英闻天下——212 snow Fun Like Polo

 　　This is the Buenos Aires Marching Band.

 

　　The 24 musicians dressed in red jackets and white caps flew to China from Argentina to mark the start of the 2013 Snow Polo World Cup. This year it's being held in east China's Tianjin city.

 

　　Each team has three players on horseback. They use a long mallet¹ to hit an orange ball through the opponent's goal.

 

　　The game's usually played on grass. But in winter some play on snow. Which has it's own challenges.

 

　　"The game, in general is a lot more scrappy, not so clean."

 

　　"My name's Oliver Hipwood and I played number two on the England team."

 

　　"It's a lot of luck too, you know, you're trying to keep the ball away from the horses and out of a hole and not hit it out and on top of that the ball moves in the air, it doesn't always fly true."

 

　　There are several snow polo competitions around the world. The organisers of this one say it's the biggest with 12 international teams competing. Santiago Gaztambide is coach for the Argentinians.

 

　　"This tournament, or what they're doing at this club is unbelievable. They're going so fast, you can't imagine. It's like the buildings here in China. They grow like - you come after three months and you see a new building. You know? It's unbelievable."

 

　　The buildings around this club are growing, too. In fact, they're the reason the polo competition exists.

 

　　"My name is Derek Reid and I'm Director of Polo Operations here at Tianjin Golden Metropolitan² Polo Club."

 

　　"There's going to be a self sufficient³ little city, I guess with offices and high end shopping and hotels and a 117 storey tower."

 

　　That tower will be one of the tallest skyscrapers⁴ in the world.

 

　　This is all part of the huge Tianjin Goldin Metropolitan development project, which needs many mega-rich people to invest⁵.

 

　　The organisers here are hoping the sport of polo will attract them.

 

　　The final of the Snow Polo world cup will take place on Sunday.

 

　　For CRI, I'm Dominic Swire.

 

　　The snow polo world championships wrap up on February 3. More information about the event can be found at metropolitanpoloclub.com.

1 mallet   

n.槌棒

参考例句：

• He hit the peg mightily on the top with a mallet.他用木槌猛敲木栓顶。
• The chairman rapped on the table twice with his mallet.主席用他的小木槌在桌上重敲了两下。

2 metropolitan   

adj.大城市的，大都会的

参考例句：

• Metropolitan buildings become taller than ever.大城市的建筑变得比以前更高。
• Metropolitan residents are used to fast rhythm.大都市的居民习惯于快节奏。

3 sufficient   

adj.enough充足的，充分的

参考例句：

• His income is sufficient for his needs.他的收入能满足他的需要。
• Have you had sufficient?你吃饱了没有？

4 skyscrapers   

n.摩天大楼

参考例句：

• A lot of skyscrapers in Manhattan are rising up to the skies. 曼哈顿有许多摩天大楼耸入云霄。
• On all sides, skyscrapers rose like jagged teeth. 四周耸起的摩天大楼参差不齐。

5 invest   

v.投资；投入(时间等)；授予，赋予

参考例句：

• I have decided to invest in a new car.我已经决定买一辆新汽车。
• The best time to invest is now.现在是投资的最佳时机。