VOA常速英语2019--华盛顿杜勒斯机场慈善飞机拉力赛吸引数千人

Hundreds of people gathered on the tarmac of Washington Dulles International Airport in Virginia to test their strength against a passenger plane. The unlikely tug¹ of war is an annual fundraising event for the Virginia Special Olympics. The goal is to see how fast each team can pull a Boeing 757 about 7 meters. The fastest team wins.“We’ve built the road for plane pulls since 1992. We started 27th year. We were the very first plane pull in the world.” The Virginia Special Olympics supports differently abled athletes from around the state and helps them train. Everyone helped as they could, even members of the Metropolitan² Washington Airports Authority Police Department, who couldn’t leave work to compete when making sure to do their part.

数百人聚集在维吉尼亚州华盛顿杜勒斯国际机场的停机坪上，在一架客机上测试他们的力量。这场难以置信的拔河比赛是维吉尼亚特奥会的年度筹款活动。他们的目标是看每个团队以怎样的速度拉动大约7米的波音757飞机。跑得最快的队获胜。“我们从1992年开始为飞机拉力赛修建道路。我们进行了27届。我们是世界上第一个飞机拉力赛。”弗吉尼亚特奥会支持全州不同能力的运动员，并帮助他们训练。每个人都尽其所能地提供帮助，甚至还有首都华盛顿机场管理局警察局的成员，他们不能离开工作去竞争，但也尽自己的一份力。

“They’ll be probably 12 to 15,000 people on the tarmac today participating or enjoying the festivals, 415 thousand dollars is the announced amount today, but that number will probably grow a little bit as we go through the day because we have a lot of on-site activities that will generate some revenue. All of that money goes to support our 25,000 Special Olympics athletes all over the state of Virginia.”More than 70 teams took part in the competition, people of all backgrounds and ages from bankers and teachers to carpenters and cadets.

“今天可能有12000到15000人在停机坪上参加或享受节日，今天宣布的金额是41.5万美元，但随着时间的推移，这个数字可能会增加一些，因为我们有很多现场活动，可以产生一些收入。” 所有这些钱都用来支持我们维吉尼亚州的25000名特奥会运动员。”共有70多支队伍参加了比赛，参赛选手来自不同的背景和年龄，从银行家、教师到木匠和学生。

“This is a really great experience, my first time, it feels rewarding to be helping³ for a cause, doing this, so I, and, also being here with my team, so I am, I’m having a blast.”“It’s amazing, I never done anything like this, it was so cool, usually fan, teamwork, camaraderie⁴, you had to work together to get this done.”Together with other teams, a team made up mostly with Paralympians took part in the competition, helping others poor. Danny Morales is an experienced sportsman, so this task was nothing out of the ordinary for him.“So, this is amazing, this is really, really cool, give me a pull to play one ten seconds, one eight seconds, so I’m feeling good, feeling invincible⁵, you know, invincible.” In 2018, the event helped to raise over two million dollars. So this year, hopes are high.

“这是一次非常棒的经历，这是我第一次为一项事业提供帮助，我觉得很有成就感，我和我的团队在这里，我很开心。”“太神奇了，我从来没有做过这样的事，这太酷了，通常是粉丝、团队合作，友爱互助，必须一起努力才能完成这件事。”与其他队伍一起，一个主要由残奥会运动员组成的队伍参加了比赛，帮助其他穷人。丹尼·莫拉莱斯是一名经验丰富的运动员，所以这项任务对他来说很平常。“所以，这是惊人的，这真的、真的很酷，让我能拉一个10秒和一个8秒，所以我感觉很好，这感觉感觉无敌了，你懂得，无敌。”2018年，该活动帮助筹集了200多万美元。因此，今年的期望很高。

1 tug   

v.用力拖(或拉)；苦干；n.拖；苦干；拖船

参考例句：

• We need to tug the car round to the front.我们需要把那辆车拉到前面。
• The tug is towing three barges.那只拖船正拖着三只驳船。

2 metropolitan   

adj.大城市的，大都会的

参考例句：

• Metropolitan buildings become taller than ever.大城市的建筑变得比以前更高。
• Metropolitan residents are used to fast rhythm.大都市的居民习惯于快节奏。

3 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

4 camaraderie   

n.同志之爱，友情

参考例句：

• The camaraderie among fellow employees made the tedious work just bearable.同事之间的情谊使枯燥乏味的工作变得还能忍受。
• Some bosses are formal and have occasional interactions,while others prefer continual camaraderie.有些老板很刻板，偶尔才和下属互动一下；有些则喜欢和下属打成一片。

5 invincible   

adj.不可征服的，难以制服的

参考例句：

• This football team was once reputed to be invincible.这支足球队曾被誉为无敌的劲旅。
• The workers are invincible as long as they hold together.只要工人团结一致，他们就是不可战胜的。