News Item1 3

美國斗牛小丑的收入很可觀

News Background

新聞背景　　

斗牛小丑是隨著美國西部牛仔文化衍生出來的一種職業(yè)。

他們永遠是斗牛場上帶給觀眾笑聲最多的人，也是光芒最容易被掩蓋的人，同時也是斗牛場上處境最危險的人。每當斗牛賽的間隙，斗牛小丑們就會穿著寬大艷麗的衣服粉墨登場，他們會借助小型爆竹、焰火等小道具在憤怒的公牛面前耍寶，博觀眾一笑。

News Transcript VOA 新聞梗概

In small towns across the American West, a favorite form of entertainment is the rodeo. It’s ashow and competition in which modern-day cowboys ride bucking horses and ornery bulls.

(Clowning around distracts bulls after riders fall.)When a rider charges out of the chute atop and agitated bucking bull, he can easily get intodeadly trouble. That’s where two cowboys in clown outfi ts, standing in the ring beside the chute,fi t into the rodeo scene. Like the competitors, they usually have on board–brimmed hats, bootsand blue jeans.

But their most important job is to whistle, shout, fl ap their arms and run about crazily to turnthe attention of an unhappy, 500 kilogram animal with sharp horns away from a fallen rider. It’sbetter to have the bull chasing nimble clowns than goring an injured bull rider.

(Rodeo clowns earn respect and a good income)The clowns can make a handsome living without ever getting on a horse or bull. RodeosNews Item1 3

Listening Comprehension

聽力理解

1. the American West; modern-day cowboys2. D 3. C Keyeven developed an event just for them. It’s called bullfi ghting, in which clownsearn points, prize money and lots of laughs by artfully evading grouchy bulls.

When rodeo clowns are too crippled, or too old, to work the ring any longer,most of these men – and almost all of them are male – fi nd work anywhere theycan to stay around a rodeo.

1 In small towns across , a favorite form of entertainment isthe rodeo. It’s a show and competition in which ride buckinghorses and ornery bulls.

2 Like the competitors, the cowboys ( )A. Clowning around distracts bulls after riders fall.

B. Two cowboys in clown outfi ts, standing in the ring beside the chute, fi t intothe rodeo scene.

C. Clowns usually have on broad-brimmed hats, boots and blue jeans.

D. All the above.

3 According to the context, which one is not right? ( )A. The clowns can make a handsome living without ever getting on a horse orbull.

B. Rodeos even developed an event just for the cowboys.

C. Rodeo clowns earn respect and a low income.

D. It’s called bullfi ghting, in which clowns earn points, prize money and lots oflaughs by artfully evading grouchy bulls.

rodeo n.

騎術(shù)競技會ornery a.

脾氣壞的chute n.

斜槽agitated a.

焦慮的，不安的flap v.

拍打nimble a.

敏捷的grouchy a.

不高興的crippled a.

跛腿的，殘廢的詞匯加油站在美國西部的一個小城鎮(zhèn)里，騎士競技是最受歡迎的一種娛樂方式。他是一場秀，同時也是一種競爭，今日的牛仔騎的是突然弓背躍起要把人摔下來的馬和脾氣暴躁的公牛。

當牛仔從牛背上掉下來之后，四周的小丑負責(zé)分散公牛的注意力。

當牛仔從斜槽頂部掉下來，并激怒跳躍的公牛時，他就無疑陷入了致命的危險境地。這就是為什么在角力場上的斜槽附近，會有兩個穿著全套小丑服裝的牛仔，映襯著競技場面。 和競技小丑一樣，他們通常也戴著寬邊帽，穿著長靴和牛仔褲。

但他們最重要的工作是吹口哨，叫喊，拍胳膊和瘋狂的跑動，以此讓一頭憤怒的500千克重，長著尖尖的角的動物的注意力，從掉落下來的牛仔身上轉(zhuǎn)移開。讓公牛去追趕一個敏捷的小丑比讓其繼續(xù)去頂一個受傷的牛仔要好得多。

競技小丑贏得了尊重同時拿到了高收入。

小丑們不用騎馬或斗牛就可以過上瀟灑的生活。競技者們甚至僅僅專門為他們開發(fā)了一項活動，這就是所謂的斗牛。斗牛可以使他們贏得尊重，得到報酬，并通過技術(shù)地躲過憤怒的公牛得到觀眾的掌聲。

當小丑們太跛或太老而不能繼續(xù)工作時，大多數(shù)的男人，幾乎全部都是男人，會去找任何能讓他們繼續(xù)呆在競技場的工作。

1 It’s a show and competition in which modern-day cowboys ride bucking horses and ornerybulls.“in which”引導(dǎo)定語從句，這種由介詞加關(guān)系代詞引導(dǎo)的限定分句多用于正式語體。例：this is the room in which i lived= this is the room where I lived從根本上講，在定語從句中，介+which=where。

2 It’s better to have the bull chasing nimble clowns than goring an injured bull rider.句子的主要結(jié)構(gòu)是 “It’s better to do something”最好做某事，但to后面接的是 “have somethingor someone doing something”使某人做某事，than是比較動詞，前后銜接的成分應(yīng)該保持一致，前面是chasing后面就應(yīng)該是goring。

3 Rodeo clowns earn respect and a good income. Rodeo clowns是競技小丑的意思。