The Boat Race 划船赛. The Oxford and Cambridge Boat Race 牛津剑桥划船赛. Read the text below and do the activity that follows.

Transcription

1 The Boat Race 1

2 The Boat Race 划船赛 The Oxford and Cambridge Boat Race 牛津剑桥划船赛 Read the text below and do the activity that follows. 阅读下面的短文, 然后完成练习 : Oxford and Cambridge are the oldest and most famous universities in Britain, and there has always been a great rivalry between the two institutions. But the most public competition between the two is the annual Boat Race. The 2006 Boat Race will take place on 2 nd April, and will be the 152 nd race of its kind. Both universities are located near rivers, and rowing is a popular and prestigious sport. The very first race took place in 1829, when a Cambridge student challenged a school-friend studying at Oxford. Ever since, the defeated team from the previous year challenges the opposition to a rematch. The only times when no Boat Races took place were during the First and Second World Wars. The race is between two crews of eight oarsmen, each led by a cox, who steers, and gives commands to the rowers. Since 1836, the rowing eights have worn different shades of blue Oxford wear dark blue and Cambridge light blue. As a result, the rowers are known as the Blues. The Boat Race was initially held on the River Thames at Westminster in central London, but due to overcrowding, it was moved to further upstream near Putney, in South West London, and the course is just under 5 miles long. The average race time is 20 minutes, but the record is just over 16 minutes. Over the years that the two universities have gone head-to-head on the river, Oxford have won 70 times, and Cambridge have had 77 wins. Only once there was a dead heat. There have been three occasions when one of the boats sank and forfeited the race. The race is a very popular spectator event, with around 250,000 people going to the Thames to watch, and several million more watching on television. The training for the race is very tough, and rowers start practising in September in order to try to win a place on the Blue Boats. Those who don t quite make the grade become the reserve team, who race before the main teams on race day. Who will win this year? 2

3 Glossary 词汇表 rivalry 竞争对手 of its kind 此类 prestigious 享誉高的 opposition 对手 crews 划艇队员 initially 开始 upstream 逆流 head-to-head 并驾齐驱 forfeited 弃权 ; 放弃 make the grade 拔尖 institutions ( 牛津和剑桥 ) 大学 ; 机构 rowing 划船 challenged 挑战 rematch 再次比赛 oarsmen 划桨人 overcrowding 过分拥挤的 record 纪录 dead heat 同时抵达终点 spectator 观赏者 reserve team 预备队 1. Reading Quiz 阅读测验 Are these sentences true or false? Circle the correct answer. 以下句子哪句是真? 哪句是假? 请圈出正确答案 1. The Boat Race takes place in Cambridge, on the river Cam. True / False 2. There are nine people in each boat. True / False 3. The Oxford team wears red clothing. True / False 4. The race usually takes around 16 minutes. True / False 5. Cambridge have won the race more times than Oxford. True / False 3

4 2. Boat Race job titles 划船赛队员角色 See how much you know about the people involved in the boat race. Match the job titles to their definitions. Write the correct letter next to each definition. 考一考你的划船运动知识. 为下列 1-6 题从 A-F 中选出正确答案. A. oarsman C. commentator E. coach B. spectator D. cox F. judge 1. Person who trains the rowers to be better at their sport. 2. Person who directs the crew and steers the boat. 3. Person who watches the race for entertainment. 4. Person who decides who has won. 5. Person who rows the boat. 6. Person who talks about the race on television or radio while it is taking place. 4

5 3. Sporting Verbs 同运动相关的动词 Fit the verbs into the sentences correctly. 选择合适的动词填入句子空白处 to row to ride to score to run to swim to play 1. Two men managed to a boat across the Atlantic Ocean. 2. You need to be very fit to be able to a marathon. 3. The new player managed to a goal in his first match. 4. I can but only about 400 metres. 5. He s a very good cyclist he in the Tour de France. 6. She in the British hockey team. 5

6 4. Wordsearch 单词搜索 Try to find the words associated with The Boat Race in the puzzle below. There are ten words to find. Words can be written horizontally (g), vertically (i) or diagonally (m) 请在下面的字谜游戏中, 找出与划船比赛有关的英语单词来 共有 10 个单词, 其组成方式可能以水平的 (g) 垂直的 (i) 或对角的 (m) 形式出现 c o b l c o x p b g f w u a x s p e k l o a r s n a m s d c m c r x i p i z r b o a t p o n v e v u n i r m m s w g h c e d w r y i p q i v w t r f r g c a d j n k l a s o b i u a s g g d g t i u w h v i o p e q c o t r d n m e k x j h w r y w s d f b r r a c e j o x f o r d y j s p w k rowing boat Oxford Cambridge oars cox river spectator university race 6

7 Answers 答案 1. Reading Quiz 阅读测验 1. The Boat Race takes place in Cambridge, on the river Cam. False 2. There are nine people in each boat. True 3. The Oxford team wears red clothing. False 4. The race usually takes around 16 minutes. False 5. Cambridge have won the race more times than Oxford. True 2. Boat Race job titles 划船赛队员角色 1. Person who trains the rowers to be better at their sport. 2. Person who directs the crew and steers the boat. 3. Person who watches the race for entertainment. E D B 4. Person who decides who has won. 5. Person who rows the boat. 6. Person who talks about the race on television or radio while it is taking place. F A C 3. Sporting Verbs 和运动有关的动词 4. Wordsearch 单词搜索 1. Two men managed to row boat across the Atlantic Ocean. 2. You need to be very fit to be able to run a marathon. 3. The new player managed to score a goal in his first match. 4. I can swim but only about 400 metres. 5. He s a very good cyclist he rides in the Tour de France. 6. She plays in the British hockey team. c c o x u a o a r s n m r p i b o a t o e v r w c e i i t r r d n a s i g g t i v e o t e r y r r a c e o x f o r d 7