(单词翻译:单击)
听力文本
Now, the VOA Learning English program Words and Their Stories.
Baseball is often called America's game. This may or not be true but a baseball game is a great place to learn American English.
So, let's go to the ballpark! My colleague, Christopher Jones Cruise, invited me to a baseball game recently. Let's hear how it went.
Anna, thanks for coming to the game today! It's going to be a great game. The teams are from two countries. The Toronto Blue Jays traveled from Canada to Washington, D.C., to play the Washington Nationals.
I've never been to Nationals Park before! It's really ... big! But it's raining. Is that going to affect the game?
Well, the weather experts said the rain in the D.C. area would be intermittent. It's going to rain for a few minutes and then stop before possibly starting again. It'll be fine.
Oh, and don't let me forget to pay you for the tickets.
Don't worry about the tickets. I only paid $5 a seat!
Five dollars? That's cheap!
Seating close to the field for some games can be expensive. Do you see those seat all the way down there behind home plate? They can cost $375! So five dollars for a seat is a great deal!
Well, I know you like to save money.
You know, some people from work say I'm a cheapskate.
No! NO. They don't say that ... much.
I'm not a cheapskate. I just love the idea of saving money and enjoying the game in the 'cheap seats'.
Oh, I don't mind seats this far away. But, you know, my eyesight is not that good. In fact, it looks like there's a huge, furry animal down there on the field.
There's nothing wrong with your eyesight. That is a big furry animal on the field. It's the team mascot. You know, people in costumes that get the crowd excited.
Oh! Well, that mascot is doing a good job. Everyone is excited. Oh, look, they have big screens televising the game. I can watch the game on those.
Those are called "Jumbotrons!"
That's a cool name. Look at the crowd. We all look funny all wearing these cheap rain covers. You know Christopher, I think the rain is falling harder. And it's been raining for 20 minutes.
It won't be a problem. Trust me.
ANNOUNCER: Attention, folks. We have a problem. We would like to announce that the game will be delayed due to inclement weather.
Oh. The game is delayed.
Yes. I heard that.
It's delayed because of "inclement" weather. Why not just say, "The game is canceled because of rain."
I guess they want to sound fancy instead of just saying it's "stormy."
Look, many fans have moved inside the stadium. What are those people doing on the field with that big blue plastic thing?
That is a plastic tarp and they are covering the field. It will keep the field from getting too wet. Teams often cancel games when the field is soaked with water. Baseball players can get injured when they play on a field that is wet or muddy.
Yeah, I guess team owners don't want to lose money if a player gets hurt. They pay some players millions of dollars a year to play a ballgame! Unbelievable.
Hey, the rain ... it seems to be slowing. Maybe the game will start soon!
I don't think so, Christopher. Look, an official is coming out to check the field. Now, it looks like he is signaling to someone. It looks like a weird dance.
Oh no. I know that weird dance. Don't do it. Don't do it!
Do what?
ANNOUNCER: We are sorry to announce that tonight's game is canceled.
No! The game is rained out! The fields can't be that damaged from the rain.
ANNOUNCER: The field is really damaged from the rain. But keep your tickets. There will be a make-up game tomorrow. It will be a doubleheader. The first game is at one o'clock in the afternoon. The second game would be played at seven o'clock. Thank you for your understanding.
See, it's not so bad. You can see two games tomorrow, a double-header.
I can't come tomorrow. I have to work.
Oh, I'm off. Can I have your ticket? I'll bring a friend.
Sure. Well, since they canceled the game, we have to leave the stadium.
At least, the officials for the Nationals have a sense of humor.
What do you mean? There's nothing funny about a rained out baseball game.
Listen. Don't you hear the song they are playing on those large speakers throughout the park? "Laughter in the Rain" by Neil Sedaka!
Perfect.
"Oooo, I hear laughter in the rain ..."
重点解析
1.due to 由于，应归于
This can be due to several reasons.
这可能是由于以下几个原因。
2.rain out 因下雨取消（或延期）
Saturday's game was rained out.
星期六的比赛因雨取消了。
3.I'm off 我下班了；我要出发了；我休假
In case you hadn't noticed, I'm off duty.
