITE OF DOG WHINING)

KLIVANS: The Chihuahua-dachshund mix is 15 years old. He's come out of retirement for this contest. One of his humans is Tina Musto.

So what's Kihei saying right now?

TINA MUSTO: I need to go, right? I need to get going.

KLIVANS: Competitive⁷ dog surfing is growing quickly, with contests in Hawaii, Florida, Texas and even Australia. Dogs compete solo⁸ - just dog and board - or tandem⁹, either with a human or with another dog. That last category - two dogs on one board - is particularly adorable. Sam Stahl is one of the judges who scores the rides.

SAM STAHL: Number one is stay on the board, and number two is looking happy. No one wants to see a dog terrified at the end of a surf board.

KLIVANS: That seems like not a good fit for that dog.

STAHL: (Laughter) Exactly, exactly.

KLIVANS: It's just minutes before the competition starts, and a huge crowd of people and their non-surfing animals have gathered on the foggy beach. Stahl has a guess why so many showed up.

STAHL: There's a lot going on in the world and a lot of things that have people kind of riled up. And I think it's important for some people to have something like this to look at and smile at. And I mean nothing's more fun than watching dogs surf, honestly (laughter). It's great.

UNIDENTIFIED MAN: Heat one, report to the water. Heat one, report to the water.

KLIVANS: The solo category is broken out by dog size. On the water, human owners paddle out their pooches and push. It's then up to the dog to ride the wave. Onlookers¹⁰ Paul Young and his son Kaleo spot old man Kihei in the small competition.

PAUL YOUNG: There's Kihei. Whoa, he's hanging on.

KALEO: He's going sideways.

(CHEERING)

KLIVANS: In the medium size heat, Marisa Plaice cheers on Abbie, the Kelpie who's showing off.

MARISA PLAICE: She never falls off the board. It's amazing the other dogs usually seem to fall at some point, but she just - she hangs on. It's that low center of gravity I think.

(CHEERING, APPLAUSE)

KLIVANS: The crowd loses it when two solo surfing dogs collide¹¹ and one hops¹² onto the board of the other. Abbie, the Australian Kelpie, makes it to the championship round. The finalists head out on the water. And in the background - I am not kidding - a whale breaches¹³. After a push from her owner, Abbie surfs maybe 20 feet. She lifts a front leg to balance and lands on the beach. The judges notice Abbie's footwork.

UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN: Number one, top dog - Abbie.

(CHEERING, APPLAUSE)

KLIVANS: Abbie's prize is a trophy¹⁴. Her human gets a bottle of wine. For NPR News, I'm Laura Klivans in Pacifica, Calif.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "HEY, HOT DOG!")

THE SWAMP¹⁵ COOLERS: (Singing) Hey, hot dog.

1 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。

2 retirement   

n.退休，退职

参考例句：

• She wanted to enjoy her retirement without being beset by financial worries.她想享受退休生活而不必为金钱担忧。
• I have to put everything away for my retirement.我必须把一切都积蓄起来以便退休后用。

3 reigning   

adj.统治的，起支配作用的

参考例句：

• The sky was dark, stars were twinkling high above, night was reigning, and everything was sunk in silken silence. 天很黑，星很繁，夜阑人静。
• Led by Huang Chao, they brought down the reigning house after 300 years' rule. 在黄巢的带领下，他们推翻了统治了三百年的王朝。

4 prodigy   

n.惊人的事物，奇迹，神童，天才，预兆

参考例句：

• She was a child prodigy on the violin.她是神童小提琴手。
• He was always a Negro prodigy who played barbarously and wonderfully.他始终是一个黑人的奇才，这种奇才弹奏起来粗野而惊人。

5 blaze   

n.火焰，火堆，火光，火灾；vi.燃烧，着火

参考例句：

• In a blaze of anger he shouted at them.他怒火中烧，对着他们大吼起来。
• Dry wood makes a good blaze.干木燃起夺目的光焰。

6 mellow   

adj.柔和的；熟透的；v.变柔和；(使)成熟

参考例句：

• These apples are mellow at this time of year.每年这时节，苹果就熟透了。
• The colours become mellow as the sun went down.当太阳落山时，色彩变得柔和了。

7 competitive   

adj.竞争的，比赛的，好竞争的，有竞争力的

参考例句：

• Some kinds of business are competitive.有些商业是要竞争的。
• These businessmen are both competitive and honourable.这些商人既有竞争性又很诚实。

8 solo   

n.独奏，独唱；adj.单独的；adv.单独地；v.放单飞，单独表演

参考例句：

• Tara is currently working on a solo album.塔拉眼下正忙着制作个人专辑。
• There's wonderfully lyrical flute solo in the middle of this symphony.在交响乐中间有一段奇妙的抒情长笛独奏。

9 tandem   

n.同时发生；配合；adv.一个跟着一个地；纵排地；adj.（两匹马）前后纵列的

参考例句：

• Malcolm's contract will run in tandem with his existing one.马尔科姆的合同将与他手头的合同同时生效。
• He is working in tandem with officials of the Serious Fraud Office.他正配合欺诈重案办公室的官员工作。

10 onlookers   

n.旁观者，观看者( onlooker的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• A crowd of onlookers gathered at the scene of the crash. 在撞车地点聚集了一大群围观者。
• The onlookers stood at a respectful distance. 旁观者站在一定的距离之外，以示尊敬。

11 collide   

vi.碰撞，互撞，冲突，抵触

参考例句：

• The interests of the two countries collide.两国的利益发生冲突。
• The tides slide on the tidy wide beach and collide each other.海潮在整洁宽阔的海滩上滑行并相互碰撞。

12 hops   

跳上[下]( hop的第三人称单数 )； 单足蹦跳； 齐足（或双足）跳行； 摘葎草花

参考例句：

• The sparrow crossed the lawn in a series of hops. 那麻雀一蹦一跳地穿过草坪。
• It is brewed from malt and hops. 它用麦精和蛇麻草酿成。

13 breaches   

破坏( breach的名词复数 )； 破裂； 缺口； 违背

参考例句：

• He imposed heavy penalties for breaches of oath or pledges. 他对违反誓言和保证的行为给予严厉的惩罚。
• This renders all breaches of morality before marriage very uncommon. 这样一来，婚前败坏道德的事就少见了。

14 trophy   

n.优胜旗，奖品，奖杯，战胜品，纪念品

参考例句：

• The cup is a cherished trophy of the company.那只奖杯是该公司很珍惜的奖品。
• He hung the lion's head as a trophy.他把那狮子头挂起来作为狩猎纪念品。

15 swamp   

n.沼泽，湿地；v.淹没，陷于沼泽

参考例句：

• The swamp teems with mosquitoes.这片沼泽地蚊子多极了。
• The water in the swamp is foul.沼泽中的水很臭。