万花筒 2008-08-22&-08-24 中国超级街舞老太太

This morning on Today's China, hip-hop hits the mainland, dancing is all the rage these days back home, thanks to those popular TV shows. But NBC's Mark Melinda discovered it's big here in China, too, a large due to a rather unusual group of dancers.

 

China's time-honored, martial¹ art of Tai Chi, practiced by its elders, at least some of the time, it may seem ludicrous but this generational martial art has turned a group of Chinese seniors into a cultural phenomena², they are called" the hip-pop grannies."

 

This possy of home girls range an age from 45 to 74. It was founded by 70-year-old Wu Ying, yup, she's 70, she was inspired after catching³ a dance competition on TV.

 

"I had never seen anything like that, I liked the look of the dancers having in their eyes, the way they moved, I thought this could be good exercise."

 

So she learned the moves and started teaching them at a gym class and the women noticed improvements in their health.

 

"It brings energy out of the elderly, really, it feels really good."

 

The dancers were encouraged to wear both the attitude and the outfits⁴.

 

"I was a little conservative before but now I wear cool and trendy clothes."

 

Knock down with it, as they say was Wu's mortified⁵ daughter.

 

"My daughter said, look at the baggy⁶ pants and the topi you have on, is it what a mother should look like?"

 But Wu kept at it and the idea took off, attracting hundreds of wannabe old school hip-hopers, then China's media. More than just novelty, these women developed into good dancers.

 

They've even entered hip-hop dance competitions and won against competitors one quarter their age.

 

The grannies have also won props⁷, also known as admiration⁸ from tens of millions in China, now familiar with their regular TV appearances. And even Wu's daughter now admits dizzying mum was warm.

 

Meantime the founder⁹ of the hip-hop grannies says she's discovered another passion---becoming a rapper.

 

For today, Mark Marlin, NBC News, Beijing

 

And here they are live on our very own set, Beijing's very own hip-hop grannies!

The hip-hop grannies, everyone, thank you all, we have much more of Today from Beijing right after this.

 

1 martial   

adj.战争的，军事的，尚武的，威武的

参考例句：

• The sound of martial music is always inspiring.军乐声总是鼓舞人心的。
• The officer was convicted of desertion at a court martial.这名军官在军事法庭上被判犯了擅离职守罪。

2 phenomena   

n.现象

参考例句：

• Ade couldn't relate the phenomena with any theory he knew.艾德无法用他所知道的任何理论来解释这种现象。
• The object of these experiments was to find the connection,if any,between the two phenomena.这些实验的目的就是探索这两种现象之间的联系，如果存在着任何联系的话。

3 catching   

adj.易传染的，有魅力的，迷人的，接住

参考例句：

• There are those who think eczema is catching.有人就是认为湿疹会传染。
• Enthusiasm is very catching.热情非常富有感染力。

4 outfits   

n.全套装备( outfit的名词复数 )；一套服装；集体；组织v.装备，配置设备，供给服装( outfit的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• He jobbed out the contract to a number of small outfits. 他把承包工程分包给许多小单位。 来自辞典例句
• Some cyclists carry repair outfits because they may have a puncture. 有些骑自行车的人带修理工具，因为他们车胎可能小孔。 来自辞典例句

5 mortified   

v.使受辱( mortify的过去式和过去分词 )；伤害（人的感情）；克制；抑制（肉体、情感等）

参考例句：

• She was mortified to realize he had heard every word she said. 她意识到自己的每句话都被他听到了，直羞得无地自容。
• The knowledge of future evils mortified the present felicities. 对未来苦难的了解压抑了目前的喜悦。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 baggy   

adj.膨胀如袋的，宽松下垂的

参考例句：

• My T-shirt went all baggy in the wash.我的T恤越洗越大了。
• Baggy pants are meant to be stylish,not offensive.松松垮垮的裤子意味着时髦，而不是无礼。

7 props   

小道具； 支柱( prop的名词复数 )； 支持者； 道具； （橄榄球中的）支柱前锋

参考例句：

• Rescuers used props to stop the roof of the tunnel collapsing. 救援人员用支柱防止隧道顶塌陷。
• The government props up the prices of farm products to support farmers' incomes. 政府保持农产品价格不变以保障农民们的收入。

8 admiration   

n.钦佩，赞美，羡慕

参考例句：

• He was lost in admiration of the beauty of the scene.他对风景之美赞不绝口。
• We have a great admiration for the gold medalists.我们对金牌获得者极为敬佩。

9 Founder   

n.创始者，缔造者

参考例句：

• He was extolled as the founder of their Florentine school.他被称颂为佛罗伦萨画派的鼻祖。
• According to the old tradition,Romulus was the founder of Rome.按照古老的传说，罗穆卢斯是古罗马的建国者。