美国国家公共电台 NPR On Derby Day, Visiting A College Where You Can Major In Horses

 

SCOTT SIMON, HOST:

Kentucky Derby day - sorry if we didn't mention that in sports - post time this afternoon, 6:46 Eastern. Midway University - an hour's drive away from Churchill Downs to the east in the Kentucky bluegrass - it's a small school with intense focus on horses. Many of the well-known thoroughbred farms have Midway graduates on staff. NPR's Noah Adams visited.

NOAH ADAMS, BYLINE¹: Midways started back in 1849. It was called the Kentucky Female Orphan² School. Now it's a coed university. And 35 horses are in the fields and barns on campus because 75 students are going after equine management degrees.

(SOUNDBITE OF HORSE NEIGHING)

ALLIE JOHNSON: Horses can just really teach you a lot.

ADAMS: Allie Johnson is ending her sophomore³ year. She loves to ride Sophie in the indoor arena⁴. Johnson plans to open her own farm to be able to teach kids about horses - certainly those with special needs like autism.

JOHNSON: I love horses. I just get emotional about them because whenever I had a lot going on at home, my horse helped me through a lot of it because I would just always sit in the barn. I was supposed to be in the house after 10 at night. And I would sneak⁵ out there and hang out with my horse until like midnight.

(SOUNDBITE OF HORSE NEIGHING)

ADAMS: Over in a busy barn, somebody says here's the first brave guy to sign up for the horse program. His name is Koy Lindsay. He is a rodeo fan and would like to start his own rodeo in Kentucky. Midway makes him think he can do it.

KOY LINDSAY: I did a year - a full year of doing work in the barns, and then now I'm a manager. It's really helped me a lot in my managing techniques and in becoming a better reader.

JANICE HOLLAND: You have to at least be in khakis or dress pants. You do not have to be in a suit.

ADAMS: In a classroom, the professor Janice Holland is helping⁶ set up a student presentation. What should they wear? Holland advises barn professional. The students have been making posters for a symposium⁷. Sara Gatchell shows her idea to Beverly Garland.

SARA GATCHELL: It is a comparison of PEMF devices - a breakdown⁸ of Cytowave and BioPulse.

BEVERLY GARLAND: OK.

GATCHELL: So it's long.

ADAMS: At a quieter place - one of Midway's barns in the rain - Hannah Waraway does some careful sweeping⁹ as an assigned chore. She is a freshman¹⁰ from up near Ann Arbor¹¹, Mich.

HANNAH WARAWAY: There's no equine anything in Michigan. I mean, we have Michigan State, but that's really an animal science rather than equine. So down here, I found that they had a very hands-on program. And I'm a very hands-on, kinesthetic learner.

ADAMS: Lately Midway's had equine students from 15 states and South Africa and Zambia. And the school estimates that 80 percent of the current equine students have off-campus jobs. Rene Fossett works 32 hours a week at a thoroughbred farm - sometimes helping with a birth.

RENE FOSSETT: I did get to witness one and help out with cleaning the foul¹² off and everything like that - and tying up the uterus so that it pulls out correctly.

STEPHANIE KEELEY: All right, so we are doing two vaccines¹³ and dewormer per horse.

ADAMS: Seven o'clock in the morning, students meet with Stephanie Keeley. She loves planning these classes - real freshman stuff, early in the day. And the idea is hands on the horse.

KEELEY: Remember. When we are giving our injection - kind of fast like you're ripping off a Band-Aid, just - right? Just stick it in. Don't sit there, and - just stick it in, OK. Excellent.

ADAMS: Around this campus, with the barns and the fine spring grass, there's maybe some talk about the Kentucky Derby coming up today. But the true excitement - that's the graduation next Saturday on this campus in Midway, Ky. Noah Adams, NPR News.

(SOUNDBITE OF DUNKAN'S "EUROPE (ORIGINAL MIX)")

1 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

2 orphan   

n.孤儿；adj.无父母的

参考例句：

• He brought up the orphan and passed onto him his knowledge of medicine.他把一个孤儿养大，并且把自己的医术传给了他。
• The orphan had been reared in a convent by some good sisters.这个孤儿在一所修道院里被几个好心的修女带大。

3 sophomore   

n.大学二年级生；adj.第二年的

参考例句：

• He is in his sophomore year.他在读二年级。
• I'm a college sophomore majoring in English.我是一名英语专业的大二学生。

4 arena   

n.竞技场，运动场所；竞争场所，舞台

参考例句：

• She entered the political arena at the age of 25. 她25岁进入政界。
• He had not an adequate arena for the exercise of his talents.他没有充分发挥其才能的场所。

5 sneak   

vt.潜行(隐藏,填石缝)；偷偷摸摸做；n.潜行；adj.暗中进行

参考例句：

• He raised his spear and sneak forward.他提起长矛悄悄地前进。
• I saw him sneak away from us.我看见他悄悄地从我们身边走开。

6 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

7 symposium   

n.讨论会，专题报告会；专题论文集

参考例句：

• What have you learned from the symposium?你参加了这次科学讨论会有什么体会？
• The specialists and scholars present at the symposium come from all corners of the country.出席研讨会的专家学者们来自全国各地。

8 breakdown   

n.垮，衰竭；损坏，故障，倒塌

参考例句：

• She suffered a nervous breakdown.她患神经衰弱。
• The plane had a breakdown in the air,but it was fortunately removed by the ace pilot.飞机在空中发生了故障，但幸运的是被王牌驾驶员排除了。

9 sweeping   

adj.范围广大的，一扫无遗的

参考例句：

• The citizens voted for sweeping reforms.公民投票支持全面的改革。
• Can you hear the wind sweeping through the branches?你能听到风掠过树枝的声音吗？

10 freshman   

n.大学一年级学生(可兼指男女)

参考例句：

• Jack decided to live in during his freshman year at college.杰克决定大一时住校。
• He is a freshman in the show business.他在演艺界是一名新手。

11 arbor   

n.凉亭；树木

参考例句：

• They sat in the arbor and chatted over tea.他们坐在凉亭里，边喝茶边聊天。
• You may have heard of Arbor Day at school.你可能在学校里听过植树节。

12 foul   

adj.污秽的；邪恶的；v.弄脏；妨害；犯规；n.犯规

参考例句：

• Take off those foul clothes and let me wash them.脱下那些脏衣服让我洗一洗。
• What a foul day it is!多么恶劣的天气！

13 vaccines   

疫苗，痘苗( vaccine的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His team are at the forefront of scientific research into vaccines. 他的小组处于疫苗科研的最前沿。
• The vaccines were kept cool in refrigerators. 疫苗放在冰箱中冷藏。