英语听力精选进阶版 6019

The Wimbledon Tennis Championships are famous around the world, with players from many different countries taking part. China’s most successful women’s international players at the moment, Zheng Jie and Li Na, will be playing in the tournament.

So, what about the British players? The last time a British player won the tournament was in 1977 when Virginia Wade¹ won the Women’s Singles title. However, in 2006, there are no high-profile British women tennis players. It’s the men who are the most successful.

There are three major British male players playing at an international level at the moment. The most successful in the past has been Tim Henman. He has reached the semi-finals at Wimbledon four times, but he has failed to make the next step to the finals. In 2002 he was seeded fourth in the world.

Unfortunately for Tim though, he has been unable to regain² his form to this high level. He has received a lot of criticism³ in the press for being unable to win any tournaments, in spite⁴ of his high ranking internationally.

In recent years Tim has slipped to 62 in the world rankings. He is also 31 years old so he is no longer as young or as fit as he used be. But as long as he continues to play, the British people will always get behind him and hope that he can succeed at Wimbledon.

Greg Rusedski is another famous British men’s singles player. He was born in Canada but his mother is British, so he has chosen to be a British citizen and represent Britain in the tennis. He was also seeded fourth back in 1997 and has only ever reached the quarter-finals at Wimbledon. He is currently⁵ the highest ranking British player, but he has never really been a contender⁶ for the Wimbledon title.

Britain’s biggest tennis hope is 19-year-old Andrew Murray from Scotland⁷. He hasn’t been playing for very long, and he has had a few injuries which might have held him back, but he is currently ranked 45th, above Tim Henman. He has played well in tournaments in other countries over the past year and he is probably Britain’s biggest hope to succeed at Wimbledon sometime soon. Come on Andrew!

GLOSSARY 词汇表

Wimbledon Tennis Championships 温布尔登网球公开赛

tournament 比赛, 锦标赛 

Women's Singles 女子单打  

title 头衔, 冠军   

high-profile 知名度高的

major 主要的 

semi-finals 半决赛  

seeded 种子(选手)    

to regain his form 恢复最佳状态

criticism 批评 

ranking 排名

slipped 下滑   

get behind 落后

British citizen 英国公民  

quarter-finals 四分之一决赛

contender竞争者；角逐者 

Britain's biggest tennis hope 英国网球希望之星

held him back 阻止(他)

1 wade   

v.跋涉，涉水；n.跋涉

参考例句：

• We had to wade through the river to the opposite bank.我们只好涉水过河到对岸。
• We cannot but wade across the river.我们只好趟水过去。

2 regain   

vt.重新获得，收复，恢复

参考例句：

• He is making a bid to regain his World No.1 ranking.他正为重登世界排名第一位而努力。
• The government is desperate to regain credibility with the public.政府急于重新获取公众的信任。

3 criticism   

n.批评，批判，指责；评论，评论文章

参考例句：

• Some youth today do not allow any criticism at all.现在有些年轻人根本指责不得。
• It is wrong to turn a deaf ear to other's criticism.对别人的批评充耳不闻是错误的。

4 spite   

n.（用于短语）虽然，不顾，尽管

参考例句：

• He has modern ideas in spite of his great age.尽管他年事很高，但思想观念却很入时。
• In spite of his anger,his remarks were restrained.他尽管生气，说的话还是有节制的。

5 currently   

adv.通常地，普遍地，当前

参考例句：

• Currently it is not possible to reconcile this conflicting evidence.当前还未有可能去解释这一矛盾的例证。
• Our contracts are currently under review.我们的合同正在复查。

6 contender   

n.参赛者

参考例句：

• a contender for a gold medal in the Olympics 奥运金牌的争夺者
• She has recently become a strong contender for the gold medal . 她最近已经成为一个金牌的强有力争夺者。

7 Scotland   

n.苏格兰

参考例句：

• He has been hiking round Scotland for a month.他围着苏格兰徒步旅行了一个月。
• Scotland is to the north of England.苏格兰在英格兰之北。