BBC听英文｜Is gaming a sport?

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Hello and welcome to 6 Minute English. I’m Neil.

大家好，欢迎来到六分钟英语。我是尼尔。

Hello. I’m Catherine.

大家好。我是凯瑟琳。

And if I say to you, Catherine, fortnight, what do you think of?

如果我跟你说，fortnight，你会想到什么？

Well, that’s easy, Neil. A fortnight is a period of two weeks.

好的，那很简单，尼尔。一个"fortnight"就是两周的时间。

Well, fortnight, spelt f-o-r-t-n-i-g-h-t, is indeed a period of two weeks. But Fortnite, spelt F-o-r-t-n-i-t-e, is an online computer game that has become incredibly popular in a very short period of time.

好吧，拼写为f-o-r-t-n-i-g-h-t的"fortnight"，确实是两周的时间段。但是拼写为F-o-r-t-n-i-t-e的"Fortnite"，是在非常短的时间内变得非常流行的一款电脑网游。

As well as popular, it’s also very competitive. And you’re soon going to be able to make big money playing it. And you can even hire people to be your Fortnite coach.

在流行的同时，它也非常有竞争性。而且玩这个游戏，你能很快挣大钱。并且你可以雇人当你《堡垒之夜》的指导。

Well, before we hear a little more about this topic, it’s time for our quiz. These days we play computer games on our phones, we can hold them in our hands. In1950 Bertie the Brain was the name of one of the very first computer games. It played a simple game of noughts and crosses, also called tic-tac-toe. But how tall was this computer? Was it… a) one metre tall; b) about four metres tall or c) about ten metres tall?

好的，在我们听到更多主题内容之前，是我们测试问题的时间。现在我们在手机上玩电脑游戏，我们可以把它们拿在手里。在1950年Bertie the Brain是第一款电脑游戏的名字。它是简单画圈打叉游戏，也被叫做井字游戏。但是这个电脑有多高？ 是a) 1米高; b) 大约4米高 还是 c) 大约10米高 ？

Well, if it was the 1950s, computers were huge, so I’m going to go for ten metres.

好吧，如果那是在20世纪50年代，电脑是巨大的，所以我会说是10米。

OK. Well, we’ll find out if you’re right at the end of the programme. eSports or computer games competitions are now a thing. In some markets they are huge and they are even discussing including them in the Olympic Games. Kyle Jackson is a 13-year-old gamer who’s been asked to join a team. How long does he say he’s been playing video games?

好的。好吧，我们将会在节目最后揭晓你是否正确。电子竞技或者电脑游戏比赛现在是一种潮流。在一些市场，它们影响巨大并且甚至有讨论说将它们加入奥运比赛中。凯尔•杰克逊是一个13岁的玩家，他受邀加入一支队伍。他说他玩电子游戏多长时间？

I’ve played video games all my life, basically. I started playing competitively when I was around nine or ten. I got into like Halo, Call of Duty, games like that. And I just… I realised that I could probably like go to a pro (professional) level, if I keep playing at the level I am.

基本上我一辈子都在玩电子游戏。我开始竞争性地玩是在我大约九、十岁的时候。我喜欢过《光环》、《使命召唤》那类的游戏。我只是……意识到如果以按我现在的水平来玩，我或许可以是职业玩家级别。

He said that he’s been playing computer games all his life. Now that might be a little exaggeration.But he’s probably been playing them ever since he can remember. When he was nine or ten he started playing competitively, which means he started playing in competitions against other people.

他说他一辈子都在玩电脑游戏。现在来看那或许有一点夸大。但是他或许从他记事起就一直玩电脑游戏。在他九岁或者十岁的时候就开始竞争性地玩，那指的是他开始和别人打比赛。

He talks about a number of games that he got into. This is a good expression. If you are into something, you are very interested in it. And "to get into something" describes the process of becoming interested in that thing.

他谈到了许多他感兴趣过的游戏。这是一个不错的表达。如果你into sth，你就是对它非常感兴趣。而且"to get into something"描述的是对某事变得感兴趣的过程。

In Kyle’s case, it was computer games and he got so good that he’s thinking about playing at a professional level. Doing something as a professional means that it’s more than a hobby or pastime. It’s something someone pays you to do, because you are really good at it.

在凯尔的例子里，感兴趣的是电脑游戏，而且他变得如此擅长以至于他在考虑以职业玩家级别玩。作为一个专业人员做某事指的是不仅仅是爱好或者是消遣。它是别人付钱让你做的事，因为你十分擅长。

George Yao is a former gaming champion who is now Director of Media of Team Secret. Team Secret are like a regular sports team. They have a group of players who play matches and competitions against other teams. Except these are not regular sports. These are eSports and they are big business. Here’s George Yao.

