“村BA”篮球赛爆火

据华尔街日报，中国乡村篮球联赛在社交媒体上引发轰动，这些在露天球场举行的比赛吸引了全国各地的游客。美国NBA巨星吉米·巴特勒也千里迢迢前来观战。是什么赋予了中国“村BA”这么大的魅力？

🤔️小作业：

1. What does the widespread interest in the "Cun-BA" signify in the context of the article?

a. The decline of American basketball.

b. The increasing influence of Western missionaries in China.

c. A reflection of China's deep-rooted appreciation for basketball.

d. The shift from traditional festivals to modern sports events.

a. An indication of the event's declining local significance.

b. A marketing strategy by the NBA to promote its brand.

c. A testament to the league's growing national prominence.

d. An attempt to replace the traditional village festivities.

无注释原文：

Even Jimmy Butler Had to Witness the Hottest Village Basketball League in China

From: The Wall Street Journal

One of the hottest tickets in China this summer didn’t cost a penny—just a plane, train and taxi ride to a remote mountain village in one of the country’s poorest provinces.

Call it Friday Night Lights, Guizhou edition.

Here in this village of 1,200 residents, an amateur basketball league became an improbable nationwide phenomenon, and a window into China’s enduring love for the American sport. It’s known across China as the “Cun-BA” (pronounced TZOON-bee-ay)—literally, the Village Basketball Association.

In the shadow of the local Communist Party village office—“Obey the Party, Follow the Party,” implores a slogan hanging over one basket—amateur ballers sweat it out in the open air before a packed house of some 20,000 spectators, many dressed in the distinctive traditional dress of southwestern China’s dozens of minority groups.

Hundreds of thousands more across China follow along on livestreams on short-video apps.

As buzz around the grassroots league exploded across China last year, the local crowds were supplemented by out-of-towners hoping to catch one of the country’s hottest spectacles.

In recent weeks, they have included retired NBA star Stephon Marbury, now a coach in China’s professional league, and Miami Heat forward Jimmy Butler, who dropped by Taipan village late last month, fresh off his NBA Finals appearance. Butler, donning the distinctive ornate silver hoop necklace of the local Miao minority, took the mic at center court to praise the “incredible” scene. “I’m glad to be in front of all of you. And I’m glad to watch basketball.”

Basketball was first brought to the mountains of rural southwestern China in the early 20th century, likely by Western missionaries. By 1936, according to China’s official Xinhua News Agency, the sport had come to Taipan village, spawning an annual tournament staged around the annual Miao harvest festival.

In more recent times, the annual tournament, falling in late July this year, began to attract attention beyond the impoverished mountain villages of Guizhou. The hype exploded last year, when Chinese vloggers began sharing livestreams of the games, interspersed with traditional dance routines and performances by visiting ethnic minority song-and-dance troupes from across China’s continent-sized land mass.

A parallel dynamic has played out several hours away in another Guizhou village, where the local soccer league, dubbed the “Village Super League” after the country’s professional China Super League, has attracted a similar wave of nationwide curiosity. A local form of bullfighting, too, has also grabbed some of the spotlight.

One local boy, a 6-foot student in a Kobe Bryant T-shirt, was taking in either his seventh or eighth year of “Cun-BA” action, and played a few games too, winning two matches before being eliminated a week earlier. “What’s great is that anyone can sign up to play,” he said.

Though the 20-year-old, who only gave his surname, Yang, was quick to acknowledge his love for the NBA, he was quick to emphasize: “Personally, I think the ‘Cun-BA’ is better.”

 “The NBA’s too far away,” he added.

- ◆ -

注：完整题目见本文开头；中文文本为华尔街日报官方译文，仅供参考

含注释全文：

Even Jimmy Butler Had to Witness the Hottest Village Basketball League in China

From: The Wall Street Journal

One of the hottest tickets in China this summer didn't cost a penny—just a plane, train and taxi ride to a remote mountain village in one of the country's poorest provinces.

今年夏天，观看中国最热门的赛事之一无需花一分钱买门票，只需乘坐飞机、火车和出租车前往中国最贫穷的省份之一，并深入当地一个偏远山村。

📍penny 表示“（美国和加拿大的）分（币）；（英国）便士（最小的货币单位，100便士为1英镑）”；

📍dime /daɪm/表示“10美分硬币”，英文解释为“A dime is a U.S. coin worth ten cents.”

