VOA慢速英语--美国女子学校拥有首个顶级电竞队

All-Girls School Becomes First in US To Have Top E-Sports Team

In the United States, multi-player video games are becoming big business. The industry is expected to earn over $1 billion in profits this year.

More and more colleges and universities are creating e-sports programs. Some colleges are even offering top players scholarship money.

But most of those scholarships have been going to male players. The situation risks following a path similar to American football. High schools and colleges spend – and earn – a lot of money on the sport.

American football players are almost entirely¹ boys and men. So, males receive almost all of the resources.

But nearly half the people who play video games in the U.S. are girls. So, e-sports have a chance to be different.

To try to change things, a former U.S. Department of Education official has helped an all-girls school launch² a varsity e-sports program. The official, J Collins, says the program shows how high schools can appeal to a greater range of gamers. The goal is for different kinds of people to earn e-sports scholarships and other opportunities.

Since leaving the Education Department, Collins has been teaching³ at Hathaway Brown, an all-girls school near Cleveland, Ohio. Collins compares the path for girls in e-sports to the one facing girls and gender⁴ minorities in science, technology, engineering⁵ and math -- the subject grouping called STEM⁶.

Research shows many girls begin to avoid STEM-related subjects around middle school. Possible reasons include “lack of role models, toxic⁷ culture and generally feeling like they don’t fit in in that world,” Collins said.

Collins helped organize a league for e-sports teams from 10 schools and libraries in the Cleveland area. The players are a mix of students from urban and rural⁸ areas, wealthier and poorer families. At least one of the schools is only for girls; as a result, all of the players on the e-sports team are female⁹.

In order to appeal to a wide range of students, the league chose three games for the competitions. One was a sports game called Rocket League. Another was a digital card game called Hearthstone. And a third was an online battle game called Heroes of the Storm.

Collins says game choice is important if schools want to reach more than just male students. For example, Collins did not include League of Legends, which is one of the world’s most popular e-sports games. But none of its top players are women, and its culture has been described as toxic.

Players in Collins’ league have reported liking¹⁰ the games that were chosen.

Ninth grade student Claire Hofstra was among the most passionate¹¹ players. Collins asked her to find four other girls to complete the school’s Heroes of the Storm team. Heroes of the Storm has a few similarities to League of Legends, a game that girls supposedly do not like. Yet the team’s members enjoyed it so much they continued to play together, even when the season ended.

Some girls say playing e-sports has helped them in other ways. Julianna Reineks was in her first year at Hathaway Brown and lives about an hour away from the school. She says the e-sports team helped her make friends.

Kaila Morris, another freshman¹², once described herself as “shy.” Over time, she learned¹³ to speak up and trust in her abilities. She recently served as a broadcaster during the league’s championship games. And Claire Hofstra overcame the social pressure she felt at her former school to give up gaming.

Having an e-sports team at Hathaway Brown influenced her decision to keep playing. She said, “I definitely¹⁴ felt the pressure, just because I’m a girl. People don’t really take you seriously.”

All three students who spoke¹⁵ to The Associated Press plan to return to the e-sports team next season. They also said they would think about playing e-sports at the college level – especially if they earn a scholarship.

It is a small but hopeful step for J Collins, who is transgender. Collins has at times felt more connected and more distant from other people because of video games.

Maybe the most hopeful result from the first-year e-sports league was that the girls had only one criticism¹⁶. They said they did not get enough time interacting¹⁷ with students from other schools.

“Games can bring people together. They can just sit down and start playing together. That’s a beautiful thing,” Collins said.

I’m Alice Bryant.

And I’m Jonathan Evans.

