【英语趣味课堂】去蒙古旅游-Travelling in Mongolia

Todd: So Heidi, I was talking with my friend and he actually lives in Mongolia now and he says it’s a great place. He recommended that I go there. So if I go to Mongolia, what season is the best season to go?

Heidi: Fall.

 

Todd: In the fall?

 

Heidi: Yes, because in the fall we have a celebration called Naadam and that’s the best time to go. And you get to see horse racing¹ and archery and wrestling and so many tourist come to Mongolia at that time.

 

Todd: Okay, now in your city, what is one food I should definitely try?

 

Heidi: Well I would say khuushuur.

 

Todd: Wow. khuushuur?

 

Heidi: Yes. Everyone loves it. And for me, I love it too. It looks like dumpling but fried and it’s more bigger and inside is meat.

 

Todd: So it’s like a dumpling and inside it’s meat.

 

Heidi: Yes.

 

Todd: So outside, the dumpling part, it is like bread or is it like...

 

Heidi: It’s a flour, yeah.

 

Todd: Like a flour-based...

 

Heidi: Yes

 

Todd: Okay, now Mongolia is quite famous for meat, correct? So, what is probably the most popular meat?

 

Heidi: Beef.

 

Todd: Beef?

 

Heidi: Yes.

 

Todd: So not chicken, not fish...?

 

Heidi: We don’t really eat chicken and we don’t eat fish. Well, we have a river fish. It’s like really delicious but then we don’t have sea so seafood² is not popular at all.

 

Todd: So people mainly eat beef.

 

Heidi: Yes.

 

Todd: So when I’m there in your country, what place should I go to. Like, what should I see?

 

Heidi: Probably, [it’s] better to go to the countryside because if you go to Ulan Bator it’s just the same as other cities -- other cities around the world. But the countryside is a whole different world. And the countryside is where you can see the Mongolian tent and horses, like, Nomadic³ places like where people live in the outside. That’s the best place for foreigners to go.

 

Todd: Is there anything I should buy? Like, what would be a good souvenir or gift from your country?

 

Heidi: Well, in the department stores they have sections for Mongolian traditional gifts and stuff so probably you can get the tent -- a small tent.

 

Todd: A little tent?

 

Heidi: Yeah, and then if you open the door you can actually see all the furniture is inside it. So it’s kind of interesting.

 

Todd: Wow, like a little doll house?

 

Heidi: Yes.

 

Todd: Okay, wow, it sounds good. I hope to go.

重点词汇：

 

Learn Vocabulary from the Lesson

archery

 

 

Archery is a sport where the players shoot at targets with a bow and arrow. In Mongolia, the sport of archery was traditionally practiced to develop military skills. They continue the tradition in the Mongolian Olympics. Notice the following:

 

The archers⁴ were incredibly accurate. They could shoot an apple from 100 meters.

Archery made early human beings much better at hunting animals for food.

wrestling

 

 

A sport between two people where the fighters try to control their opponent and hold them on the ground. It is one of the most popular events in the Mongolian Olympics. In Mongolian wrestling there are no weight classes so a very large wrestler⁵ may compete against a much smaller opponent. Notice the following:

 

Wrestling is a very difficult sport.

I wouldn’t want to make a wrestler angry.

horse racing

 

 

Horse racing is a sport where the rider of each horse tries to be the fastest. In many parts of the world, people place bets on the winner and try to win money. In the Mongolian Olympics, mostly children participate in the long 20-30 kilometer races. Notice the following:

 

I went to the horse races when I was in Las Vegas and I won 400 dollars.

In my opinion, watching horse racing is more interesting than watching a marathon.

dumpling

 

 

So it’s like a dumpling and inside it’s meat.

 

A ball of dough⁶ made of flour and then deep fried or steamed. In Mongolia, dumplings filled with meat are called Khuushuur. Notice the following:

 

During the holidays, my grandmother used to make dumplings.

The steamed dumplings were absolutely delicious.

tent

 

The countryside is where you can see the Mongolian tent.

A tent is a shelter supported by poles that can easily be taken down and moved to a new place. Modern tents for camping are made of light nylon materials. Mongolian tents are called yurts. Traditional yurts have a wooden frame and are covered with lambs’ wool. Notice the following:

 

We went camping in the mountains. At night, we slept in a tent.

Nomads⁷ are people who move from place to place and sleep in tents.

1 racing   

n.竞赛，赛马；adj.竞赛用的，赛马用的

参考例句：

• I was watching the racing on television last night.昨晚我在电视上看赛马。
• The two racing drivers fenced for a chance to gain the lead.两个赛车手伺机竞相领先。

2 seafood   

n.海产食品，海味，海鲜

参考例句：

• There's an excellent seafood restaurant near here.离这儿不远有家非常不错的海鲜馆。
• Shrimps are a popular type of seafood.小虾是比较普遍的一种海味。

3 nomadic   

adj.流浪的；游牧的

参考例句：

• This tribe still live a nomadic life.这个民族仍然过着游牧生活。
• The plowing culture and the nomadic culture are two traditional principal cultures in China.农耕文化与游牧文化是我国传统的两大主体文化。

4 archers   

n.弓箭手，射箭运动员( archer的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The next evening old Mr. Sillerton Jackson came to dine with the Archers. 第二天晚上，西勒顿？杰克逊老先生来和阿切尔家人一起吃饭。 来自辞典例句
• Week of Archer: Double growth for Archers and Marksmen. 射手周：弓箭手与弩手（人类）产量加倍。 来自互联网

5 wrestler   

n.摔角选手，扭

参考例句：

• The wrestler tripped up his opponent.那个摔跤运动员把对手绊倒在地。
• The stronger wrestler won the first throw.较壮的那个摔跤手第一跤就赢了。

6 dough   

n.生面团；钱，现款

参考例句：

• She formed the dough into squares.她把生面团捏成四方块。
• The baker is kneading dough.那位面包师在揉面。

7 nomads   

n.游牧部落的一员( nomad的名词复数 )；流浪者；游牧生活；流浪生活

参考例句：

• For ten years she dwelled among the nomads of North America. 她在北美游牧民中生活了十年。
• Nomads have inhabited this region for thousands of years. 游牧民族在这地区居住已有数千年了。 来自《简明英汉词典》