📍quarter 表示“（美国和加拿大的）25分硬币”，英文解释为“in the US and Canada, a coin worth 25 cents”。

Call it Friday Night Lights, Guizhou edition.

这是贵州版的《胜利之光》(Friday Night Lights)。（译者注：《胜利之光》是美国知名电影，该影视作品围绕一群热爱美式足球的美国小镇青年身边发生的故事展开。）

Here in this village of 1,200 residents, an amateur basketball league became an improbable nationwide phenomenon, and a window into China's enduring love for the American sport. It's known across China as the “Cun-BA” (pronounced TZOON-bee-ay)—literally, the Village Basketball Association.

在这个只有1,200名居民的村庄里，一项业余篮球联赛罕见地吸引了全国各地的关注，也是了解中国人对这项美国运动持久热爱的一个窗口。它在中国被称为“村BA”，字面意思是乡村篮球协会(Village Basketball Association)。

amateur /ˈæm.ə.tər/ 表示“业余爱好的，非职业的”，英文解释为“taking part in an activity for pleasure, not as a job”如：an amateur astronomer/boxer/historian 业余天文学爱好者/拳击手/历史学爱好者。

表示“不大可能发生的；未必确实的”，英文解释为“not likely to happen or be true ”举个🌰：It's highly improbable that he will agree. 他很可能不会同意。

enduring /ɪnˈdʒʊə.rɪŋ/ 表示“持久的；持续的”，英文解释为“existing for a long time”如：the enduring appeal of cartoons 卡通片经久不衰的魅力。

1）表示“确实地；名副其实地”，英文解释为“using the real or original meaning of a word or phrase”举个🌰：They were responsible for literally millions of deaths. 他们的确对数百万人的死负有责任。

2）表示“逐字（翻译）地”，英文解释为“If you translate literally, you translate each word in a text separately, without looking at how the words are used together in a phrase or sentence.”举个🌰：Translations that are done too literally often don't flow well or don't sound natural. 太拘泥于字面意思的翻译往往会不太流畅或不太自然。

3）表示“（用于强调所说的话）确实，真正地”，英文解释为“used to emphasize what you are saying”举个🌰：He missed that kick literally by miles. 他那一脚踢丢得确实相差好几英里远。

4）表示“只是，仅仅，就”，英文解释为“simply or just”举个🌰：Then you literally cut the sausage down the middle. 那么你就从香肠的中间切开吧。

In the shadow of the local Communist Party village office—“Obey the Party, Follow the Party,” implores a slogan hanging over one basket—amateur ballers sweat it out in the open air before a packed house of some 20,000 spectators, many dressed in the distinctive traditional dress of southwestern China's dozens of minority groups.

在当地村委会大楼旁边的场地上，一个篮筐上方悬挂着“听党话，跟党走”的标语。业余球手们在露天球场上挥洒汗水，观众席上挤了约两万名观众，其中许多人身着中国西南地区少数民族的传统服饰。

implore /ɪmˈplɔːr/ 1）表示“恳求（某人）（不）做…，哀求（某人）（不）做…”，英文解释为“to ask someone to do or not do something in a very sincere, emotional, and determined way”举个🌰：She implored her parents not to send her away to school. 她哀求父母不要送她上学。

2）表示“恳求得到（某物），祈求得到（某物）”，英文解释为“to ask for something in a sincere and emotional way”举个🌰：She clasped her hands, and glancing upward, seemed to implore divine assistance. 她双手紧握，眼睛看着上方，似乎在祈求上天的帮助。

slogan /ˈsləʊɡən/ 表示“口号；广告语”，英文解释为“A slogan is a short phrase that is easy to remember. Slogans are used in advertisements and by political parties and other organizations who want people to remember what they are saying or selling.”

hang 1）表示“悬挂，吊；吊着”，英文解释为“to fasten or support something at the top leaving the other parts free to move, or to be held in this way”举个🌰：A heavy gold necklace hung around her neck. 她脖子上挂着一串粗重的金项链。

2）表示“绞死，施以绞刑”，英文解释为“to kill someone, especially as punishment for a serious crime, by dropping them with a rope tied around their neck, or to die in this way”举个🌰：He was found guilty and hanged later that year. 他被判有罪，并在那年的晚些时候被施以绞刑。

