High Jumper

BBC Learning¹ EnglishPeople and PlacesHigh JumperJackie:  Hello! Welcome to the programme onbbclearningenglish.com with me,Jackie Dalton. Today we're going to hear from Donald Thomas– he's the new world high jump champion. High jump is asport where people tryto jump over a horizontal² bar, whoever jumps the highestwithout knocking the bar off wins. Donald is 23 and fromthe Bahamas. The funny thing is, he never actually wantedto do high jump. There was another sport that he was muchmore interested in. What was it?
　　DonaldGrowing up, I always played basketball. I played basketballup until last year in college. I always dreamt of going tothe NBA.
　　Jackie:  Donald always played basketball – anothersport where being tall and good at jumping is helpful. Whatwas his dream? Listen again.
　　DonaldGrowing up, I always played basketball. I played basketballup until last year in college. I always dreamt of going tothe NBA.
　　Jackie:  He dreamt of going to the NBA – theNational Basketball Association³, which is the leading men'sbasketball league in the United States. So how did he endup doing high jump? Well it all started as a bet⁴ with afriend, who said "I bet you can't jump higher than twometers!" And Donald said he could and he wanted to prove it– to show it was true – to prove it. So Donald went to aplace where high jumpers were practising to show what hecould do. How did other people react when they saw himjumping?
　　DonaldThey just stopped and was watching*. And, like, formed acircle around the high jump pit⁵. *note: 'watched' would begrammatically correct here, rather than 'was watching'
　　Jackie:  Everyone was so amazed⁶ by how good he was,that they stopped what they were doing and started towatch. They formed a circle around the high jump pit.
　　DonaldThey just stopped and was* watching. And, like, formed acircle around the high jump pit.
　　Jackie:  So that's how it all started. Everyone wasso impressed with his high jump skills that eventually hewas persuaded to take it up seriously. And just over oneyear later, he officially became the best in the world. Youwould think that to become that good so quickly, hewould've had to train – to train, to practice - very hard.
　　How much training does he do?
　　DonaldI just, I just enjoy competing – there's no pressure go topractise, or do anything like that. Like, during the week,I probably practise a little more than five hours a weekmax. I don't take it that serious[ly]. I think that's thekey to my success – just having fun.
　　Jackie:  Donald says he does no more than five hoursa week.
　　Donald..during the week, I probably practise a little more thanfive hours a week.
　　Jackie:  Five hours a week! That's probably whatmost high jumpers do in a day!
　　But as Donald says, his relaxed attitude is the reason whyhe's succeeded.
　　He uses the phrase 'the key to my success', meaning thereason why he has done so well. Listen again.
　　DonaldI just, I just enjoy competing – there's no pressure go topractice, or do anything like that. Like, during the week,I probably practise a little more than five hours a weekmax. I don't take it that serious. I think that's the keyto my success – just having fun.
　　Jackie:  So how did it feel when he cleared 2.35m atthe World AthleticsChampionships in Osaka?
　　DonaldI was very excited and motivated. It was a good feeling.
　　Jackie:  Donald was excited and motivated –motivated, meaning you feel good about something and wantto do well in it.
　　DonaldI was very excited and motivated. It was a good feeling.
　　Jackie:  Donald is certainly motivated to do morenow. He's going to compete in the Olympics next. But evenwhen talking about the Olympics, he uses quite a casualterm to tell us he's going to take part. What expressiondoes he use?
　　DonaldMy plan is just to stay healthy and just to show up at theOlympics and try to be a good competitor and try to comeout on top once again.
　　Jackie:  Donald says he'll 'show up' at theOlympics. This is quite informal – it makes it sound likethe event isn't really important for him. Listen to someexamples of the phrase 'to show up'.
　　ExamplesI might show up at the party for a little while.
　　He was meant to come at 7 o'clock, but he didn't show upuntil half past eight.
　　DonaldMy plan is just to stay healthy and just to show up at theOlympics and try to be a good competitor and try to comeout on top once again.
　　Jackie:  A reminder⁷ of some of today's phrases:
　　high jumpto prove something to trainthe key to success to be motivatedto show upThat's all for this week. We'll have to wait and see ifjust keeping healthy and showing up at the Olympics worksfor Donald. And whether thiskind of attitude is still the key to his success!

1 learning   

n.学问，学识，学习；动词learn的现在分词

参考例句：

• When you are learning to ride a bicycle,you often fall off.初学骑自行车时，常会从车上掉下来。
• Learning languages isn't just a matter of remembering words.学习语言不仅仅是记些单词的事。

2 horizontal   

adj.与地平线平行的，平的，水平的

参考例句：

• The lake has a horizontal surface.湖面呈水平状。
• On a map there are horizontal lines and vertical lines.在地图上有水平的线和垂直的线。

3 association   

n.联盟，协会，社团；交往，联合；联想

参考例句：

• Our long association with your company has brought great benefits.我方和贵公司的长期合作带来了巨大的利益。
• I broke away from the association ten years ago.我10年前就脱离了那个团体。

4 bet   

v.打赌，以(与)...打赌；n.赌注，赌金；打赌

参考例句：

• I bet you can't do this puzzle.我敢说，你解决不了这个难题。
• I offered to bet with him.我提出与他打赌。

5 pit   

n.深坑，核，矿井，陷阱，英国剧场正厅后排，凹陷疤痕；vt.使...有伤痕，去...的核，与...较量

参考例句：

• A sheep fell into a pit,and I helped it out.一只羊掉进坑里，我把它弄了出来。
• They dug a pit to bury the rubbish.他们挖了一个坑把垃圾埋掉。

6 amazed   

adj.吃惊的，惊奇的v.使大为吃惊，使惊奇( amaze的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Just the size of the place amazed her. 仅仅地方之大就使她十分惊奇。
• I was amazed at her knowledge of French literature. 她的法国文学知识之丰富使我大为惊奇。

7 reminder   

n.提醒物，纪念品；暗示，提示

参考例句：

• I have had another reminder from the library.我又收到图书馆的催还单。
• It always took a final reminder to get her to pay her share of the rent.总是得发给她一份最后催缴通知，她才付应该交的房租。