THIS IS AMERICA - Baseball Season Opens as Congress Investig

THIS IS AMERICA - Baseball Season Opens as Congress Investigates Steroid Use
By Jill Moss¹

Broadcast: Monday, April 11, 2005

VOICE ONE:

Welcome to THIS IS AMERICA. I'm Steve Ember.

VOICE TWO:

 
 
And I'm Faith Lapidus. The two thousand five season of Major League Baseball opened on April fourth. But not all the action is on the playing field.

VOICE ONE:

We start with details of the investigation² in Congress into the illegal use of drugs by players to improve performance.

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VOICE TWO:

On April third, one day before the opening games of the season, a player on the Tampa Bay team in Florida was suspended. Baseball officials say Alex Sanchez violated a new Major League policy on steroids. He was suspended for ten days.

Alex Sanchez became the first player publicly identified under the new drug policy. It took effect last month, as Congress launched an investigation into the use of steroids in baseball.

VOICE ONE:

Several current and former players appeared before a congressional committee in Washington on March seventeenth. Representative Tom Davis of Virginia heads the House Government Reform Committee. Congressman³ Davis says he ordered the investigation for two reasons.

First, he says he is concerned about the trustworthiness of the game. Second, he fears that steroids are a growing public-health problem among young athletes.

Mister Davis says too many college athletes believe they have to consider steroids if they want to go on to professional sports. High school athletes, in turn, think steroids might help them get scholarships or financial aid from colleges and universities.

VOICE TWO:

Anabolic steroids are copies of the male hormone⁴ testosterone. They increase the size and strength of muscles. Adult males normally produce about ten milligrams or less of testosterone per day. Steroid users may take more than one hundred milligrams a day.

There is a big danger. Steroids can cause heart problems, liver damage, stroke and high cholesterol⁵ in the blood. They can increase aggression⁶. And they can harm the reproductive system. Steroids can also affect the bones and limit height in young people.

In the United States, anabolic steroids are banned without an order from a doctor for medical use. But people find ways to buy these drugs illegally. Some get them over the Internet. Others go to Mexico to find them.

(SOUND)

VOICE ONE:

Baseball has been criticized for having a weaker drug-testing program than the National Football League or the National Basketball Association.

Now Major League Baseball has just strengthened its policy. A player found using steroids will be suspended for ten days for the first offense⁷. A second violation⁸ means a thirty-day suspension. A third violation brings a suspension of sixty days.

Players found a fourth time using steroids will be suspended for one year. All suspensions are without pay.

The new rules also require every player to be tested for steroids at least one time during the playing season. There is no limit to the number of unannounced tests that a player may have to take. Players could also be tested in the off-season.

VOICE TWO:

Yet critics say the new policy does not go far enough. They say baseball should have the same testing policies as the International Olympic Committee.

Olympic athletes are tested regularly for the use of performance drugs. They are barred from competition for up to two years for a first violation. After a second violation, they are barred for life.

A lot of baseball fans also believe that star players should not remain in the record books if they used steroids.

The House Committee on Government Reform is considering the issues, and not just in baseball. Two weeks after its hearing, the committee requested information from professional football, basketball, hockey and soccer. The committee asked for details of their steroid policies and results of testing programs.

The lawmakers also requested information from the National Collegiate Athletic⁹ Association and the U.S.A. Track and Field organization.

The House committee says it will hold more hearings at a later date. The committee may propose a single steroid policy for all sports in the United States, from professional down to the high school level.

But some people believe Congress has little power to influence the rules of professional sports.

(SOUND)

VOICE ONE:

Concern about steroid use in baseball grew during the home run race between Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa. In nineteen ninety-eight both players broke the record for the most home runs in one season.

 
Babe Ruth
Babe Ruth had set the record at sixty home runs in nineteen twenty-seven. His record stood for more than thirty years, until Roger Maris hit sixty-one.

Sammy Sosa finished the nineteen ninety-eight season with sixty-six home runs. Mark McGwire had seventy.

VOICE TWO:

Both men appeared last month before the House Committee on Government Reform. Sammy Sosa denied using steroids. Mark McGwire refused to say. He retired¹⁰ in two thousand one.

Another former baseball star, Jose Canseco, also appeared before the committee. He has admitted using steroids. In his new book, "Juiced," Jose Canseco also accuses other players of using steroids. These include Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa.

Members of Congress are not the only ones investigating steroid use in sports. In two thousand three, in California, federal investigators¹¹ raided the Bay Area Laboratory Co-operative, known as Balco. A federal grand jury is now investigating this company in connection with illegal sales of drugs to professional athletes.

(SOUND)

VOICE ONE:

These days there is lots of talk about baseball in Washington, and not just because of the investigations¹². The city has a new Major League team, the Washington Nationals. The "Nats" formerly¹³ played as the Montreal Expos in Canada.

The Expos were in financial trouble. Owners of other Major League teams bought the Expos in two thousand two. The owners looked for a new home for the team. Washington competed against five other cities. A financial disagreement almost wrecked¹⁴ the deal.

The first regular-season game in Washington is this Thursday against the Arizona Diamondbacks. The Nationals will play in R.F.K. Stadium until a new ballpark is finished. It is expected to be ready in two thousand eight.

The team colors for the Nationals are -- you guessed it -- red, white and blue.

VOICE TWO:

The last Major League team in the District of Columbia, the Washington Senators, moved away in nineteen seventy-one. They became the Texas Rangers¹⁵.

