VOA慢速英语2015 休斯顿牛仔竞技节和牲畜展

AS IT IS 2015-03-07 Trail Rides Kick off Houston Livestock¹ Show and Rodeo 休斯顿牛仔竞技节和牲畜展

The Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo is the largest event of its kind in the world. The yearly² event features horse and bull³ riders from all over the huge state of Texas.

The trail rides are part of a tradition that dates back to 1952.

That tradition remains⁴ strong, even though Houston's urban area has grown much larger.

Every year, the Houston rodeo season begins with a parade downtown.

The riders travel highways and city streets to get there.

Tim Braunadel, one of the riders, came in with a group from a rural⁵ area north of the city.

"It's getting harder every year for us just to find stops, to be able to stop safely and be safely on the side of the road. To have our break stop."

The riders don't sleep on the cold, hard ground the way old-time cowboys did.

James Money is a rancher from Booth⁶, Texas, about 45 kilometers away. He slept in a comfortable camp trailer every night of the ride to Houston.

"I don't know if we are as hard as the old timers; we have to have luxuries⁷ to be able to do it."

The day before the parade, riders make their last camp in Houston's Memorial Park.

Here, they can relax and practice their cowboy skills.

There is also an awards ceremony.

Charoula Perlwitz is a visitor from Germany. She gets to see some of the riders during the ceremony.

"It is very nice to see a little bit of the culture here and get a little bit of the mood here of Texas."

The big winner at the awards ceremony was the Texas Independence Trail Ride from Brazoria, Texas. Joey Bolanos is among the proud winners.

"It is like the best of the best - organization, horsemanship and safety and all that."

Ed Kowis, another of the ranchers, says tradition is the most important part of the trail ride.

"It's part of my heritage⁸. My daddy was a rancher/farmer; his daddy was a rancher/farmer, we all were at one time in this Houston area. So, we got to keep this going."

Most trail riders are not ranchers.  However, they have to take care of their animals throughout the year.

Ten-year-old K'ven says he does that work at home, although his little sisters disagree.

"He don't ride his horses at home. He don't do hardly nothing at home with his horses."

"I do! I do!"

The Barn⁹ Bunch riders even bring along their own specially¹⁰ designed fire barrel¹¹ for the cold nights.

Dafney Johnson is the team leader. She says the weeklong ride can be tiring.

"By Wednesday, everybody is saying, Oh, my gosh, I cannot wait until this is over. By the time we get to the park we are saying: Oh, no, the trail is almost over and then on Sunday, we are planning for next year."

Dafney Johnson says she enjoys spending time every year with others who enjoy a taste of cowboy life.

Words in This Story

tradition – n. a way of thinking, behaving, or doing something that has been used by the people in a particular group, family, society, etc., for a long time

barrel – n. a round usually wooden container with curved sides and flat ends

1 livestock   

n.家畜，牲畜

参考例句：

• Both men and livestock are flourishing.人畜两旺。
• The heavy rains and flooding killed scores of livestock.暴雨和大水淹死了许多牲口。

2 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。

3 bull   

n.公牛，买进证券投机图利者，看涨的人

参考例句：

• It's only a hair off a bull's back to them.这对他们来说，不过九牛一毛。
• Many dogs closed around the bull.很多狗渐渐地把那只牛围了起来。

4 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

5 rural   

adj.乡下的，田园的，乡村风味的

参考例句：

• He lived a rural life.他过着田园生活。
• We left the city for a rural home.我们离开城市，去农村安家。

6 booth   

n.小房间，公用电话亭，岗亭；货摊

参考例句：

• Where can I find a telephone booth?我在哪儿可以找到电话亭？
• Let's walk around to each booth.我们到每个摊子转一转吧！

7 luxuries   

n.奢侈( luxury的名词复数 )；豪华；奢侈品；不常有的乐趣（或享受、优势）

参考例句：

• Such luxuries are unavailable to ordinary people. 此等奢侈品普通百姓是难以获得的。
• His salary is low and he gets few luxuries. 他薪水微薄，很少买奢侈品。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

8 heritage   

n.传统，遗产，继承物

参考例句：

• The ancient buildings are part of the national heritage.这些古建筑是民族遗产的一部分。
• We Chinese have a great cultural heritage.我们中国人有伟大的文化遗产。

9 barn   

n.谷仓，饲料仓，牲口棚

参考例句：

• That big building is a barn for keeping the grain.那幢大房子是存放粮食的谷仓。
• The cows were driven into the barn.牛被赶进了牲口棚。

10 specially   

adv.特定地；特殊地；明确地

参考例句：

• They are specially packaged so that they stack easily.它们经过特别包装以便于堆放。
• The machine was designed specially for demolishing old buildings.这种机器是专为拆毁旧楼房而设计的。

11 barrel   

n.圆桶；一桶的量；枪管；vt.把...装桶

参考例句：

• I drew off three pints of beer from the barrel.我从酒桶里抽出三品脱啤酒。
• The man rolled the barrel into the yard.那个人把圆桶滚进院子。