美国国家公共电台 NPR--Camels are popular with many of the tourists visiting Qatar for the World Cup

（单词翻译）

Camels are popular with many of the tourists visiting Qatar for the World Cup

Transcript¹

Because of the camels popularity, tour guides are making a lot of money — but the animals are working overtime².

A MART?NEZ, HOST:

Camels are an important part of the history and culture of the Middle East. They're also very popular with many of the 1 million tourists visiting Qatar for the World Cup.

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

Which is great for camel tour guides, who are making some money, but the animals are working overtime.

(SOUNDBITE OF CAMEL VOCALIZING)

MART?NEZ: One camel tour guide told the Associated Press he normally gives about 20 rides a day, 50 on the weekends. With the World Cup, he's now giving 500 each morning, 500 more in the afternoons. They've had to get a lot more camels to meet demand.

RICHARD BULLIET: I don't think that that is a terribly heavy burden for a camel.

INSKEEP: Richard Bulliet is a professor emeritus³ specializing in Middle Eastern history at Columbia University. He literally⁴ wrote the book on the history of camels. Bulliet says that based on what he knows, he's not that concerned about the camels working extra shifts.

BULLIET: Camels are enormously durable⁵ animals. There was a famous horse race, camel race where a horse raced a camel for 150 miles, something like that. And the horse won the race. Then the horse was utterly⁶ exhausted⁷. And the next day, the camel walked back the 150 miles to the place where it started.

MART?NEZ: In the sixth century, camels were the world's primary form of land transportation. Thanks to the hump on their back packed with fat, they can go a week without water and months without food.

BULLIET: It makes an almost energy-free form of transport.

INSKEEP: In modern-day Qatar, camels are valued for racing⁸. They can run as quickly as 40 miles per hour for short stretches and 30 miles per hour on long distances. They probably get good mileage⁹, too.

(SOUNDBITE OF CAMELS GALLOPING)

MART?NEZ: But tourists hoping to cross a camel ride off their bucket list should try their best to stay on the animal's good side.

BULLIET: Camels do spit. If they're annoyed, they can also kick out to the side. They don't really care much about people.

MART?NEZ: So on this hump day, hopefully the burden on your back is a little lighter¹⁰ than theirs.

(SOUNDBITE OF DUKE ELLINGTON'S "CARAVAN")