中国故事 42 Racing Horses 田忌赛马 | 传播传统文化（音频版）_中考英语考试技巧

42、Racing Horses

田忌赛马

从前，中原地区由许多诸侯国组成，这些诸侯国常年征战，所以军事能人对诸侯国十分重要。齐国有一位大将名叫田忌，他有一位好友叫孙膑。当时，赌马成为一时风尚，田忌十分喜爱赛马，但他不擅长下注。一天，田忌在赌马上又输光了所有的钱，孙膑建议，下次赌马可以带上他，田忌欣然同意。孙膑发现，马分为三等，每一等都有各自的比赛，要赌赢，必须在三场比赛中赢两场。孙膑能提出什么妙计呢？

Long ago, China was divided into kingdoms. The kingdoms were often at war, so good military leaders were important. One such leader was Tian Ji, a general in the State of Qi.

Tian Ji’s best friend was Sun Bin. Sun Bin had been a military official in the State of Wei. After he was unfairly fired from his job, he moved to the State of Qi. Sun Bin taught Tian Ji a lot about military strategy.

At that time, horse racing was the most popular entertainment for the rich. People bet money on the races. Tian Ji was a fan of horse racing, but he wasn’t very good at betting.

One day, Tian Ji again lost money at the races. He went home feeling sorry for himself. When Sun Bin saw how sad Tian Ji was, he said, “Take me with you next time. Maybe I can help you win!”

A week later, Tian Ji did just that. Sun Bin learned how the races worked very quickly. He saw that the horses were divided into three types according to speed. First-class horses were the fastest, and third-class horses were the slowest. Each type had their own race and people bet on each race. In order to win the overall bet, a person only needed to win two of the three races. Sun Bin also noticed that each type had a different saddle color. This was to tell the different horses apart. Soon, Sun Bin developed a strategy to help Tian Ji.

“Trust me,” he told Tian Ji. “I know exactly how you can win!”

Tian Ji got so excited he challenged the king to a race.

Tian Ji did everything that Sun Bin told him to do. For the first race, he put the first-class saddle on his third-class horse. The king’s first-class horse easily beat Tian Ji’s third-class horse

For the second race, Sun Bin told Tian Ji to put the second-class saddle on his first-class horse. And sure enough, Tian Ji won the second race. His first-class horse was better than the king’s second-class horse.

Finally, for the third race, Tian Ji used his second-class horse. Once again, he won. This time it was against the king’s third-class horse. The king was shocked. Tian Ji was the overall winner.

The king congratulated Tian Ji, but he was curious.

“Tian Ji, where did you get such good horses?” he asked.

“Your Majesty,” Tian Ji replied,” I did not win because I found great horses. I won because of the strategy I used. It was Sun Bin’s strategy, and it worked!”

“Really?” said the king. “What exactly was this strategy?”

Tian Ji told the king all about how he switched horses. He explained how Sun Bin knew that even when two opponents were unevenly matched, a strategy could be used to minimize losses. In this case, losing only once meant that Tian Ji was still the overall winner.

Hearing this, the king immediately made Sun Bin the military adviser for the whole army. Sun Bin’s strategies and Tian Ji’s leadership led the State of Qi to many military victories.

The End

Question:

How did people know what type a horse was?

1. Each type had different markings.

2. Each horse wore a different color ofsaddle, no two were alike.

3. Numbers one, two, or three were written on each saddle.

4. Each type had a different color ofsaddle.

核心词汇

general n. 将军，军事家，战术家，战略家

unfairly adv. 不公平地，不公正地; 不正当地

entertainment n. 娱乐节目; 娱乐，消遣; 招待，款待

bet v. 打赌，赌博，赌注

overall adj. 全部的; 全体的; 一切在内的; 综合的; 全面地; 总地; 总的说来

saddle n. 马鞍; 车座; 鞍形架，鞍状物; 脊肉

challenge v. 挑战; 质疑; 盘问; 怀疑; 向…挑战; 提出挑战，要求竞赛; 驳斥

switch v. 转换; 转变，改变

opponent n. 对手; 敌手; 反对者

unevenly adv. 不规则地; 不稳定地; 不平行地; 参差不齐地

minimize v. 把…减至最低数量[程度]; 对作最低估计，极力贬低的价值[重要性]

I did not win because I found great horses. 我不是因为发现了优良的骏马。本句含义为田忌在解释他获胜的原因，不是因为良马，而是因为谋略。

以下翻译来自百度翻译：

很久以前，中国被分成了几个王国。王国经常处于战争状态，因此优秀的军事领导人很重要。齐国将军田吉就是这样一位领袖。

田吉最好的朋友是孙斌。孙斌曾是魏国的一名军事官员。在他被不公平地解雇后，他搬到了齐国。孙斌教了田吉很多关于军事战略的知识。

当时，赛马是富人最受欢迎的娱乐活动。人们把钱押在赛马上。田吉是赛马迷，但他不太擅长赌博。

有一天，田吉在比赛中又输了钱。他回家为自己感到难过。当孙斌看到田吉如此伤心时，他说：“下次带我一起去，也许我能帮你赢！”

一周后，田吉就这样做了。孙斌很快就学会了比赛的运作方式。他看到马按速度分为三种。一等马跑得最快，三等马跑得最慢。每种类型都有自己的种族，人们在每种种族上下注。为了赢得全部赌注，一个人只需要赢得三场比赛中的两场。孙斌还注意到，每种类型的马鞍颜色都不同。这是为了区分不同的马。很快，孙斌制定了一个策略来帮助田吉。

“相信我，”他告诉田吉。“我知道你怎么能赢！”

田忌激动不已，向国王挑战比赛。

田吉做了孙斌让他做的一切。在第一场比赛中，他把一流的马鞍套在他的三等马上。国王的一等马轻而易举地击败了田吉的三等马。

在第二场比赛中，孙斌让田吉把二等鞍座放在他的一等马上。果然，田吉赢得了第二场比赛。他的一等马比国王的二等马好。

最后，在第三场比赛中，田吉使用了他的二等马。他又一次赢了。这次是对国王的三等马。国王大吃一惊。田吉是总冠军。

国王祝贺田吉，但他很好奇。

“田吉，你从哪里弄到这么好的马？”他问。

“陛下，”田吉回答，“我没有赢，因为我找到了好马。我之所以获胜是因为我使用的策略。这是孙斌的策略，而且奏效了！”

“真的吗？”国王说。“这个策略到底是什么？”

田吉告诉国王他是如何换马的。他解释了孙斌是如何知道，即使两个对手的比赛不均衡，也可以采用一种策略将损失降至最低。在这种情况下，只输一次就意味着田吉仍然是总冠军。

国王听了，立即任命孙斌为全军的军事顾问。孙斌的战略和田吉的领导使齐国取得了许多军事胜利。

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