美国国家公共电台 NPR Ken Burns Gets To The Heart Of 'Country Music'

 

SCOTT SIMON, HOST:

And now to the mellow¹ sounds of B.J. Lederman, who writes our theme music. It's time for sports.

(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)

SIMON: Another scandal hits horse racing². Will a Triple Crown winner have to get back the roses? Also, Antonio Brown of the New England Patriots³ is accused of sexual assault but will still take the field. And an injury puts one of baseball's great young talents on the bench just before the playoffs. We're joined now by ESPN's Michele Steele. Good morning, Michele. Good to have you back.

MICHELE STEELE: Great to be back, Scott.

SIMON: And let's - you're in Chicago. Right?

STEELE: Yes, right, I am.

SIMON: Even better then.

STEELE: (Laughter).

SIMON: So let's start with the scandal. Justify⁴ failed a drug test in April 2018 before going on to win that year's Kentucky Derby, ultimately the Triple Crown. According to the rules of racing, he should have been disqualified until an investigation⁵ was complete. Why wasn't he?

STEELE: My goodness, Scott. What a bombshell of a story. You know only 13 horses in history have won the Triple Crown. Of course, that's winning the Kentucky Derby, the Preakness, the Belmont Stakes. Justify was one of those horses in 2018. This is a big, big deal. The New York Times had the scoop⁶. Justify tested positive for a banned substance called scopolamine. And this was right after the Santa Anita Derby. It's sort of a performance-enhancing drug.

Then the California Horse Racing Board did three weird⁷ things. One, they slow-walked to confirm the test. It took them more than a month to let Justify's trainer, Bob Baffert, know. He's a little bit the Bill Belichick of racing. Two, they did not reveal the test publicly, which is something that they normally would have done. And then four months later, after Justify won all of these accolades⁸, won the Triple Crown, they sort of quietly dropped the case altogether...

SIMON: Yeah.

STEELE: ...Because they say that Justify maybe could have eaten some contaminated feed. And that was the reason for the flunked⁹ drug test. So real mystery.

SIMON: Will something like this make fans think this sport is fixed¹⁰? And you mentioned Santa Anita. Of course, the deaths of Santa Anita have been a terrible scandal in the racing industry, not to mention a loss.

STEELE: You know, this Triple Crown winner, unfortunately, is going to have an asterisk¹¹ by his name. Now, the way horse racing works - they don't give back the roses so to speak. He's not going to lose his title. In fact, he's already out to stud in Australia. So Justify...

SIMON: Sixty million dollars, if I'm not mistaken.

STEELE: Sixty million dollars, yes. So there's lots of powerful interests here in horse racing. And as we know, you know, it's a very insular¹² sport where the people who are on the California Regulating Board are the same people who would hire guys like Bob Baffert.

So a little bit - we're seeing them closed the wagons¹³ so to speak with - where this case, you know, is concerned. And I don't think much is really going to happen here except for people will be scratching their heads in the future, wondering if Justify really did it on his own.

SIMON: In the half-minute we have left - Patriots, you used to cover the team. Antonio Brown is going to be a New - when have the New England Patriots say - sorry, you're not wearing our uniform until these charges of sexual assault are investigated.

STEELE: Well, you know what, Scott? It has - partly has to do with the words I'm about to say which is that Antonio Brown is one of the best wide receivers in football. He is just a tremendous player, and talent wins out. All week he has been preparing as if he's going to play the Miami Dolphins tomorrow, on Sunday.

And on the team's part, they have said that they do not condone¹⁴ any sexual violence. He's been accused in a civil lawsuit¹⁵, but they're going to do - as Bill Belichick said - what's, quote, "best for the team." It appears that he's going to play, and then the league is going to investigate this. We'll see what happens.

SIMON: ESPN's Michelle Steele. Thanks so much.

STEELE: Sure.

