VOA慢速英语--莱斯特城提前两轮夺得英超冠军

AS IT IS 2016-05-04 Soccer Fans Go Crazy When Leicester City Wins After 132 Years 莱斯特城提前两轮夺得英超冠军

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The Leicester City soccer players gathered at a teammate’s home Monday evening. They were anticipating the result of another game in the English Premier¹ League.

For the first time in 132 seasons, Leicester City, also known as the Foxes, was positioned to finish the season as the champion of England’s top soccer league.

But the first half of the match between Tottenham Hotspur and Chelsea did not look good. If Tottenham won, Leicester’s celebration would have to be put on hold for at least one more week.

At halftime, Tottenham was ahead, 2-0.

Gary Cahill scored to make it 2-1.

Then Eden Hazard² got the equalizer with just seven minutes to play.

When the referee³ blew his whistle to signal the end of the game, the Leicester City players went crazy.

Because of the tie score, Tottenham cannot overtake Leicester for first place.

The result set off celebrations in England and beyond.

People around the world followed the story of Leicester City this season. Thailand is one place that caught fever for the Foxes.

That is because the owner of the team is from Thailand, and his company, King Power, is the sponsor. Most Thai soccer fans like the famous English teams like Manchester United or Chelsea. But not anymore.

In fact, a Buddhist⁴ monk⁵ at a temple in Bangkok blessed the team earlier this season and predicted it would win the championship. Now the monk and his temple are considered magical and holy by Leicester City fans.

Sports experts say Leicester is one of the most unlikely teams ever to win a major championship. The Foxes played so well, they won the title with two games to go.

Leicester started the season as a 5,000-to-1 underdog. Just seven years ago, the team was in the third division of English soccer.

Thanks to the play of top goal-scorer Jamie Vardy and the direction of manager Claudio Ranieri, the Foxes took over first place in the league at the end of December 2015.

The Foxes built a 5-point lead in the standings by February and continued to play well late in the season to clinch⁶ the title.

Words in This Story

league – n. a group of sports teams that play against each other

title – n. the status or position of being the champion in a sport or other competition

unlikely – adj. used to say that something probably will not happen

clinch – v. to make (something) certain or final

anticipate – v. to think of something that might happen in the future

equalizer – n. a goal in a sport like soccer or hockey that ties the score

comeback – n. a new effort to win or succeed after being close to defeat or failure

1 premier   

adj.首要的；n.总理，首相

参考例句：

• The Irish Premier is paying an official visit to Britain.爱尔兰总理正在对英国进行正式访问。
• He requested that the premier grant him an internview.他要求那位总理接见他一次。

2 hazard   

n.危险，危害；vt.冒...的危险，使遭危险

参考例句：

• He climbed into the car at the hazard of his life.他冒着生命危险进了汽车。
• I think we have provided for every possible hazard.我认为我们已经准备好了应付每一种可能的危险。

3 referee   

n.裁判员．仲裁人，代表人，鉴定人

参考例句：

• The team was left raging at the referee's decision.队员们对裁判员的裁决感到非常气愤。
• The referee blew a whistle at the end of the game.裁判在比赛结束时吹响了哨子。

4 Buddhist   

adj./n.佛教的，佛教徒

参考例句：

• The old lady fell down in adoration before Buddhist images.那老太太在佛像面前顶礼膜拜。
• In the eye of the Buddhist,every worldly affair is vain.在佛教徒的眼里，人世上一切事情都是空的。

5 monk   

n.和尚，僧侣，修道士

参考例句：

• The man was a monk from Emei Mountain.那人是峨眉山下来的和尚。
• Buddhist monk sat with folded palms.和尚合掌打坐。

6 clinch   

v.敲弯，钉牢；确定；扭住对方 [参]clench

参考例句：

• Clinch the boards together.用钉子把木板钉牢在一起。
• We don't accept us dollars,please Swiss francs to clinch a deal business.我方不收美元，请最好用瑞士法郎来成交生意。