第十二篇 $lesson$

Sport or Spectacle?

　　Muhammad Ali1 is probably the most famous sports figure on earth：he is recognized on every continent and by all generations.The diagnosis of his illness 1 Parkinson’s disease2 after his retirement fuelled the debate about the dangers of boxing and criticism 2 the sport.That，plus his outspoken opposition 3 women’s boxing，made people wonder how he would react when one of his daughters decided to take 4 the sport.His presence at Laila’s first professional fight， 5 ，seemed to broadcast her father’s support.Of course Muhammad Ali wanted to watch his daughter fight.The ring announcer introduced him as the “the greatest” and as he sat down at the ringside the crowd chanted.

　　Twenty-one-year-old Laila’s debut fight was a huge success and there was as much publicity for the fight 6 her father’s fights once attracted. 7 ，Laila’s opponent was much weaker than she was and the fight lasted just 31 seconds.Since then，Laila has won most of her fights by knocking out3 her opponent.“She knows 8 she’s doing，all right，”said one referee about her.“She knows about moving well.You can see some of her dad’s moves.”

　　Laila Ali4 would rather not compare herself 9 her father.She prefers to make her own 10 .Her father supports her decision to enter the sport but he has not spared her the details of what can happen.Laila realizes that her father wants her to understand the 11 possible scenario to see 12 she still wants to go forward with it.She knows she’s going to get hit hard at times，that she may get a broken nose or a swollen face，but at least she is prepared for it.

　　Laila’s decision to start boxing 13 her father’s struggle with the symptoms of Parkinson’s disease has of course sparked a mixture of debate and 14 .But Laila is a feisty and determined individual and it is that as much as her famous last name that has made her a magnet for worldwide media attention. Of course, the 15 on the boxing scene of a woman with her family history attracts even more questions about whether women’s boxing is sport or spectacle.

　　詞匯：

　　Spectacle n.場面;景象 chant vi.(反復地、有節奏地)歡呼

　　recognize vt.賞識;認可 debut n.(演員、運動員)首次亮相

　　continent n.洲，大陸 publicity n.宣傳;公眾的注意

　　diagnosis n.(醫學)診斷法 attract vt.吸引;引起注意

　　retirement n.退役;退休 opponent n.對手;敵手

　　fuel vt.激起，加強，刺激 referee n.裁判員

　　debate n.辯論;討論， compare vt.比較;對照

　　criticism n.批評;批判;指責’ spare vt.省去，免除

　　outspoken adj 直言的 scenario n.事態;局面

　　opposition n.反對 swollen adj.腫起的;浮腫的

　　react vi.做出反應;回應 symptom n.癥狀

　　presence n.出席;到場 spark vt.導致，激起

　　broadcast vt.傳播(消息等) feisty adj.個性強而好爭辯的

　　ring n.拳擊臺 magnet ]n.有吸引力的人

　　注釋：

　　1. Muhammad Ali：穆罕默德?阿里，世界上最偉大的拳擊運動員之一。1999年，他被《體育畫報》雜志評為本世紀最佳運動員。退出拳壇后，阿里一直致力于宗教、慈善事業和維護世界和平的工作，受到許多國家上至總統下至普通百姓的擁戴。然而，職業拳擊生涯中他頭部受到的29000多次的重擊，使阿里一直飽受帕金森綜合癥的困擾。

　　2.Parkinson’s disease：帕金森綜合癥，又稱震顫麻痹，是一種中樞神經系統變性疾病，臨床表現有癲癇、偏癱、頭痛、共濟失調、眼球運動障礙、言語不清、體位性低血壓、癡呆等。隨著病情的發展，穿衣、洗臉、刷牙等日常生活活動都出現困難。

　　3. knock out： (拳擊術語)一拳擊倒

　　4.Laila Ali：萊拉?阿里，拳王阿里與他第三任妻子的女兒，1999年9月進入女子職業拳壇，并很快取得了較好的成績。她曾說：“我不想拿自己和父親作比較，我們是完全不同的。但有一點，作為他的女兒，我自然會有一些獨特的拳擊技術，這是別人不可能具備的。在現階段，我認為自己棒極了!”一些商家看中了這對拳壇父女的商業價值，最近，一家運動品牌就利用電腦技術，讓阿里父女在拳臺上同場競技。在這樣的比賽中，我們看到的，并不是勝負，而是一種生命力的延續。

　　練習：

　　1. A)with B)for C)as D)by

　　2. A)of B)on C)for D)at

　　3. A)on B)to C)with D)at

　　4. A)after B)over C)along D)up

　　5. A)therefore B)however C)accordingly D)whereas

　　6. A)as B)like C)for D)to

　　7. A)Luckily B)Similally C)Undoubtedly D)Unfortunately

　　8. A)that B)what C)how D)why

　　9. A)as B)like C)to D)against

　　10. A)fight B)name C)success D)image

　　11. A)better B)best C)worse D)worst

　　12. A)if B)that C)what D)how

　　13. A)in spite B)spite C)despite D)despite of

　　14. A)argument B)criticism C)quarrel D)bickering

　　15. A)arrival B)birth C)departure D)attention

　　答案與題解：

　　1. diagnosis of …as 把某種疾病診斷為……，類似的短語有 regard…as，consider...as和think of …as等。

　　2. A此題是對語法的考查，criticize由動詞變為名詞criticism，其邏輯上的賓語應由介詞of引導。

　　3.B考查介詞短語搭配，be opposed to 和opposition to, 固定搭配。

　　4.D take up 是從事某種職業，take after 是與某人長得相像，take over 是接手，take along是隨身攜帶。

　　5.B根據上下文判斷，前面講拳王阿里反對女子從事拳擊運動(his outspoken opposition to women’s boxing)，隨后又講他親自出席女兒的首場比賽，明顯對比，故應選however。

　　6. A as much…as屬于固定搭配。

　　7. D 首場比賽，備受媒體關注，不料比賽僅持續了31秒，難免令人失望，故應選unfortunately，因觀眾難以目睹拳王女兒的風采。

　　8. B she knows what she’s doing，此句型口語中較為常見，如某人說I know what I’m doing或I know what I’m talking about，則表示說話者本人對自己的言行很有信心。

　　9. C 對介詞短語compare A to B或compare A with B 的考查。前者有比作、比擬的意思，后者表示把A和B作比較的意思。

　　10. B make one’s own name 表示成功、成名的意思。其他表示成功的短語還有make it，口語中更常見。答案C make one’s own success有中式英語Chinglish之嫌。

　　11. D 考查上下文，下文中“a broken nose or a swollen face”暗示拳擊運動員受傷病困擾的苦惱，更不要說拳王本身正受帕金森綜合癥的折磨。另外，possible一詞之前常出現形容詞最高級。綜合上文兩處的解釋，worst是最佳答案。

　　12. A 拳王表明拳擊運動可能會造成嚴重的后果，意欲讓女兒自己決定“是否”繼續從事這項危險的運動。

　　13. C 此題考查易混淆短語in spite of 和介詞despite，多一個of或少一個of，都不對。

　　14. B 對上下文的考查，文中第一段就有“fuelled the debate about the dangers of boxing and CRITICISM of the sport”。

　　15. A 對上下文的考查，文中多次提及拳王女兒是初登拳壇，如第一段中“His presence at Laila’s FIRST professional fight”，如第二段中的“Twenty-one-year-old Laila’s DEBUT fight”，都是暗示萊拉“出現”在拳壇，故arrival最合適。答案B的搭配應該是the birth of，而不是介詞on。答案C的departure是離開拳壇。答案D的attention首先介詞搭配應該是to,其次意思也不是甚為貼切