引子

大家好，我是李文（笔名：花和尚）。

赛马是一个奇特的世界，在欣赏国际一流赛事的时候，总有一些术语让我们不能更尽情享受比赛。

所以笔者决定开始做一个《赛马English》的栏目，每期只讲一个概念，条分缕析、掰开揉碎，保证你看完之后能用得上。

笔者是英文专业毕业，英语既是爱好，也是工具，更是热情。

为什么要和笔者一起学赛马English？下面是理由：

大连外国语大学英语高级翻译学士

CCTV“希望之星”英语风采大赛辽宁省冠军

英国威斯敏斯特大学口译硕士

在伦敦某跨国公司任项目经理

于中关村教雅思和托福

迪拜国际纯血马实习(DITI)毕业

任联合国副秘书长翻译

亚洲赛马大会同声传译

央视英语新闻频道CCTV NEWS采访

在《赛马English》里，我们不列单子，一次学会一两个词，下课就能用得上，这比你看到一篇文章心想“不错，先收藏着”要好得多。

赛马English之路，你我同行

前言

对，刚刚那个是引子，这是前言……

话说距离《【赛马English】第1课：赛马比赛的途程计算》已经有半年了，笔者也觉得总不能把这个弄成一年一更，新的一年争取更新的快一些。

这期不是说某一个具体的词汇，而是从我毕业的迪拜国际纯血马实习(DITI)这个项目找到一些英语书面语vs口语的区别，都是和赛马相关。

入选DITI需要笔试和面试，第二年会有毕业典礼，笔者有幸成为毕业生代表(valedictorian)发言。

所以本文从笔试的10题里选出3题，再附上毕业典礼的发言稿，原文英文、后附译文。

3道笔试题

提交时间：2013年年末

【注】

面试共有10道题，有字数限制，需要在规定的字符里尽可能充分、有效地表明观点、说明意思。

英语写长了简单，从句套从句可以无限循环，难得的是“简洁而有力”。

描写一个人“跑得快”可以写run quickly，或者一个词sprint

一个人不是very tired，他是exhausted

一个人不是very sad，他是devastated

这不仅仅是词汇量，也是写作人的思路。

4. Explain any experiences, interests or involvement you have with horses

4. 请说出你与马的任何经历、为什么喜欢马

Born and raised in a city named Dalian, home to the first squad of Mounted Policewoman in China, I started a fancy for horses from the first time I met this gigantic and intelligent creature. Sitting on the horse, the height and joy made me feel like a knight, waiting to be dubbed by the Queen. Here not only can you see the brave mounted ladies patrolling on the street to protect citizens but you can go to Dalian Xunan Knight Club to ride British thoroughbred, Orlov Trotter and Mongolian horse, etc. Though they are not Dubai Millennium, nothing beats the thrill of being a part of magical union to charge forwards.

我在大连土生土长，这里有中国第一支女子骑警队。从我第一眼看到马我就喜欢上了这高大、聪明的生物。坐在马背上，那高度和喜悦让人感觉自己是个骑士，等待女王册封。在这里你不仅能看到勇敢的女骑警巡视街道、保护市民，还可以去大连巡安骑士俱乐部骑英纯血、奥洛夫和蒙古马等。尽管它们不是「迪拜千禧」，但什么也比不上人马合一、向前冲锋的刺激。

In addition, in September, 2012, I led a delegation from General Administration of Sports of China in Worcester, England. We spent a week there and discussed the Sino-British cooperation on sports with University of Worcester. During the leisure time, I visited Worcester Racecourse and watched several National Hunt races. Sitting on the bleacher by the south side of the River Severn, I felt the magnificence brought by the races from the 13-furlong oval circuit.

此外，2012年9月，我带着国家体育总局(GASC)的代表团来到了英国的伍斯特，并与伍斯特大学就中英体育合作这个话题洽谈了一周。间隙，我来到伍斯特赛场看了几场越障赛。坐在塞汶河南岸的看台上，我感受到了这13弗隆（约2600米）长的椭圆赛道上的比赛之魅力。

Jockeys weaving their whips, audiences cheering, racehorses whinnying, the tension was extraordinary and I could barely contain my excitement and stood on my feet, applauding the winner. Horseracing prioritises speed, stamina and rewards honour. This is the kind of sports that tells the simple truth: getting the first place is paramount and better won with style.