也许你没注意到，我今天不当班。
4.instead of 代替；而不是······
He offered to go instead of me.
他主动提出代替我去。
参考译文
这里是VOA学英语《词汇掌故》节目。
棒球一般被认为是美国的一种运动，这也许对，也许不对，但通过棒球比赛学习美式英语真得是一个好办法。
所以，让我们去球场吧！我的同事克里斯托弗·琼斯克鲁斯最近邀请我看一场棒球比赛。让我们去看看棒球比赛是怎么进行的吧。
安娜，谢谢你今天来看比赛！这场比赛肯定精彩。两队分别来自两个国家。从加拿大迁到华盛顿的多伦多蓝鸟队对打华盛顿国民队。
我从来没来过国民公园球场！它真得好······大！但现在下雨，下雨会影响比赛吗？
气象专家说华盛顿地区的雨水是间歇性的。它会下几分钟，然后可能在重新开始下前就停了，会没事的。
哦，别忘了提醒我付给你票钱！
别担心票钱的事情，一个座位就5美元！
5美元？好便宜！
有些比赛靠近球场的座位可能会很贵。你看见本垒后面那一片下来的座位了吗？它们要花费375美元！所以5美元一个座位真得超划算了。
好吧，我知道你省钱。
你知道我的一些同事说我是小气鬼。
不，不，他们没有说······那么多。
我不是小气鬼。我只是喜欢省钱的想法并享受在“便宜座位”上看比赛。
额，我不介意离得远的座位。但，你知道，我的视力不太好。实际上，球场上看着像有一只巨大的毛茸茸的动物。
你的视力没问题。球场那儿是有一只毛茸茸的大动物。那是球队吉祥物。你懂的，穿吉祥物服装的人负责让观众兴奋起来。
哦。好吧，那个“吉祥物”工作做得不错，大家都很兴奋。看，有转播比赛的大屏幕，我可以通过看屏幕看比赛。
这些被称做“超大屏幕”！
好酷的名字。看大家，我们都穿着这些便宜的雨衣，看起来好有趣！克里斯托弗，你知道吗，我觉得这雨下得大了，而且已经下了20分钟了。
没问题的，相信我。
播报员：各位请注意！我们遇到了点麻烦。我们得宣布，由于天气恶劣，比赛将延迟开赛。
哦，比赛推迟了。
是的，我听见了。
它是因为“恶劣”天气所以推迟了。
我想他们是觉得相对于简单说“猛烈的”，“恶劣”想听起来精致些。
看，好多球迷都进体育场里了。球场上那些拿着大蓝色塑料东西的人在做什么呢？
那是塑料篷布，他们在盖球场呢，那个能让球场避免太潮湿。球队经常因为球场被水浸泡而取消比赛。球场太湿或者很泥泞的话，打棒球的时候球员容易受伤。
嗯，我猜球队老板也不想因为球员受伤而赔钱。他们每年付给一些球员数百万美元去打棒球！难以置信！
嘿，雨······似乎下小了。也许比赛很快就会开始了！
我看不是，克里斯托弗。看，有个官方人员出来查看球场了。现在，他像在给谁示意什么，看起来像奇怪的舞蹈。
哦，不，我了解那个“奇怪的舞蹈”。不要这样啊，不要啊！
怎么了？
播报员：很抱歉！我们很抱歉地宣布今晚的比赛取消了。
不，比赛因雨取消了！球场不至于被雨水破坏太厉害吧。
播报员：球场真得受到了雨水的破坏。但留好你的票。明天会有一场补赛，而且连赛两场。第一场比赛在下午一点，第二场比赛7点开场。感谢您的谅解。
看，也没那么糟糕。你明天能看两场比赛了，连赛两场哦。
我明天来不了，我得上班。
哦，我请假了。能把你的票给我吗？我想带个朋友过来。
当然。既然比赛取消了，我们得离开体育馆了。
至少，国民队的官员有幽默感。
你什么意思？一场因雨取消的棒球赛能有什么乐趣。
听着。你难道没听到他们在球场那些大喇叭里放的歌吗？尼尔·萨达卡的《雨中的笑声》。
完美。
“呜······我听见雨中的笑声······”