乔治•姚是前竞技冠军，现在是秘密战队的指导。秘密战队就像一支普通的体育队。他们有一群队员，队员们会和其他队伍比赛竞争。它又不是一支普通队伍。它们是电子竞技，是大买卖。这里是乔治•姚谈到的。

It’s becoming a multi-billion-dollar industry: just games, production of games, publishing of games and the eSports scene. So it’s not just one thing, now it’s a whole industry.

它成为几十亿美元的产业：有游戏，游戏制作，游戏发布以及电竞圈。所以它不仅仅是一种事物，现在它是整个产业。

So George Yao says that online gaming is becoming a multi-billion-dollar industry. We usually think of industry as factories and manufacturing. But it can also apply to other areas as well that involve a lot of different elements that come together to make a business.

所以乔治•姚说网游变成几十亿美元的产业。我们通常认为产业是工厂和制造业。但是它同样可以应用于涉及其它领域，那些领域涉及许多不同成分，它们组合在一起形成的业务。

Different elements that he mentions as part of this industry, are creating games, publishing games and the eSports scene. The word "scene" here refers to the world of eSports: the events, the competitions and the players. And many people want to be part of that scene. Right, now, let’s get the answer to our quiz question about the size of that 1950s computer game. Was it… a) one metre tall; b) four metres tall or c) ten metres tall? What did you say, Catherine?

他提到的不同成分是这个产业的一部分,它们造就了游戏的制作，发布以及电竞圈。在这里"scene"这个词指的是电子竞技的世界：游戏活动，竞技以及玩家。而且许多人想要成为那个圈子的一部分。好的，现在，让我们揭晓关于20世纪50年代电脑游戏大小的测试问题的答案。是a) 1米; b) 4米 或者 c) 10米 ？你说是什么，凯瑟琳？

I went for ten metres, Neil.

我说是10米，尼尔。

Well, unfortunately it was four metres.

好吧，很不幸它是4米。

Still quite big though, imagine you couldn’t get those in your pocket, could you?

尽管那样仍十分巨大。想象一下你不可以把它放进你的口袋里，不是吗？

I’d rather not! But I would like to review today’s vocabulary.

我情愿不放。但是我想要回顾一下今天的词汇。

We started off with the word for a period of two weeks - a fortnight. But with a different spelling, Fortnite is also a very popular video game.

我们从两周时间段的单词开始——a fortnight。但是不同的拼写方式，Fortnite同样是一款非常流行的电子游戏。

Multi-player video game competitions, which people pay to go and watch, are known as eSports. Playing against other people is playing competitively. Do you like to play multi-player video games, Catherine?

多玩家电子游戏比赛是人们花钱参加以及观看，它以电子竞技出名。和别人打比赛就是竞争性地玩。你喜欢玩多玩家的电子游戏吗，凯瑟琳？

I’ve never really got into them even though I’ve tried one or two. And that was one of our other expressions, to get into something – to become really interested in something.

即使我尝试过一两个游戏，我也从来没有对它们感兴趣过。而且那是我们其它表达中的一个，to get into something――对某事真的感兴趣。

Same here, I enjoy playing a little bit, but I could never be a professional. I couldn’t get paid to do it as a job.

我也一样，我有点喜欢玩，但是我永远不会成为职业玩家。不会有人花钱让我把那当做一份工作。

Of course not, you’re already a professional broadcaster, Neil. An area of business that is made up of different parts can be described as an industry. The video game industry is a multi-billion-dollar business. And we also talk about, for example, the fashion industry and the movie industry.

当然不会，你早已经是一个职业广播员，尼尔。一个由不同成分组成的领域内的生意可以形容为产业。电子游戏产业是一个几十亿美元的生意。而且我们同样会谈到，例如，时尚产业和电影产业。

And finally there was the word scene. This noun is used to describe the world of a particular activity.

最后是"scene"这个单词。这个名词用来描述特定活动的世界。

So the eSport scene, for example, is the world of eSports. The games, the teams, the competitions, the audiences. It’s all part of the scene.

所以例如电子竞技圈就是电子竞技的世界。游戏，队伍，竞赛，观众是这个圈子里的所有部分。

Well, that’s all from the 6 Minute English scene today. Thanks for joining us and goodbye.

好的，以上是今天六分钟英语圈的内容。感谢你的参与，再见。

Goodbye!

再见！

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