1 mellow   

adj.柔和的；熟透的；v.变柔和；(使)成熟

参考例句：

• These apples are mellow at this time of year.每年这时节，苹果就熟透了。
• The colours become mellow as the sun went down.当太阳落山时，色彩变得柔和了。

2 racing   

n.竞赛，赛马；adj.竞赛用的，赛马用的

参考例句：

• I was watching the racing on television last night.昨晚我在电视上看赛马。
• The two racing drivers fenced for a chance to gain the lead.两个赛车手伺机竞相领先。

3 patriots   

爱国者，爱国主义者( patriot的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Abraham Lincoln was a fine type of the American patriots. 亚伯拉罕·林肯是美国爱国者的优秀典型。
• These patriots would fight to death before they surrendered. 这些爱国者宁愿战斗到死，也不愿投降。

4 justify   

vt.证明…正当(或有理)，为…辩护

参考例句：

• He tried to justify his absence with lame excuses.他想用站不住脚的借口为自己的缺席辩解。
• Can you justify your rude behavior to me?你能向我证明你的粗野行为是有道理的吗？

5 investigation   

n.调查，调查研究

参考例句：

• In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
• He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。

6 scoop   

n.铲子，舀取，独家新闻；v.汲取，舀取，抢先登出

参考例句：

• In the morning he must get his boy to scoop it out.早上一定得叫佣人把它剜出来。
• Uh,one scoop of coffee and one scoop of chocolate for me.我要一勺咖啡的和一勺巧克力的。

7 weird   

adj.古怪的，离奇的；怪诞的，神秘而可怕的

参考例句：

• From his weird behaviour,he seems a bit of an oddity.从他不寻常的行为看来，他好像有点怪。
• His weird clothes really gas me.他的怪衣裳简直笑死人。

8 accolades   

n.（连结几行谱表的）连谱号( accolade的名词复数 )；嘉奖；（窗、门上方的）桃尖拱形线脚；册封爵士的仪式（用剑面在肩上轻拍一下）

参考例句：

• Unlike other accolades for literature which tend to value style or experimentation. 有别于其他偏重风格活实验性的文学奖项。 来自互联网
• Build your trophy room while amassing awards and accolades. 建立您的奖杯积累奖项和荣誉。 来自互联网

9 flunked   

v.( flunk的过去式和过去分词 )；（使）（考试、某学科的成绩等）不及格；评定（某人）不及格；（因不及格而） 退学

参考例句：

• I flunked math in second grade. 我二年级时数学不及格。
• He flunked out (of college) last year. 他去年（从大学）退学了。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 fixed   

adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的

参考例句：

• Have you two fixed on a date for the wedding yet?你们俩选定婚期了吗？
• Once the aim is fixed,we should not change it arbitrarily.目标一旦确定，我们就不应该随意改变。

11 asterisk   

n.星号，星标

参考例句：

• The asterisk refers the reader to a footnote.星号是让读者参看脚注。
• He added an asterisk to the first page.他在第一页上加了个星号。

12 insular   

adj.岛屿的，心胸狭窄的

参考例句：

• A continental climate is different from an insular one.大陆性气候不同于岛屿气候。
• Having lived in one place all his life,his views are insular.他一辈子住在一个地方，所以思想狭隘。

13 wagons   

n.四轮的运货马车( wagon的名词复数 )；铁路货车；小手推车

参考例句：

• The wagons were hauled by horses. 那些货车是马拉的。
• They drew their wagons into a laager and set up camp. 他们把马车围成一圈扎起营地。

14 condone   

v.宽恕；原谅

参考例句：

• I cannot condone the use of violence.我不能宽恕使用暴力的行为。
• I will not condone a course of action that will lead us to war.我绝不允许任何导致战争的行为。

15 lawsuit   

n.诉讼，控诉

参考例句：

• They threatened him with a lawsuit.他们以诉讼威逼他。
• He was perpetually involving himself in this long lawsuit.他使自己无休止地卷入这场长时间的诉讼。