1）表示“做高强度的运动锻炼”，英文解释为“to do hard physical exercise”举个🌰：I like to sweat it out in the gym for a couple of hours every day. 我喜欢每天都到健身房做一两个小时高强度的运动锻炼。

2）表示“如坐针毡地等待（不愉快情形）结束，焦虑不安地苦熬”，英文解释为“to wait nervously for an unpleasant situation to end or improve”举个🌰：I had the blood test last Tuesday, and I've been sweating it out ever since, waiting for the results. 我上个星期二验血了，从那时起就一直如坐针毡地等待结果。

distinctive /dɪˈstɪŋk.tɪv/ 表示“与众不同的，独特的，特别的”，英文解释为“Something that is distinctive is easy to recognize because it is different from other things.”如：adistinctivesmell/taste特别的气味/味道。

Hundreds of thousands more across China follow along on livestreams on short-video apps.

全中国还有数以十万计的网民通过短视频应用观看比赛直播。

livestream/live-stream 表示“互联网直播，线上直播，流直播”，英文解释为“to broadcast video and sound of an event over the internet as it happens, or to be broadcast in this way”。

As buzz around the grassroots league exploded across China last year, the local crowds were supplemented by out-of-towners hoping to catch one of the country's hottest spectacles.

去年，随着该草根联赛的热潮席卷全中国，外地观众也开始涌入贵州当地观看中国这一热门赛事。

buzz的本义是指“嗡嗡声，蜂鸣声”（a continuous noise like the sound of a bee），还有“闹哄哄；喧闹”（a lot of activity, noise, and excitement）、“兴奋之感，喜悦心情”（a strong feeling of excitement, pleasure, or success, or a similar feeling from drinking alcohol or taking drugs）的含义。

此处buzz，韦氏词典（Merriam-Webster）给出的英文解释为：“speculative or excited talk or attention relating especially to a new or forthcoming product or event”或者是“an instance of such talk or attention”，（引起）关注/热议等，如：their first song created a huge buzz 他们的第一首引起热烈反响，create a buzz 制造话题，造势，炒作，制造噱头。

📍此外，比较常见的一个词buzzword，表示“流行语，热词，时髦用语，流行术语”（a word or phrase from one special area of knowledge that people suddenly think is very important）

表示“草根；（组织、运动的）基层；（尤指一个政党内的）基层民众；平民百姓”，英文解释为“The grassroots of an organization or movement are the ordinary people who form the main part of it, rather than its leaders.”

supplement /ˈsʌp.lɪ.mənt/ 作动词，表示“增加，补充，增补”，英文解释为“to add something to something to make it larger or better”举个🌰：He supplements (= adds to) his income by working in a bar at night. 他晚上在酒吧打工以增加收入。

作名词，表示“补充物，增补物”，英文解释为“something that is added to something else in order to improve it or complete it; something extra”举个🌰：The doctor said she should be taking vitamin supplements. 医生说她应该服用维生素补充剂。

spectacle /ˈspɛktəkəl/ 1）表示“壮观场面；壮观景象”，英文解释为“a public event or show that is exciting to watch; an exciting appearance”举个🌰：The carnival was a magnificent spectacle. 嘉年华场面十分壮观。

2）表示“不寻常的事；出人意料的情况”，英文解释为“an unusual or unexpected event or situation that attracts attention, interest, or disapproval”举个🌰：It was a strange spectacle to see the two former enemies shaking hands and slapping each other on the back. 见到两个宿敌握手言欢，拍着彼此的背部，真是一幅奇怪的场景。

In recent weeks, they have included retired NBA star Stephon Marbury, now a coach in China's professional league, and Miami Heat forward Jimmy Butler, who dropped by Taipan village late last month, fresh off his NBA Finals appearance. Butler, donning the distinctive ornate silver hoop necklace of the local Miao minority, took the mic at center court to praise the “incredible” scene. “I'm glad to be in front of all of you. And I'm glad to watch basketball.”

