VOA慢速英语2017--鬣蜥闯入迈阿密网球公开赛成网红

 

This is What’s Trending Today.

A first-round tennis match at the Miami Open in Florida was delayed on Wednesday due to a surprise visitor.

Jiri Vesely from the Czech Republic was playing against Tommy Haas of Germany when he noticed an iguana¹. The large lizard² seemed to enjoy his view from the top of the scoreboard at courtside.

Vesely asked the umpire to stop play and try to remove the iguana.

The umpire told Vesely he would not stop the match unless the iguana ran onto the playing surface.

He said “If it’s like that, on the scoreboard, I don’t think it’s going to bother you, Jiri.”

Vesely disagreed.

The umpire said: “forget about it, it’s not a dangerous animal.”

During their conversation, Haas, a former second-ranked player in the world, went over to the iguana and took a selfie.

The fans cheered.

The television commentator³ said: “you do not see this very often.”

Haas received a lot of comments about his photo on Instagram. One person wrote: “Man, I’m going to hate it when you are truly done playing.”

The iguana did become a distraction⁴, after all.

People who work at the tennis stadium tried to catch the iguana by the tail, and by throwing a towel over it, but that did not work.

The iguana ran across the court to the other side, and climbed onto the scoreboard.

“It’s scampering⁶ everywhere,” said the commentator. “You don’t expect to see this!” he added.

Everyone kept laughing and cheering. The iguana was finally captured⁷ and taken outside the stadium.

Vesely recovered from the distraction and won the match.

The 38-year-old Haas said maybe the iguana got the message that it might be the last time he would be playing in the Miami Open.

“He wanted to say ‘hi’ and take a peek⁸ or something,” Haas said.

And that’s What’s Trending Today.

Words in This Story

umpire – n. a person who controls play and makes sure that players act according to the rules in a sports event

distraction – n. something that makes it difficult to think or pay attention

selfie – n. a picture that you take of yourself especially by using the camera on your smartphone

scamper⁵ – v. to run or move quickly and often playfully

peek – v. to look at someone or something secretly especially from a hidden place

1 iguana   

n.美洲大蜥蜴，鬣鳞蜥

参考例句：

• With an iguana,you really don't have to say surprise.惊喜两字已经不足以形容这只鬣鳞蜥了。
• I'm going to turn on my computer and make a movie starring my pet iguanadj.打开计算机准备制作一部关于我的宠物蜥蜴的电影。

2 lizard   

n.蜥蜴，壁虎

参考例句：

• A chameleon is a kind of lizard.变色龙是一种蜥蜴。
• The lizard darted out its tongue at the insect.蜥蜴伸出舌头去吃小昆虫。

3 commentator   

n.注释者，解说者；实况广播评论员

参考例句：

• He is a good commentator because he can get across the game.他能简单地解说这场比赛，是个好的解说者。
• The commentator made a big mistake during the live broadcast.在直播节目中评论员犯了个大错误。

4 distraction   

n.精神涣散，精神不集中，消遣，娱乐

参考例句：

• Total concentration is required with no distractions.要全神贯注，不能有丝毫分神。
• Their national distraction is going to the disco.他们的全民消遣就是去蹦迪。

5 scamper   

v.奔跑，快跑

参考例句：

• She loves to scamper through the woods of the forest.她喜欢在森林里的树林中穿梭嬉戏。
• The flash sent the foxes scampering away.闪光惊得狐狸四处逃窜。

6 scampering   

v.蹦蹦跳跳地跑，惊惶奔跑( scamper的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• A cat miaowed, then was heard scampering away. 马上起了猫叫，接着又听见猫逃走的声音。 来自汉英文学 - 家（1-26） - 家（1-26）
• A grey squirrel is scampering from limb to limb. 一只灰色的松鼠在树枝间跳来跳去。 来自辞典例句

7 captured   

俘获( capture的过去式和过去分词 )； 夺取； 夺得； 引起（注意、想像、兴趣）

参考例句：

• Allied troops captured over 300 enemy soldiers. 盟军俘虏了300多名敌方士兵。
• Most of the rebels were captured and disarmed. 大部分叛乱分子被俘获并解除了武装。

8 peek   

vi.偷看，窥视；n.偷偷的一看，一瞥

参考例句：

• Larry takes a peek out of the window.赖瑞往窗外偷看了一下。
• Cover your eyes and don't peek.捂上眼睛，别偷看。