VOA慢速英语2017 美式足球运动员离开NFL学习数学

American Football Player Leaves NFL to Study Math

This is What’s Trending Today.

John Urschel was living a life many athletes only dreamed of. He was a player in the National Football League (NFL).

约翰·尤索（John Urschel）过着很多运动员只能梦想的生活。他是美国国家橄榄球联盟（NFL）球员。

Until Thursday, the 26-year-old Urschel played for the Baltimore Ravens¹ football team.

周四之前，26岁的尤索还在巴尔的摩乌鸦橄榄球队打球。

But not anymore.

但是以后再也不会了。

He announced he was giving up football to study math at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

他宣布要放弃橄榄球去麻省理工学院做数学研究。

Urschel played in the NFL for three years. He came to the Ravens after playing in college at Penn State University in State College, Pennsylvania.

尤索在NFL效力了三年。他在宾夕法尼亚州立大学打球，然后来到了乌鸦队。

Urschel was known among American sports fans for being both a good football player and also a mathematician².

尤索在美国体育迷中被认为既是一名好球员，又是一名数学家。

Urschel studies complex math, like advanced algebra³ and machine learning.

尤索研究复杂的数学，例如高等代数和机器学习算法。

He wrote about his studies in a 2015 article in The Player’s Tribune. It was called “Why I Still Play Football.”

2015年他在《球员论坛报》撰文写到了他的研究，这篇文章的标题是《为什么我还在打球？》

He wrote that he loves math, but also loved to play football.

他写道，他喜欢数学，但是也喜欢打橄榄球。

“There’s a rush you get when you go out on the field, lay everything on the line and physically⁴ dominate the player across from you.”

他说：“当你出场时要把所有事情搁到一边去，在身体上主宰你对面的球员，这时会有一种快感。”

Urschel was an offensive lineman. That means he used his large body – over 1.9 meters tall and 136 kilograms – to keep the opposing team’s players from tackling his teammates.

尤索是一名进攻内锋，这意味着他要利用自己超过1米9高和136公斤重的庞大身躯让对方球员不能阻截他的队友。

But it also means that he ran into other players over and over again.

但是这也意味着他要一次次撞上其它球员。

Earlier this week, a study was released about the brains of American-style football players.

本周早些时候发布了一项关于美式橄榄球运动员大脑的研究。

Researchers examined the brains of 111 former NFL players who had died.

研究人员检查了111名已经过世的NFL球员的大脑。

All but one of them showed signs of chronic⁵ traumatic encephalopathy. That is the brain disease known as CTE. It is linked to hits to the head that are common in football.

除了一人之外的所有人都出现了慢性创伤脑部病变的迹象，这种脑病也被称之为CTE。它跟橄榄球运动中常见的头部撞击有关。

The brains were donated by families of the former football players.

这些大脑是有这些前橄榄球员的家属所捐赠。

The Baltimore football team posted the news on Twitter. The team just started practicing for the new season this week.

这支巴尔的摩橄榄球队在推特上发表了这一新闻。该队本周刚开始新赛季热身。

Baltimore’s coach is John Harbaugh. He said: “we wish him all the best in his future endeavors.”

巴尔的摩队的教练是约翰·哈博（John Harbaugh）。他说，“我们祝福他在未来的工作中一切顺利！”

Urschel has not yet talked about his retirement⁶. But the announcement came after the new study was released on Tuesday.

尤索还没有讨论他的退役。但是他宣布这项决定是在周二这项新研究发布之后。

Urschel is not the only [football] player to announce his retirement this week. Andrew Hawkins was a wide receiver for the New England Patriots⁷. He retired⁸ on Tuesday at the age of 31, announcing his plans to study business and economics.

尤索不是本周唯一一名宣布退役的球员。安德鲁·霍金斯（Andrew Hawkins）是新英格兰爱国者队的外接手。他周二在31岁的年龄退役，宣布要去读商业和经济学。

Hawkins earned a master’s degree from Columbia University earlier this year.

霍金斯今年早些时候获得了哥伦比亚大学的硕士学位。

Many people reacted to Urschel’s news on Twitter, calling him a “genius” and praising his decision.

很多人在推特上对尤索的消息作出了回应，称他是一名天才，并赞扬他的决定。

And that’s What’s Trending Today.

I’m Dan Friedell.

Words in This Story

rush – n. a strong feeling or emotion caused by a drug or by something exciting

dominate – v. to have control of or power over (someone or something)

tackle – v. to forcefully seize (someone) and cause that person to fall to the ground

chronic traumatic encephalopathy – n. a brain disease caused by regular impacts to the head

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

endeavor – n. a serious effort or attempt

genius – n. a very smart or talented person : a person who has a level of talent or intelligence that is very rare or remarkable

1 ravens   

n.低质煤；渡鸦( raven的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Wheresoever the carcase is,there will the ravens be gathered together. 哪里有死尸，哪里就有乌鸦麇集。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• A couple of ravens croaked above our boat. 两只乌鸦在我们小船的上空嘎嘎叫着。 来自辞典例句

2 mathematician   

n.数学家

参考例句：

• The man with his back to the camera is a mathematician.背对着照相机的人是位数学家。
• The mathematician analyzed his figures again.这位数学家再次分析研究了他的这些数字。

3 algebra   

n.代数学

参考例句：

• He was not good at algebra in middle school.他中学时不擅长代数。
• The boy can't figure out the algebra problems.这个男孩做不出这道代数题。

4 physically   

adj.物质上，体格上，身体上，按自然规律

参考例句：

• He was out of sorts physically,as well as disordered mentally.他浑身不舒服，心绪也很乱。
• Every time I think about it I feel physically sick.一想起那件事我就感到极恶心。

5 chronic   

adj.(疾病)长期未愈的，慢性的；极坏的

参考例句：

• Famine differs from chronic malnutrition.饥荒不同于慢性营养不良。
• Chronic poisoning may lead to death from inanition.慢性中毒也可能由虚弱导致死亡。

6 retirement   

n.退休，退职

参考例句：

• She wanted to enjoy her retirement without being beset by financial worries.她想享受退休生活而不必为金钱担忧。
• I have to put everything away for my retirement.我必须把一切都积蓄起来以便退休后用。

7 patriots   

爱国者，爱国主义者( patriot的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Abraham Lincoln was a fine type of the American patriots. 亚伯拉罕·林肯是美国爱国者的优秀典型。
• These patriots would fight to death before they surrendered. 这些爱国者宁愿战斗到死，也不愿投降。

8 retired   

adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的

参考例句：

• The old man retired to the country for rest.这位老人下乡休息去了。
• Many retired people take up gardening as a hobby.许多退休的人都以从事园艺为嗜好。