VOA标准英语2009年-Sudanese Teenager Makes Sports History

A Sudanese teenager has made history by becoming the first African-born player to join the professional ranks of the Australian Rules Football League.

Phil Mercer | Sydney 16 December 2009

 
 
"When I first started a lot of my Sudanese friends, the boys, they weren't a fan of me playing footy," explains Majak Daw.

A Sudanese teenager has made history by becoming the first African-born player to join the professional ranks of the Australian Rules Football League. Eighteen-year-old Majak Daw has excelled at a sport he took up just a few years ago and been signed by one of the country's best-known clubs, North Melbourne.
 
When he was nine, Majak Daw and his family fled civil war in Sudan. After three years in Egypt, they arrived in Australia in 2003 and settled in a Melbourne suburb.
 
The lanky¹ teenager began playing Australian Rules Football just four years ago but has made history by becoming the first player from Africa to join the professional league, the AFL.
 
This week he signed a two-year contract with the North Melbourne club. He starts in the reserves, learning the intricacies of this unique Australian game, which fuses elements of sports such as soccer and rugby.
 
Daw hopes his efforts will encourage other African migrants to integrate more into Australian society
 
"When I first started a lot of my Sudanese friends, the boys, they weren't a fan of me playing footy, they tend to hang around the Sudanese people, just one area," Daw explained. "I kept on telling them you need to get out and explore and know these people 'cause you're going to be living here all your life, you're not going to be with the Sudanese people the whole time. Me making it into AFL will make them, will give them more opportunities and give them confidence to sort of go out there and do their own things to better themselves."
 
Daw experienced racist² taunts³ on his journey to the elite⁴ ranks of the AFL, but he says they only hardened his resolve. He says the Sudanese have often struggled to adapt to life in Australia.
 
A spokesman for North Melbourne said the teenager, who is 194 centimeters tall and is still growing, had "enormous potential" to succeed at the highest level of the Australian Rules Football League, a nationwide organization with 16 professional teams. The majority are based in the southern state of Victoria, with other clubs in Adelaide, Brisbane, Sydney and Perth.
 
In the past decade about 25,000 Sudanese refugees have resettled in Australia. The number of arrivals has slowed as the government has shifted its focus to accommodating those displaced by instability elsewhere, such as Iraq. 
 
Canberra resettles about 13,000 refugees every year under official humanitarian⁵ programs.
 

1 lanky   

adj.瘦长的

参考例句：

• He was six feet four,all lanky and leggy.他身高6英尺4英寸，瘦高个儿，大长腿。
• Tom was a lanky boy with long skinny legs.汤姆是一个腿很细的瘦高个儿。

2 racist   

n.种族主义者，种族主义分子

参考例句：

• a series of racist attacks 一连串的种族袭击行为
• His speech presented racist ideas under the guise of nationalism. 他的讲话以民族主义为幌子宣扬种族主义思想。

3 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。

4 elite   

n.精英阶层；实力集团；adj.杰出的，卓越的

参考例句：

• The power elite inside the government is controlling foreign policy.政府内部的一群握有实权的精英控制着对外政策。
• We have a political elite in this country.我们国家有一群政治精英。

5 humanitarian   

n.人道主义者，博爱者，基督凡人论者

参考例句：

• She has many humanitarian interests and contributes a lot to them.她拥有很多慈善事业，并作了很大的贡献。
• The British government has now suspended humanitarian aid to the area.英国政府现已暂停对这一地区的人道主义援助。