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(单词翻译:双击或拖选)
In China, a large number of people take the sport of pigeon racing1 very seriously. Many competitors spend big money to get their hands on top-performing birds.
中国有很多人都非常重视赛鸽运动。许多参赛者都花大价钱把表现优秀的信鸽弄到手。
One such competitor is 57-year-old Yu Yuguang. He says he gets so excited waiting for his pigeons to arrive at the end of a race that his heart starts beating fast.
57岁的余育广就是这样一位参赛者。他说，他在等待自己的信鸽抵达比赛终点时会非常兴奋，心脏会开始跳得厉害。
"Those are the most intense and enjoyable moments of a pigeon race," Yu told Reuters news agency. He said the sport is like playing the lottery2. And so far, he has been lucky.
余育广对路透社表示：“那是赛鸽比赛中最激烈，最有趣的时刻。”他说赛鸽运动就像买彩票。到目前为止他一直都很幸运。
Recently, his 7-month-old pigeon named "Little Ancestor" placed first in a Chinese Racing Pigeon Association race. The bird beat more than 4,800 other competitors. Little Ancestor completed a trip of about 1,000 kilometers in a record time of 16 hours, 24 minutes and 54 seconds. The race started in Langfang, near the Chinese capital Beijing, and ended in Shanghai.
最近，他的一羽七个月大的鸽子“小祖先”在中国信鸽协会的比赛中排名第一。这只信鸽击败4800多名竞争对手。它以16小时24分54秒的创纪录时间完成了大约1000公里的赛程。这次比赛是从中国首都北京附近的廊坊开始，飞到上海结束。
The win earned Yu $760 in prize money. That amount, however, is far less than the $30,600 he spends on his 500 pigeons each year.
这场胜利为余赢得了760美元的奖金。然而，这笔奖金要远远少于他每年在500羽信鸽上花费的30600美元。
Pigeon racing has a long history in China. It began as a sport enjoyed mainly by very rich people. But the country's economic development over the years has permitted the sport to spread beyond the wealthy. Membership3 in the Chinese Pigeon Association has jumped from tens of thousands in the 1980s to about 400,000 today, says the group's vice4 president, Huang Jian.
赛鸽运动在中国有着悠久的历史。它最开始是一项非常有钱的人喜欢的运动。但是中国多年来的经济发展已经使得这项运动传播到富人以外人群。中国信鸽协会副主席黄剑表示，该协会会员人数已经从上世纪80年代的数万人增加到现在的大约40万人。
Those numbers are impressive. Belgium, the traditional heartland of the sport, has about 20,000 pigeon racers.
这些数字令人印象深刻。比利时作为这项运动的传统心脏地带，大约有2万名赛鸽选手。
While China's numbers remain high, most of the big money being put into the sport comes from wealthy individuals. These leaders in the sport are willing to pay huge amounts to get the most sought-after pigeon bloodlines.
尽管中国的人数仍然很高，但是这项运动中投入的大部分巨资都来自于有钱人。该运动的领导者愿意为获得最抢手的信鸽血统付出巨大的代价。
Last month, a Chinese collector made news by paying $1.9 million for a racing pigeon at a public sale in Belgium. The sale was the latest in a series of high offers made by Chinese pigeon owners. Such moves have driven prices up.
上个月一位中国收藏家在比利时的一场公开拍卖中制造了大新闻，他以190万美元的价格拍得了一羽信鸽。这是中国鸽友创下的一系列高价竞标中的最新一笔。这种举动推动了价格上涨。
Some Chinese breeders are also willing to bid heavily on their own birds at public sales to increase their market value. One Hangzhou-based breeder, who gave his name as Ying, traveled to Beijing last month for an auction5. There, he bought back six of his own pigeons, all of which had placed high in races.
一些中国育种者也愿意在公开拍卖中对自己的信鸽进行高价竞标，以增加其市场价值。杭州一位自称为英的育种者上个月到北京参加了一场拍卖。他在这场拍卖中回购了自己的6羽鸽子，这些鸽子在比赛中排名都很高。
Ying says he bought the birds at prices ranging from $2,300 to $7,600. He says he did not think twice about spending the money. "I'm so in love with pigeons. I love them so much. In my heart, pigeons come first and my wife and children second," he said.
英表示，他以2300美元到7600美元不等的价格回购了这些鸽子。他说，他对花这笔钱毫无犹豫。他说：“我非常爱鸽子。 我很爱它们。 在我心中，鸽子排在第一位，妻小排在第二位。”
收听单词发音 |
1
racing
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| n.竞赛，赛马；adj.竞赛用的，赛马用的 | |
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2
lottery
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| n.抽彩；碰运气的事，难于算计的事 | |
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3
membership
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| n.成员资格，会员全体，从属关系 | |
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4
vice
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| n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的 | |
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5
auction
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| n.拍卖；拍卖会；vt.拍卖 | |
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