外研版选修一册第三单元阅读讲解

Unit 3 Faster, higher, stronger

第26页阅读讲解

THE ROAD TO SUCCESS
成功之路

1 Near the small town of Grottoes, Virginia, a narrow dirt road goes from the house of Stephen Curry's grandfather to the woods nearby. A far cry from the bright lights and shiny courts of the National Basketball Association (NBA), it was along this road that Stephen's grandfather built a simple basket by attaching a piece of plastic to a telephone pole.
在弗吉尼亚州格罗托斯小镇附近，一条狭窄的土路从斯蒂芬·库里的祖父家延伸至附近的树林。这与美国男子职业篮球联赛(NBA)赛场上明亮的灯光和闪亮的球场相去甚远。正是在这条路上，斯蒂芬的祖父把一块塑料贴到电线杆上，建了一个简易篮筐。

2 Like his father, basketball star Dell Curry, Stephen spent many childhood hours playing on this muddy basketball court. He probably didn't realise it at the time, but it was where he learnt to be creative and flexible as a player. You see, with every shot, the weak plastic backboard gave way. The bumps and rocks that lined the road under the basket caused the ball to bounce in all directions. Knowing where the ball would go wasn't easy. He had to adjust his own playing style as a result. Shooting with great accuracy was another thing he learnt. Only shots perfectly aimed at its centre went into the heavy, thick basket. In this way, practising day in and day out helped Stephen sharpen his skills.
与父亲戴尔·库里这位篮球明星一样，斯蒂芬在这个泥泞的篮球场上度过了许多童年时光。尽管当时他可能并没有意识到，但就是在这里，他学会了如何成为一名有创造力、能够灵活变通的篮球运动员。你看，每次投篮，不牢固的塑料篮板都摇摇欲坠。篮筐下的小路凹凸不平，布满了石块，篮球也因此弹向四面八方。能够判断出球反弹的方向并不容易，因此斯蒂芬必须调整自己的打球方式。他在这里学到的另一项技能是精准的投篮技术。只有完美地瞄准中心，篮球才能进入厚重的篮筐。如此日复一日地练习，斯蒂芬的篮球技术变得炉火纯青。

3 Despite his father's successful career, Stephen was thought by many people, including his high school teammates and coaches, to be too short, too thin and too weak to follow in his father's footsteps. But Stephen carried on. Playing basketball was his dream. He would not give up. He finally ended up playing college ball at a small, little-known school, Davidson College, not too far from where he lived. His creativity and perseverance made him Davidson's star player.
尽管父亲的职业生涯很成功，但是很多人，包括斯蒂芬的高中队友和教练，都认为他太矮太瘦弱，无法延续他父亲的荣耀。但斯蒂芬还是坚持了下来。打篮球是他的梦想，他绝不会放弃。终于，斯蒂芬在规模不大且鲜为人知的戴维森学院成为了一名大学篮球赛的球员，这所学院离他家不算远。斯蒂芬凭借自己的创造性和毅力成为了戴维森学院的明星球员。

4 Selected for the NBA in 2009, Stephen joined the Golden State Warriors. He performed beyond everyone's expectations with his accurate shooting and continuous efforts. In 2015, Stephen won his first NBA championship, and he led the Warriors to their first championship since 1975.
2009年，斯蒂芬入选NBA，加入了金州勇士队。凭借精准的投篮和不懈的努力，他的表现令人刮目相看。2015年，斯蒂芬赢得了他的第一个NBA总冠军，这也是他带领勇士队获得的自1975年以来的第一个冠军。

5 After receiving the Most Valuable Player award for two years in a row, Stephen explained his philosophy, “I never really set out to change the game… What I wanted to do was just be myself… I know it inspires a lot of the next generation, a lot of people who love the game of basketball to value the skill of it, value the fact that you can work every single day to get better. You've got to be able to put in the time and the work. That's how I got here. That's how I continue to get better every single day.” Inspiring others to believe in themselves, Stephen Curry is living proof that what other people think of you does not have to influence what you become. Through self-belief, hard work, perseverance and some help from an old hoop, he has shown that anything is possible.
在连续两年获得“最有价值球员”奖后，斯蒂芬阐释了他的人生观：“我从未真正想过改变比赛……我只想做我自己……我知道这激励着很多后辈、很多热爱篮球比赛的人，让他们认识到技术的重要性，认识到你可以通过每天的不断努力而变得更好。你必须肯花时间和精力。这是我走到今天的方法，也是我每一天都能更进一步的原因。”斯蒂芬·库里激励着所有人去相信自己，他也生动地证明了别人对你的看法并不一定会影响你成为什么人。通过自信、勤奋、毅力，以及一只旧篮筐的帮助，他向人们证明了一切皆有可能。

