英语博客：Tyler Farrar from Wenatchee.

 

 

For those of you who are following the Tour de France, you will recognize the name Tyler Farrar. He is from the town where I live, Wenatchee. The fact that he is not only in the Tour, but also doing well, has really created a buzz of excitement here. The local newspaper, The Wenatchee World, has a daily spot about the race so we can all keep up to date with how Tyler is doing. What we are holding our breath for, is the sprint¹ into Paris. He will be against Mark Cavendish, the English missile, and other sprinters such as Thor Hushov and Alessandro Petacchi. My husband and I are amazingly addicted³ to the tour; we have it taped, and so, in the evenings, that's what we watch. Sorry kids, no cartoons. Tyler's father lives and works in Wenatchee; he is a surgeon, and is often seen biking in the local parks. Tyler must have been an unusual child for this area of the States. Most boys become deeply involved in baseball, basketball, or football. Now, soccer and hockey are also popular. However, Tyler started competitive biking when he was only thirteen years old. His father said that from then on, he knew that cycling was what he wanted to do. He is still young, only twenty-seven, so he has many years of cycling ahead of him. As far as his training is concerned, he lives in Ghent, in Belgium. His upbringing here in Wenatchee served him well for building strength and stamina⁴ for cycling. There are many, ideal roads for cycling in the hills here, as well as trails for mountain biking. I suppose the four very distinct seasons that we have here can also prepare a cyclist for hot and cold extremes while biking. Now that he lives in Ghent, however, he has all-year-long cycling because the climate is much milder, with less extremes. Being a sprinter² means that he has explosive power towards the end of the race. He, like the other sprinters, tends to stay anywhere in the peloton until the end, when he makes his way to the front, and suddenly speeds towards the finish line. He has already won a stage in the Tour de France, and also in the Vuelta a Espana, and the Giro d'Italia, and others in less known races, so he has plenty of experience. So, when we spot him in the peloton, on the television screen, we get excited and hope to see a successful performance. Even though Mark Cavendish is one of my favorite cyclists, if Tyler beats him and wins the grand, final stage of the race, Wenatchee should commemorate⁵ his achievement with a statue in his honor.

 

Grammar notes.

 

Related vocabulary and expressions: a spot (on tv, radio, written), to serve ...well, to tend to, to commemorate.

 

1. She has a spot on prime-time television, talking about the latest movies.

 

2. These rubber boots have served me well. I've used them for twenty years, and they still have no holes.

 

3. I tend to get phone calls whenever I am trying to take a nap.

 

4. The bronze statue was erected⁶ in the center of town, to commemorate independence day.

1 sprint   

n.短距离赛跑；vi. 奋力而跑，冲刺；vt.全速跑过

参考例句：

• He put on a sprint to catch the bus.他全速奔跑以赶上公共汽车。
• The runner seemed to be rallied for a final sprint.这名赛跑者似乎在振作精神作最后的冲刺。

2 sprinter   

n.短跑运动员，短距离全速奔跑者

参考例句：

• He is more a sprinter than a swimmer. 他是短跑健将，而不是游泳选手。 来自辞典例句
• The sprinter himself thinks he can run the race at 9.4 seconds. 这位短跑运动员自认为可以用9.4秒跑完比赛。 来自互联网

3 addicted   

adj.沉溺于....的，对...上瘾的

参考例句：

• He was addicted to heroin at the age of 17.他17岁的时候对海洛因上了瘾。
• She's become addicted to love stories.她迷上了爱情小说。

4 stamina   

n.体力；精力；耐力

参考例句：

• I lacked the stamina to run the whole length of the race.我没有跑完全程的耐力。
• Giving up smoking had a magical effect on his stamina.戒烟神奇地增强了他的体力。

5 commemorate   

vt.纪念，庆祝

参考例句：

• This building was built to commemorate the Fire of London.这栋大楼是为纪念“伦敦大火”而兴建的。
• We commemorate the founding of our nation with a public holiday.我们放假一日以庆祝国庆。

6 ERECTED   

adj. 直立的，竖立的，笔直的 vt. 使 ... 直立，建立

参考例句：

• A monument to him was erected in St Paul's Cathedral. 在圣保罗大教堂为他修了一座纪念碑。
• A monument was erected to the memory of that great scientist. 树立了一块纪念碑纪念那位伟大的科学家。