I can, Neil. I learned to swim as a child and now I enjoy swimming for exercise and to relax.
我可以，尼尔。我从小就学会了游泳，现在我喜欢游泳来锻炼和放松。
Neil(尼尔)
In the summer hundreds of keen swimmers, like Georgina, head off to swimming pools, lakes and beaches to take a dip – an informal idiom meaning ‘go for a swim’.
Swimming has many health benefits and since ancient times has been used to promote strength and wellbeing.
游泳对健康有很多好处，自古以来就被用来促进力量和健康。
Neil(尼尔)
But swimming’s not just about exercise – there’s far more to it beneath the surface as we’ll be finding out in this programme on the history of swimming.
但游泳不仅仅是锻炼 —— 在表面之下还有更多的东西，我们将在这个关于游泳历史的节目中发现。
Georgina(乔治娜)
Although evidence suggests that ancient Mediterranean people dived eagerly into temple pleasure pools, lakes and the sea, other cultures have swum against the tide – another swimming idiom there, Neil - meaning ‘not to follow what everyone else is doing’.
Someone who did enjoy swimming was the poet, Lord Byron. He wrote poems popularising the sport and in 1810 swam the Hellespont, a stretch of water separating Europe from Asia. But in which modern country can the Hellespont be found - that’s my quiz question, Georgina. Is it: a) Greece? b) Cyprus? or c) Turkey?
I think Lord Byron visited Istanbul, so I’ll say c) Turkey.
我认为拜伦勋爵访问了伊斯坦布尔，所以我会说 c） 土耳其。
Neil(尼尔)
OK, we’ll find out the answer at the end of the programme. For all its good points, swimming seems to have lost its appeal in Europe after the decline of the Roman Empire.
好的，我们会在节目结束时找到答案。尽管有其优点，但在罗马帝国衰落后，游泳似乎在欧洲失去了吸引力。
Georgina(乔治娜)
According to historian and swimming enthusiast, Professor Kevin Dawson, the rise of Christian beliefs discouraged swimming, as he explains here to BBC World Service programme, The Forum:
You have some beliefs that water is this unsafe space, unnatural space for human beings… it’s a perpetuation of the chaos that existed before God created land, or that water is a mechanism for punishment like the Great Flood story or pharaoh’s army being destroyed in the Red Sea… but then there’s also beliefs that swimming is immodest… most people at the time swam nude and so church officials discouraged swimming because they felt that it lead to immodest behaviour.
As well as being considered unsafe or chaotic, swimming was seen as immodest – shocking because it shows too much of the body.
除了被认为是不安全或混乱之外，游泳还被认为是不谦虚的 —— 令人震惊，因为它展示了太多的身体。
Georgina(乔治娜)
This was because most people at the time swam nude – naked, without clothes.
这是因为当时大多数人都是裸体游泳 —— 赤身裸体，不穿衣服。
Neil(尼尔)
Another place with a long history of swimming is the remote Maldives Islands in the Indian Ocean.
另一个有着悠久游泳历史的地方是印度洋偏远的马尔代夫群岛。
Georgina(乔治娜)
In the Maldives access to shallow, warm sea-water lakes called lagoons makes it an unbeatable place for swimming.
在马尔代夫，进入浅水温暖的海水湖泊，称为泻湖，使其成为无与伦比的游泳场所。
Neil(尼尔)
But even on a tropical island, things haven’t always gone swimmingly as diver and Maldives resident, Mikael Rosen, told BBC World Service programme, The Forum:
Listen for the reason Mikael gives for the change in people’s attitudes to swimming in the Maldives:
听听米凯尔对人们在马尔代夫游泳态度变化的原因：
Mikael Rosen(米凯尔·罗森)
Most citizens of the Maldives have half a mile to a lukewarm lagoon. Given that, they could be world leaders in swimming, but in the 1960s the government recruited a lot of teachers from India, Sri Lanka. They didn’t know anything about the water culture and they noticed that the young students playing hooky – they were in the lagoons, and swimming soon got frowned upon, but now the government and the local organisations – they try to reclaim swimming.
Yes, he said that young students were playing hooky to go swimming in the lagoons. Play hooky is an informal way of saying ‘stay away from school without permission’.
是的，他说年轻学生在泻湖里游泳。玩钩子是一种非正式的说法，即“未经许可远离学校”。
Georgina(乔治娜)
Right, and that meant swimming quickly got frowned upon, or disapproved of.
是的，这意味着游泳很快就会被人反对或不赞成。
Neil(尼尔)
It seems a bit unfair since there was already a strong culture of swimming in the Maldives which the arriving teachers didn’t fully appreciate.
这似乎有点不公平，因为马尔代夫已经有很强的游泳文化，而到达的老师们并没有完全欣赏。
Georgina(乔治娜)
Well, I know which I’d rather do – sit in a classroom or swim in a warm tropical lagoon!
好吧，我知道我宁愿做什么 —— 坐在教室里还是在温暖的热带泻湖里游泳！
Neil(尼尔)
Swimming, right? But then you would never have learned about Lord Byron…
游泳，对吧？但那样的话，你永远不会知道拜伦勋爵......
Georgina(乔治娜)
Yes, in your quiz question you asked me about Lord Byron swimming the Hellespont, a stretch of water separating Europe from Asia.
Someone who swims against the tide refuses to do what everyone else is doing.
逆流而上的人拒绝做其他人正在做的事情。
Georgina(乔治娜)
In the past, swimming was considered immodest - shocking because it showed too much of the body.
在过去，游泳被认为是不谦虚的 - 令人震惊，因为它展示了太多的身体。
Neil(尼尔)
Another word for naked or not wearing any clothes is nude.
裸体或不穿衣服的另一个词是裸体。
Georgina(乔治娜)
Children who play hooky stay away from school without permission.
玩钩子的孩子未经许可就远离学校。
Neil(尼尔)
And finally, if something is frowned upon it’s disapproved of.
最后，如果某件事不受欢迎，它就会被不赞成。
Georgina(乔治娜)
That’s all for our dive into the deep end of the vocabulary of swimming. As we’ve discovered, there’s plenty of idioms and expressions relating to swimming and water!
这就是我们深入了解游泳词汇的全部内容。正如我们所发现的，有很多与游泳和水有关的谚语和表达方式！
Neil(尼尔)
And check us out on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
并在 Facebook、Twitter 和 Instagram 上查看我们。
Georgina(乔治娜)
Don’t forget – we have an app too, which you can download for free from the app stores. We help you learn English on the move. Grammar, vocabulary, and interesting topics – we have them all! Visit our website! Get the app!
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