Take Away English-The Boat Race 划船赛

Oxbridge boat race

Oxford¹ and Cambridge are the oldest and most famous universities in Britain, and there has always been a great rivalry² between the two institutions. But the most public competition between the two is the annual Boat Race. The 2006 Boat Race will take place on 2nd April, and will be the 152nd race of its kind.

Both universities are located near rivers, and rowing is a popular and prestigious³ sport. The very first race took place in 1829, when a Cambridge student challenged a school-friend studying at Oxford. Ever since, the defeated team from the previous year challenges the opposition⁴ to a rematch. The only times when no Boat Races took place were during the Firs and Second World Wars.

The race is between two crews of eight oarsmen, each led by a cox, who steers⁵, and gives commands to the rowers. Since 1836, the rowing eights have worn different shades of blue – Oxford wear dark blue and Cambridge light blue. As a result, the rowers are known as the Blues⁶.

The Boat Race was initially⁷ held on the River Thames at Westminster in central London, but due to overcrowding, it was moved to further upstream near Putney, in South West London, and the course is just under 5 miles long. The average race time is 20 minutes, but the record is just over 16 minutes.

Over the years that the two universities have gone head-to-head on the river, Oxford have won 70 times, and Cambridge have had 77 wins. Only once there was a dead heat. There have been three occasions when one of the boats sank and forfeited⁸ the race.

The race is a very popular spectator⁹ event, with around 250,000 people going to the Thames to watch, and several million more watching on television.

The training for the race is very tough, and rowers start practising in September in order to try to win a place on the Blue Boats. Those who don’t’ quite make the grade become the reserve team, who race before the main teams on race day. Who will win this year?

GLOSSARY 词汇表
rivalry 竞争对手 of its kind 此类 prestigious/享誉高的 opposition 对手 crews 划艇队员 initially 开始；最初 upstream 逆流 head-to-head 并驾齐驱 forfeited 弃权;放弃 make the grade 拔尖	institutions （牛津和剑桥）大学；机构 rowing 划船 challenged 挑战 rematch 再次比赛 oarsmen 划桨人 overcrowding 过分拥挤的 record 纪录 a dead heat 同时抵达终点 spectator 观赏者 reserve team 预备队

 

1 Oxford   

n.牛津（英国城市）

参考例句：

• At present he has become a Professor of Chemistry at Oxford.他现在已是牛津大学的化学教授了。
• This is where the road to Oxford joins the road to London.这是去牛津的路与去伦敦的路的汇合处。

2 rivalry   

n.竞争，竞赛，对抗

参考例句：

• The quarrel originated in rivalry between the two families.这次争吵是两家不和引起的。
• He had a lot of rivalry with his brothers and sisters.他和兄弟姐妹间经常较劲。

3 prestigious   

adj.有威望的，有声望的，受尊敬的

参考例句：

• The young man graduated from a prestigious university.这个年轻人毕业于一所名牌大学。
• You may even join a prestigious magazine as a contributing editor.甚至可能会加入一个知名杂志做编辑。

4 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

5 steers   

n.阉公牛，肉用公牛( steer的名词复数 )v.驾驶( steer的第三人称单数 )；操纵；控制；引导

参考例句：

• This car steers easily. 这部车子易于驾驶。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Good fodder fleshed the steers up. 优质饲料使菜牛长肉。 来自辞典例句

6 blues   

n.抑郁，沮丧；布鲁斯音乐

参考例句：

• She was in the back of a smoky bar singing the blues.她在烟雾弥漫的酒吧深处唱着布鲁斯歌曲。
• He was in the blues on account of his failure in business.他因事业失败而意志消沉。

7 initially   

adv.最初，开始

参考例句：

• The ban was initially opposed by the US.这一禁令首先遭到美国的反对。
• Feathers initially developed from insect scales.羽毛最初由昆虫的翅瓣演化而来。

8 forfeited   

（因违反协议、犯规、受罚等）丧失，失去( forfeit的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Because he broke the rules, he forfeited his winnings. 他犯规，所以丧失了奖金。
• He has forfeited the right to be the leader of this nation. 他丧失了作为这个国家领导的权利。

9 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。