骑师挥舞马鞭、观众欢呼雀跃、赛马奔鸣，气氛热烈。我也控制不住激动之情、起身为冠军喝彩。赛马比赛最看重速度、毅力，崇尚荣誉。这种运动讲了一个简单的道理：速度第一，赢得有范儿。

9. Why do you believe HH Sheikh Mohammed established Dubai International Thoroughbred Internships programme?

9. 你认为谢赫•穆罕默德酋长为什么要成立迪拜国际纯血马实习这个项目？

His Highness Sheikh Mohammed’s love for horses began when he was young and under his father’s influence. When studying English in Cambridge, the owner of his foster family told him, with pride, that International Horseracing started in England. Since then, that small seed sown years ago has grown into a mighty tree under which there is Darley, Godolphin, champion stallions and various trophies.

谢赫•穆罕默德酋长从小爱马、深受父亲影响。他在英国剑桥学英语时，寄宿家庭的主人颇为自豪地告诉他—世界赛马起源于英国。从那时起，一颗小小的种子成长为一株巨树，树下有达利、有高多芬、还有冠军种公马和无数的奖杯。

As far as I am concerned, to a man from a royal and old-established family, the pleasure and excitement produced by wealth and power diminishes staggeringly fast and lasts not very long. And yet, the delight and sense of achievement acquired from helping the young to shape and build the world is marvellous and even greater if it is combined with the benefactor’s personal favorite—thoroughbred. Dubai International Thoroughbred Internships programme is the perfect combination of the two. Someone has either the wealth or the love for thoroughbred and someone has both. Nevertheless, none of them has ever founded a programme like the DITI which could only be made possible if the founder has the talent, taste and resources. That man is HH Sheikh Mohammed.

我认为生于皇室望族，由财富和权力带来的喜悦和兴奋会迅速消解、不会长久。但是，助力年轻人改变和创造世界所带来的高兴和成就感是奇妙的，如果与资助人的个人兴趣-纯血马相结合就更棒了。迪拜国际纯血马实习就是这二者的完美结合。有些人家财万贯、有些人爱马如命，还有人二者兼而有之。可是，这些人都没有建立一个像DITI的项目，这个项目需要创立者有天赋、有品位还要有资源。这个人就是谢赫•穆罕默德酋长。

Coincidentally, a dear friend of mine is a trainee of this programme as we speak. He strongly recommended DITI to me with great enthusiasm and admiration. And it is my honour and wish to be a part of this once-in-a-lifetime project.

巧合的是，我的一个好朋友正在这个项目里实习。他强烈建议我申请DITI，言语里不乏热忱和尊敬。我希望能获得这个千载难逢的机会，能加入DITI是我的荣幸。

10. In your own words, please describe why you believe HH Sheikh Mohammed is an influential person within the global thoroughbred industry

10. 用你自己的话，描述一下为什么谢赫•穆罕默德酋长是全球纯血马业一个举足轻重的人物。

His Highness Sheikh Mohammed is the greatest patron of thoroughbred industry.

谢赫•穆罕默德酋长是纯血马业最大的赞助人。

As the ruler of Dubai, he has transformed it from small desert city into skyscraper-studded international playground, financial centre and home of his thriving racing and breeding business. With commercial breeding operations and thousands of acres of land in seven countries from Europe to Japan to Australia, His Highness’s Godolphin empire has horses racing all over the globe and the efforts paid off well: the best stallions in the world has won him numerous awards including Eclipse Awards and the Dubai World Cup.

作为迪拜酋长，他把迪拜从一座沙漠小城改造为摩天大楼鳞次栉比的国际都市、金融中心、赛马和繁育业的基地。从欧洲到日本再到澳大利亚，他在全球七个国家都有商业繁育机构和数千英亩土地。谢赫•穆罕默德酋长的高多芬帝国征战全球，全球最顶级种公马的后代赢得了诸多如日蚀奖的奖项和迪拜世界杯这样的大赛桂冠。

Maintaining a large amount of interest in the thoroughbred industry, HH Sheikh Mohammed established Darley Stud, a bloodstock breeding operation headquartered in England. Starting from one single horse, Darley Stud has become a world-leading operation about horseracing and His Highness’s endeavour is generally applauded. For instance, Independent, a nation-wide newspaper in the UK acclaims him “single-handedly responsible for keeping British horseracing alive”.

