英语名人堂：姚明

姚明，1980年生于上海市徐汇区，祖籍江苏省苏州市吴江区震泽镇，前中国职业篮球运动员，司职中锋，中职联公司董事长兼总经理[1]  。

1998年4月，姚明入选王非执教的国家队，开始篮球生涯。2002年，他以状元秀身份被NBA的休斯敦火箭队选中。2003年至2008年连续六个赛季入选NBA西部全明星阵容。2009年，姚明收购上海男篮，成为上海大鲨鱼篮球俱乐部老板。

2011年7月20日，姚明正式宣布退役。

2013年，姚明当选为第十二届全国政协委员。2014年6月，参加湖南卫视《爸爸去哪儿》客串嘉宾。

2015年2月10日，姚明正式成为北京申办冬奥会形象大使之一。[2] 

2016年4月4日，姚明正式入选2016年奈·史密斯篮球名人纪念堂，成为首位获此殊荣的中国人。[3] 

 

Yao Ming is probably China’s most famous sports star. He plays basketball for the China national team and for the Houston Rockets in America. He is currently¹ the tallest player in the NBA, measuring 2.29 metres. His mother and father stand at 1.90 and 2.01 metres. Yao has been China’s richest celebrity² for over five years and has helped Chinese-US relations.

 

Yao started playing basketball when he was nine and joined the Shanghai Sharks at 13. He played on their senior team for five years and won the Chinese championship. In 2002, he became the first international player ever to be selected as the number one pick of rookies. China gave permission for Yao to play in the USA on the morning of the draft.

 

He is a huge success in America and has signed many major sponsorship deals. He has played in the NBA All-Star Game in all of his seasons with Houston. In 2007, Yao played against his fellow Chinese player Yi Jianlian for the first time. Over 200 million people in China tuned³ in, making it one of the most-watched basketball games ever.

 

Yao is married to Ye Li, a former player for China's national team. In 2004, he carried the Chinese flag during the opening ceremony of the Olympics, which he said was a “long dream come true”. He also does a great deal for charity. After the 2008 China earthquake, he donated $2 million dollars and created a foundation to help rebuild schools.

1 currently   

adv.通常地，普遍地，当前

参考例句：

• Currently it is not possible to reconcile this conflicting evidence.当前还未有可能去解释这一矛盾的例证。
• Our contracts are currently under review.我们的合同正在复查。

2 celebrity   

n.名人，名流；著名，名声，名望

参考例句：

• Tom found himself something of a celebrity. 汤姆意识到自己已小有名气了。
• He haunted famous men, hoping to get celebrity for himself. 他常和名人在一起, 希望借此使自己获得名气。

3 tuned   

adj.调谐的，已调谐的v.调音( tune的过去式和过去分词 )；调整；（给收音机、电视等）调谐；使协调

参考例句：

• The resort is tuned in to the tastes of young and old alike. 这个度假胜地适合各种口味，老少皆宜。
• The instruments should be tuned up before each performance. 每次演出开始前都应将乐器调好音。 来自《简明英汉词典》