Words in This Story

scholarship - n. an amount of money that is given to a student to help pay for the student's education

resource – n. a supply of money, materials and other things that can be used to operate effectively

varsity - n. the main team of a college, school, or club in a particular sport

opportunity - n. an amount of time or a situation in which something can be done

gender – n. either of the two sexes, male and female

toxic – adj. poisonous or harmful

league – n. a grouping of sports teams which play each other

urban - adj. of or relating to cities and the people who live in them

passionate – adj. showing strong feelings or strong beliefs

transgender – adj. relating to someone whose sense of personal identity and gender has no relationship with their birth sex

1 entirely   

ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The fire was entirely caused by their neglect of duty. 那场火灾完全是由于他们失职而引起的。
• His life was entirely given up to the educational work. 他的一生统统献给了教育工作。

2 launch   

vt.发动，推出；发射；n.发射，下水，投产

参考例句：

• The makers are about to launch out a new product.制造商们马上要生产一种新产品。
• Would it be wise to launch into this rough sea?在这样汹涌的大海中游泳明智吗？

3 teaching   

n.教学，执教，任教，讲授；(复数)教诲

参考例句：

• We all agree in adopting the new teaching method. 我们一致同意采取新的教学方法。
• He created a new system of teaching foreign languages.他创造了一种新的外语教学体系。

4 gender   

n.（生理上的）性，（名词、代词等的）性

参考例句：

• French differs from English in having gender for all nouns.法语不同于英语，所有的名词都有性。
• Women are sometimes denied opportunities solely because of their gender.妇女有时仅仅因为性别而无法获得种种机会。

5 engineering   

n.工程，工程学，管理，操纵

参考例句：

• The science of engineering began as soon as man learned to use tools. 人类一学会使用工具,工程科学就开始了。
• It was the first great engineering works in the world. 这是世界上第一家大型的工程工厂。

6 stem   

n.茎，干，船首，词干，血统；vt.堵住，阻止，抽去梗；vi.起源于，发生

参考例句：

• Cut the stem cleanly,just beneath a leaf joint.把茎切整齐点，正好切在叶根下。
• The ship was in a blaze from stem to stern.整艘船从头到尾都着火了。

7 toxic   

adj.有毒的，因中毒引起的

参考例句：

• The factory had accidentally released a quantity of toxic waste into the sea.这家工厂意外泄漏大量有毒废物到海中。
• There is a risk that toxic chemicals might be blasted into the atmosphere.爆炸后有毒化学物质可能会进入大气层。

8 rural   

adj.乡下的，田园的，乡村风味的

参考例句：

• He lived a rural life.他过着田园生活。
• We left the city for a rural home.我们离开城市，去农村安家。

9 female   

adj.雌的，女(性)的；n.雌性的动物，女子

参考例句：

• We only employ female workers.我们只雇用女工。
• The animal in the picture was a female elephant.照片上的动物是头母象。

10 liking   

n.爱好；嗜好；喜欢

参考例句：

• The word palate also means taste or liking.Palate这个词也有“口味”或“嗜好”的意思。
• I must admit I have no liking for exaggeration.我必须承认我不喜欢夸大其词。

11 passionate   

adj.热情的，热烈的，激昂的，易动情的，易怒的，性情暴躁的

参考例句：

• He is said to be the most passionate man.据说他是最有激情的人。
• He is very passionate about the project.他对那个项目非常热心。

12 freshman   

n.大学一年级学生(可兼指男女)

参考例句：

• Jack decided to live in during his freshman year at college.杰克决定大一时住校。
• He is a freshman in the show business.他在演艺界是一名新手。

13 learned   

adj.有学问的，博学的；learn的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• He went into a rage when he learned about it.他听到这事后勃然大怒。
• In this little village,he passed for a learned man.在这个小村子里，他被视为有学问的人。

14 definitely   

adv.一定地，肯定地；明确地，确切地

参考例句：

• The team will definitely lose if he doesn't play.如果他不参加比赛，这个队肯定会输。
• I shall definitely be home before six o'clock.6点以前，我一定回家。

15 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

16 criticism   

n.批评，批判，指责；评论，评论文章

参考例句：

• Some youth today do not allow any criticism at all.现在有些年轻人根本指责不得。
• It is wrong to turn a deaf ear to other's criticism.对别人的批评充耳不闻是错误的。

17 interacting   

adj.相互影响的；相互作用的

参考例句：

• The interacting surfaces were lubricated with a mineral oil. 相互作用表面是用矿物油润滑的。
• Proteins which have two separate but interacting sites are called allosteric proteins. 这种具有两个不同而又相互作用位置的蛋白质叫做变构蛋白质。