2007年VOA标准英语-Friends, Family Remember Jackie Robinson Legacy

By Mike O'Sullivan
Los Angeles
28 March 2007

Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier to become the first African-American to play U.S. major league baseball 60 years ago.  Mike O'Sullivan reports from Los Angeles, family members and friends of the American sports legend came together to remember his legacy².

(Left to Right) Gloria May Barlett, Ray Isum, Ray Bartlett, and on the right side of the Jackie Robinson poster, James Ronnie Colbert

For students at Los Angeles City College, this was a chance to learn more about the legacy of a courageous³ sportsman through the student performance of a play called National Pastime.   It recounts Robinson's struggle against racial prejudice as he agreed to play for the Brooklyn Dodgers⁴.  General manager Branch Rickey warned him he would face taunts⁵ and ridicule⁶.

ROBINSON:  "It sounds like you're looking for a Negro who is afraid to fight back."
MANAGER: "I'm looking for a ball player who's got the guts⁷ not to fight back."

Opening evening offered students a chance to meet people close to Robinson, people who had watched him break down racial barriers in the 1940s.

College sports were already integrated in some parts of the country, and Jackie had been a star athlete at Pasadena City College and the University of California, Los Angeles.  Later, he played professional football in Hawaii and baseball with the Kansas City Monarchs⁸ in the Negro leagues.  Longtime friend and fellow student Ray Bartlett remembers Jackie as a man determined⁹ to win.

"Every time we played anybody," he recalled.  "I don't care what it was, whether it was a pickup¹⁰ game, win was all Jack¹ knew, and I remember when we thought things were sort of down, he was the guy that kept us going, really."

Gloria Bartlett May was another friend of the baseball legend at UCLA and later in Hawaii, where Ray Bartlett and Jackie played football.  She says she was proud when he signed his major league contract.

"And surprised," she said.  "And amazed, just like the rest of the public was.  But I think a lot of people were behind him, and they appreciated the fact that he gave of himself, which must have been a very traumatic experience.  And nobody can realize it unless you have been through it.  We felt it, but, you know, he had to live it."

Ray Isum also went to school with Jackie, and became Jackie's brother-in-law when the ball player married Ray's sister, Rachel.

He remembers Robinson as a fierce competitor who was good in every sport.

"And whatever the sport, was - golf, tennis, whatever it was - he was a competitor," he noted¹¹.  "He wanted to win.  So the hardest part for him, I think, was to get in there and take anything they gave him, without retaliating¹².  He was a fiery¹³ guy.  And so that was really, really hard on him."

Jackie Robinson's nephew, James Ronnie Colbert, was a youngster of nine when Jackie made it into the majors.  Colbert says black children in Los Angeles knew little of major league baseball.

"Actually, until he started playing, since there were no blacks or anything, it wasn't brought down to the neighborhood," he recalled.  "So we didn't know anything about the World Series or professional baseball.  There were no teams in LA, so there was nobody to watch there.  No television, so that makes a big difference."

Fred Fate of the Los Angeles City College Theater Academy says the story of Jackie Robinson, dramatized at the college, has moved many people.

"It touched a chord of the lot of people from the point of view of finding something that had to do with optimism, hope for the future," he said.  "And I suppose the way in which we train our people is the idea of dream big, and that's what he was doing, and it has touched a chord."

Jackie Robinson was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1962.  He was only 53 when he died 10 years later of complications from diabetes¹⁴.  His family and friends remember him as a great player and a man of courage who opened major league sports to athletes of all colors.

1 jack   

n.插座，千斤顶，男人；v.抬起，提醒，扛举；n.（Jake）杰克

参考例句：

• I am looking for the headphone jack.我正在找寻头戴式耳机插孔。
• He lifted the car with a jack to change the flat tyre.他用千斤顶把车顶起来换下瘪轮胎。

2 legacy   

n.遗产，遗赠；先人(或过去)留下的东西

参考例句：

• They are the most precious cultural legacy our forefathers left.它们是我们祖先留下来的最宝贵的文化遗产。
• He thinks the legacy is a gift from the Gods.他认为这笔遗产是天赐之物。

3 courageous   

adj.勇敢的，有胆量的

参考例句：

• We all honour courageous people.我们都尊重勇敢的人。
• He was roused to action by courageous words.豪言壮语促使他奋起行动。

4 dodgers   

n.躲闪者，欺瞒者( dodger的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• a crackdown on fare dodgers on trains 对火车逃票者的严厉打击
• But Twain, Howells, and James were jeeringly described by Mencken as "draft-dodgers". 不过吐温、豪威尔斯和詹姆斯都是被门肯讥诮地叫做“逃避兵役的人。” 来自辞典例句

5 taunts   

嘲弄的言语，嘲笑，奚落( taunt的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• He had to endure the racist taunts of the crowd. 他不得不忍受那群人种族歧视的奚落。
• He had to endure the taunts of his successful rival. 他不得不忍受成功了的对手的讥笑。

6 ridicule   

v.讥讽，挖苦；n.嘲弄

参考例句：

• You mustn't ridicule unfortunate people.你不该嘲笑不幸的人。
• Silly mistakes and queer clothes often arouse ridicule.荒谬的错误和古怪的服装常会引起人们的讪笑。

7 guts   

v.狼吞虎咽，贪婪地吃，飞碟游戏（比赛双方每组5人，相距15码，互相掷接飞碟）；毁坏（建筑物等）的内部( gut的第三人称单数 )；取出…的内脏n.勇气( gut的名词复数 )；内脏；消化道的下段；肠

参考例句：

• I'll only cook fish if the guts have been removed. 鱼若已收拾干净，我只需烧一下即可。
• Barbara hasn't got the guts to leave her mother. 巴巴拉没有勇气离开她妈妈。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 monarchs   

君主，帝王( monarch的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Monarchs ruled England for centuries. 世袭君主统治英格兰有许多世纪。
• Serving six monarchs of his native Great Britain, he has served all men's freedom and dignity. 他在大不列颠本国为六位君王服务，也为全人类的自由和尊严服务。 来自演讲部分

9 determined   

adj.坚定的；有决心的

参考例句：

• I have determined on going to Tibet after graduation.我已决定毕业后去西藏。
• He determined to view the rooms behind the office.他决定查看一下办公室后面的房间。

10 pickup   

n.拾起，获得

参考例句：

• I would love to trade this car for a pickup truck.我愿意用这辆汽车换一辆小型轻便卡车。||The luck guy is a choice pickup for the girls.那位幸运的男孩是女孩子们想勾搭上的人。

11 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

12 retaliating   

v.报复，反击( retaliate的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• The administration will begin retaliating in six weeks if EC policies remain unchanged. 凯特先生说，如果欧共体一意孤行，美国政府将于六周后开始报复。 来自互联网

13 fiery   

adj.燃烧着的，火红的；暴躁的；激烈的

参考例句：

• She has fiery red hair.她有一头火红的头发。
• His fiery speech agitated the crowd.他热情洋溢的讲话激动了群众。

14 diabetes   

n.糖尿病

参考例句：

• In case of diabetes, physicians advise against the use of sugar.对于糖尿病患者，医生告诫他们不要吃糖。
• Diabetes is caused by a fault in the insulin production of the body.糖尿病是由体內胰岛素分泌失调引起的。