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New Zealand dominates world sheep shearing championships 紐西蘭橫掃世界剪羊毛錦標賽
Monday, Oct 13, 2008,Page 15
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Zweliwile Hans of South Africa participates in the blade shearing competition during the Golden Shears World Championship 2008 in Bjerkreim, Norway, on Oct. 4, 2008.
二ＯＯ八年十月四日在挪威比雅克萊姆舉辦的世界金羊毛剪錦標賽中，南非的佐威利瓦．漢斯在剃刀賽中剪羊毛。照片：法新社
PHOTO: AFP
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New Zealand dominated the 13th Golden Shears World Championships in sheep shearing held in Norway, taking home four of the six titles up for grabs earlier this month.
New Zealand won both the individual and team events in wool handling and machine shearing.
Around 100 sheep shearers from 28 countries, including Australia, Montenegro, France, the US and of course New Zealand, displayed their skills in the four-day competition, which for the first time ever was held in a non-English speaking country.
“This is not just about speed but is also a question of technique,” explained event spokeswoman Elin Ravndal Bell.
“Shearers who cut their animals lose points,” she said.
It can take as little as 20 seconds to shear an entire sheep, but at the world championships the times usually average around 30 to 40 seconds.
Clipping with scissors, or blade shearing, meanwhile takes around two minutes.
New Zealand’s wool handling team needed just seven minutes 53 seconds to polish off 16 lambs, while its machine shearing team finished 20 lambs in 16 minutes 15 seconds.
Lesotho clinched the team blade shearing title, shearing 10 lambs in 13 minutes 49 seconds. South Africa’s Zweliwile Hans took home the individual blade shearing honors, finishing 10 lambs in 21 minutes 20 seconds. (AFP)
第十三屆世界金羊毛剪錦標賽本月稍早在挪威舉行，結果紐西蘭代表隊就包辦了六個比賽項目中的四項冠軍。
紐西蘭分別在羊毛處理和機械剪毛的個人組和團體組項目中獲勝。
本屆共有來自澳洲、蒙特內哥羅、法國、美國和紐西蘭等二十八個國家的近一百位剪羊毛好手前來參賽，他們在為期四天的比賽中拿出看家本領；這次也是該錦標賽首次在非英語系國家舉辦。
主辦單位的女發言人愛琳．瑞凡道．貝爾解釋：「這不僅考驗選手的速度，也在考驗他們的技巧。」
她說：「剪傷綿羊的選手會被扣分。」
用機械完整修剪一隻羊的時間可以短至二十秒，但在世界錦標賽中，平均速度通常介在三十秒到四十秒間。
不管是用剪刀剪，或用剃刀修，約需費時兩分鐘。
紐西蘭團體組在羊毛處理項目中，僅花了七分鐘又五十三秒就迅速處理完十六隻小羊；他們的機械剃毛團隊則花了十六分又十五秒剪完二十隻小羊。
賴索托的選手贏得剃刀項目的團體組冠軍，他們在十三分鐘又四十九秒內剃完了十隻小羊。南非的佐威利瓦．漢斯則抱回剃刀項目的個人組冠軍，他在二十一分又二十秒內就剃完十隻小羊。 （法新社／翻譯：袁星塵）
| TODAY’S WORDS 今日單字 |
| 1. dominate v.i./v.t.
壓倒性勝利 (ya1 dao3 xing4 sheng4 li4)
例: Kelvin's baseball team dominated this year's competition.
(凱文的棒球隊在今年的比賽中大獲全勝。)
2. technique n.
技巧 (ji4 qiao3)
例: Frank spent a lot of money learning how to improve his surfing technique.
(法蘭克花了很多錢去上課，希望能增進他的衝浪技巧。)
3. event n.
比賽項目 (bi3 sai4 xiang4 mu4)，事件 (shi4 jian4)
例: The village fundraising event was well attended.
(大家都很踴躍出席該村的募款活動。)
4. entire adj.
完全的 (wan2 quan2 de5)
例: When we got home the entire house had been cleaned.
(我們回到家時，全家都被整理得乾乾淨淨。)
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| SAY WHAT? 說說看 |
| up for grabs 任人爭取的
If something is up for grabs, that means it is available to be taken. In the articles, there were sheep shearing titles up for grabs.
For example: “Lisa wasn’t going to attend the Christmas party, but when she heard that there would be prizes up for grabs, she felt compelled to attend,” or “There were free pizzas up for grabs at the restaurant launch party last night.”
如果某物「up for grabs」，就表示它是可供人拿取的。文章中提到，參賽者可爭取剪羊毛冠軍寶座。
例如：「麗莎本來沒有打算參加耶誕派對，但當她聽說現場有獎品可拿，她就覺得自己非去不可」，或是「昨晚的餐廳開幕派對上有供應免費比薩」。
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| OUT LOUD 對話練習 |
| Geoff: Did I ever tell you that I was raised on a farm?
Charlie: No. I thought you were a city boy like me.
Geoff: Not at all. My family moved to the city when I was in high school.
Charlie: So what was it like?
Geoff: Well, it was hard work! I had to help with shearing sheep, picking fruit and hunting vermin. Let me tell you, living on a farm really separates the men from the boys.
傑夫：我有跟你說過我是在農場長大的嗎？
查理：沒有，我以為你和我一樣是個都市男孩。
傑夫：完全不是，我們全家在我高中時搬到市區內。
查理：生長在鄉下是什麼感覺？
傑夫：唔，很辛苦！我得幫忙剪羊毛、採收水果和除害蟲。我跟你說，住在農場裡真的會讓強者脫穎而出。
separate the men from the boys 脫穎而出
An activity that separates the men from the boys, is a challenging situation that shows who is good at performing well in tough conditions.
若說一個活動能「separate the men from the boys」，表示這是個能突顯出誰在困難的處境下仍能表現優異的挑戰。 |
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