Iraqis Celebrate Olympic Soccer Quarterfinal Win

 

By Challiss McDonough

Three generations of one family erupt in joy. Emad Mohammed has scored the only goal of the game against Australia in the Olympic men's soccer quarterfinal.
Thirty tense minutes later, the final whistle blows and the real celebrations begin. Minibuses full of cheering young men cruise¹ the streets, waving Iraqi flags. Radio stations play patriotic² sporting-victory songs.
And all over Baghdad, Iraqis celebrate the way they always do, with guns.
The head of the household, Abu Mohammed, grabs³ his AK-47 and runs outside to join his neighbors and relatives, shooting into the air in jubilation⁴.
Nobody expected the Iraqi soccer team to do so well. A year ago, Iraq was still suspended⁵ from playing in the Olympics. Violence has kept the team from being able to play at home. Their German coach quit three months ago after getting death threats.
But against all odds⁶, the Iraqis have kept winning. First they beat Portugal, then Costa Rica. A loss to Morocco was not enough to dislodge the team from the top spot in their group, and this victory over Australia puts Iraq just two matches away from a possible medal.
Abu Mohammed says the team's unlikely⁷ success has inspired the entire nation. "Winning this game lets Iraqis feel happy, and removes the gloom. I think it should unify⁸ us," he says. "This is a good chance to forget our troubles and think of the future."
Victory in the quarterfinal means Iraq will have a real chance at a medal. Iraq has only won one Olympic medal before, in the 1960 weightlifting competition.
But whether they win or lose the next match, for most Iraqis, the soccer players are already heroes.
Challiss McDonough, VOA News, Baghdad.

注释：
Soccer 足球
Quarterfinal四分之一决赛
generation一代, 一代人
tense紧张的
whistle口哨,口哨声
cruise 巡游
patriotic爱国的
Baghdad巴格达(伊拉克首都)
jubilation庆祝
suspend 暂停参赛资格
Portugal葡萄牙(欧洲西南部国家)
Costa Rica哥斯达黎加
Morocco摩洛哥
dislodge驱逐
victory胜利
gloom 阴暗, 阴沉
unify (使)统一
weightlifting举重

1 cruise   

v.巡航，航游，缓慢巡行；n.海上航游

参考例句：

• They went on a cruise to Tenerife.他们乘船去特纳利夫岛。
• She wants to cruise the canals of France in a barge.她想乘驳船游览法国的运河。

2 patriotic   

adj.爱国的，有爱国心的

参考例句：

• His speech was full of patriotic sentiments.他的演说充满了爱国之情。
• The old man is a patriotic overseas Chinese.这位老人是一位爱国华侨。

3 grabs   

n.试图抓取，有意抢夺( grab的名词复数 )v.抢先，抢占( grab的第三人称单数 )；（尤指匆忙地）取；攫取；（尤指自私、贪婪地）捞取

参考例句：

• The job is up for grabs.Why don't you apply now? 那工作谁都可以争取，你怎么不现在就申请呢？ 来自《简明英汉词典》
• She grabs a stack of baby photos and thrusts them into my hands. 她抓起一沓婴儿照片塞到我手里。 来自辞典例句

4 jubilation   

n.欢庆，喜悦

参考例句：

• The goal was greeted by jubilation from the home fans.主场球迷为进球欢呼。
• The whole city was a scene of jubilation.全市一片欢腾。

5 suspended   

a.被暂时搁置的

参考例句：

• A lamp was suspended from the ceiling. 一盏吊灯悬在天花板上。
• The British government has now suspended humanitarian aid to the area. 英国政府现已暂停对这一地区的人道主义援助。

6 odds   

n.让步，机率，可能性，比率；胜败优劣之别

参考例句：

• The odds are 5 to 1 that she will win.她获胜的机会是五比一。
• Do you know the odds of winning the lottery once?你知道赢得一次彩票的几率多大吗？

7 unlikely   

adj.未必的，多半不可能的；不大可能发生的

参考例句：

• It was very unlikely that he would do that.他不见得会做那种事。
• It is unlikely that she will come. 她不大可能来了。

8 unify   

vt.使联合，统一；使相同，使一致

参考例句：

• How can we unify such scattered islands into a nation?我们怎么才能把如此分散的岛屿统一成一个国家呢？
• It is difficult to imagine how the North and South could ever agree on a formula to unify the divided peninsula.很难想象南北双方在统一半岛的方案上究竟怎样才能达成一致。