最近几周，前来观赛的人包括已退役的NBA球星马布里(Stephon Marbury)，他现在是中国职业联赛的一名教练；还有迈阿密热火队(Miami Heat)前锋巴特勒(Jimmy Butler)，他上月底刚参加完NBA总决赛就来到台盘村。巴特勒戴着当地苗族特有的华丽银环项链，在中场拿起麦克风，称赞这里的场面“不可思议”。他表示：“我很高兴能站在你们面前。我很高兴能来观看篮球比赛。”

forward表示“前锋”，英文解释为“a player who is in an attacking position in a team”；

📍此前在请支持暂时遇到困难的中国足球文中，出现的是striker，表示“（足球比赛等中的）前锋”，英文解释为“a player in a game such as football whose main purpose is to try to score goals rather than to prevent the opposing team from scoring”。

drop by/in 表示“拜访，看望”，英文解释为“to visit someone”举个🌰：I dropped in on her on my way home from school. 在放学回家的路上我去看了一下她。

don /dɒn/ 表示“穿戴上”，英文解释为“to put on a piece of clothing”举个🌰：He donned his finest coat and hat. 他穿上了他最帅的外套，戴上了他最好的帽子。

📺美剧《权力的游戏》（Game of Thrones）中的台词提到：My father has donned the ancient crown of salt and rock 我父亲已戴上海盐与磐石的古老王冠。

ornate /ɔːˈneɪt/ 表示“装饰华丽的，装饰繁复的”，英文解释为“having a lot of complicated decoration”如：a room with an ornate ceiling and gold mirrors 装饰有华丽天花板和金框镜子的房间。

hoop /huːp/ 表示“环;圈;半圈”，英文解释为“a ring of wood, metal, or plastic”举个🌰：The dogs had been trained to jump through hoops. 这些狗受过跳圈训练。

Basketball was first brought to the mountains of rural southwestern China in the early 20th century, likely by Western missionaries. By 1936, according to China's official Xinhua News Agency, the sport had come to Taipan village, spawning an annual tournament staged around the annual Miao harvest festival.

篮球最早于20世纪初传入中国西南山区乡村，很可能是由西方传教士带入。据中国官媒新华社报道，到1936年，篮球运动已经传到台盘村，当地每年都会在一年一度的苗族庆丰收节日期间举办篮球赛。

missionary /ˈmɪʃ.ən.ri/ 表示“传教士”，英文解释为“a person who has been sent to a foreign country to teach their religion to the people who live there”

1）spawn作动词，表示“使大量出现，使大量产生；酿成；（使）产生，（使）突然增长”，英文解释为“to make a series of things happen or start to exist”举个🌰：New technology has spawned new business opportunities. 新技术创造了大量新的商机。

2）表示“（鱼或蛙）大量产卵”，英文解释为“if a fish or frog spawns, it produces eggs in large quantities at the same time”；

1）表示“上演；举办；举行”，英文解释为“to organize and present a play or an event for people to see”，如：to stage a ceremony/an event/an exhibition 举行仪式/活动/展览，举个🌰：The local theatre group is staging a production of ‘Hamlet’. 当地剧团在上演《哈姆雷特》。

2）表示“组织；筹划”，英文解释为“to organize and take part in action that needs careful planning, especially as a public protest”，如：to stage a ceremony/an event/an exhibition 举行仪式/活动/展览。

3）表示“使发生；使出现”，英文解释为“to make sth happen”举个🌰：After five years in retirement, he staged a comeback to international tennis. 退役五年之后，他又复出国际网坛。

🎬电影《无罪的罪人》（Presumed Innocent）中的台词提到：Your opinion is that this was... a staged rape? 你的看法是这是…有预谋的强奸？

In more recent times, the annual tournament, falling in late July this year, began to attract attention beyond the impoverished mountain villages of Guizhou. The hype exploded last year, when Chinese vloggers began sharing livestreams of the games, interspersed with traditional dance routines and performances by visiting ethnic minority song-and-dance troupes from across China's continent-sized land mass.

