VOA常速英语2019--外蒙古的那达慕节:商业败坏了传统

The Naadam Festival of Mongolia: Tradition Corrupted¹ by Business

Most seven-year-old children might enjoy summer holidays playing games, but not Namuun.

大多数七岁的孩子可能喜欢暑假玩游戏，但Namuun不一样。 

Every morning she’s up early settling her horse for training.

每天早晨她都起得很早，把马安顿好准备训练。 

Growing up on the edge of the Gobi desert in a nomadic² family, Namuun must work as a jockey, riding in Mongolia’s biggest horse racing³ event the Naadam.

Namuun生长在戈壁沙漠边缘的一个游牧家庭，必须成为一名骑师，参加蒙古最大的赛马赛事那达慕。

When I was five I started to ride horses and I have been racing now for four years.

当我五岁的时候，我开始骑马，现在我已经赛马四年了。 

My father trains the horses and I am the jockey to race them.

我父亲训练马，我是赛马师骑马比赛。 

Mongolian courts have banned child riders from racing in winter and spring races in response to the high number of deaths and injuries recorded each year.

针对每年记录在案的高伤亡人数，蒙古法院禁止儿童骑手参加冬春两季比赛。 

But most horse racing families continue to swing child jockeys back up into the saddle despite the new regulations introduced in 2016.

但尽管二零一六年出台了新规定，大多数赛马家庭仍在继续让儿童骑手上马参赛。 

When the kids are jockeys, it is good for their health, their exercise, it is a national tradition.

孩子们是骑师，这对他们的健康有好处，他们进行锻炼，这是一个国家的传统。 

Namuun didn’t have any accidents so far, but when she races I always worry.

Namuun到目前为止没有出现任何事故，但当她比赛时，我总是担心。 

If galloping⁴ for 25 kilometers isn’t dangerous enough, the growing use of performance-enhancing drugs for racehorses is also prompting outrage⁵.

如果奔跑二十五公里还不够危险的话，对越来越多的赛马使用兴奋剂也激起了公愤。 

Rights groups have slammed horse trainers for putting children’s lives even more at risk.

人权组织抨击驯马师把孩子们的生命置于更大的危险之中。 

Retired⁶ events organizers are worried the traditional Naadam festival is now turning into a business, pushing horses and child jockeys to the limits.

退休的活动组织者担心，传统的那达慕节现在正在变成一项生意，将马匹和儿童赛马师推向极限。 

I’ve trained racing horses since the 1970s.

我从二十世纪七十年代开始训练赛马。 

We used to start early with preparation giving them extra feed to make them strong.

我们以前很早就开始做准备工作，给它们额外的饲料使它们强壮。 

Now the rules aren’t strict and everything is becoming easier and about the prize money.

现在规则不那么严格了，一切都变得简单了，有奖金。 

With regulations poorly enforced and perpetrators of child fatalities⁷ rarely punished, the fate of improving horse racing standards is a slim.

由于监管不力，造成儿童死亡的肇事者很少受到惩罚，提高赛马标准的希望渺茫。 

For Namuun, she says she will continue racing as it makes her family happy.

对于Namuun来说，她说她会继续比赛，因为这让她的家人很开心。 

My family is so glad when I race especially my brother.

当我比赛时我的家人很高兴，特别是我的弟弟。 

When I win, my brother is so glad and proud of me.

当我赢了的时候，我弟弟为我感到高兴和自豪。 

1 corrupted   

（使）败坏( corrupt的过去式和过去分词 )； （使）腐化； 引起（计算机文件等的）错误； 破坏

参考例句：

• The body corrupted quite quickly. 尸体很快腐烂了。
• The text was corrupted by careless copyists. 原文因抄写员粗心而有讹误。

2 nomadic   

adj.流浪的；游牧的

参考例句：

• This tribe still live a nomadic life.这个民族仍然过着游牧生活。
• The plowing culture and the nomadic culture are two traditional principal cultures in China.农耕文化与游牧文化是我国传统的两大主体文化。

3 racing   

n.竞赛，赛马；adj.竞赛用的，赛马用的

参考例句：

• I was watching the racing on television last night.昨晚我在电视上看赛马。
• The two racing drivers fenced for a chance to gain the lead.两个赛车手伺机竞相领先。

4 galloping   

adj. 飞驰的, 急性的 动词gallop的现在分词形式

参考例句：

• The horse started galloping the moment I gave it a good dig. 我猛戳了马一下，它就奔驰起来了。
• Japan is galloping ahead in the race to develop new technology. 日本在发展新技术的竞争中进展迅速，日新月异。

5 outrage   

n.暴行，侮辱，愤怒；vt.凌辱，激怒

参考例句：

• When he heard the news he reacted with a sense of outrage.他得悉此事时义愤填膺。
• We should never forget the outrage committed by the Japanese invaders.我们永远都不应该忘记日本侵略者犯下的暴行。

6 retired   

adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的

参考例句：

• The old man retired to the country for rest.这位老人下乡休息去了。
• Many retired people take up gardening as a hobby.许多退休的人都以从事园艺为嗜好。

7 fatalities   

n.恶性事故( fatality的名词复数 )；死亡；致命性；命运

参考例句：

• Several people were injured, but there were no fatalities. 有几个人受伤，但没有人死亡。
• The accident resulted in fatalities. 那宗意外道致多人死亡。 来自《简明英汉词典》