内容正文:
4日,法国巴黎著名的香榭丽舍大道(Champs-Elysees)成了一座巨大的“考场”,因为当地在举行史上规模最大的“听写大赛”。
Paris' most famous street was transformed into an open-air mass "dictation" spellathon on Sunday, pitting thousands of France's brainiest bookworms against one another.
pit against:使对抗、使竞争
香榭丽舍(Champs - Elysées),指法国的香榭丽舍大道,位于巴黎市中心商业繁华区。
在法语中,Champs意为“田园”,Elysées来自希腊神话,指众神聚集之地,因此该名字可以意译为“极乐世界”或“乐土”。
在18、19世纪的法国文学中,香榭丽舍大道是贵族和新兴资产阶级的娱乐天堂。大仲马的《基督山伯爵》里,主人公归来复仇,新家就在香榭丽舍大道上。小仲马的《茶花女》、巴尔扎克的《高老头》也都对这里有详细的描述。
“香榭丽舍”可以说是Champs - Elysées的绝美音译,普遍认为是徐志摩的“神翻译”。
在汉语中,“榭”意为“建在高台上的房屋”,用英文来解释就是“pavilion or house on a terrace”。如今我们看到的“榭”多为“水榭”;而“舍”一般指居住的房屋。
“法国香榭丽舍成最壮观考场!”
阅读下面短文,在空白处填入1个适当的单词或括号内单词的正确形式。
Paris'most famous street was transformed into an open-air mass "dictation" spellathon on Sunday, pitting thousands of France’s 1_____(brain) bookworms against one another.
2_____(reveal) a very French love affair with words, over 50,000 people applied to participate in the event at the Champs-Elysees — a world first — in which hopefuls attempted to faithfully 3_____ without error transcribe a text read to them. Over 5,000 applicants aged 10 to 90 4_____(choose) to participate in three sessions 5_____(lead) by novelist Rachid Santaki.
For 10-year-old Samson,the dictation was “too fast”, so he gave up .Top student Antoine, 6_____ is in his final year of primary school, attended it with his father. But despite being a star pupil, he had struggled 7_____(fill) his page.
“It was impossible,” he said. “The dictation was for adults.” His father Adrien Blind, 42, was 8_____(equal) relieved when the session wrapped, saying he “was in a state of stress and worry.” But 65-year-old retiree Touria Zerhouni was more upbeat. “I only made two 9_____(mistake),” she said. “I expected it to be much harder. Dictation helps 10_____(we) to live together.It's unifying.”
Paris'most famous street was transformed into an open-air mass "dictation" spellathon on Sunday, pitting thousands of France’s 1_____(brain) bookworms against one anoth