THOMAS: So Jeanne – have you thought of any ideas for the discussion session next week on technology and sport?

托马斯：那么珍妮，关于下周科技和体育的讨论会你有什么想法？

JEANNE: We have to cover more than one sport, don't we?

珍妮：我们必须讨论不止一项运动，不是吗？

THOMAS: Yeah.

托马斯：是的。

JEANNE: You know – we always think technology is about the future, but we could gather some ideas about past developments in sport.

珍妮：你知道，我们总是认为技术是关于未来的，但是我们可以一起想想体育之前的发展。

THOMAS: Look at early types of equipment perhaps?

托马斯：也许可以看看早期的运动装备吧？

Uh, I remember reading something about table tennis bats once – how they ended up being covered with pimpled rubber.

嗯，我记得曾经读过一篇关于乒乓球拍的文章，介绍乒乓球拍如何最终变成在两侧都粘上了橡胶，摸起来像有小颗粒。

JEANNE: Cos they were just wooden at first, I'd imagine.

珍妮：我想最早的球拍就是木头的。

THOMAS: Yeah. In about the 1920s, a factory was making rolls of the rubber in bulk for something like horse harnesses.

托马斯：是的。大约在20世纪20年代，有一家工厂批量生产一卷又一卷的橡胶，用于马具之类的产品。

JEANNE: Really!

珍妮：真的吗？

THOMAS: Yeah – and someone realised that it'd make a perfect covering for the wooden bats.

托马斯：是的，有人意识到橡胶是用来缠绕木制球拍的最好的材料。

JEANNE: So what about cricket – that's had a few innovative changes.

珍妮：那么板球呢？它有一些创新性的变化。

Maybe the pads they wear on their legs?

也许是他们腿上的护具？

THOMAS: I don't think they've changed much but, I'm just looking on the internet … and it says that when the first cricket helmet came in, in 1978, the Australian batsman who first wore it was booed and jeered by people watching because it was so ugly!

托马斯：我觉得他们没什么变化，但我也只是在网上看看……上面说，1978年，当第一顶板球头盔问世时，第一次戴上它的澳大利亚击球手受到观众的嘘声和嘲笑，因为它太难看了！

JEANNE: Wow, players have to protect themselves from getting hurt!

珍妮：哇，运动员必须保护自己不受伤害。

I mean everyone wears one now.

我是说现在每个人都穿了。

THOMAS: Mm, unlike the cycle helmet.

托马斯：嗯，不像自行车头盔，有人戴有人不戴。

JEANNE: Well, unless you're a professional, but you're right, many ordinary bikers don't wear a helmet.

珍妮：嗯，除非是专业人士才戴。但你是对的，很多骑车的普通人都不戴头盔。

THOMAS: Hey, look at these pictures of original helmet designs.

托马斯：嘿，看看这些原始头盔设计的照片。

This one looks like an upside-down bowl!

这个看起来像一个倒过来的碗！

JEANNE: Yet, the woman's laughing – she's so proud to be wearing it!

珍妮：不过这个女人在笑，戴着它她太骄傲了！

THOMAS: It says serious cyclists ended up with wet hair from all the hard exercise.

托马斯：上面说，优秀的自行车运动员经过艰苦的锻炼，头发都湿透了。

JEANNE: I guess that's why they have large air vents in them now so that the skin can breathe more easily.

珍妮：我想这就是为什么现在的头盔上有很大的通风口，这样皮肤可以更容易呼吸。

THOMAS: OK, so we've done helmets.

托马斯：好的，头盔也说完了。

What about golf balls or better still golf clubs – they've changed a lot.

再说高尔夫球或者品质更高的高尔夫球杆呢？它们已经改变了很多。

JEANNE: Yeah – I remember my great grandfather telling me that because a club was made entirely of wood, it would easily break and players had to get another.

珍妮：是的。我记得我的曾祖父告诉我，因为一根球杆全是木头做的，所以很容易折断，球员们必须换一根。

THOMAS: There's no wood at all in them now, is there?

托马斯：现在里面根本没有木头了，是吗？

JEANNE: No – they're much more powerful.

珍妮：没有了，它们变得更加坚固。

THOMAS: The same must be true of hockey sticks.

托马斯：曲棍球的球棍也是如此。

JEANNE: I don't think so because players still use wooden sticks today.

珍妮：我不这么认为，因为球员们今天仍然使用木制球棍。

What it does say here, though, is that when the game started you had to produce a stick yourself.

不过，它在这里说的是，当比赛开始时，球员必须自己制作一根球棍。

THOMAS: I guess they just weren't being manufactured.

托马斯：我猜在那时球棍还没有被大规模生产出来。

So, one more perhaps. What about football?

所以，也许还有一个。足球怎么样？

JEANNE: Well, I know the first balls were made of animal skin.

珍妮：嗯，我知道最早的球是用动物皮做的。

THOMAS: Yeah, they covered them with pieces of leather that were stitched together, but … the balls let in water when it rained.

托马斯：是的，球的表面是缝在一起的皮革，但是下雨时球会进水。

JEANNE: Oh, that would have made them much heavier.

珍妮：哦，那会让它们更重。

THOMAS: That's right. You can imagine the damage to players' necks when the ball was headed.

托马斯：没错。你可以想象头球时足球对球员脖子的伤害。

JEANNE: How painful that must have been!

珍妮：那一定很痛苦！

THOMAS: Yeah, well, I think we can put together some useful ideas …

托马斯：是的，嗯，我想我们可以总结一些有用的想法……