2007年VOA标准英语-US Poised to Advance in Women's World Cup Footb

By Jim Stevenson
Chengdu,China
14 September 2007

The United States' women's football team has defeated Sweden, 2-0, in a crucial first round Women's World Cup game in China.  VOA's Jim Stevenson watched the game in Chengdu, where the Americans put themselves in position to advance to the quarterfinals from Group-B.

USA's Abby Wambach, right, fights for the ball with Sweden's Anna Paulson, left, during their Group B match of the 2007 FIFA Women's World Cup, 14 Sept.  2007

Prolific¹ scoring forward Abby Wambach found the net twice for Team USA on Friday.  Wambach converted² a penalty³ kick in the first half.  She added her third goal of the tournament, and the 80th of her career, in the second half.

Lori Chalupny was taken down on a sliding tackle⁴ from behind as she tried to turn toward the Swedish goal for a shot.  That resulted in a penalty kick that Wambach easily converted in the 34th minute.

U.S. veteran Kristine Lilly, who has appeared in every Women's World Cup since 1991, had several chances to score.  But it was her pass in the 58th minute that split⁵ two defenders⁶ to set up Wambach's second goal.

"You know, it is one of those goals that, as a forward, you say 'yeah, I meant to put it exactly where it went.'  But, in this type of situation, I just hit it as hard as I could.  And it went in," she said.

U.S. head coach Greg Ryan was not surprised to get a great performance from his top players in a critical game.

"We knew this was a potentially elimination⁷ match with Sweden," he said.  "Big players win championships.  And we saw what Abby did tonight, played great.  Lilly, great.  And then I thought a very good performance from all of our players."

The win puts the United States at the top of Group-B with four points along with North Korea, which defeated Nigeria, 2-0.  Sweden, the 2003 World Cup runner-up, has just one point after two matches, and is in danger of failing to advance to the quarterfinals for the first time.  Nigeria also has one point.

The United States finishes the first round on Tuesday against Nigeria, while Sweden plays North Korea.

Also Friday, in Shanghai, Japan defeated Argentina, 1-0.  England held defending champion Germany to a scoreless (0-0) draw.  The results mean Germany and Japan top Group-A with four points each.

1 prolific   

adj.丰富的，大量的；多产的，富有创造力的

参考例句：

• She is a prolific writer of novels and short stories.她是一位多产的作家，写了很多小说和短篇故事。
• The last few pages of the document are prolific of mistakes.这个文件的最后几页错误很多。

2 converted   

adj.更换信仰的，修改的v.（使）转变( convert的过去式和过去分词 )；（使）转化；皈依；改变（信仰）

参考例句：

• The hotel is going to be converted into a nursing home. 那家旅馆将被改建成私人疗养院。
• He's living in a converted loft in lower Manhattan. 他住在下曼哈顿的一间改建的阁楼里。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 penalty   

n.处罚，刑罚，罚款

参考例句：

• If you knock the ball with your hand in football,you will suffer a penalty.如果在踢足球时你用手碰到球，你将受到处罚。
• One of those arrested could face the death penalty.被捕的那些人中有一人可能被判死刑。

4 tackle   

n.工具，复滑车，扭倒；v.处理，抓住

参考例句：

• Don't forget to bring your sports tackle with you tomorrow.别忘了明天带上你的体育用具。
• We have gained sufficient experience to tackle this problem.我们已经有了足够的经验来处理这个问题。

5 split   

n.劈开，裂片，裂口；adj.分散的；v.分离，分开，劈开

参考例句：

• Who told you that Mary and I had split up?谁告诉你玛丽和我已经离婚了？
• The teacher split the class up into six groups.老师把班级分成6个小组。

6 defenders   

n.防御者( defender的名词复数 )；守卫者；保护者；辩护者

参考例句：

• The defenders were outnumbered and had to give in. 抵抗者寡不敌众，只能投降。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• After hard fighting,the defenders were still masters of the city. 守军经过奋战仍然控制着城市。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 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。