23 A2+ only in America

CHAPTER 1 Sports and Recreation AMERICANS LOVE TO INVENT NEW WAYS TO HAVE FUN. WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT THESE ACTIVITIES? Do you like to surf? How about your dog? Dog surfing is getting popular in California. There are even dog surfing competitions! Dogs get two points for lying on the surfboard, three points for sitting, and five points for standing on four legs. There is also a competition for people surfing with their dogs, on the same surfboard. Others try to get lots of dogs on the same surfboard. The world record is 17 dogs surfing on one board! Many people go to these competitions because they want to do something fun with their dogs and meet other people who like dogs and surfing. And many of these competitions raise money for charities. So, everybody wins!

美国人喜欢发明新的娱乐方式。 你觉得这些活动怎么样？ 你喜欢冲浪吗？你的狗呢? 狗冲浪在加利福尼亚越来越流行。 甚至还有狗狗冲浪比赛！狗狗躺在冲浪板上得两分，坐着得三分，四条腿站立得五分。 还有一个比赛是让人们和他们的狗在同一个冲浪板上冲浪。 其他人则试图让很多狗在同一个冲浪板上。 世界纪录是17只狗在一块板上冲浪！许多人参加这些比赛是因为他们想和他们的狗一起做一些有趣的事情，并认识其他喜欢狗和冲浪的人。 其中许多比赛为慈善机构筹集资金。 所以，大家都赢了！

People around the world love golf. But some Americans play golf in the middle of a city! Golf is usually played on grass in the countryside. But one man, Brian Jerome Peterson, did not like seeing golf courses destroy the countryside. In 1992, he decided to play golf in his town. He used a tennis ball instead of a golf ball and things like streetlights, trucks, telephone poles, and mailboxes as the "holes." He called it urban golf. Today, people play urban golf in many towns and cities. Here are the rules: 1. Pick nine targets as "holes." 2. The ball must hit or go under big targets, and it must get near small targets, no more than one meter away. 3. Each time you hit the ball you get one point. A lost ball is three points. 4. The person with the fewest points wins.

全世界的人都喜欢高尔夫球。 但是有些美国人在城市中心打高尔夫球！高尔夫球通常在乡村的草地上进行。 但有一个人，布莱恩·杰罗姆·彼得森（Brian Jerome Peterson），不喜欢看到高尔夫球场毁掉乡村。 1992年，他决定在镇上打高尔夫球。 他用网球代替高尔夫球，用路灯、卡车、电线杆和邮箱等东西作为“洞”。 他称之为城市高尔夫。今天，人们在许多城镇打城市高尔夫球。 规则如下：选出九个目标作为“洞”。 2. 球必须击中或从大目标的下方飞过，并且必须接近小目标，距离不超过1米。 3. 你每次击球得一分。 丢球得三分。 4. 得分最少的人获胜。

Usually, people use a fishing pole to fish. But some Americans use only their hands to catch catfish. This is called grabbling. First, find warm water. Catfish lay their eggs in holes under water that is about 21C. And they like to stay close to their eggs. When you find a hole, put your hand in it and move your fingers. The catfish will think your fingers are food and will bite them. Now grab the catfish quickly with your hands and pull it out of the water. You may need a friend to help you— a catfish can weigh 40 kilograms! Grabbling is popular in the south of the USA. You can even watch it on TV!

通常，人们用鱼竿钓鱼。 但有些美国人只用手抓鲶鱼。 这就是所谓的抓取。首先，找到温水。 鲶鱼在大约21摄氏度的水下洞里产卵。 它们喜欢靠近自己的蛋。 当你发现一个洞，把你的手放在里面，移动你的手指。 鲶鱼会认为你的手指是食物，会咬它们。 现在用你的手迅速抓住鲶鱼，把它拉出水面。 你可能需要一个朋友帮助你——一条鲶鱼可以重达40公斤！抢夺在美国南部很流行。 你甚至可以在电视上看！

A fun competition for charity is the Redneck Games. "Redneck" started as a funny name for people who work outside all the time, like farmers. They were called this because their necks get red from working in the sun. Today, "redneck" usually describes people who don't really like things like art, museums, or reading serious books. They prefer to spend time outside playing games with friends and family. Here are some of the events at the Redneck Games: Redneck Horseshoes— throwing a toilet seat onto a short pole in the ground Watermelon Seed Spitting spitting watermelon seeds as far as you can Armpit Serenade— moving your hand under your arm to make sounds and "play a song"

一个有趣的慈善比赛是“乡巴佬运动会”。 “Redneck”一开始是对那些一直在外面工作的人的一个有趣的称呼，比如农民。 他们被这样称呼是因为他们的脖子会因为在太阳下工作而变红。 今天，“乡巴佬”通常用来形容那些不喜欢艺术、博物馆或阅读严肃书籍的人。 他们更喜欢花时间与朋友和家人在外面玩游戏。 “乡下人运动会”的项目有：“乡下人马蹄铁”——把马桶盖扔到地上的一根短杆子上；“西瓜籽”；“西瓜籽”；“腋窝小夜曲”——把手放在腋下发出声音，“演奏一首歌曲”

CHAPTER 2 Gadgets and Machines AMERICANS HAVE INVENTED MANY USEFUL THINGS -AND SOME THINGS THAT ARE JUST FUN! Most people like ice cream. But what happens in hot weather? You have to lick around the sides again and again because the ice cream drips down the cone. Well, not anymore! The motorized ice cream cone turns around and around and makes it easier for you to enjoy every little bit of ice cream! How about pasta? It's difficult to eat long pieces of pasta, right? You have to turn the pasta around your fork again and again. So try the motorized pasta fork. You put this special fork in your plate of pasta. The fork turns around and around and picks up the pasta. It does all the work for you!

美国人发明了许多有用的东西——有些只是好玩的东西！大多数人喜欢冰淇淋。 但是在炎热的天气会发生什么呢？ 你必须一遍又一遍地舔两边，因为冰淇淋会从蛋筒里滴下来。 现在不是了！电动冰淇淋筒不停地旋转，让你更容易享受每一点冰淇淋！意大利面怎么样？ 长条状的意大利面很难吃，对吧？ 你得把意大利面绕着叉子转一圈又一圈。 所以试试电动面食叉吧。 你把这个特殊的叉子放在你的意面盘里。 叉子一圈一圈地转着，拿起了意大利面。 它为你做了所有的工作！

Do you want to fly like a bird? Many people do. But maybe your pet bird doesn't want to fly anymore. Maybe it wants to drive! The motorized bird buggy is a little car for your bird. The bird "drives" the buggy with its beak. It just hits the joystick to move the buggy in any direction. And don't worry about your bird. It's safe. If the buggy goes on small rocks or somewhere that's dangerous or difficult, the buggy stops. So, your favorite pet bird can't run into something and get hurt. Of course, it could just fly away.

你想像鸟一样飞翔吗？ 很多人都这样。但也许你的宠物鸟不想再飞了。 也许它想开车！机动鸟车是你的鸟的小车。 鸟用它的喙“驾驶”马车。 它只需要敲击操纵杆就可以让小车朝任何方向移动。 别担心你的鸟。 它是安全的。如果马车上了小岩石或危险或困难的地方，马车就会停下来。 所以，你最喜欢的宠物鸟不会撞到什么东西而受伤。 当然，它也可能会飞走。