Part Four: Monologue
Carl’s Note:
Extreme sports are very new in America. They usually come from people trying the craziest things. Bungee jumping is a good example. Someone tied a bungee cord to himself one day and jumped off of a very tall bridge. Bungee cords stretch a lot, so the person lived, but he took a big risk to find out if his idea would work. Another extreme sport is snowboarding. A skier decided to stand sideways on one piece of wood to get down the mountain instead of using two skis. People like these dangerous sports because they are exciting. They often do them for “the rush” they get. The first extreme sport might have been mountaineering, or mountain climbing. Sir Edmund Hillary, the first man to climb Mt. Everest, gave another reason for doing something so dangerous. When asked why he climbed the world’s tallest mountain, he replied, “Because it was there.”
卡爾的話：
極限運(yùn)動(dòng)在美國(guó)還很新鮮。通常是喜歡嘗試刺激的人參加極限運(yùn)動(dòng)。蹦極跳就是一個(gè)很好的例子。某天某人用橡皮筋套住自己，然后從一個(gè)很高的橋上跳下。橡皮筋有很好的伸張力，所以這個(gè)人不會(huì)有生命危險(xiǎn)，但是要證實(shí)自己的想法是否管用還是具有很大的冒險(xiǎn)性。另外一個(gè)極限運(yùn)動(dòng)的例子則是滑雪。一位滑雪者決定使用其中一塊木板，側(cè)面站在這塊木板上滑下山坡而不是使用兩塊滑板。人們之所以喜歡這種危險(xiǎn)的運(yùn)動(dòng)是因?yàn)檫@些運(yùn)動(dòng)夠刺激。往往就是為了那一股“沖勁”。最早的極限運(yùn)動(dòng)可能就是登山，或者叫做登山運(yùn)動(dòng)。艾得蒙•希拉里爵士是第一個(gè)爬上珠穆朗瑪峰的人，他道出了之所以從事這些危險(xiǎn)舉動(dòng)的另一個(gè)原因。當(dāng)問(wèn)到他為什么會(huì)選擇攀爬世界第一高峰的時(shí)候，他回答：因?yàn)樗谀抢铩?/P>

Part Five: Vocabulary and Phrases
--extreme 極端的，極度的
--rappel 用繩索（垂直）下降
--climb (n. & v.) 爬，攀登；登上
--exhilarating 令人振奮的；使人高興的
--terrifying令人害怕地；驚人地
--plummet 筆直落下
--waterfall 瀑布
--nature 自然；自然界
--wild
--scary 引起驚慌的
--get in touch with (something/somebody) 和某人保持聯(lián)系