VOA标准英语2008年-US Men Win Olympic Volleyball Gold

The U.S. men have won the Olympic volleyball gold medal for the first time in 20 years, beating Brazil three sets to one. VOA Sports Editor Parke Brewer¹ was at Sunday's match at Beijing's Capital Gymnasium and has a report.

This match between top-ranked and defending champion Brazil and the United States really was in doubt until Clay Stanley smashed the spike² that gave the Americans a slim 25-23 win in the fourth set and the gold medal

Brazil had won the opening set 25-20, then team USA battled back to win the next two sets by close scores of 25-22 and 25-21. The Brazilians never trailed in the fourth set until they hit the ball into the netting, breaking a 20-20 tie and giving the Americans the lead they never relinquished³. Stanley provided the most power for Team USA, with 15 successful spikes⁴.

Captain Tom Hoff said the victory is the result of a lot of hard work by the players and their coach Hugh McCutcheon over the last four years after a fourth place finish at the Athens Olympics.

"There were at times behind closed doors and even at practice when we were trying to develop a game that Hugh and the staff believed that would some day turn us into Olympic champions," Hoff said. "And obviously this is the culmination⁵ of it. But it's all the days behind closed doors and all the work you really put in that no one else besides the team and staff."
　
Brazil's Bruno Rezende (1) Dante Amaral (18) and Gustavo Endres (13) react after their loss to USA in their men's volleyball gold medal match at the Beijing 2008 Olympics, 24 Aug. 2008

Brazilian coach Bernardo Rezende had nothing but praise for the U.S. winners.

"I think they did a great job," Rezende said. "They deserved the victory. I'm glad a great group of people won the gold medal, so, great persons and great professionals, so I think the gold is in good hands. We fought, we tried hard. They were better. They deserved it, and we must learn from those who beat us and try to be stronger the next time."

The man who undoubtedly⁶ had to be the strongest in this volleyball tournament was U.S. coach Hugh McCutcheon. His wife's father, Todd Bachman, was murdered in a random⁷ stabbing at a Beijing tourist site the day before competition began. McCutheon left to be with family members and missed the team's first three matches.

He acknowledged that Sunday's gold medal victory is bittersweet.

"On one hand I mourn the loss of my father-in-law greatly, and my heart aches for my wife and for our family for the loss," McCutcheon said. "And on the other hand, of course, I am extremely proud and happy for my team and for USA Volleyball as an organization and for the thing that we've been able to achieve."

The U.S. men came through with their gold medal, one day after the American women lost their gold volleyball match to Brazil (3-1).

 

1 brewer   

n. 啤酒制造者

参考例句：

• Brewer is a very interesting man. 布鲁尔是一个很有趣的人。
• I decided to quit my job to become a brewer. 我决定辞职，做一名酿酒人。

2 spike   

n.长钉，钉鞋；v.以大钉钉牢，使...失效

参考例句：

• The spike pierced the receipts and held them in order.那个钉子穿过那些收据并使之按顺序排列。
• They'll do anything to spike the guns of the opposition.他们会使出各种手段来挫败对手。

3 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。

4 spikes   

n.穗( spike的名词复数 )；跑鞋；（防滑）鞋钉；尖状物v.加烈酒于( spike的第三人称单数 )；偷偷地给某人的饮料加入（更多）酒精（ 或药物）；把尖状物钉入；打乱某人的计划

参考例句：

• a row of iron spikes on a wall 墙头的一排尖铁
• There is a row of spikes on top of the prison wall to prevent the prisoners escaping. 监狱墙头装有一排尖钉，以防犯人逃跑。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 culmination   

n.顶点；最高潮

参考例句：

• The space race reached its culmination in the first moon walk.太空竞争以第一次在月球行走而达到顶峰。
• It may truly be regarded as the culmination of classical Greek geometry.这确实可以看成是古典希腊几何的登峰造级之作。

6 undoubtedly   

adv.确实地，无疑地

参考例句：

• It is undoubtedly she who has said that.这话明明是她说的。
• He is undoubtedly the pride of China.毫无疑问他是中国的骄傲。

7 random   

adj.随机的；任意的；n.偶然的(或随便的)行动

参考例句：

• The list is arranged in a random order.名单排列不分先后。
• On random inspection the meat was found to be bad.经抽查，发现肉变质了。