VOA慢速英语2010-IN THE NEWS - Sports: Butler Scares Duke,

This is IN THE NEWS in VOA Special English.

This was a big week in American sports.

In college basketball, a small school with a young coach nearly defeated a longtime powerhouse team for the national championship. Butler lost by just two points to Duke, which for years has had one of the country’s most successful basketball programs.

Butler University is a private school of about four thousand students in Indianapolis, Indiana. Butler won two national titles -- back in the nineteen twenties.

Butler's Roland Nored is guarded by Duke's Nolan Smith during the NCAA national championship game

Monday night's game against Duke brought comparisons¹ to the nineteen eighty-six movie "Hoosiers." In it, a small Indiana high school makes an unlikely² run for the state championship. In fact, part of the movie was filmed at Hinkle Fieldhouse, home of the Butler Bulldogs.

In women's basketball, on Tuesday night the University of Connecticut beat Stanford by six points for the national championship. The UConn Huskies entered the game undefeated for the past two seasons, yet they were behind after the first half.

In other sports news, Tiger Woods returned to competition this week. The world's top golfer met with reporters Monday before the first major tournament of the year. The Masters in Augusta, Georgia, continues through Sunday.

Tiger Woods tips his hat to the crowd after his first round this week in the Masters

Tiger Woods is a four-time champion at the Masters, most recently in two thousand five.

He has been away from competitive³ golf since November. That was when the stories came out that the seemingly⁴ happily married father of two children had cheated on his wife with numerous⁵ women.

In a half-hour news conference, he admitted making what he called "some incredibly bad decisions" that "hurt so many people." He said he had come out of forty-five days of rehabilitation⁶ "a better person." But he would not discuss the treatment, saying it was personal. On another subject he said he has never taken performance-enhancing drugs.

Since November the stories about his private life have cost him millions of dollars in product deals. But this week, Tiger Woods appeared in a black-and-white television aid for sportswear maker⁷ Nike. It also included the voice of his father, Earl, who died in two thousand six. Tiger Woods looks into the camera as his father is heard asking him questions, including "Did you learn anything?"

This week also marked the opening of baseball season. President Obama threw out the first pitch as the Washington Nationals opened their season against the Philadelphia Phillies. It was the one hundredth anniversary⁸ of presidential first pitches.

President William Howard Taft began the tradition, also in a game between Washington and Philadelphia. But in nineteen ten it was the Washington Senators⁹ against the Philadelphia Athletics¹⁰.

President Obama wore a Washington Nationals jacket, but the hat of his hometown Chicago White Sox.

And that’s IN THE NEWS in VOA Special English, written by Brianna Blake. Transcripts¹¹, MP3s and podcasts of our programs can be found, along with much more, at voaspecialenglish.com. I’m Steve Ember.

 

1 comparisons   

比较( comparison的名词复数 )； [修辞学]比喻； [语法学]（形容词或副词的）比较等级； 类似

参考例句：

• I. Comparisons to a Living Creature (i. e., the Sphinx riddle) 1．比作某种生物（如斯芬克司谜） 来自英汉非文学 - 民俗
• Make comparisons about the products. 对产品做对比。 来自超越目标英语 第4册

2 unlikely   

adj.未必的，多半不可能的；不大可能发生的

参考例句：

• It was very unlikely that he would do that.他不见得会做那种事。
• It is unlikely that she will come. 她不大可能来了。

3 competitive   

adj.竞争的，比赛的，好竞争的，有竞争力的

参考例句：

• Some kinds of business are competitive.有些商业是要竞争的。
• These businessmen are both competitive and honourable.这些商人既有竞争性又很诚实。

4 seemingly   

adv.从表面上看起来，似乎是

参考例句：

• Seemingly,we can do nothing to prevent this from happening.我们似乎没有什么办法阻止这件事发生。
• For several seemingly interminable seconds no one spoke.有几秒钟没有人讲话，这几秒钟似乎十分漫长。

5 numerous   

adj.为数众多的；极多的

参考例句：

• There have been numerous exchanges of views between the two governments.两国政府间曾多次交换意见。
• There are numerous people in the square. 有许多人在广场上。

6 rehabilitation   

n.康复，悔过自新，修复，复兴，复职，复位

参考例句：

• He's booked himself into a rehabilitation clinic.他自己联系了一家康复诊所。
• No one can really make me rehabilitation of injuries.已经没有人可以真正令我的伤康复了。

7 maker   

n.制造者，制造商

参考例句：

• He is a trouble maker，You must be distant with him.他是个捣蛋鬼，你不要跟他在一起。
• A cabinet maker must be a master craftsman.家具木工必须是技艺高超的手艺人。

8 anniversary   

n.周年(纪念日)

参考例句：

• They celebrate their wedding anniversary annually.他们每年庆祝一番结婚纪念日。
• Today is my parents'30th wedding anniversary.今天是我父母结婚30周年纪念日。

9 senators   

n.参议员( senator的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• When the senators vote, the ayes will have it. 参议员投票时，投赞成票的人将占多数。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The committee concluded that the senators had engaged in improper conduct. 委员会断定议员们从事了不正当活动。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 athletics   

n.运动，体育，田径运动

参考例句：

• When I was at school I was always hopeless at athletics.我上学的时候体育十分糟糕。
• Our team tied with theirs in athletics.在田径比赛中，我们队与他们队旗鼓相当。

11 transcripts   

n.抄本（ transcript的名词复数 ）；转写本；文字本；副本

参考例句：

• Like mRNA, both tRNA and rRNA are transcripts of chromosomal DNA. tRNA及rRNA同mRNA一样，都是染色体DNA的转录产物。 来自辞典例句
• You can't take the transfer students'exam without your transcripts. 没有成绩证明书，你就不能参加转学考试。 来自辞典例句