VOA标准英语2010年-Want Some Regression Therapy That's Go

Hop¹ on the nearest whirling carousel²

Ted³ Landphair | Washington, DC 10 May 2010
 Wooden horses this genuine Hershell carousel are lovingly maintained. One such merry-go-round was found, abandoned and choked with weeds in a Colorado field, and beautifully restored.

It's the time of year, with summer approaching, when Americans are connecting with a memory.  Riding one, actually.

Older folks call it a merry-go-round. Younger ones, a carousel. Colorfully decorated, with beautifully painted wooden horses - plus a bench for old folks and kids too scared to get up on horseback - carousels⁴ are pure fun.  Add tinkly⁵ music from its Wurlitzer Band Organ, and the breeze as one whirls around for three or five minutes, and you're back in the innocent days when life moved more slowly.

Authentic⁶ carousel organs were augmented⁷ by drums, crashing cymbals⁸, clattering⁹ woodblocks, and even a little metallic¹⁰ glockenspiel — a percussion¹¹ instrument similar to a xylophone — all self-contained in the carousel's central housing.

On Burlington, North Carolina's prized menagerie carousel, other animals - like these giant hares - share the limelight.

The word carousel derives¹² from the ancient Italian and Spanish words garosella or carosella, meaning little war. It comes from a serious game played by Arabian horsemen. As far back as Byzantine times — around 450 A.D. — riders were swinging around a center pole in baskets. Mechanical merry-go-rounds appeared in England in the 1700s and in America as early as 1825.

The carousel that we know today was first manufactured by a Scottish immigrant, Allan Hershell, who built steam-powered galleries, as he called them, and shipped them from his factory in New York State to carnivals¹³ and beach resorts as far away as the Pacific island of Tahiti.

This indoor carousel is reputed to be the largest in the world. Its 296 wooden beasts - without a horse among them - ride in circles in the House on the Rock in Spring Green, Wisconsin.
Some carousel horses are works of art as well as craftsmanship¹⁴, and the beautiful panels inside and outside the riding area are often intricately painted landscapes and fanciful scenes.

There are only about 200 authentic Hershell carousels left. A, in Burlington, North Carolina, has become a town symbol. It's what's called a menagerie carousel because of its sets of four cats, ostriches¹⁵, rabbits and pigs. Wooden ones of course, but they're just as much fun to ride as the merry-go-round's 26 horses.

 

1 hop   

n.单脚跳，跳跃；vi.单脚跳，跳跃；着手做某事；vt.跳跃，跃过

参考例句：

• The children had a competition to see who could hop the fastest.孩子们举行比赛，看谁单足跳跃最快。
• How long can you hop on your right foot?你用右脚能跳多远？

2 carousel   

n.旋转式行李输送带

参考例句：

• Riding on a carousel makes you feel dizzy.乘旋转木马使你头晕。
• We looked like a bunch of awkward kids riding a slow-moving carousel.我们看起来就像一群骑在旋转木马上的笨拙的孩子。

3 ted   

vt.翻晒，撒，撒开

参考例句：

• The invaders gut ted the village.侵略者把村中财物洗劫一空。
• She often teds the corn when it's sunny.天好的时候她就翻晒玉米。

4 carousels   

n.喧闹的酒会；旋转木马( carousel的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Object carousel and data carousel are both carousels. 对象轮和数据轮都是轮播方式，但是两者存在区别。 来自互联网
• Build dizzy carousels, unbelievable roller-coasters, Ferris wheels, fear halls and other thrilling andand thirsty. 建造眩目的回旋木马，难以置信的云霄飞车，摩天轮，恐怖木屋和其他令人毛骨悚然的设备。 来自互联网

5 tinkly   

叮当响的

参考例句：

6 authentic   

a.真的，真正的；可靠的，可信的，有根据的

参考例句：

• This is an authentic news report. We can depend on it. 这是篇可靠的新闻报道, 我们相信它。
• Autumn is also the authentic season of renewal. 秋天才是真正的除旧布新的季节。

7 Augmented   

adj.增音的 动词augment的过去式和过去分词形式

参考例句：

• 'scientists won't be replaced," he claims, "but they will be augmented." 他宣称：“科学家不会被取代；相反，他们会被拓展。” 来自英汉非文学 - 科学史
• The impact of the report was augmented by its timing. 由于发表的时间选得好，这篇报导的影响更大了。

8 cymbals   

pl.铙钹

参考例句：

• People shouted, while the drums and .cymbals crashed incessantly. 人声嘈杂，锣鼓不停地大响特响。 来自汉英文学 - 家（1-26） - 家（1-26）
• The dragon dance troupe, beating drums and cymbals, entered the outer compound. 龙灯随着锣鼓声进来，停在二门外的大天井里。 来自汉英文学 - 家（1-26） - 家（1-26）

9 clattering   

发出咔哒声（clatter的现在分词形式）

参考例句：

• Typewriters keep clattering away. 打字机在不停地嗒嗒作响。
• The typewriter was clattering away. 打字机啪嗒啪嗒地响着。

10 metallic   

adj.金属的；金属制的；含金属的；产金属的；像金属的

参考例句：

• A sharp metallic note coming from the outside frightened me.外面传来尖锐铿锵的声音吓了我一跳。
• He picked up a metallic ring last night.昨夜他捡了一个金属戒指。

11 percussion   

n.打击乐器；冲突，撞击；震动，音响

参考例句：

• In an orchestra,people who play percussion instruments sit at the back.在管弦乐队中，演奏打击乐器的人会坐在后面。
• Percussion of the abdomen is often omitted.腹部叩诊常被省略。

12 derives   

v.得到( derive的第三人称单数 )；（从…中）得到获得；源于；（从…中）提取

参考例句：

• English derives in the main from the common Germanic stock. 英语主要源于日耳曼语系。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He derives his income from freelance work. 他以自由职业获取收入。 来自《简明英汉词典》

13 carnivals   

狂欢节( carnival的名词复数 )； 嘉年华会； 激动人心的事物的组合； 五彩缤纷的颜色组合

参考例句：

• The Venice Carnival is one of the oldest and most famous international carnivals in the world. 威尼斯嘉年华是世界上最古老、最富盛名的国际嘉年华会之一。 来自常春藤生活英语杂志-2006年2月号
• A few exceptions would be made, he said, such as for carnivals. 他说一些免责条款将被制定出来，例如嘉年华会。

14 craftsmanship   

n.手艺

参考例句：

• The whole house is a monument to her craftsmanship. 那整座房子是她技艺的一座丰碑。
• We admired the superb craftsmanship of the furniture. 我们很欣赏这个家具的一流工艺。

15 ostriches   

n.鸵鸟( ostrich的名词复数 )；逃避现实的人，不愿正视现实者

参考例句：

• They are the silliest lot of old ostriches I ever heard of. 他们真是我闻所未闻的一群最傻的老鸵鸟。 来自辞典例句
• How ostriches could bear to run so hard in this heat I never succeed in understanding. 驼鸟在这样干燥炎热的地带为什么能疾速长跑，我永远也理解不了。 来自辞典例句