2015考研英语阅读牛津剑桥划艇赛_大学英语阅读

2015考研英语阅读牛津剑桥划艇赛

　　The first boat race took place in 1829 on the River Thames at Henley in Oxfordshire and wasthe culmination of an idea of Charles Merivale, a Cambridge student, and his Harrowschoolmate Charles Wordsworth , at Oxford. The event was such asuccessnewspapers of the day reported crowds of 20,000that Henley decided to organiseits own regatta and the boat race moved to Westminster in London. By 1845,with Westminster too crowded, the race moved up river to Putney. Today it still runsfour-and-a-quarter miles from Putney to Mortlake and, despite being in the publiceye for just one day each year, attracts a global audience of around 120m.

　　1829年第一次划艇赛在牛津郡亨里镇的泰晤士河上举行。此事源自剑桥学生查尔斯梅里瓦勒和他以前哈罗公学的同学，牛津学生查尔斯沃兹沃斯的突发奇想。这项赛事竟大获成功，据当天报纸报道，有多达两万人围观，以至亨里镇决定组织自家的划艇赛，而原来的划艇赛移至伦敦的西敏寺。到了1845年，因西敏寺人满为患，赛事又转至上游的普特利。今日赛程依旧4.25英里，从普特利划至莫特雷克，虽然比赛一年仅有一天，但仍在全球吸引了一亿两千万上下的观众。

　　Training is brutal. For seven months potential crews undergo two intense sessions every day, one on the water and one on indoor rowingmachines or ergometers. Over that time they put in two hours work for each of the 600strokes they will take in the race. As they train, hearts race at over 200 beats a minute; lacticacid builds to stinging levels in muscles; fragile capillaries burst in the lungs. To combat thephysical demands made on them oarsmen must consume 6,000 calories a day, more thantwice the normal daily requirement for men. All of this must be balanced against the demandsof tutors, supervisions, essays, exams and long-suffering girlfriends.