VOA慢速英语--词汇典故：下雨天与体育不是很配

Sports and Rain Don’t Mix 词汇典故：下雨天与体育不是很配

Now, the VOA Learning English program Words & Their Stories.

Baseball is often called America’s game. This may or not be true but a baseball game is a great place to learn American English.

So, let’s go to the ballpark! My colleague, Christopher Jones Cruise¹, invited me to a baseball game recently. Let’s hear how it went.

Anna, thanks for coming to the game today! It’s going to be a great game. The teams are from two countries. The Toronto Blue Jays traveled from Canada to Washington, D.C., to play the Washington Nationals.

I’ve never been to Nationals Park before! It’s really … big! But it’s raining. Is that going to affect the game?

Well, the weather experts said the rain in the D.C. area would be intermittent². It’s going to rain for a few minutes and then stop before possibly starting again. It’ll be fine.

Oh, and don’t let me forget to pay you for the tickets.

Don’t worry about the tickets. I only paid $5 a seat!

That’s cheap!

Seating close to the field for some games can be expensive. Do you see those seat all the way down there behind home plate? They can cost $375! So five dollars for a seat is a great deal!

Well, I know you like to save money.

You know, some people from work say I’m a cheapskate.

No! NO. They don’t say that … much.

I’m not a cheapskate. I just love the idea of saving money and enjoying the game in the ‘cheap seats’.

Oh, I don’t mind seats this far away. But, you know, my eyesight is not that good. In fact, it looks like there’s a huge, furry³ animal down there on the field.

There’s nothing wrong with your eyesight. That is a big furry animal on the field. It’s the team mascot⁴. You know, people in costumes that get the crowd excited.

Oh! Well, that mascot is doing a good job. Everyone is excited. Oh, look, they have big screens televising the game. I can watch the game on those.

Those are called “Jumbotrons!”

That’s a cool name. Look at the crowd. We all look funny all wearing these cheap rain covers. You know Christopher, I think the rain is falling harder. And it’s been raining for 20 minutes.

It won’t be a problem. Trust me.

ANNOUNCER: Attention, folks. We have a problem. We would like to announce that the game will be delayed due to inclement⁵ weather.

Oh. The game is delayed.

Yes. I heard that.

It’s delayed because of “inclement” weather. Why not just say, “The game is canceled because of rain.”

I guess they want to sound fancy instead of just saying it’s “stormy.”

Look, many fans have moved inside the stadium. What are those people doing on the field with that big blue plastic thing?

That is a plastic tarp and they are covering the field. It will keep the field from getting too wet. Teams often cancel games when the field is soaked with water. Baseball players can get injured when they play on a field that is wet or muddy.

Yeah, I guess team owners don’t want to lose money if a player gets hurt. They pay some players millions of dollars a year to play a ballgame! Unbelievable.

Hey, the rain … it seems to be slowing. Maybe the game will start soon!

I don’t think so, Christopher. Look, an official is coming out to check the field. Now, it looks like he is signaling to someone. It looks like a weird⁶ dance.

Oh no. I know that weird dance. Don’t do it. Don’t do it!

Do what?

ANNOUNCER: We are sorry to announce that tonight’s game is canceled.

No! The game is rained out! The fields can’t be that damaged from the rain.

ANNOUNCER: The field is really damaged from the rain. But keep your tickets. There will be a make-up game tomorrow. It will be a doubleheader. The first game is at one o’clock in the afternoon. The second game would be played at seven o’clock. Thank you for your understanding.

See, it’s not so bad. You can see two games tomorrow, a double-header.

I can’t come tomorrow. I have to work.

Oh, I’m off. Can I have your ticket? I’ll bring a friend.

Sure. Well, since they called the game, we have to leave the stadium

At least, the officials for the Nationals have a sense of humor.

What do you mean? There’s nothing funny about a rained out baseball game.

Listen. Don’t you hear the song they are playing on those large speakers throughout the park? “Laughter in the Rain” by Neil Sedaka!

Perfect.

