VOA常速英语2008年-West Virginia, Xavier Advance to US College Bas

By David Byrd
Washington
23 March 2008

The West Virginia University Mountaineers have defeated Duke, 73-67, to reach the round of 16 in the U.S. men's college basketball tournament here in Washington, D.C.  As VOA's David Byrd reports, West Virginia's defense¹ shut down Duke's three-point shooters and stifled² the Blue Devils' attempts to fight back.

Duke started the game Saturday at the Verizon Center with Greg Paulus hitting two of his first four three-point baskets. The second-seeded Blue Devils took a 34-29 lead into halftime.

But in the second half, their offense³ went cold, while seventh-seeded West Virginia's ignited. The Mountaineers tied the game, then took the lead and never relinquished⁴ it. Duke's three-point weapons fell silent until Gerald Henderson hit a three-point basket with less than two minutes left.

WVU Coach Bob Huggins said after the game that his team knew stopping Duke's outside shooting was key to beating them.

"The thing that they do so great, and Mike [Krzyzewski] has done such a great job every year is that they do make threes. And they get to the foul⁵ line more than their opposition⁶ does. And you kind of have to pick your poison and we really wanted to do a better job of not letting them score from behind the three [point line]," he said.

Duke Coach Mike Krzyzewski said that his Blue Devils did not make the best of their opportunities and West Virginia deserved to win.

"We rely on three-point shooting, we finished five [baskets] for 22 [attempts]. I am glad my guys took them and I did not think they were bad. We just had to shoot a better percentage and finish a little bit better," he said.

This is the second year in a row that Duke has missed the round of 16. West Virginia will play the winner of the second game - Xavier - next week in Phoenix⁷, Arizona.  Xavier scored an 85-78 win over Purdue.

1 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

2 stifled   

（使）窒息， （使）窒闷( stifle的过去式和过去分词 )； 镇压，遏制； 堵

参考例句：

• The gas stifled them. 煤气使他们窒息。
• The rebellion was stifled. 叛乱被镇压了。

3 offense   

n.犯规，违法行为；冒犯，得罪

参考例句：

• I hope you will not take any offense at my words. 对我讲的话请别见怪。
• His words gave great offense to everybody present.他的发言冲犯了在场的所有人。

4 relinquished   

交出，让给( relinquish的过去式和过去分词 )； 放弃

参考例句：

• She has relinquished the post to her cousin, Sir Edward. 她把职位让给了表弟爱德华爵士。
• The small dog relinquished his bone to the big dog. 小狗把它的骨头让给那只大狗。

5 foul   

adj.污秽的；邪恶的；v.弄脏；妨害；犯规；n.犯规

参考例句：

• Take off those foul clothes and let me wash them.脱下那些脏衣服让我洗一洗。
• What a foul day it is!多么恶劣的天气！

6 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

7 phoenix   

n.凤凰，长生(不死)鸟；引申为重生

参考例句：

• The airline rose like a phoenix from the ashes.这家航空公司又起死回生了。
• The phoenix worship of China is fetish worship not totem adoration.中国凤崇拜是灵物崇拜而非图腾崇拜。