2006年VOA标准英语-George Mason Beats College Basketball Odds

By Jim Stevenson
Indianapolis, Indiana
31 March 2006

The U.S. men's college basketball national championship tournament is known as March Madness. The 65-team single elimination¹ format² brings together teams from second tier divisions with national powers, and sometimes that produces stunning³ early round upsets. But this year, one unexpected member of the Final Four teams has pulled off four remarkable⁴ victories to grab a share of the national spotlight⁵. VOA's Jim Stevenson has more on the surprising George Mason Patriots⁶ from northern Virginia, near Washington D.C.

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Jim Larranaga  
  

The popular television series Mission Impossible and subsequent movies thrilled viewers with a fictional⁷ team of government spies and specialists who completed assignments against tremendous odds⁸. George Mason University basketball coach Jim Larranaga tried to use that to inspire his team to victory.

"I said 'we need to go out with guns a blazin' and be the giant killer⁹ that the media is making us out to be.' And then I started singing the Mission Impossible theme song," he said. "What I found out later is they [my players] did not even recognize it."

 
Coach Jim Larranaga high fives with his players during practice for Final Four championship in Indianapolis
  
But his team did recognize how to win against the odds. Many observers questioned the inclusion of George Mason in the national championship tournament, which had never won a game in previous appearances. But the Patriots started by beating half of last year's Final Four with wins over Michigan State and defending champion North Carolina. After knocking off another tournament surprise, Wichita State, George Mason eliminated regional top seed Connecticut, the 2004 national champion. That led to front page coverage¹⁰ on major newspapers across the United States, not to mention widespread radio and television coverage.

Combined, the teams George Mason defeated had been to 25 Final Fours and had won eight national titles, including four of the last seven tournaments. But guard Tony Skinn says this George Mason team enjoys being an underdog.

Tony Skinn   
  
"We were not supposed to be in the tournament. We got into it," he said. "We were not supposed to beat Michigan State. We beat them. We were not supposed to beat North Carolina. We beat them. We definitely were not supposed to beat Uconn. So I think we will stick to the script. We do not mind being a Cinderella."

Skinn has been part of George Mason's winning combination of three-point shooters, including Lamar Butler and Folarin Campbell. The team has consistent inside scoring from Will Thomas and Jai Lewis, while the team's overall relaxed attitude may be enough to carry it to an unprecedented¹¹ national championship.

1 elimination   

n.排除，消除，消灭

参考例句：

• Their elimination from the competition was a great surprise.他们在比赛中遭到淘汰是个很大的意外。
• I was eliminated from the 400 metres in the semi-finals.我在400米半决赛中被淘汰。

2 format   

n.设计，版式；[计算机]格式，DOS命令:格式化(磁盘)，用于空盘或使用过的磁盘建立新空盘来存储数据；v.使格式化，设计，安排

参考例句：

• Please format this floppy disc.请将这张软盘格式化。
• The format of the figure is very tasteful.该图表的格式很雅致。

3 stunning   

adj.极好的；使人晕倒的

参考例句：

• His plays are distinguished only by their stunning mediocrity.他的戏剧与众不同之处就是平凡得出奇。
• The finished effect was absolutely stunning.完工后的效果非常美。

4 remarkable   

adj.显著的，异常的，非凡的，值得注意的

参考例句：

• She has made remarkable headway in her writing skills.她在写作技巧方面有了长足进步。
• These cars are remarkable for the quietness of their engines.这些汽车因发动机没有噪音而不同凡响。

5 spotlight   

n.公众注意的中心，聚光灯，探照灯，视听，注意，醒目

参考例句：

• This week the spotlight is on the world of fashion.本周引人瞩目的是时装界。
• The spotlight followed her round the stage.聚光灯的光圈随着她在舞台上转。

6 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。

7 fictional   

adj.小说的，虚构的

参考例句：

• The names of the shops are entirely fictional.那些商店的名字完全是虚构的。
• The two authors represent the opposite poles of fictional genius.这两位作者代表了天才小说家两个极端。

8 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？

9 killer   

n.杀人者，杀人犯，杀手，屠杀者

参考例句：

• Heart attacks have become Britain's No.1 killer disease.心脏病已成为英国的头号致命疾病。
• The bulk of the evidence points to him as her killer.大量证据证明是他杀死她的。

10 coverage   

n.报导，保险范围，保险额，范围，覆盖

参考例句：

• There's little coverage of foreign news in the newspaper.报纸上几乎没有国外新闻报道。
• This is an insurance policy with extensive coverage.这是一项承保范围广泛的保险。

11 unprecedented   

adj.无前例的，新奇的

参考例句：

• The air crash caused an unprecedented number of deaths.这次空难的死亡人数是空前的。
• A flood of this sort is really unprecedented.这样大的洪水真是十年九不遇。