今日導讀

相信你早就知道香港有個賽馬會，可是你聽說過香港的鄰居澳門原本有個賽狗會嗎？其實，對于澳門人來說，賽狗這項活動歷史悠久，是澳門人的集體回憶。但是隨著賽狗活動的式微，加上土地資源不足，澳門政府早在 2016 年就要求逸園賽狗股份有限公司（賽狗會）兩年內(nèi)停辦或搬遷。逸園賽狗會今年確認關閉這個賽場，這意味著，這個有著八十多年歷史的賽狗場將成為歷史?？稍抉Y騁賽場的狗狗該怎么辦呢？今天，就讓我們跟著 Daniel 老師一起來看看《經(jīng)濟學人》的相關報道。

帶著問題聽講解

Q1: 唐小姐來到逸園賽狗場看到了怎樣的場景？

Q2: 賽狗場屬于哪一大家族？

Q3: 賽狗場的老板是誰？她的另一個身份是什么？

新聞正文

Asia's last dog-racing track has closed

亞洲最后的賽狗跑道關閉

The kennels reeked of excrement. The dogs inside looked weak. Many were suffering from visible injuries. Such was the scene that greeted Zoe Tang at the Canidrome, a greyhound-racing stadium in Macau, an autonomous region of China, on the morning of July 21st.

狗窩散發(fā)著糞便的惡臭。窩里的狗狗們形容憔悴。許多狗狗身上有肉眼可見的傷口，備受折磨。這就是佐伊唐在 7 月 21 日來到逸園賽狗場時，映入她眼簾的一幕。逸園賽狗場是澳門一片格力犬競賽場地，澳門則是中國的特別行政區(qū)。

The evening before, its billionaire boss had left behind all 533 race dogs owing to the expiry of the venue’s operating concession, forcing the authorities to step in to mind them. Since then Ms Tang, who works for Anima, a local animal-welfare organisation, has been recruiting volunteers to help feed, walk and bathe the forsaken canines. Hundreds of people have turned up daily, far more than had been betting on the races.

前一晚，身價數(shù)十億的賽狗場老板因為賽場的經(jīng)營許可到期，拋棄了 533 只賽犬。政府部門不得不介入來照顧這些狗狗。從那時起，為澳門當?shù)氐膭游锔＠麢C構 Anima 工作的唐小姐，就一直在招募志愿者，幫忙喂養(yǎng)這些被遺棄的犬只，并帶它們遛彎，給它們洗澡。每天都有數(shù)百人前來，這個人數(shù)遠遠超過參與賽狗博彩的人數(shù)。

The Canidrome is one of the last vestiges of a grittier, seedier Macau. The greyhound track opened in 1963 (after a false start in the 1930s), when Macau was a Portuguese colony, and drew crowds of day-trippers from Hong Kong. Owned by the family of Stanley Ho, who once enjoyed a stranglehold on local gambling concessions, it was the last place in Asia where punters could wager legally on dog racing. But in the new Macau, with its glitzy casinos, it had lost its lustre. Attendance dwindled to just dozens a day.?

逸園賽狗場是一個更頑固，更骯臟的澳門的殘余之一。格力犬的賽道在 1963 年開放，（曾在 30 年代開放后又關閉），當時澳門還是葡萄牙的殖民地，賽狗跑道吸引了大量來自香港的一日游旅客。賽狗場屬于何鴻燊家族，何家曾經(jīng)壟斷了當?shù)夭┎蕵I(yè)的經(jīng)營權，這片場地是亞洲最后一個可以供賭徒合法進行賽狗博彩的地方。但在有著奢靡賭場的新澳門，賽狗場失去了它的光彩，觀看人數(shù)逐漸減少到數(shù)十人一天。

Animal-rights groups had urged the track be closed. They alleged that greyhounds were put down if they failed repeatedly to win races. In 2011 the head of Macau’s animal-control division said that 30 dogs a month were being killed. Angela Leong, wife of Mr Ho, boss of the Canidrome and an elected lawmaker, denied any cruelty. She said her charges were the “happiest dogs in the world”.

動物權利組織曾強烈要求賽道關閉。他們指控說，如果格力犬屢嘗敗績，它們就會被殺死。2011 年澳門動物管控部門的負責人說，每個月有 30 只狗被殺害。何鴻燊的妻子梁安琪是逸園賽狗場的老板兼澳門立法會議員，否認任何殘忍行徑的存在。她說她的賽狗們是“全世界最幸福的狗”。

—————? 文章來源 / 經(jīng)濟學人

重點詞匯

kennel/?kenl/

n. 狗窩

reek/ri?k/

v. 發(fā)臭

excrement/?ekskr?m?nt/

n. 排泄物

leave behind

拋開，拋棄

e.g.

The boat sailed away, leaving the coast behind.

You must leave all that behind you and start afresh.

concession/k?n?se?n/

n. （尤指由政府或雇主給予的）特許權

forsake/f?r?se?k/

v. 放棄；舍棄

canine/?ke?na?n/

n. 犬

vestige /?vest?d?/

n. 遺跡；痕跡

e.g.

the vestige of the ancient civilization

There is not a vestige of truth in this rumor.

gritty/?ɡr?ti/

adj. 堅韌不拔的；頑固的

seedy/?si?di/

adj. 破爛的；粗鄙的

track/tr?k/

n. 軌道；跑道

stranglehold/?str??ɡlho?ld/

n. 束縛；控制；壟斷

punter/?p?nt?r/

n. 賭徒

glitzy/?ɡl?tsi/

adj. 浮華的；耀眼的

e.g.

glitzy hotels in Las Vegas

lustre/?l?st?r/

n. 光澤

e.g.

The soul is placed in the body like a rough diamond, and must be polished, or the lustre of it will never appear.

dwindle/?dw?ndl/

v. 減少；變小

charge/t?ɑ?rd?/

n. 掌管；負責