A round of applause, please, for the Indian man who recently sang for 80 hours straight, setting a new Guinness world record. It’s an impressive feat, to be sure, but let’s just hope he still has a voice. According to Indian newspapers, Rajesh Burbure has been told to keep silent for several days so his vocal cords (声带) can heal.
It was reported that Burbure and his family are in a celebratory mood. “It’s a proud moment for all of us,” his wife told DNAIndia.com.
I, on the other hand, am unable to share their ent
husiasm. Don’t get me wrong: I hope the 35-year-old Burbure lives forever, sells a million records and becomes an international celebrity. But his record–singing for 80 hours straight–is about as meaningful as most of the other curious but crazy feats listed in the Guinness Book of World Records.
Granted , I’m not qualified to speak on the subject. I’ve got no world records to my name– and I never expect to have any. Then again, maybe I am qualified to speak for those of us who have better things to do than train for years to sing an 80-hour medley (混合曲) of pop songs.
But let’s not just pick on poor Burbure. He’s not the only person chasing meaningless accolades. The Guinness Book of World Records is full of the names of people who at one time grew the longest hair, or built the biggest bicycle, or baked the largest cheesecake.
To all of these enterprising (有进取心的) souls I ask, simply, “What was it all for?”
Congratulations! For all of your painstaking effort, you becam
e a footnote in a thick book that no one reads, except for you and the person who will eventually surpass you–with one more hour of singing, a few more centimeters of steel or a few more pounds of cheese.
After all, records are made to be broken.
小题1:From the text, we can learn that the author .
A．has no Guinness records, so he admires Burbures’ fea
t
B．feels it is a pity he was not invited to share the happiness with the Burbures
C．thinks singing for 80 hours straight is completely meaningless
D．is quite worried about Burbure’s vocal cords小题2:Before someone wins a Guinness record, he or she has to .
A．become an international celebrity
B．know all about Guinness record
C．practice a great deal
D．bear great stress for fear of injury小题3:We can infer from the article that .
A．after the 80 hours of singing, Burbure could no longer speak
B．Burbure’ wife didn’t support his attempt to make a Guinness record
C．many have criticized Burbure for his stupid behavior
D．challenging a Guinness record may be harmful to the health小题4:The author’s attitude to the Guinness world records mentioned in the passage is .
A．positive
B．impressed
C．negative
D．touched小题5:What is the best title for the passage?
A．What Was the Point?
B．Records Are Made to be Broken
C．A New Indian Guinness Record
D．The Guinness Book Is Boring
