国外媒体:日本相扑选手手指太粗 用上iPad

Fat fingered sumo wrestlers given iPads

Japanese sumo wrestlers have been given iPads to communicate because their fingers are too fat to use a standard mobile phone.

The Japan Sumo Association is distributing about 60 iPads among all the 51 training stables and top association officials from this week to help improve communication.

"It seems rather easy to use," association chief Hanaregoma. "Sending emails was very easy."

The 62-year-old former wrestler¹ admitted that while he can read incoming text messages on his mobile phone, he does not know how to write replies and does not usually use a computer.

But "time flies if you play with this", he said of the Apple gadget².

The iPad was chosen because the sumo association believed the device was big enough to cater³ to wrestler's fat fingers, unlike the smaller keys on mobile phones, according to reports.

Sumo officials decided⁴ to go digital and buy iPads as the ancient sport attempts to mend its ways after scandals over wrestlers' ties with gangsters⁵ and illegal gambling⁶, match-fixing and brutal⁷ hazing⁸ of apprentices⁹.

The sport's authorities faced loud public criticism for their clumsy efforts to investigate the scandals, in part due to insufficient¹⁰ sharing of information among sumo leaders.

With a reliance on faxes and phone calls, the sumo association has occasionally failed to distribute urgent messages to its officers and stable masters.

"If we place this (iPad) in all the stables, we should be able to contact them anytime," the association's spokesman Nishonoseki has said.

日本有关组织日前向相扑选手们分发了苹果iPad，以解决他们手指太粗，没法用普通手机进行交流的问题。

日本相扑协会从本周起开始向该国的51个相扑俱乐部和协会高级官员分发60个iPad，以改善他们彼此间的沟通交流状况。

相扑协会主席放驹说：“感觉挺好用的，发电子邮件很方便。”

这位62岁的前相扑选手坦称，尽管他能看收到的手机短信，但他不知道该如何回复，而且他平时也不怎么用电脑。

但在评价苹果公司的iPad时，他说，“一玩起来就忘记了时间”。

据报道，日本相扑协会之所以给选手们发iPad是因为iPad的按键比手机按键大，适合相扑运动员粗壮的手指。

日本相扑界最近传出了相扑选手与犯罪团伙勾结、非法赌博、操纵比赛以及粗暴欺凌学徒等丑闻。为此，相扑协会的官员们决定尝试高科技，给相扑选手们发iPad，作为改变这项古老运动的业内风气的一项举措。

日本相扑协会因为在调查这些丑闻事件时行动不力而遭到公众的强烈批评。其中一部分原因就是相扑协会的高级官员之间信息沟通不畅。

相扑协会一般用传真和电话来沟通，所以有时无法将紧急信息及时传达给协会官员和俱乐部主席。

协会发言人二所关说：“如果我们给每个俱乐部发一个iPad，我们应该就能随时取得联系了。”

1 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。

2 gadget   

n.小巧的机械，精巧的装置，小玩意儿

参考例句：

• This gadget isn't much good.这小机械没什么用处。
• She has invented a nifty little gadget for undoing stubborn nuts and bolts.她发明了一种灵巧的小工具用来松开紧固的螺母和螺栓。

3 cater   

vi.(for/to)满足，迎合；(for)提供饮食及服务

参考例句：

• I expect he will be able to cater for your particular needs.我预计他能满足你的特殊需要。
• Most schools cater for children of different abilities.大多数学校能够满足具有不同天资的儿童的需要。

4 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

5 gangsters   

匪徒，歹徒( gangster的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The gangsters offered him a sum equivalent to a whole year's earnings. 歹徒提出要给他一笔相当于他一年收入的钱。
• One of the gangsters was caught by the police. 歹徒之一被警察逮捕。

6 gambling   

n.赌博；投机

参考例句：

• They have won a lot of money through gambling.他们赌博赢了很多钱。
• The men have been gambling away all night.那些人赌了整整一夜。

7 brutal   

adj.残忍的，野蛮的，不讲理的

参考例句：

• She has to face the brutal reality.她不得不去面对冷酷的现实。
• They're brutal people behind their civilised veneer.他们表面上温文有礼，骨子里却是野蛮残忍。

8 hazing   

n.受辱，被欺侮v.（使）笼罩在薄雾中( haze的现在分词 )；戏弄，欺凌（新生等，有时作为加入美国大学生联谊会的条件）

参考例句：

• With labor, the hazing period ends. 费了好大力气，痛苦的时期终于过了。 来自互联网
• A high-gloss paint surface is one that directly reflects light with minimum hazing or diffusion. 高度光洁的漆表面可以直接反射光源。 来自互联网

9 apprentices   

学徒，徒弟( apprentice的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• They were mere apprentices to piracy. 他们干海盗仅仅是嫩角儿。
• He has two good apprentices working with him. 他身边有两个好徒弟。

10 insufficient   

adj.(for，of)不足的，不够的

参考例句：

• There was insufficient evidence to convict him.没有足够证据给他定罪。
• In their day scientific knowledge was insufficient to settle the matter.在他们的时代，科学知识还不能足以解决这些问题。