2006年VOA标准英语-An Old Sport Acquires New Fans

By Mil Arcega
Washington, DC
26 April 2006
 
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Lacrosse, a sport for the young, has old roots in games played by Native Americans hundreds of years ago.  Today, lacrosse is still treasured by the communities where it was first played. 

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Lacrosse is very popular in the eastern part of the United States.  Similar to ice hockey and soccer, the object of the game is straightforward¹ -- shoot the ball into the opponent's goal.  The team scoring the most goals wins. 

Although the objective is simple, lacrosse is a fast paced, high impact sport that demands tremendous physical stamina². 

Players Matt Murphy and Patrick Meade play for Hobart College in New York State.

  
  
Matt says the sport is full of action, "It's just a more active sport.  You are constantly running, constantly involved in action."

Patrick states that the sport may look violent to some, "I know it looks like a pretty violent sport when you first see it."

The excitement has made what was once a game played primarily on the East Coast of the United States and Canada into one of the fastest-growing sports in high schools and colleges over the past ten years.

But it's a sport that was first played in the East hundreds of years ago, among the Iroquois Indians.

Tony Wonderly   
  
Tony Wonderly is an historian for the Oneida people, part of the Iroquois Confederacy. He provides his perspective on the sport: “The game that is played today professionally and at college level is directly taken from this ancient Iroquois, Hodeoshoni (the Iroquois name for themselves), game.”

The Iroquois say the game was a gift from the Creator, intended as a way of resolving disputes.

Marilyn John is an Oneida who still remembers the days when hundreds of her fellow tribesmen played lacrosse for three to four days at a time. 

 
Marilyn John
  
“That's when lacrosse started.  It became a medicine game to the point where He said, 'You need to play this game and play it ‘till your energy has run out, this hatred³ and suffering that you are doing, has run out.'  I mean if there is a dispute between clans⁴, get the game going, and run it out ‘till you are all exhausted⁵ and the feelings are gone.”

The game was adopted by whites, first in Canada at the end of the 19th century. Since then, it has evolved into a hi-tech sport that appeals to fans of extreme sports.  Despite the start-up costs for sticks, helmets, and other specialized⁶ equipment, it is no longer a sport for just a few.

As the game has grown, it has been reintroduced to some Native American territories.

Ron Paterson grew up in New York State.  He says lacrosse is part of the daily life in his native community.  But it was not always that way.

“There was no lacrosse here, there was nothing here.  You didn't see kids running around with lacrosse sticks, you didn't see guys all playing lacrosse.  Basically it was a run-down Native American community.”

Oneida historian Tony Wonderly says, over the years, the marginalization of Native Americans in North America has led to the disappearance⁷ of much of their culture.

“People have to hide their traditions away and not practice it openly because Iroquois and Iroquois people were literally⁸ under attack by the dominant⁹ people around them.”

Poverty and the pressure for assimilation forced the Iroquois to give up many traditions, including lacrosse.  But economic conditions in some native territories have improved since the 1980s, and that has enabled native American communities to have a stronger voice in maintaining old traditions.

Ron continued, “So when we said, ‘We are going to try to bring lacrosse back to the community,’ a lot of parents came over and say, ‘Yes, we’d like to see that, we don't know how to do it, but we want to see it back here’.”

In a new community sports center, kids from the ages of six to 12 are once again playing a game their ancestors invented.

Matt Kerwick is the head coach of the Hobart College lacrosse team. “I think the history of the game is so strong.  I think if we can get it out to people and let them experience that, and what it meant to the Native Americans who founded this country and who started this game many, many years ago, it's just going to grow leaps and bounds, and people are going to love the game as we have loved it on the East Coast of Northeast for many years.”

To recognize the origins of this increasingly popular game, the Iroquois now compete as a national team at the world championships, which are held every four years.

1 straightforward   

adj.正直的，坦率的；易懂的，简单的

参考例句：

• A straightforward talk is better than a flowery speech.巧言不如直说。
• I must insist on your giving me a straightforward answer.我一定要你给我一个直截了当的回答。

2 stamina   

n.体力；精力；耐力

参考例句：

• I lacked the stamina to run the whole length of the race.我没有跑完全程的耐力。
• Giving up smoking had a magical effect on his stamina.戒烟神奇地增强了他的体力。

3 hatred   

n.憎恶，憎恨，仇恨

参考例句：

• He looked at me with hatred in his eyes.他以憎恨的眼光望着我。
• The old man was seized with burning hatred for the fascists.老人对法西斯主义者充满了仇恨。

4 clans   

宗族( clan的名词复数 )； 氏族； 庞大的家族； 宗派

参考例句：

• There are many clans in European countries. 欧洲国家有很多党派。
• The women were the great power among the clans [gentes], as everywhere else. 妇女在克兰〈氏族〉里，乃至一般在任何地方，都有很大的势力。 来自英汉非文学 - 家庭、私有制和国家的起源

5 exhausted   

adj.极其疲惫的，精疲力尽的

参考例句：

• It was a long haul home and we arrived exhausted.搬运回家的这段路程特别长，到家时我们已筋疲力尽。
• Jenny was exhausted by the hustle of city life.珍妮被城市生活的忙乱弄得筋疲力尽。

6 specialized   

adj.专门的，专业化的

参考例句：

• There are many specialized agencies in the United Nations.联合国有许多专门机构。
• These tools are very specialized.这些是专用工具。

7 disappearance   

n.消失，消散，失踪

参考例句：

• He was hard put to it to explain her disappearance.他难以说明她为什么不见了。
• Her disappearance gave rise to the wildest rumours.她失踪一事引起了各种流言蜚语。

8 literally   

adv.照字面意义，逐字地；确实

参考例句：

• He translated the passage literally.他逐字逐句地翻译这段文字。
• Sometimes she would not sit down till she was literally faint.有时候，她不走到真正要昏厥了，决不肯坐下来。

9 dominant   

adj.支配的，统治的；占优势的；显性的；n.主因，要素，主要的人(或物)；显性基因

参考例句：

• The British were formerly dominant in India.英国人从前统治印度。
• She was a dominant figure in the French film industry.她在法国电影界是个举足轻重的人物。