亚洲选手在英语文字游戏“ Scrabble”中大获全胜 ...

Asian Players Win Big in English Word Game 'Scrabble'

One of the most popular board games in the United States is now becoming very popular across parts of Asia.

Young people from countries such as Malaysia, Thailand, Sri Lanka and Pakistan have taken up the game and are winning Scrabble tournaments.

Tengku Ariff Shah is a teenager who can spell more English words than most native English speakers. He says he may not know what every word means, but that is not important.

"It's a puzzle. It stimulates² my mind," he told the Reuters news agency recently.

Ariff says he loves unusual words. In a recent tournament, he played the word "S-E-N-V-Y," an old word for mustard³ plants or seeds. He says one day he would love to get the letters to play "C-W-T-C-H-I-N-G" -- a Welsh word for cuddling.

For those who haven't heard of Scrabble ...

Scrabble is a board game played with small, square pieces called tiles⁵. Every tile⁴ has a letter on it. Players get seven tiles to start with and then take turns making words.

Each tile is worth a certain number of points. When all the tiles are placed on the board, the players add up their points. The player with the most points wins.

The building designer Alfred M. Butts⁶ is said to have invented the game in the 1930s. At the time, he called it Criss Cross Words. Later, the game was redesigned and renamed Scrabble and its popularity⁷ grew.

Scrabble tournaments have been held in the United States since at least the 1970s.

However, the last three youth Scrabble champions have come from Asia. The last three adult champions have come from New Zealand, Australia and Britain.

The popularity of Scrabble in Asia has not gone unnoticed by governments. Many officials in Asian countries support after-school Scrabble clubs for young people to build English language skills. Many parents see it as a fun way for kids to learn.

Malaysia's Ganesh Asirvatham is currently⁸ the top-ranked adult player. He says Scrabble is becoming "a development tool in Asia, a continent of more than 2,000 languages."

He told reporters that "Asian players are conquering the Scrabble world."

Some say Scrabble became more popular in Asia after a world-famous player moved there 20 years ago. New Zealander Nigel Richards is a five-time world Scrabble champion. He is widely considered the game's greatest player.

In 2015 and 2018, Richards even won Scrabble's French tournament although he cannot speak French. He studied the French dictionary for nine weeks.

The winner of this year's Scrabble youth tournament -- Thailand's Tarin Pairor -- calls Richards one of his Scrabble heroes. The teen once beat Richards during a tournament in India.

Tarin told Reuters, "Everyone wants to be world champion at least once."

"Even if I get world champion," he said, "I don't think I would ever stop playing."

Words in This Story

teenager – n. a person aged⁹ between 13 and 19 years.

tournament – n. a series of contests played for a championship

puzzle – n. a question or problem that requires thought, skill, or cleverness to be answered or solved

stimulate¹ – v. to cause or encourage (something) to happen or develop: to make (a person) excited or interested in something

cuddle – v. to hold close for warmth or comfort or in affection

conquer – v. to gain control of (a problem or difficulty) through great effort

1 stimulate   

vt.刺激，使兴奋；激励，使…振奋

参考例句：

• Your encouragement will stimulate me to further efforts.你的鼓励会激发我进一步努力。
• Success will stimulate the people for fresh efforts.成功能鼓舞人们去作新的努力。

2 stimulates   

v.刺激( stimulate的第三人称单数 )；激励；使兴奋；起兴奋作用，起刺激作用，起促进作用

参考例句：

• Exercise stimulates the body. 运动促进身体健康。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Alcohol stimulates the action of the heart. 酒刺激心脏的活动。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

3 mustard   

n.芥子，芥末，深黄色，强烈的兴趣，热情的人

参考例句：

• This meat should be seasoned with salt and mustard.这肉里应该加点盐和芥末调味。
• This mustard is hot enough to bite your tongue.这种芥末很辣，你的舌头会吃不消的。

4 tile   

n.砖瓦；vt.铺以瓦，铺以瓷砖

参考例句：

• The bathroom is faced with tile.浴室铺着瓷砖。
• I pointed to a number of scratches in the tile floor.我指向地板砖上的一道道划痕。

5 tiles   

n.瓦片，瓷砖( tile的名词复数 )；扁平的小棋子

参考例句：

• The wind dislodged one or two tiles from the roof. 大风从屋顶上刮下了一两片瓦来。
• On both slopes of the roof there are broken tiles. 屋顶的两面斜面都有破瓦片。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 butts   

笑柄( butt的名词复数 )； （武器或工具的）粗大的一端； 屁股； 烟蒂

参考例句：

• The Nazis worked them over with gun butts. 纳粹分子用枪托毒打他们。
• The house butts to a cemetery. 这所房子和墓地相连。

7 popularity   

n.普及，流行，名望，受欢迎

参考例句：

• The story had an extensive popularity among American readers.这本小说在美国读者中赢得广泛的声望。
• Our product enjoys popularity throughout the world.我们的产品饮誉全球。

8 currently   

adv.通常地，普遍地，当前

参考例句：

• Currently it is not possible to reconcile this conflicting evidence.当前还未有可能去解释这一矛盾的例证。
• Our contracts are currently under review.我们的合同正在复查。

9 aged   

adj.年老的，陈年的

参考例句：

• He had put on weight and aged a little.他胖了，也老点了。
• He is aged,but his memory is still good.他已年老，然而记忆力还好。