因为对纯血马业抱有巨大热情，迪拜酋长建立了达利这一总部在英国的全球育马场。从仅有一匹马开始，达利马场已经成为世界领先的马业机构，谢赫•穆罕默德酋长居功至伟。例如，英国纸媒《独立报》这样褒奖他“单枪匹马肩负着保全英国赛马的重担”。

He is a visionary, a magnate, a horseman and above all, the protector and icon of the Dubai.

他高瞻远瞩、富可敌国、爱马如命，最重要的，他是迪拜的守护者和偶像。

毕业典礼发言

时间：2015年6月8日

地点：香港赛马会北京会所

【注】

笔者在本科时是英语学院英语演讲与辩论俱乐部的成员，师从黄滔和陈婧两位老师。两年里训练了无数定题演讲和即兴演讲的题目，亦有诸多问答题目。

当时最重要的参考数目是Stephen Lucas所著的《公众演讲的艺术》(The Art of Public Speaking)，现已出到第10版，有中文版，感兴趣的可以找来看看。

PS 下面的演讲稿准备时间不足，在成文前不久我还在马房工(chan)作(shi)。好在毕业典礼不是比赛，压力小了很多，台下的多是熟面孔。而毕业演讲的要义是感谢、总结和展望。

Good evening, ladies and gentleman.

My name is Wen LI. Cocoa is my English name. I am this year’s graduate from the UK.

I am delighted to come to such a wonderful place as The Hong Kong Jockey Club Beijing Clubhouse and I would like to expresses my gratitude to His Highness Sheikh Mohammed for building DITI, a programme which allows us to go to different parts of the world to learn thoroughbred industry.

This is DITI’s third year and it produced 60 excellent graduates who are involved in thoroughbred industry as well as other fields. Tonight, all 23 of us will be joining them.

During our internship, we studied from foaling, cleaning the stable to witnessing training, auctions and watching races. Beginning with bewilderment to proficiency, it is easy to say it now but none of this could be done without our effort and the programme’s assistance. Because this is the programme which is concerned about you, teaches you and pushes you to always learn something new.

All DITI interns gathered together in December to visit Dubai for three weeks and tried to understand how Dubai emerged from a fishing village to the most shining star in Middle East only in decades and we also learn its increasingly close relation with China.

In these ten months, our horizons are widened.

You will find a large number of people are in a career of which you never heard in another corner of the globe, for generations.

You will find life is like a foal learning to stand up and walk. Sometimes you fall, and yet you will get up in next moment, if not this moment.

You will find this world is filled with endless possibilities, be it this door, that window or next corner, which will all turn into experience and some into immense fortune.

If one was required to summarise the experience of DITI interns in one phrase, that would be “A Trip Worth Taking”.

I look forward to working with you in the near future.

Thank you.

大家晚上好，我是DITI这一届的英国毕业生，我叫李文。

今晚很高兴能够来到香港赛马会北京会所如此隆重的地方，感谢谢赫-穆罕默德酋长建立DITI这个项目，让我们有机会来到世界各地学习纯血赛马这个行业。

DITI项目已经走过了三年，产生了60名非常优秀的毕业生。他们正活跃在马圈和其他行业中，而我们这23人即将加入他们的行列。

在这为期十个月的实习生涯中，我们学习、经历了从小马诞生、清理马房到观摩驯马和拍卖会、到场观赛的方方面面。从一开始的仿徨、不知所措，到后来的驾轻就熟、得心应手，这一切说起来简单但是却凝结着我们无数的努力和公司的指导、帮助，因为这个项目对实习生很重视、让你学到很多东西、不断鼓励你尝试新东西。

在十二月的时候，全体实习生更是有机会到迪拜游学三周，领略一个小渔村是如何在几十年间从无到有、聚沙成塔，成为整个中东地区最耀眼的明星，还了解到迪拜与中国日益紧密的联系。

在这十个月里，这个项目为你打开了眼界。

你会发现世界上有另外一拨人做着你之前完全不知道的行业，他们很多人世世代代以此为生。

你会发现生活有时就像蹒跚学步的小马驹，时有跌到，但总会在这一刻或下一刻坚强地站起来。

你会发现这个世界充满了无数的可能性，这道门、那扇窗、下一个拐角、偶然的机会，都会变成人生路上的经历，有些成为了你终生的财富。

如果要用一个词来概括在DITI的这段经历，那就是“不虚此行”！

而我也希望在不久的将来能与在座的各位同谋共事。

谢谢！