Brazil retain title with easy win over Cuba

    ROME, Oct. 10 (Xinhua) -- Brazil captured their third consecutive¹ men's world volleyball（排球） championship after beating Cuba in straight sets on Sunday.
    The final, touted² as the old versus³（与..对抗）the young, experience versus physical strength, talents versus talents, turned out like a practice game for Brazil, who overwhelmed the young Cuban team to retain their title in style with a 25-22, 25-14, 25-22 victory.
    Brazil's Leandero Vissott scored a match-high 19 points, converting 57 percent of his attacks into points. Amaral added eight points to the victory. Bruno set Brazil to a 54 percent conversion⁴ rate on attacks, as the team had just 11 hitting miscues.
    "Today's match was our worst in the tournament, we couldn't do anything," said Cuba's captain Robertlandy Simon. "We tried to serve harder and that didn't work. Brazil played great."Cuba's coach Orlando Samuel Coach blamed his side's loss on tiredness.
    "The team was tired and we didn't recover from last night," he said.
    "We have played four matches of five sets and that's a lot. But I am very happy and proud of my team. We went over all of our expectations（期望,预期） and goals," he added.
    Brazil made their job half done as they enjoyed rather easy start in the first and second set. They raced to a 5-2 lead in the first set, and a 7-1 lead in the second, which turned out to be unassailable for the worn-out Cubans.
    In the third set, Cuba managed to hold on, but when the scored was tied at 12-12, Brazil pulled away with a 5-1 run, and Brazil could not narrow the gap until the end.
    "We have played a great match against a great squad⁵. I am very happy about how our team reacted and the strong performance from Visotto," said Brazil's legendary⁶ head coach Bernardo Rezende.
    "We took command of(控制) the match from the beginning by imposing⁷ our rhythm. With this victory we are now tied with Italy that has also collected three world titles, and who in the past have been our role model," he added.
    Italy disappointed again as they lost to Seriba 25-21, 25-20, 26-28, 25-19 for the bronze medal.
    "It is very difficult to end a dream this way but we couldn't play better," said Italy captain Valerio Vermiglio.
    "The match against Serbia was characterized by many ups and downs, and I think we did better than sufficient in this tournament and experienced a jump in quality," he said.(本文由在线英语听力室整理编辑)

1 consecutive   

adj.连续的，联贯的，始终一贯的

参考例句：

• It has rained for four consecutive days.已连续下了四天雨。
• The policy of our Party is consecutive.我党的政策始终如一。

2 touted   

v.兜售( tout的过去式和过去分词 )；招揽；侦查；探听赛马情报

参考例句：

• She's being touted as the next leader of the party. 她被吹捧为该党的下一任领导人。
• People said that he touted for his mother and sister. 据说，他给母亲和姐姐拉生意。 来自辞典例句

3 versus   

prep.以…为对手，对；与…相比之下

参考例句：

• The big match tonight is England versus Spain.今晚的大赛是英格兰对西班牙。
• The most exciting game was Harvard versus Yale.最富紧张刺激的球赛是哈佛队对耶鲁队。

4 conversion   

n.转化，转换，转变

参考例句：

• He underwent quite a conversion.他彻底变了。
• Waste conversion is a part of the production process.废物处理是生产过程的一个组成部分。

5 squad   

n.班，小队，小团体；vt.把…编成班或小组

参考例句：

• The squad leader ordered the men to mark time.班长命令战士们原地踏步。
• A squad is the smallest unit in an army.班是军队的最小构成单位。

6 legendary   

adj.传奇（中）的，闻名遐迩的；n.传奇（文学）

参考例句：

• Legendary stories are passed down from parents to children.传奇故事是由父母传给孩子们的。
• Odysseus was a legendary Greek hero.奥狄修斯是传说中的希腊英雄。

7 imposing   

adj.使人难忘的，壮丽的，堂皇的，雄伟的

参考例句：

• The fortress is an imposing building.这座城堡是一座宏伟的建筑。
• He has lost his imposing appearance.他已失去堂堂仪表。