美語情景對話 第1108期:Rodeo Rider 牛仔競技者

John: So Sarah, I was wondering, what kind of sports do you like to play?

約翰：薩拉，我想知道，你喜歡什麼運動？

Sarah: Well, I love riding horses. And actually, when I was in college, I took a lot of classes about horseback riding. So I can do all sorts of sports on horseback.

薩拉：我喜歡騎馬。實際上，我大學時參加了很多馬術課程。所以我可以在馬背上做各種運動。

John: Wow! That's amazing. Don't you think riding horses is scary?

約翰：哇哦！那太不可思議了。你不認爲騎馬很可怕嗎？

Sarah: I think, it's part of the fun. For example, I used to be in the rodeo and I did a sport called saddle bronc riding. And the way you do this is they put the saddle on the horse and then they let the horse just go crazy. And the horse runs, and bucks, and tries to get you off, and you try to stay on. And it's really scary but it's also really exciting.

薩拉：我認爲那也是樂趣的一部分。比如，我以前參加過牛仔競技比賽，我參加的項目是有馬鞍騎術競技。就是把馬鞍放在馬背上，然後讓馬發狂。馬會跑、會高擡後蹄，試圖把你甩下去，而你要做的是要儘量留在馬背上。那真的很可怕，不過也很刺激。

John: Wow! That's what's called a bucking bronco, right?

約翰：哇哦！那是不是野馬？

Sarah: Yeah. And it's really hard to stay on. In fact, you win if you can stay on 8 seconds.

薩拉：對。在那種情況下很難留在馬背上。實際上，如果你能堅持8秒，那你就贏了。

John: Oh, that doesn't seem very long.

約翰：哦，聽起來要堅持的時間不是很長。

Sarah: It's really, really long. When I was – it's really long when you're on the horse. My first time, I only stayed on about 4 seconds and then I fell off in the middle of ring and I got knocked out.

薩拉：其實非常長。當你在馬背上的時候，你會覺得那幾秒的時間真的很長。第一次，我只在馬背上堅持了4秒鐘左右就掉下來了，我摔在競技場中間，暈了過去。

John: Whoa!

約翰：哇哦！

Sarah: Yeah. And the rest – yeah, and I had a big black eye for about two months.

薩拉：對。後來我的眼睛腫了兩個月。

John: Wow! From falling off a horse. That's why it seems scary. Isn't it really dangerous?

約翰：天哪！從馬上掉下來。所以我才說很可怕。那是不是很危險？

Sarah: It is. It is really dangerous. And they don't make you wear helmet or any safety gear. I didn't wear a helmet my first time. I think it was pretty stupid. You start – so the horse starts in a metal cage. So the horse can't move. And then you sit on top of the horse, on the horse's back in the saddle. And then you say, I'm ready and they open the door. And the horse explodes and just starts jumping, and turning and twisting. And the horse did about three or four jumps and I fell off.

薩拉：對。非常危險。你要戴上頭盔，穿上安全裝備。第一次我沒有戴頭盔。那真是太蠢了。一開始馬被限制在金屬籠裏，它不能動。在你坐在馬背上以後，準確地說是坐在馬鞍上以後，你要說準備好了，然後他們會打開門。馬會突然爆發，開始不停地跳，不停地轉向和扭動。在馬跳了三四次以後，我就摔下來了。

John: Wow! How many seconds did you make it?

約翰：哇哦！你堅持了秒鐘？

Sarah: Three.

薩拉：3秒鐘。

John: Three?

約翰：3秒鐘嗎？

Sarah: Probably about 3 seconds.

薩拉：大概有3秒鐘吧。

John: So you would have to do that more than twice as long to win.

約翰：要想獲勝，你得堅持那個時間的兩倍以上纔可以。

Sarah: Yeah. I got better at it, but I never could stay on for 8 seconds.

薩拉：對。後來我的表現比之前好了很多，不過我從來沒能堅持到8秒鐘。

John: Did you try any other rodeo events?

約翰：你有參加過其他牛仔競技項目嗎？

Sarah: Yeah. I tried to do calf roping.

薩拉：有，我試過套小牛。

John: What's that?

約翰：那是什麼？

Sarah: This is a sport where you have your horse and your horse is trained. It's not the wild horse from before. And there's a calf, and you try to throw your rope so that you catch the calf. And a calf is a baby cow.

薩拉：在這個項目中，你所騎的馬是經過訓練的。並不是剛纔提到的那種野馬。你要騎馬用繩索套小牛。你要套的是那種牛犢。

John: Wow! And so, what do you have to do if you get your rope around the cow?

約翰：哇哦！套住小牛以後要做什麼？

Sarah: Then you have to run up to the cow and you have to tie the cow's legs together. And when you finish tying the cow's legs together, the timer stops. So you want to do it as fast as you can.

薩拉：你要跑到小牛身邊，將小牛的腿綁在一起。綁好以後，計時器就會停止。所以要儘快完成。

John: That sounds really fun. And it doesn't sound as dangerous as the saddle bronc competition.

約翰：聽起來很有意思。而且不像有馬鞍騎術競技那樣危險。

Sarah: No. It's not as dangerous. But after a while, I started to feel bad for the baby cow.

薩拉：對。這個項目沒有那麼危險。不過我在做了一段時間之後，開始同情那隻小牛。

John: I see.

約翰：我明白。

Sarah: It's just he's a small little baby and he's really scared, and he's trying to run away. And I started to feel bad about catching him with the rope and tying him up. So I stopped doing it.

薩拉：它只是小牛犢，它非常害怕，它一直試圖逃跑。我開始覺得用繩子抓它然後把它綁起來是一件殘忍的事情。所以我就停下來了。

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重點講解：
1. fall off 脫落；掉落；
例句：Mary scrape her knee when she fall off her bike.
瑪麗從腳踏車上摔下來擦傷了膝蓋。
2. run away 離開；逃離；躲開；
例句：The fox ran away before the hunter shot it.
那隻狐狸在獵人向它射擊前跑掉了。
3. tie up 將(動物)拴牢；把…繫牢；
例句：They dismounted, tied up their horses and gave them the grain they had brought.
他們下了馬，把馬拴起來，把帶來的糧食餵給它們吃。
4. feel bad about 抱歉的；難過的；內疚的；
例句：I feel bad about losing your dictionary.
我很抱歉把你的字典丟失了。