美国青少年在匈牙利获世界地理知识竞赛冠军

US Teens Win Geographic¹ World Championship

in Hungary

美国青少年在匈牙利获世界地理知识竞赛冠军

 

A team of three American school students has won the National Geographic World Championship in Budapest, Hungary Thursday. The team from Russia came in second and Canada was third.

 

(Snippet)

 

Looking relieved three teenagers of the United States received the golden medals in an Olympic style ceremony at the end of the National Geographic World Championship in the Palace of the Arts in Budapest.

 

They received them after a nerve wrecking² hour, which included burning questions on the capital of Slovakia, an egg-laying mammal, and questionable³ election practices in Zimbabwe.

 

14-year old Jesse Weinberg from Coral Gables in Florida said he could not believe his team managed to win the championship.

 

Jesse Weinberg: I am very happy to be here and it is very exciting to represent my country. I am very ecstatic; I don't think it set in yet. But we are very happy and we are very proud to be Americans I guess.

 

Like his two teammates, Jesse wants to start a career in geography, perhaps in politics.

 

It is the fifth time the U.S. has won the National Geographic World contest, despite a recent survey showing that American youngsters know less about geography than most of their foreign counterparts.

 

The United States Ambassador to Budapest, George Walker, told VOA News the outcome of Thursday's battle shows not all hope is lost.

 

George Walker: I think there is always room for improvement. But this [victory] is encouraging because we hear a lot of criticism about the education in the United States kids to twelve. But this suggests that we will not maybe doing as badly as some people say.

 

Less impressed with the American victory was the Russian team, which came in second.

 

The two boys and one girl wearing silver medals found it difficult to smile. 15-year old Ivan Prokhorov from Murmansk, explained why Russia should have won.

 

Ivan Prokhorov: From one hand I am happy because it is the best result in Russian history. But from the other hand I feel upset a little bit, because we could be the first. But we didn’t have. Because we are intelligent enough to win this competition but something happened, I don't know what.

 

However American television personality Alex Trebek, who presents the quiz show Jeopardy⁴, said all teams that competed in the championship will have a great future.

 

Alex Trebek: The students are interested. Their parents are very interested in seeing their children do well. And so they get good training, these are the future geographers⁵ and discovers, so they are special and that is why they do so well.

 

Mr. Trebek, who is also a board member of the educational foundation of the non-profit National Geographic Society, which organized the meeting, hopes the championship in Hungary encouraged Americans to look beyond their borders.

 

This is necessary, he says, because many people in the United States are ignorant of world geography and world history.

 

Stefan Bos for VOA news, Budapest.

 

注释：

Budapest [5b(j)u:dE5pest] n. 布达佩斯（匈牙利首都）

Slovakia [slEu5vAkiE] n. 斯洛伐克

mammal [5mAmEl] n. 哺乳动物

Zimbabwe [zim5bB:bwei] n. 津巴布韦

ecstatic [ik5stAtik] adj. 欣喜若狂的

counterpart [5kauntEpB:t] n. 实力相当的对手

outcome [5autkQm] n. 结果，成果

ignorant [5i^nErEnt] adj. 无知的

1 geographic   

adj.地理学的，地理的

参考例句：

• The city's success owes much to its geographic position. 这座城市的成功很大程度上归功于它的地理位置。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Environmental problems pay no heed to these geographic lines. 环境问题并不理会这些地理界限。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法

2 wrecking   

破坏

参考例句：

• He teed off on his son for wrecking the car. 他严厉训斥他儿子毁坏了汽车。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Instead of wrecking the valley, the waters are put to use making electricity. 现在河水不但不在流域内肆疟，反而被人们用来生产电力。 来自辞典例句

3 questionable   

adj.可疑的，有问题的

参考例句：

• There are still a few questionable points in the case.这个案件还有几个疑点。
• Your argument is based on a set of questionable assumptions.你的论证建立在一套有问题的假设上。

4 jeopardy   

n.危险；危难

参考例句：

• His foolish behaviour may put his whole future in jeopardy.他愚蠢的行为可能毁了他一生的前程。
• It is precisely at this juncture that the boss finds himself in double jeopardy.恰恰在这个关键时刻，上司发现自己处于进退两难的境地。

5 geographers   

地理学家( geographer的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Geographers study the configuration of the mountains. 地理学家研究山脉的地形轮廓。
• Many geographers now call this landmass Eurasia. 许多地理学家现在把这块陆地叫作欧亚大陆。