Some runners, sounding disappointed, said they would seek out greater danger in coming days as the widely popular, centuries-old San Fermin3 festival serves up six more runs this week.

　　“ It was a bit timid, to be honest. Nowhere near as scary as in the books, ”said Johnny, 26, from New Zealand, here for the first time after reading about San Fermin on a website.

　　“Tomorrow we are going to try and run a bit closer to the bulls and get a bit more adrenaline, ”added his friend, Richard, 26 , cradling the day’s first beer.

　　The streets were slightly slick with morning dew as six fighting bulls and six steers dashed from a corral along the 900 -yard course through the city’s old quarter to the bull ring.

　　At two sharp turns, several bulls slipped and went down with a heavy thud, and two bulls were separated from the pack. And a minor pileup of fallen runners formed at the tunnel leading into the bullring. Bulls jumped or stepped over the runners.

　　Thousands of people watching in the street and from balconies shouted as the bulls rumbled through the city’s old quarter, taking just over two and a half minutes to cover course.

　　No one was gored, although four people who were trampled were hospitalized for treatment of head, chest, rib or leg injuries. None was seriously hurt.

　　The steers are meant to keep the bulls more or less in a cluster — a spooked, isolated bull is very dangerous

　　The fiesta 4, famed for its all-night street parties, dates back to the late 16 th century but gained world fame from Ernest Hemingway5’s novel The Sun Also Rises. Tens of thousands from all over the world have been pouring into Pamplona for the annual festival ever since .

　　閱讀自測(cè)

　　Ⅰ. Find the words in the pass age with meaning similar to the following phrases :

　　1. happening every year ( )

　　2. causing fear and alarm ( )

　　3. move suddenly and quickly; rush ( )

　　4. travel a certain distance ( )

　　5. ( cause people or things to) come or go in a continuous stream ( )

　　Ⅱ. Are the se sta tements True o r Fa lse a ccording to the ar ticle ?

　　1. On the first day of Pamplona’s annual runs with bulls, no one was serious hurt.

　　2. A lot of runners were gored by bulls.

　　3. It only took the bulls two minutes to cover the 900-yard course .

　　4. The annual San Fermin festival attracts thousands of people all over the world to Pamplona. 5. The fiesta gained world fame in the late 16 th century.

　　參考答案

　　Ⅰ. 1. annual 2. scary 3. dash 4. cover 5 . pour

　　Ⅱ. 1. T 2. F 3 . F 4 . T 5 . F

　　參考譯文

　　我為奔牛狂 在 鵝卵石鋪成的街道上, 人牛混雜, 跌爬滾打。潘普洛納一年一度的奔牛節(jié)拉開(kāi)了帷 幕, 第一天就有數(shù)以萬(wàn)計(jì)的冒險(xiǎn)家與重達(dá)半噸的公牛比賽沖刺, 所幸基本沒(méi)有人員傷亡。 一些參加了奔牛的人略帶失望地表示, 他們希望在未來(lái)幾天里能體驗(yàn)到更多驚險(xiǎn)。這 個(gè)廣受歡迎、歷史悠久的圣· 佛爾明節(jié)在一周內(nèi)還將舉行六輪奔牛。

　　來(lái)自新西蘭的26 歲青年約翰尼說(shuō):“ 老實(shí)說(shuō)這只是有一點(diǎn)嚇人, 但根本不能和書(shū)上驚 036 心 動(dòng)魄的描寫(xiě)相提并論。”他是在網(wǎng)上了解了圣· 佛爾明節(jié)后第一次來(lái)這里參加奔牛的。 約翰尼的朋友——— 26 歲的理查德手捧當(dāng)天的第一杯啤酒補(bǔ)充說(shuō):“ 明天我們會(huì)跑得離 公牛更近一點(diǎn)兒, 尋找更多的刺激。” 沾有晨露的路面有些濕滑。六頭大公牛和六頭小公牛沖出牛欄, 沿著從舊城區(qū)到斗牛 場(chǎng)的900 碼跑道狂奔不止。 在兩個(gè)急轉(zhuǎn)彎處, 幾頭公牛滑倒并

　　在兩個(gè)急轉(zhuǎn)彎處, 幾頭公牛滑倒并重重地跌在地上, 有兩頭公牛掉了隊(duì); 與此同時(shí), 在 通向斗牛場(chǎng)的巷道里, 奔跑中跌倒的人們又造成了一點(diǎn)小混亂。公牛或躍過(guò)人堆, 或直接 踩踏而過(guò)。 當(dāng)這群公牛穿過(guò)舊城區(qū)時(shí), 街道上和陽(yáng)臺(tái)上數(shù)以萬(wàn)計(jì)的觀眾都?xì)g呼大叫。公牛跑完全 程只用了兩分半鐘多一點(diǎn)。 整個(gè)奔牛過(guò)程中沒(méi)有人被牛頂傷, 只有四個(gè)人被牛踩傷。他們已住院接受頭部、胸部、 肋骨和腿部等傷處的治療, 但傷勢(shì)都不嚴(yán)重。 奔牛時(shí)放逐一些小公牛是為了盡可能使大公牛聚集成群, 那些因?yàn)槭荏@而離群的公牛 是相當(dāng)危險(xiǎn)的。 圣· 佛爾明節(jié)以徹夜街頭狂歡而聞名。這個(gè)慶典的歷史可以追溯到16 世紀(jì)末, 但真 正使其聲名大噪的是厄內(nèi)斯特· 海明威的小說(shuō)《太陽(yáng)照樣升起》。從那以后, 每年都會(huì)有 數(shù)以萬(wàn)計(jì)的游客從世界各地云集潘普洛納, 參加一年一度的慶典。