VOA慢速英语2021--东京奥运会新项目词汇

In the Tokyo Games, there are several "new" Olympic sports: karate¹, skateboarding, sport climbing, surfing and baseball for men and softball for women.

Baseball and softball are actually not new. The two sports have returned to Tokyo after some years away from the Games.

In this week's lesson, we will look at the verbs and nouns that you hear from broadcasters and read in publications. Hopefully, it will help you understand what they are talking about!

Baseball

Let us begin with baseball.

A player who starts a game by throwing a baseball is called a "pitcher²." The pitcher will throw, or "pitch", to an opposing "batter³" who stands at "home plate" ready to hit with a bat.

In the "at bat," if the "batter" swings and misses, it is called a "strike." If the "batter" hits the ball cleanly and reaches a "base," it is called a "hit," as in:

Dave got a hit in his first at bat.

But a "hit" does not give the team a point, or a "run," in baseball. A "batter", now called a "runner", has to be able to move up, touch all three "bases" and return to "home plate" to score a "run."

Softball

Softball is similar to baseball. But the sport is usually played by women.

On Monday, American player Kelsey Stewart "hit" a softball out of the ballpark for a "homerun" to win the game 2-1. You probably heard the announcer say:

Kelsey Stewart hits a walk-off homerun for the United States.

Well, it is called a "walk-off" when a player scores a "run" at the bottom of the final "inning" to win a game.

However, Japan turned a "double play" in the final game on Tuesday to win the gold medal over the U.S. With two "runners" on first and second bases, an American player hit the ball hard. The ball bounced off a Japanese player and was caught by Mana Atsumi in the air for the first "out." Atsumi then threw the ball to second base to get the second "out" for a "double play."

Karate

There are two different karate competitions in Tokyo called "kata" and "kumite."

"Kata" is a one-person event in which competitors perform offensive⁴ and defensive⁵ movements against a virtual⁶ opponent. Judges award points based on strength, speed, rhythm and balance.

In "kumite", two competitors fight for three minutes or until one has collected eight more points than the other. A punch to the head or body scores one point; a kick to the body gets two points; and a high kick to the head gains three. You may hear this while watching a fight:

The Czech karateka landed a punch to the head, scoring a "yuko."

"Karateka" is Japanese word for a karate competitor. And you should know what "yuko" is.

Skateboarding

Have you ever tried skateboarding? There are two kinds of competition – "street" and "park."

In the "park" event, skateboarders launch themselves into the air from an area that looks like an empty swimming pool. They receive points for performing "tricks" like jumping and turning in the air. In "street" skateboarding, competitors perform "tricks" on things you might find on a street, such as stairs, benches and railings.

This is one sport that definitely attracts younger people to the games. Two 13-year-olds, Momiji Nishiya of Japan and Rayssa Leal of Brazil, won the gold and silver for "street" skateboarding earlier this week.

As Nishiya skated to the gold on Monday, you might have heard the announcer say:

If she can put down one of her signature tricks, front-side crook⁷ -- she does it! -- massive⁸ score coming her way!

Sport climbing

Sport climbing is a new sport to the Olympics. There are three things each climber must do: "speed, bouldering and lead."

In "speed," two climbers go up a 15-meter high wall. The men's winner usually makes the climb within five or six seconds. In "bouldering," competitors climb several fixed⁹ routes on a 4.5 meter wall within 4 minutes. In the "lead" event, climbers attempt to move up as high as possible on a wall measuring over 15 meters in height within six minutes.

Scores from all three events are gathered to get a final result. When a climber reaches the top of the wall, you might hear an announcer say:

Alex Johnson has topped Women's Problem One!

Surfing

Surfing competition took place in the ocean, where athletes had to deal with waves, wind direction and the changing conditions of nature.

In the Tokyo Games, each surfer is given about 30 minutes to ride up to 25 waves. A surfer performs a range of difficult movements on the waves, each with its special name. One of the turns is called the "cutback." It returns the surfer to an earlier position on the wave. The surfer "attacks" a wave and then "drops" into it. Here is how an announcer spoke¹⁰ about the surfing of American gold medal winner Carissa Moore:

Carissa Moore drops in here ... beautiful arcing¹² cutback...beautiful surfing.

We hope you enjoy watching all of the Olympic games this year and feel more confident as you talk about these new sports in English.

And that's Everyday Grammar!

Words in This Story

bat – n. a long rounded stick that is used to hit the ball in baseball

score – v. to get points, goals, runs, or the like in a game or contest

bounce – v. to move in one direction, hit a surface (such as a wall or the floor), and then quickly move in a different and usually opposite direction

virtual – adj. very close to being something without actually being it

punch – n. a quick hit with your fist

swimming pool – n. a large structure that is filled with water and that is used for swimming

signature – adj. closely associated with someone or something or making a person or thing easy to recognize

arc¹¹ – v. to move or lie in a curving path

1 karate   

n.空手道(日本的一种徒手武术)

参考例句：

• Alice's boyfriend knew a little karate.艾丽斯的男朋友懂一点儿空手道。
• The black belt is the highest level in karate.黑腰带级是空手道的最高级别。

2 pitcher   

n.(有嘴和柄的)大水罐；(棒球)投手

参考例句：

• He poured the milk out of the pitcher.他从大罐中倒出牛奶。
• Any pitcher is liable to crack during a tight game.任何投手在紧张的比赛中都可能会失常。

3 batter   

v.接连重击；磨损；n.牛奶面糊；击球员

参考例句：

• The batter skied to the center fielder.击球手打出一个高飞球到中外野手。
• Put a small quantity of sugar into the batter.在面糊里放少量的糖。

4 offensive   

adj.令人不快的，侮辱的，攻击用的；n.进攻

参考例句：

• His mode of doing business is offensive to me.他干事情的方式叫我很不喜欢。
• If all else fails,I will take the offensive.如果其他方法不行，我将采取攻势。

5 defensive   

adj.防御的；防卫的；防守的

参考例句：

• Their questions about the money put her on the defensive.他们问到钱的问题，使她警觉起来。
• The Government hastily organized defensive measures against the raids.政府急忙布置了防卫措施抵御空袭。

6 virtual   

adj.实质上的，事实上的，实际上的

参考例句：

• This reply is a virtual acceptance of our offer.这一回答实质上是接受了我们的建议。
• At that time the East India Company was the virtual ruler of Bengal.那时东印度公司是孟加拉的实际统治者。

7 crook   

v.使弯曲；n.小偷，骗子，贼；弯曲(处)

参考例句：

• He demanded an apology from me for calling him a crook.我骂他骗子，他要我向他认错。
• She was cradling a small parcel in the crook of her elbow.她用手臂挎着一个小包裹。

8 massive   

adj.巨大的，大规模的，大量的，大范围的

参考例句：

• A massive sea search has failed to find any survivors.经过大规模的海上搜救仍未找到幸存者。
• He drank a massive amount of alcohol.他喝了大量的烈酒。

9 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。

10 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

11 arc   

n.弧形（物），弧，电弧，弧光

参考例句：

• The sun appears to move in an arc across the sky.太阳看起来在天空中以弧形运行。
• The rainbow described an arc in the dark sky.彩虹在昏暗的天空划出了一道圆弧。

12 arcing   

电弧放电； 构成电弧； 跳火； 形成电弧

参考例句：

• Arcing balls are inclined to mislead umpires to incorrect judgements. 弧线球易使裁判产生错误判断。
• Arcs more readily than AC welders, with longer arcing. 起弧比交流电容易，电弧加长一倍。