2006年VOA标准英语-American Paralympian Looks to Turn Tragedy

By David Byrd
Washington
12 January 2006

Ralph Green was only 15 years old when his life changed forever.  While walking with a friend in New York City's Bedford Stuyvesant neighborhood, Green was shot by another teenager and suffered nearly fatal injuries.  Green hopes to become the first African-American to make a U.S. team for the Paralympics Winter Games for disabled athletes.

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Ralph Green
  

Ralph Green was a five-sport athlete in high school and was walking with a friend in Brooklyn when gunfire hit both of them.  Green lost two and one-third liters of blood, and the bullet smashed his hipbone, severed¹ his aorta², and damaged his intestines³. 

Green lay in a coma⁴ for two months, and lost his left leg due to the injuries.  But now he skis on one leg in four events, and he hopes to make the U.S. Paralympic team.  Green told VOA Sports the director of the non-profit organization called ASPIRE⁵ first encouraged him to take up skiing.

"Patty Rossbeck was the program director and she said, 'Hey Ralph, we are going to take you skiing,'" he said.  "This is after seeing me compete in a couple of Summer Games.  I looked at Patty like she was crazy, but I went skiing and it was a feeling that stuck with me throughout my life."  

Ralph eventually moved to Winter Park, Colorado, where he now trains for the Winter Paralympics.  He says that skiing has become his life, with constant hard work and training.

"My team, we prepare year round," he added.  "We ski every single month of the year.  In the summer time we go down to New Zealand or Chile, and we go out to Europe in October.  So every single athlete on my team is prepared.  And it is going to be lot of fun.  It is my first Paralympics and I am looking forward to going out there and competing to the best of my ability."

Ralph Green competes on one ski with outriggers attached to the bottom of his ski poles for balance.  On the slopes he can reach speeds in excess of 104 kilometers per hour.  Green told VOA Sports that he plans to compete in four disciplines - downhill, slalom, giant slalom and Super-giant slalom.  And he plans to go for the title in all of them.

"You know, when I first started ski racing⁶, I wanted to be a four-event skier⁷.  As far as my World Cup results, I had my best results in slalom," he said.  "But I am going to attack every single course in every single event as if it were the only event I was competing in."

Though gunfire nearly ended his life at age 15, Ralph Green is not bitter about the results of the attack.  The young man who shot him and his companion in 1993 was arrested on another offense⁸.  Green told VOA Sports that he has not had the chance to talk to his assailant, but he holds no hard feelings against him.

"At that time when he was caught, I was a lot younger, and I was not as mature as I am now.  And I am not sure I would have known what to say to him," he said.  "But if I had the opportunity to speak to him now, I would definitely try to figure out why I was shot, and I would definitely try to understand why he was in the position he was in to shoot me.  I know there are a lot of lost souls in America, and obviously I caught him at a bad time in his life."

The second of five children, Ralph Green says he enjoys serving as a role model, especially for his two younger brothers. Green says that he will never forget the roar of the crowd in his first international event, the 2004 World Disabled Alpine⁹ Championships, where he finished 14th in the Super-giant slalom.

Ralph Green, 28, is poised¹⁰ to become the first African-American winter Paralympian to represent the United States in the.  The U.S. Paralympic team will be named February 10.  The Paralympics begin March 10 in Turin, Italy, the same city that will host the Winter Olympics in February.

1 severed   

v.切断，断绝( sever的过去式和过去分词 )；断，裂

参考例句：

• The doctor said I'd severed a vessel in my leg. 医生说我割断了腿上的一根血管。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• We have severed diplomatic relations with that country. 我们与那个国家断绝了外交关系。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 aorta   

n.主动脉

参考例句：

• The abdominal aorta is normally smaller than the thoracic aorta.腹主动脉一般比胸主动脉小。
• Put down that jelly doughnut and look carefully at this aorta.放下手头上的东西，认真观察这张大动脉图片。

3 intestines   

n.肠( intestine的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Perhaps the most serious problems occur in the stomach and intestines. 最严重的问题或许出现在胃和肠里。 来自辞典例句
• The traps of carnivorous plants function a little like the stomachs and small intestines of animals. 食肉植物的捕蝇器起着动物的胃和小肠的作用。 来自辞典例句

4 coma   

n.昏迷，昏迷状态

参考例句：

• The patient rallied from the coma.病人从昏迷中苏醒过来。
• She went into a coma after swallowing a whole bottle of sleeping pills.她吃了一整瓶安眠药后就昏迷过去了。

5 aspire   

vi.(to，after)渴望，追求，有志于

参考例句：

• Living together with you is what I aspire toward in my life.和你一起生活是我一生最大的愿望。
• I aspire to be an innovator not a follower.我迫切希望能变成个开创者而不是跟随者。

6 racing   

n.竞赛，赛马；adj.竞赛用的，赛马用的

参考例句：

• I was watching the racing on television last night.昨晚我在电视上看赛马。
• The two racing drivers fenced for a chance to gain the lead.两个赛车手伺机竞相领先。

7 skier   

n.滑雪运动员

参考例句：

• She is a skier who is unafraid of danger.她是一名敢于冒险的滑雪者。
• The skier skimmed across the snow.滑雪者飞快地滑过雪地。

8 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。

9 alpine   

adj.高山的；n.高山植物

参考例句：

• Alpine flowers are abundant there.那里有很多高山地带的花。
• Its main attractions are alpine lakes and waterfalls .它以高山湖泊和瀑布群为主要特色。

10 poised   

a.摆好姿势不动的

参考例句：

• The hawk poised in mid-air ready to swoop. 老鹰在半空中盘旋，准备俯冲。
• Tina was tense, her hand poised over the telephone. 蒂娜心情紧张，手悬在电话机上。