美国国家公共电台 NPR Texas Towns

Texas Towns

play pause stop mute unmute max volume 00:0004:51repeat repeat off Update Required To play the media you will need to either update your browser¹ to a recent version or update your Flash plugin. OPHIRA EISENBERG, HOST: 

Let's go to your next game. Marcie, what town did you grow up in?

MARCIE VERASTIQUI: Houston.

EISENBERG: OK, and what is the best thing about Houston?

VERASTIQUI: The humidity.

(LAUGHTER)

EISENBERG: Etienne, what town did you grow up in?

ETIENNE COULONGE: I was born in Colchester, Conn.

JONATHAN COULTON: Wait a minute. Do you know that I was born in Colchester, Conn.? I mean, I lived in Colchester. I wasn't born there, but I lived in Colchester, Conn...

COULONGE: Yeah

COULTON: ...For my entire childhood.

COULONGE: Yeah.

COULTON: Probably saw you.

(LAUGHTER)

COULONGE: I don't know. I was a little baby (laughter).

EISENBERG: In those two early years.

COULTON: Did you get ice cream at the Food Bag?

COULONGE: I do not recall that.

COULTON: Did you get hamburgers at Harry's?

(LAUGHTER)

COULONGE: I don't know.

COULTON: I'm trying to connect with you, man.

COULONGE: OK. We'll talk - we'll figure this out later.

COULTON: We'll talk later.

EISENBERG: Your next challenge is a guessing game called Texas Towns. Texas is the second-largest state in the union, but we say it's number one when it comes to unusual town names. So I'm going to give you three Texas towns, two are real, found in the Texas Municipal Guide, and one is made up. You just have to guess which one is fake. And if you get it wrong, your opponent can steal.

We're going to alternate back and forth² so no need to buzz in. Marcie, you won the last game so if you win this, you're going straight to the final round. Etienne, you have to win this or you're going to be sent to San Antonio.

(LAUGHTER)

COULONGE: That's tough.

EISENBERG: Here we go. Marcie, which one of these towns is not real, Telegraph, Telephone or Television?

VERASTIQUI: Television.

EISENBERG: That is correct, yeah.

(APPLAUSE)

EISENBERG: Telephone was named after the fact that it had a telephone. Etienne, China, Egypt, Germany, which one is not real?

COULONGE: China.

EISENBERG: China is real, yeah. Marcie, can you steal?

VERASTIQUI: Egypt.

EISENBERG: Egypt is also real, yeah. Germany, clearly false - what's wrong with you people?

(CHEERING)

EISENBERG: Marcie, Better, Best, Very Best (laughter).

VERASTIQUI: Very Best.

EISENBERG: Very Best is very real, very real.

COULTON: It's not so great.

EISENBERG: It's just OK, right? I know. Etienne, can you steal?

COULONGE: Better.

EISENBERG: That is correct. Better is not real.

(APPLAUSE)

EISENBERG: Better got better, became best. Etienne, Big Foot, Uncertain, Conspiracy³.

COULONGE: Big Foot.

EISENBERG: Oh, Big Foot is real, yeah.

(LAUGHTER)

EISENBERG: And the town.

(LAUGHTER)

EISENBERG: It was actually named after town resident William A. A. Big Foot Wallace. He had big feet, seriously.

(LAUGHTER)

COULTON: Why do they call you Big Foot? Oh, I see.

EISENBERG: (Laughter) Marcie, can you steal?

VERASTIQUI: Conspiracy.

EISENBERG: That is correct. It is not a city, yeah.

(APPLAUSE)

EISENBERG: I mean, or is it? We don't know. But for the purposes of this game - Marcie, Early, Noonday, Midnight.

VERASTIQUI: Early.

EISENBERG: (Laughter) Early's a real city. Early's motto is a wonderful place to spend the rest of your life.

(LAUGHTER)

COULTON: Vaguely⁴ threatening.

EISENBERG: Yeah, exactly. It's, like, stolen from a retirement⁵ home. Etienne, can you steal?

COULONGE: Noonday.

EISENBERG: Noonday's super weird⁶ but it is real. That is real.

(LAUGHTER)

EISENBERG: Midnight, not real. This is your final clue. Etienne, Enchanted⁷ Oaks, Fairy Land, Tiki Island.

(LAUGHTER)

COULONGE: Enchanted Oaks.

EISENBERG: Enchanted Oaks is real, yeah. All right, Marcie, can you steal? Fairy Land, Tiki Island.

VERASTIQUI: Fairy Land.

EISENBERG: Hard to believe that Tiki Island is a resort living community making Fairy Land actually not a real place. That is correct.

(APPLAUSE)

EISENBERG: All right, puzzle guru Art Chung, how did our contestants⁸ do?

ART CHUNG: Congratulations, Marcie, you've won two games and you're moving on to the Final Round at the end of the show.

(APPLAUSE)

EISENBERG: Coming up, we'll find out who will face off against Marcie in our Final Round at the end of the show and DJOKO takes on Jacko in a musical parody⁹ of "Billie Jean." I'm Ophira Eisenberg, and you're listening to ASK ME ANOTHER from NPR.

(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)

1 browser   

n.浏览者

参考例句：

• View edits in a web browser.在浏览器中看编辑的效果。
• I think my browser has a list of shareware links.我想在浏览器中会有一系列的共享软件链接。

2 forth   

adv.向前；向外，往外

参考例句：

• The wind moved the trees gently back and forth.风吹得树轻轻地来回摇晃。
• He gave forth a series of works in rapid succession.他很快连续发表了一系列的作品。

3 conspiracy   

n.阴谋，密谋，共谋

参考例句：

• The men were found guilty of conspiracy to murder.这些人被裁决犯有阴谋杀人罪。
• He claimed that it was all a conspiracy against him.他声称这一切都是一场针对他的阴谋。

4 vaguely   

adv.含糊地，暖昧地

参考例句：

• He had talked vaguely of going to work abroad.他含糊其词地说了到国外工作的事。
• He looked vaguely before him with unseeing eyes.他迷迷糊糊的望着前面，对一切都视而不见。

5 retirement   

n.退休，退职

参考例句：

• She wanted to enjoy her retirement without being beset by financial worries.她想享受退休生活而不必为金钱担忧。
• I have to put everything away for my retirement.我必须把一切都积蓄起来以便退休后用。

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 enchanted   

adj. 被施魔法的，陶醉的，入迷的 动词enchant的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• She was enchanted by the flowers you sent her. 她非常喜欢你送给她的花。
• He was enchanted by the idea. 他为这个主意而欣喜若狂。

8 contestants   

n.竞争者，参赛者( contestant的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The competition attracted over 500 contestants representing 8 different countries. 这次比赛吸引了代表8个不同国家的500多名参赛者。
• Two candidates are emerging as contestants for the presidency. 两位候选人最终成为总统职位竞争者。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 parody   

n.打油诗文，诙谐的改编诗文，拙劣的模仿；v.拙劣模仿，作模仿诗文

参考例句：

• The parody was just a form of teasing.那个拙劣的模仿只是一种揶揄。
• North Korea looks like a grotesque parody of Mao's centrally controlled China,precisely the sort of system that Beijing has left behind.朝鲜看上去像是毛时代中央集权的中国的怪诞模仿，其体制恰恰是北京方面已经抛弃的。