近年来，当地的传统篮球赛事吸引了来自这个贫困贵州山区以外的人们的关注。今年的比赛于7月下旬举行。该赛事去年就曾被炒红，当时中国的视频博主开始分享这些篮球赛的现场直播，其间还穿插了传统舞蹈节目以及来自中国大陆各地的少数民族歌舞团的表演。

impoverished /ɪmˈpɒv.ər.ɪʃt/ 表示“赤贫的；不名一文的”，英文解释为“very poor; without money”如：impoverished peasants 贫困的农民，impoverished counties 贫困县。

1）作名词，表示“大肆的宣传广告；炒作”，英文解释为“Hype is the use of a lot of publicity and advertising to make people interested in something such as a product.”举个🌰：We are certainly seeing a lot of hype by some companies. 我们的确看到一些公司天花乱坠的广告宣传。

2）作动词，等同于“hype up”，表示“大肆宣传”，英文解释为“To hype a product means to advertise or praise it a lot.”举个🌰：The media seems obsessed with hyping up individuals or groups. 传媒界似乎热衷于对某些个人或团体进行大肆炒作。

📍2020年8月《经济学人》（The Economist）一篇讲述卡车业文章的标题就叫：The trucking industry is in the midst of upheaval—and hype 卡车运输业正在经历剧变，以及炒作。

intersperse /ˌɪn.təˈspɜːs/ 表示“点缀，散布”，英文解释为“If you intersperse one group of things with another or among another, you put or include the second things between or among the first things.”，举个🌰：Originally the intention was to intersperse the historical scenes with modern ones. 原本是想用现代场景点缀历史场景。

📍通常用法：be interspersed with sth 大量点缀着某物，大量散布着某物；intersperse sth with sth 在某物（如演讲、文章、电影等）中夹杂（穿插）某物

troupe /truːp/ 表示“（演员、歌手等的）班子，表演团，剧团”，英文解释为“a group of actors, singers, etc. who work together”举个🌰：She joined a dance troupe and travelled all over the world. 她参加了一个巡回舞蹈团，足迹遍布世界。

A parallel dynamic has played out several hours away in another Guizhou village, where the local soccer league, dubbed the “Village Super League” after the country's professional China Super League, has attracted a similar wave of nationwide curiosity. A local form of bullfighting, too, has also grabbed some of the spotlight.

类似的赛事也发生在几小时车程之外的另一个贵州村庄，当地的足球联赛也同样吸引了全国范围内的一波关注，该赛事被称为“乡村超级联赛”，这一名称是模仿职业赛事中超联赛(China Super League)而来。当地一种斗牛比赛也吸引了部分眼球。

1）表示“把…称为”，英文解释为“If someone or something is dubbed a particular thing, they are given that description or name.”举个🌰：Today's session has been widely dubbed as a "LearnAndRecord"meeting. 今天的会议被大众称为“LearnAndRecord”的会议。

2）表示“为（影片或声道等）配音”，英文解释为“If a film or soundtrack in a foreign language is dubbed, a new soundtrack is added with actors giving a translation.”举个🌰：It was dubbed into Spanish for Mexican audiences. 它已为墨西哥观众配成西班牙语了。

bullfighting /ˈbʊlˌfaɪ.tɪŋ/ 表示“斗牛”，英文解释为“the activity of fighting and sometimes killing a bull in a bullfight (= a form of public entertainment)”

One local boy, a 6-foot student in a Kobe Bryant T-shirt, was taking in either his seventh or eighth year of “Cun-BA” action, and played a few games too, winning two matches before being eliminated a week earlier. “What's great is that anyone can sign up to play,” he said.

一个当地男生今年是第七或第八年参加“村BA”活动，他身高6英尺（约183厘米）、身穿科比·布莱恩特(Kobe Bryant)T恤衫。他也打了几场比赛，赢了两场球后在一周前被淘汰。他说：“这里热闹就是因为任何人都可以报名参加比赛。”

1）表示“排除；消除；清除”，英文解释为“to remove or take away someone or something”举个🌰：A move towards healthy eating could help eliminate heart disease. 养成健康的饮食习惯有助于消除心脏病诱因。

2）表示“（比赛中）淘汰”，英文解释为“to defeat someone so that they cannot continue in a competition”举个🌰：He was eliminated in the third round of the competition. 他在第3轮比赛中被淘汰。

Though the 20-year-old, who only gave his surname, Yang, was quick to acknowledge his love for the NBA, he was quick to emphasize: “Personally, I think the ‘Cun-BA' is better.”

尽管这位只透露自己姓杨的20岁球员很快就承认他热爱NBA，但他马上又强调：“就我个人而言，我认为‘村BA'更好。”

 “The NBA's too far away,” he added.

他补充说：“NBA离我们太远了。”

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