"Oooo, I hear laughter in the rain ..."

Words in This Story

fancy – adj. not plain or ordinary

stormy – adj. relating to or affected⁷ by a storm

fan – n. an enthusiastic devotee (as of a sport or a performing art) usually as a spectator⁸

stadium – n. a very large usually roofless building that has a large open area surrounded by many rows of seats and that is used for sports events, concerts, etc.

inclement – adj. having rain and storms

tarp – n. short for tarpaulin⁹

soaked – adj. to put (something) in a liquid for a period of time

muddy – adj. filled or covered with mud

rained out to interrupt or prevent (as a sports event) by rain

signaling – v. something (such as a sound, a movement of part of the body, or an object) that gives information about something or that tells someone to do something

weird – adj. unusual or strange

make up – adj. to do or take in order to correct an omission¹⁰ <make up a history exam>

doubleheader – n. two games (especially baseball games) that are played one after the other on the same day

mascot – n. a person, animal, or object used as a symbol to represent a group (such as a sports team) and to bring good luck

called the game idiomatic¹¹ expression : to cancel a ballgame

sense of humor – n. a personality that gives someone the ability to say funny things and see the funny side of things

1 cruise   

v.巡航，航游，缓慢巡行；n.海上航游

参考例句：

• They went on a cruise to Tenerife.他们乘船去特纳利夫岛。
• She wants to cruise the canals of France in a barge.她想乘驳船游览法国的运河。

2 intermittent   

adj.间歇的，断断续续的

参考例句：

• Did you hear the intermittent sound outside?你听见外面时断时续的声音了吗？
• In the daytime intermittent rains freshened all the earth.白天里，时断时续地下着雨，使整个大地都生气勃勃了。

3 furry   

adj.毛皮的；似毛皮的；毛皮制的

参考例句：

• This furry material will make a warm coat for the winter.这件毛皮料在冬天会是一件保暖的大衣。
• Mugsy is a big furry brown dog,who wiggles when she is happy.马格斯是一只棕色大长毛狗，当她高兴得时候她会摇尾巴。

4 mascot   

n.福神，吉祥的东西

参考例句：

• The football team's mascot is a goat.足球队的吉祥物是山羊。
• We had a panda as our mascot.我们把熊猫作为吉详物。

5 inclement   

adj.严酷的，严厉的，恶劣的

参考例句：

• The inclement weather brought forth a host of diseases.恶劣的天气引起了种种疾病。
• They kept on going,even through the inclement weather.即使天气恶劣，他们还是执意要去。

6 weird   

adj.古怪的，离奇的；怪诞的，神秘而可怕的

参考例句：

• From his weird behaviour,he seems a bit of an oddity.从他不寻常的行为看来，他好像有点怪。
• His weird clothes really gas me.他的怪衣裳简直笑死人。

7 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

8 spectator   

n.观众，目击者，旁观者

参考例句：

• A spectator threw the ball back to the players.一个观众把球掷回给球员。
• He was content to stand by as an impassive spectator.他满足于站在旁边做一个冷漠的旁观者。

9 tarpaulin   

n.涂油防水布，防水衣，防水帽

参考例句：

• The pool furniture was folded,stacked,and covered with a tarpaulin.游泳池的设备都已经折叠起来，堆在那里，还盖上了防水布。
• The pool furniture was folded,stacked,and covered with a tarpaulin.游泳池的设备都已经折叠起来，堆在那里，还盖上了防水布。

10 omission   

n.省略，删节；遗漏或省略的事物，冗长

参考例句：

• The omission of the girls was unfair.把女孩排除在外是不公平的。
• The omission of this chapter from the third edition was a gross oversight.第三版漏印这一章是个大疏忽。

11 idiomatic   

adj.成语的，符合语言习惯的

参考例句：

• In our reading we should always be alert for idiomatic expressions.我们在阅读过程中应经常注意惯用法。
• In his lecture,he bore down on the importance of idiomatic usage in a language.他在演讲中着重强调了语言中习惯用法的重要性。