VOA标准英语2010年-Basketball Stars Bring Hope, Fun to Is

Several former National Basketball Association stars are on a goodwill¹ tour of Israel this week. Stars like Dwight Howard, Allan Houston, and Jerome Williams are hoping to heighten awareness² of the professional game and give some disadvantaged kids a good workout.

At Jerusalem's Malcha Stadium, several hundred cheering children greeted the basketball pros³ as they jogged into the arena⁴.  The players put the young people through several drills, including footwork, jumping, and sprints⁵.

The clinic was part of a special program sponsored by the U.S.-based Sports Power International, an evangelical Christian⁶ organization based in Baltimore, Maryland. The players included Allan Houston, a former New York Knicks guard, who says he made the trip because of his faith.

"We've been honored to be here and show our support for not just these wonderful kids and students out here, but just for all the Israeli people that have embraced us," he said.

Houston, an assistant to the President for Basketball Operations for the Knicks, joined former Utah Jazz center Paul Grant, Orlando Magic center Dwight Howard and New York's Jerome Williams on the trip.

Bill Alexson is the head of Sports Power International and the founder⁷ of the NBA's chapel⁸ program.  He told VOA that even a second-string NBA star would be better known worldwide than some of the stars of the U.S. National Football League or Major League Baseball.

"I take these players across the globe. We do exhibition games; we do camps, clinics, school assemblies, and urban outreaches," said Alexson. "And at all of these events, selected players will share their personal stories of how they have overcome adversity in life, how they have handled success. They will encourage young people to make right choices in life. And their talks emphasize having character, leadership, responsibility and faith."

On Wednesday, the delegation⁹ also met with Israeli President Shimon Peres.  They presented the 87-year-old president with an autographed basketball. The former NBA stars will play the Israeli team Bnei Eshet in an exhibition, and will conduct a clinic at the Yemin Orde youth village outside Haifa.  Yemin Orde focuses on helping¹⁰ at-risk youth.

The residents come from numerous countries around the world.

Bill Alexson says that his hope is that the former NBA players can help young people turn their lives around. But he added that the teenagers are not the only ones who benefit from the basketball clinics.

"And the beautiful thing is when they [the players] read a comment card that says, 'I was considering taking my life, but after listening to you talk I changed my mind,' that athlete's life is changed! And they don't look at themselves as, 'well, I used to be so-and-so, but now I'm a failure," said Alexson.

The players' trip is co-sponsored by the American Israel Education Foundation, a charitable arm of the pro-Israeli lobbying group AIPAC. But Israel is not the only place Bill Alexson says his players are planning to go. The team has also been invited to Russia, Ukraine, China, and Cuba.

1 goodwill   

n.善意，亲善，信誉，声誉

参考例句：

• His heart is full of goodwill to all men.他心里对所有人都充满着爱心。
• We paid ￡10,000 for the shop,and ￡2000 for its goodwill.我们用一万英镑买下了这家商店，两千英镑买下了它的信誉。

2 awareness   

n.意识，觉悟，懂事，明智

参考例句：

• There is a general awareness that smoking is harmful.人们普遍认识到吸烟有害健康。
• Environmental awareness has increased over the years.这些年来人们的环境意识增强了。

3 pros   

abbr.prosecuting 起诉；prosecutor 起诉人；professionals 自由职业者；proscenium （舞台）前部n.赞成的意见( pro的名词复数 )；赞成的理由；抵偿物；交换物

参考例句：

• The pros and cons cancel out. 正反两种意见抵消。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• We should hear all the pros and cons of the matter before we make a decision. 我们在对这事做出决定之前，应该先听取正反两方面的意见。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 arena   

n.竞技场，运动场所；竞争场所，舞台

参考例句：

• She entered the political arena at the age of 25. 她25岁进入政界。
• He had not an adequate arena for the exercise of his talents.他没有充分发挥其才能的场所。

5 sprints   

n.短距离的全速奔跑( sprint的名词复数 )v.短距离疾跑( sprint的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• You can run sprints only so long before you're out of breath. 你死命地跑，只能跑那么一段时间，到了喘不上气的时候，只好停下来。 来自辞典例句
• The cheetah finds the open grasslands ideal footing for its lightning-quick sprints. 非洲猎豹把开阔的草原作为它们闪电猎食的理想处所。 来自互联网

6 Christian   

adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒

参考例句：

• They always addressed each other by their Christian name.他们总是以教名互相称呼。
• His mother is a sincere Christian.他母亲是个虔诚的基督教徒。

7 Founder   

n.创始者，缔造者

参考例句：

• He was extolled as the founder of their Florentine school.他被称颂为佛罗伦萨画派的鼻祖。
• According to the old tradition,Romulus was the founder of Rome.按照古老的传说，罗穆卢斯是古罗马的建国者。

8 chapel   

n.小教堂，殡仪馆

参考例句：

• The nimble hero,skipped into a chapel that stood near.敏捷的英雄跳进近旁的一座小教堂里。
• She was on the peak that Sunday afternoon when she played in chapel.那个星期天的下午，她在小教堂的演出，可以说是登峰造极。

9 delegation   

n.代表团；派遣

参考例句：

• The statement of our delegation was singularly appropriate to the occasion.我们代表团的声明非常适合时宜。
• We shall inform you of the date of the delegation's arrival.我们将把代表团到达的日期通知你。

10 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。