第32页阅读讲解

The Return of the Champions
冠军归来

1 “The atmosphere here at Rio de Janeiro is electric! If China wins this point, they will walk out of the stadium with an Olympic gold medal. Zhang Changning serves. Over the net, Popovic dives for the ball. She only just reaches it… and it's sent straight back to her by the Chinese spiker Hui Ruoqi. Popovic can't get the ball back this time… and that's it! It's over! It's gold for China! Look how the crowd has gone wild. You can see the joy and pride on the faces of the Chinese fans. And there we see the Chinese players embracing, with tears of happiness in their eyes… It's a dream come true for China! The Chinese women's volleyball team is Olympic champion once again!”
“这里是里约热内卢，现场气氛紧张而热烈！如果中国队拿下这一分，她们将赢得这枚奥运金牌。张常宁发球。球过网，波波维奇倒地接球，险险救起……中国队主攻惠若琪将球扣回，波波维奇这次没能接住……得分！比赛结束！中国队获得了金牌！看，观众沸腾了，中国球迷的脸上洋溢着喜悦和骄傲。我们看到中国队的队员们眼含幸福的热泪，相拥在一起……中国人实现了梦想！中国女排重回奥运之巅！”

2 The Chinese women's volleyball team holds a very special place in the nation's heart. In the 1980s, the team burst onto the international volleyball scene with several major world titles, and an amazing three-set victory over the United States in the final of the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics. They became national heroes overnight. There was gold once more at Athens in 2004. But winning gold in Rio paints the most vivid portrait of the team's competitive spirit.
中国女排在中国人心中的地位非比寻常。20世纪80年代，中国女排赢得了多场世界大赛，并在1984年洛杉矶奥运会的决赛中以惊人的三连胜击败了美国队，在国际排坛大放异彩。一夜之间，中国女排成为国民英雄。到了2004年雅典奥运会，女将们再一次斩获金牌。但是，对于女排的拼搏精神最生动的写照，却是这次在里约的夺冠之路。

3 In Rio, the Chinese women's volleyball team needed all of its fighting spirit after it was assigned to the “group of death”, where it faced several strong opponents in the group stage matches. Despite reaching the quarterfinals as the fourth team in the group, with just two wins in preliminary matches, they were not going to give up. Every single member of the team gave their all to the fight, including Hui Ruoqi who had had heart surgery less than five months previously.
在里约奥运会上，中国女排被分配到了“死亡之组”，因此她们必须拼尽全力，对抗小组赛中遇到的强大对手。虽然预赛中仅赢了两场，到四分之一决赛时还是小组第四，但她们从未想过放弃。每一个队员都全力以赴投入比赛，包括赛前不到五个月刚做完心脏手术的惠若琪。

4 Their perseverance paid off with an epic comeback against the defending champion Brazil in the quarter-finals. Next, the Chinese team defeated the Netherlands in the semifinal matches, having lost to them in the preliminaries. At last, showing a strong will and the steeliest nerves, they played a close match against Serbia to seize gold in the final.
在四分之一决赛对抗卫冕冠军巴西队时，中国队的顽强毅力得到了回报，她们惊人地赢得了东山再起的机会。接着，中国队在半决赛中战胜了在预赛中曾惜败过的荷兰队。决赛时，虽然与塞尔维亚队比分胶着，但凭借着强大的决心和钢铁般的意志力，中国队最终勇夺桂冠。

5 But fighting spirit alone was not enough to guarantee victory. Strong team spirit also contributed greatly to their success. Cooperation between team members is essential. If each individual does her job and works well with others, then the end goal can be achieved. In fact, strong team spirit is more important than the skills of individual players. Zhu Ting, named Most Valuable Player at the Rio Olympics, also identified this as the special ingredient in the team's success: “Teamwork is the key to China's victory. Thanks to my teammates' hard efforts, I had the opportunity to show my spiking skills.”
但是仅凭拼搏精神远不足以锁定胜局。强大的团队精神也是中国女排成功的一大因素。团队成员之间的合作至关重要。只有每一名队员都能完成各自的任务，并与队友合作无间，才能实现最终目标。其实，强大的团队精神比队员的个人能力更重要。里约奥运会“最有价值球员”奖项得主朱婷，也认为这是团队获胜的诀窍：“团队合作是中国队获胜的关键。多亏了队友们的努力拼搏，才给了我展现扣球技术的机会。”

6 Together, the Chinese women's volleyball team has fought their way through ups and downs. Led by well-known Chinese volleyball player and coach Lang Ping, they have continued to aim high. Lang is only too aware that as soon as a team steps off the victory podium, they need to start from zero to prepare for new challenges ahead. In this way, the team begins its journey to the next Olympics.
在这条曲折起伏的道路上，中国女排共同奋力前行。在知名的前中国女排运动员和现任中国女排总教练郎平的带领下，队员们不断力争上游。郎平很清楚，只要走下了领奖台，她们这支队伍就得重新出发，严阵以待，迎接新的挑战。中国女排的下一段奥运旅程就这样开始了。