VOA慢速英语2021--吉尼斯世界纪录日

November 17, 2021 marks the eighteenth yearly¹ Guinness World Records Day.

People from around the world are trying to set all kinds of records on this day. They include records for most football crossovers while sitting down to most consecutive² jumps over cars on a pogo stick.

British gymnast Ashley Watson said, "If you want to be a Guinness World Records title holder³ just go for it." Watson broke his own record on gymnastics equipment for "farthest backflip between horizontal⁴ bars" with a distance of six meters. He set the previous record of 5.87 meters back in 2018.

Venezuelan soccer player Laura Biondo broke not one but two records for the day. She recorded "most sit-down football crossovers in 30 seconds (female⁵)" with 62 and "most double around the world ball control tricks in one minute (female)" with 24. The two new records added to Biondo's 11 other Guinness records. Soccer is the American word for the sport of football.

Biondo said, "If you set yourself a goal, you can definitely⁶ achieve it if you put hard work into it." She is planning to set a few more records to reach a total of at least 15.

The idea for Guinness World Records came in the early 1950s when some hunters in Wexford, Ireland argued about the fastest game bird. They could not find the answer in any book. So Hugh Beaver⁷ came up with an idea for a book to settle the arguments and to publicize his beer company, Guinness. The book had sold 143 million copies by 2019. There are now television programs, game shows and museums to show the records.

In case you are wondering, Guinness says the fastest game bird is the golden plover⁸.

A few more records were also set Wednesday on World Records Day.

In Nanchong, China, Zhang Shuang, who weighs 70 kilograms, pulled a 1225-kilogram vehicle while walking on his hands. He was able to pass the 50-meter mark in 1 minute 13.27 seconds. That was good enough for the "fastest time to pull a car 50 meters walking on hands."

Zhang said he is walking on his hands every day and often shows them off to his students.

In southeastern China, 11-year-old Wang Guanwutong failed in his first attempt to set the record for "most consecutive breakdance airflares (male)." An airflare is a dance movement in which the dancer spins around the dance floor on one hand.

Wang finally set a new record for males of 94 airflares. However, he has a long way to go to match the female record of 121 airflares set by seven-year-old Qi Yufan, also of China.

In Japan, Takahiro Ikeda set not one but three records on his BMX bicycle. Those records are: "most BMX Stick B in 30 seconds," 3; "most BMX time machines in 30 seconds," 45; and "BMX - most turbine⁹ megaspins in one minute:" 45.

If you don't know what they are, don't try them.

In Doha, Qatar, Ayoub Touabe of Morocco used one of his legs instead of his hands to set the record for "most single leg backward somersaults in 30 seconds." He completed 12 while standing¹⁰ on one leg.

In Britain, an American set his own record for "most consecutive cars jumped over on a pogo stick."

Tyler Phillips used a pogo stick, a kind of toy used for jumping up and down, to jump over five London Black taxicabs to beat the old record of four. Each taxicab car is nearly 2 meters tall and 1.6 meter wide.

He said, "Training for this record was way harder than actually doing it."

Words in This Story

consecutive –adj. following one after another in a series

gymnast –n. a person who performs physical exercises on a mat or on special equipment as part of an sports competition; a person who takes part in the sport of gymnastics

achieve –v. to get or reach a goal by working hard

spin –v. to turn or cause something to turn around in circles repeatedly¹¹

somersault –n. a forward or backward movement of your body on the ground or in the air that is made by bringing your feet over your head

1 yearly   

adj.每年的，一年一度的；adv.一年一次地

参考例句：

• The flower show is a yearly event in our town.我们镇上的花展一年举行一次。
• The yearly rental of her house is 2400 yuan.她这房子年租金是2400元。

2 consecutive   

adj.连续的，联贯的，始终一贯的

参考例句：

• It has rained for four consecutive days.已连续下了四天雨。
• The policy of our Party is consecutive.我党的政策始终如一。

3 holder   

n.持有者，占有者；(台，架等)支持物

参考例句：

• The holder of the office of chairman is reponsible for arranging meetings.担任主席职位的人负责安排会议。
• That runner is the holder of the world record for the hundred-yard dash.那位运动员是一百码赛跑世界纪录的保持者。

4 horizontal   

adj.与地平线平行的，平的，水平的

参考例句：

• The lake has a horizontal surface.湖面呈水平状。
• On a map there are horizontal lines and vertical lines.在地图上有水平的线和垂直的线。

5 female   

adj.雌的，女(性)的；n.雌性的动物，女子

参考例句：

• We only employ female workers.我们只雇用女工。
• The animal in the picture was a female elephant.照片上的动物是头母象。

6 definitely   

adv.一定地，肯定地；明确地，确切地

参考例句：

• The team will definitely lose if he doesn't play.如果他不参加比赛，这个队肯定会输。
• I shall definitely be home before six o'clock.6点以前，我一定回家。

7 beaver   

n.海狸，河狸

参考例句：

• The hat is made of beaver.这顶帽子是海狸毛皮制的。
• A beaver is an animals with big front teeth.海狸是一种长着大门牙的动物。

8 plover   

n.珩，珩科鸟，千鸟

参考例句：

• He wondered if the plover was the fastest bird.他想知道千鸟是不是最快的鸟。
• American plover of inland waters and fields having a distinctive cry.美洲内陆水域和牧场的鸻，叫声特别。

9 turbine   

n.涡轮机，叶轮机，透平机

参考例句：

• A disadvantage of the turbine is that it is not reversible.涡轮机的一个缺点就是它不可以反转。
• Before the air enters the turbine，fuel is sprayed into it.在空气进入涡轮之前，燃料就喷进了。

10 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

11 repeatedly   

adv.重复地，再三地

参考例句：

• The loudspeakers blared the speech repeatedly.扬声器里反复大声地播送那篇演讲。
• He repeatedly beat his foot upon the floor.他反复用脚敲着地板。