Since then, baseball fans in Washington have had to travel sixty kilometers to Baltimore to watch the Orioles play. The Orioles play in the American League; the Nats are in the National League. Together the two leagues have thirty teams.

The Orioles and the Nationals will not play each other until two thousand six.

VOICE ONE:

Baseball has been played for more than a century. The sport known as America's national pastime remains¹⁶ very popular. The New York Times reported that forty-nine million early tickets for this season had been sold through March thirty-first. Advance ticket sales were up more than six percent from last year, even with all the talk about steroids.

Last week, there were findings from a public opinion study for the Associated Press and the Internet provider America Online. A thousand adults were asked by telephone what they considered the biggest problem in baseball.

Twenty-seven percent listed steroids. But thirty-three percent said a bigger problem is that players are paid too much. The average Major League player earned over two million dollars last year.

Still, two-thirds of those questioned agreed that players found to have used steroids should not be honored in the Baseball Hall of Fame. And most people approved of the intervention¹⁷ by Congress. In fact, forty percent said lawmakers should do more.

(MUSIC)

VOICE TWO:

Our program was written by Jill Moss and produced by Caty Weaver¹⁸. I'm Faith Lapidus.

VOICE ONE:

And I'm Steve Ember. If you would like to send us e-mail, write to [email protected]. And our programs are online at voaspecialenglish-dot-com. Please join us again next week for THIS IS AMERICA in VOA Special English.

1 moss   

n.苔，藓，地衣

参考例句：

• Moss grows on a rock.苔藓生在石头上。
• He was found asleep on a pillow of leaves and moss.有人看见他枕着树叶和苔藓睡着了。

2 investigation   

n.调查，调查研究

参考例句：

• In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
• He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。

3 Congressman   

n.（美）国会议员

参考例句：

• He related several anecdotes about his first years as a congressman.他讲述自己初任议员那几年的几则轶事。
• The congressman is meditating a reply to his critics.这位国会议员正在考虑给他的批评者一个答复。

4 hormone   

n.荷尔蒙，激素，内分泌

参考例句：

• Hormone implants are used as growth boosters.激素植入物被用作生长辅助剂。
• This hormone interacts closely with other hormones in the body.这种荷尔蒙与体內其他荷尔蒙紧密地相互作用。

5 cholesterol   

n.（U）胆固醇

参考例句：

• There is cholesterol in the cell of body.人体细胞里有胆固醇。
• They are determining the serum-protein and cholesterol levels.他们正在测定血清蛋白和胆固醇的浓度。

6 aggression   

n.进攻，侵略，侵犯，侵害

参考例句：

• So long as we are firmly united, we need fear no aggression.只要我们紧密地团结，就不必惧怕外来侵略。
• Her view is that aggression is part of human nature.她认为攻击性是人类本性的一部份。

7 offense   

n.犯规，违法行为；冒犯，得罪

参考例句：

• I hope you will not take any offense at my words. 对我讲的话请别见怪。
• His words gave great offense to everybody present.他的发言冲犯了在场的所有人。

8 violation   

n.违反(行为)，违背(行为)，侵犯

参考例句：

• He roared that was a violation of the rules.他大声说，那是违反规则的。
• He was fined 200 dollars for violation of traffic regulation.他因违反交通规则被罚款200美元。

9 athletic   

adj.擅长运动的，强健的；活跃的，体格健壮的

参考例句：

• This area has been marked off for athletic practice.这块地方被划出来供体育训练之用。
• He is an athletic star.他是一个运动明星。

10 retired   

adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的

参考例句：

• The old man retired to the country for rest.这位老人下乡休息去了。
• Many retired people take up gardening as a hobby.许多退休的人都以从事园艺为嗜好。

11 investigators   

n.调查者，审查者( investigator的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• This memo could be the smoking gun that investigators have been looking for. 这份备忘录可能是调查人员一直在寻找的证据。
• The team consisted of six investigators and two secretaries. 这个团队由六个调查人员和两个秘书组成。 来自《简明英汉词典》

12 investigations   

（正式的）调查( investigation的名词复数 )； 侦查； 科学研究； 学术研究

参考例句：

• His investigations were intensive and thorough but revealed nothing. 他进行了深入彻底的调查，但没有发现什么。
• He often sent them out to make investigations. 他常常派他们出去作调查。

13 formerly   

adv.从前，以前

参考例句：

• We now enjoy these comforts of which formerly we had only heard.我们现在享受到了过去只是听说过的那些舒适条件。
• This boat was formerly used on the rivers of China.这船从前航行在中国内河里。

14 wrecked   

adj.失事的，遇难的

参考例句：

• the hulk of a wrecked ship 遇难轮船的残骸
• the salvage of the wrecked tanker 对失事油轮的打捞

15 rangers   

护林者( ranger的名词复数 )； 突击队员

参考例句：

• Do you know where the Rangers Stadium is? 你知道Rangers体育场在哪吗？ 来自超越目标英语 第3册
• Now I'm a Rangers' fan, so I like to be near the stadium. 现在我是Rangers的爱好者，所以我想离体育场近一点。 来自超越目标英语 第3册

16 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

17 intervention   

n.介入，干涉，干预

参考例句：

• The government's intervention in this dispute will not help.政府对这场争论的干预不会起作用。
• Many people felt he would be hostile to the idea of foreign intervention.许多人觉得他会反对外来干预。

18 weaver   

n.织布工；编织者

参考例句：

• She was a fast weaver and the cloth was very good.她织布织得很快，而且布的质量很好。
• The eager weaver did not notice my confusion.热心的纺织工人没有注意到我的狼狈相。