VOA慢速英语2015--特奥会投球手为夏季运动会做准备

AS IT IS 2015-07-23 Special Olympics Bowler¹ Ready for Summer Games 特奥会投球手为夏季运动会做准备

Los Angeles, California is set to welcome more than 7,000 thousand athletes from 177 nations for the Special Olympics World Summer Games. The event gathers athletes with intellectual disabilities to take part in competitive² sports. The events include basketball, gymnastics, foot races, bowling³ and many other summer sports. This year’s games open July 25th.

Barbara Figueroa will be there. She is a competitive bowler from southern California. She has been playing the sport for nine years and is excited about the international competition.

Karen Terra is the Special Olympics director for San Diego. She says bowling practice helps Figueroa and other athletes stay focused.

"Oh, they're so excited. In fact, Barbara just told me earlier this morning, she feels like she's won the lottery⁴. You did win the lottery. You're one of 36 people from Southern California who got selected to go to this, out of 17,000 athletes. That is huge."

Barbara Figueroa lives with Evelyn Benjamin, who has become like a grandmother. She says she has watched the athlete improve and shares in Figueroa’s excitement.

"I think she's a little overwhelmed⁵. She's very excited. But I don't think she has any idea yet just how special this is going to be. I tell her, but until you experience it, the unknown, you can only fantasize."

Barbara Figueroa says she's ready for Los Angeles.

"I cannot wait to meet a lot of people in L.A."

She practices with friends. And she plans to make some new ones from the thousands of athletes in the games.

Karen Terra says competition gives these athletes a sense of accomplishment⁶.

"Sometimes, people with intellectual disabilities are just put off in a corner of a room and told they can't do things. And with Special Olympics, we tell them they can do things"

Eunice Kennedy Shriver established the Special Olympics in 1968. They are held every two years, alternating⁷ between winter and summer sports. South Korea held the most recent World Special Olympics in the winter of 2013. The most recent summer games were in Athens, Greece in 2011.

Those who know Barbara Figueroa say she's competitive and enthusiastic. And they say she is ready to show what she can do as a competitive bowler in the Special Olympics.  

Words in This Story

intellectual – adj. of or relating to the ability to think in a logical way

practice – n. the activity of doing something again and again in order to become better at it

focus – n. a main purpose or interest

fantasize – v. to imagine doing something

accomplishment – n. the successful completion of something

enthusiastic adj. – feeling or showing strong excitement about something

1 bowler   

n.打保龄球的人，（板球的）投（球）手

参考例句：

• The bowler judged it well,timing the ball to perfection.投球手判断准确，对球速的掌握恰到好处。
• The captain decided to take Snow off and try a slower bowler.队长决定把斯诺撤下，换一个动作慢一点的投球手试一试。

2 competitive   

adj.竞争的，比赛的，好竞争的，有竞争力的

参考例句：

• Some kinds of business are competitive.有些商业是要竞争的。
• These businessmen are both competitive and honourable.这些商人既有竞争性又很诚实。

3 bowling   

n.保龄球运动

参考例句：

• Bowling is a popular sport with young and old.保龄球是老少都爱的运动。
• Which sport do you 1ike most,golf or bowling?你最喜欢什么运动，高尔夫还是保龄球？

4 lottery   

n.抽彩；碰运气的事，难于算计的事

参考例句：

• He won no less than ￡5000 in the lottery.他居然中了5000英镑的奖券。
• They thought themselves lucky in the lottery of life.他们认为自己是变幻莫测的人生中的幸运者。

5 overwhelmed   

[ overwhelm ]的过去式

参考例句：

• She was overwhelmed by feelings of guilt. 她感到愧疚难当。
• If (one was) overwhelmed by passion, it could lead to serious blunders. 当感情完全淹没理智时，就可能铸成大错。

6 accomplishment   

n.完成，成就，（pl.）造诣，技能

参考例句：

• The series of paintings is quite an accomplishment.这一系列的绘画真是了不起的成就。
• Money will be crucial to the accomplishment of our objectives.要实现我们的目标，钱是至关重要的。

7 alternating   

adj. 交互的

参考例句：

• This is an alternating current generator. 这是一台交流发电机。
• The measurement of alternating potential difference may be perturbed by stray current. 交变电位差的测量可能受到游散电流的影响。