英语听力精选进阶版 6129

Whatever Happened to Fair Play? 难道公平竞赛没有了吗？

‘It’s not whether you win or lose but how you play the game’, or at least that is how the old English adage¹ goes, but for some sportsmen and women a gallant² performance is not enough. For those few unscrupulous competitors it is a question of victory at all costs.

There have been cheats at the Olympics since the earliest days of the modern games. In 1904 the runner Fred Lorz won the marathon but was disqualified when it transpired³ his manager had driven him half the race in a car.

Other cheats have turned out to have hidden qualities that helped them succeed. In Berlin 1936 Dora Ratjen came fourth in the women’s high jump event. Nothing unusual about that you might say, but Dora was really Hermann and ‘she’ was actually a man!

The same ruse⁴ was used by a number of gender-bending athletes until compulsory⁵ sex-testing was introduced in 1964, although such tests have now been abandoned as undignified and humiliating.

In more recent years cheating athletes and their trainers have resorted to doping to improve sporting performance, and have provoked a crisis in sport with some of the biggest names in sport being disqualified, stripped of their medals, and even jailed for using illegal chemical substances such as steroids. The 2004 Athens Olympics saw more than 20 athletes disqualified from the games after testing positive for banned substances.

Will we see even more scandals in Beijing 2008? It seems inevitable⁶ since a number of athletes have already been banned or withdrawn⁷ from the games before they even began.

But some sports figures have called for even harder measures to be taken against drug cheats. Ten-time Olympic medal winner Carl Lewis has called for doping to become a crime throughout the world.

"I would change the law. If you test positive, why can't it be illegal?" said Lewis.

GLOSSARY 词汇表

adage 谚语，格言

gallant performance 英勇的表现

unscrupulous competitors 不讲道德的参赛者

cheats 作弊，骗子

marathon 马拉松

disqualified 被取消竞争资格

transpired 透露，被人知道

hidden qualities 不为人知的本领

women's high jump 女子跳高

ruse 花招，诈术

gender-bending 性别装扮

compulsory sex-testing 强制性的性别鉴定测验

abandoned 放弃了

doping 服用禁药

stripped 取消

illegal chemical substances 非法药物

steroids 激素

testing positive 阳性测验结果

banned 禁止

scandals 丑闻

1 adage   

n.格言，古训

参考例句：

• But the old adage that men grow into office has not proved true in my experience.但是，根据我的经验，人们所谓的工作岗位造就人材这句古话并不正确。
• Her experience lends credence to the adage " We live and learn!"她的经验印证了一句格言: 活到老，学到老！

2 gallant   

adj.英勇的，豪侠的；(向女人)献殷勤的

参考例句：

• Huang Jiguang's gallant deed is known by all men. 黄继光的英勇事迹尽人皆知。
• These gallant soldiers will protect our country.这些勇敢的士兵会保卫我们的国家的。

3 transpired   

（事实，秘密等）被人知道( transpire的过去式和过去分词 )； 泄露； 显露； 发生

参考例句：

• It transpired that the gang had had a contact inside the bank. 据报这伙歹徒在银行里有内应。
• It later transpired that he hadn't been telling the truth. 他当时没说真话，这在后来显露出来了。

4 ruse   

n.诡计，计策；诡计

参考例句：

• The children thought of a clever ruse to get their mother to leave the house so they could get ready for her surprise.孩子们想出一个聪明的办法使妈妈离家，以便他们能准备给她一个惊喜。It is now clear that this was a ruse to divide them.现在已清楚这是一个离间他们的诡计。

5 compulsory   

n.强制的，必修的；规定的，义务的

参考例句：

• Is English a compulsory subject?英语是必修课吗？
• Compulsory schooling ends at sixteen.义务教育至16岁为止。

6 inevitable   

adj.不可避免的，必然发生的

参考例句：

• Mary was wearing her inevitable large hat.玛丽戴着她总是戴的那顶大帽子。
• The defeat had inevitable consequences for British policy.战败对英国政策不可避免地产生了影响。

7 withdrawn   

vt.收回；使退出；vi.撤退，退出

参考例句：

• Our force has been withdrawn from the danger area.我们的军队已从危险地区撤出。
• All foreign troops should be withdrawn to their own countries.一切外国军队都应撤回本国去。