2020年经济学人 篮球巨星科比·布莱恩特(1)

Kobe Bryant, basketball player, was killed in a helicopter crash on January 26th, aged¹ 41.

篮球运动员科比·布莱恩特于一月26日在一起直升机事故中逝世，享年41岁。

Whenever he was asked why his whole life had been spent playing basketball, Kobe Bryant's narrow eyes searched upwards², and his mouth trembled. The answer was simple, yet so complicated. It began with the orange ball, the smell of it, the feel of the pebbled³ leather grains and the perfect grooves⁴ under his hands; and its bounce, and the way it sounded different on concrete or polished hardwood.

每当有人问科比为何他的一生都花在打篮球上时，科比就会眯起眼睛向上看，嘴巴颤抖着。答案很简单，但是也很复杂。故事开始于这个橙色的球，它的气味，粗糙的皮革纹理和他手上完美的纹路；还有它的弹跳，以及它弹在混凝土或抛光硬木上产生的不同声音。

Then came the net, the shot slithering right through it with that triumphant⁵ springing whoosh⁶, while he howled with joy. Then every movement of the game, the strategies, the dodging⁷ and feints, the squeal⁸ of sneakers on the court. Whatever had thrilled him as a child (watching his father, also a pro⁹ player, on tv, wearing his own little 76ers outfit¹⁰, running and jumping along with him) still thrilled him when in 2016 he retired¹¹ from the game. "Dear Basketball", he wrote, From the moment I started rolling my Dad's tube socks And shooting imaginary Game-winning shots... I knew one thing was real: A love so deep I gave you my all.

然后还有篮网，篮球滑过了网，发出了胜利的、跳跃的、嗖的一声，科比则高兴得号啕大叫。然后是比赛中的每一个动作，战术，躲闪和佯攻，球场上运动鞋的尖叫声。在科比还是孩子时，任何让他兴奋的事情(看他的父亲，也是职业球员，在电视上，穿着自己的小小的76人队的队服，和他一起跑，一起跳），在2016年退役时同样使他兴奋。 “亲爱的篮球”，他写道，从我开始把我爸的筒袜卷成球状，想象着投出比赛制胜球那一刻起，我就知道有件事情是真的：我是如此深爱着你，我会付出我的一切。

"My all" meant training obsessively¹², like a maniac¹³. He would go to the gym and shoot for hours, all day, all night. Hundreds of times, not just taking shots, but making them, running steps and patterns, practising shots off the rebound¹⁴. I ran up and down every court/After every loose ball for you. He would ponder what would make his game unstoppable and then work backwards¹⁵ from there, building it piece by piece, move by move, repeatedly. Then, when the actual game arrived, it was all just muscle-memory.

“我的一切”指的是像疯子一样痴迷地训练。他会去体育馆打几个小时，整天整夜。成百上千次，不仅仅是投篮，还有投篮，跑动的步伐和模式，在篮下练习投篮。我在每个球馆上蹿下跳，争取着每一个机会。他会思考什么会让他的比赛变得不可阻挡，然后从那里开始倒放，一点一点地增强，一步一步地重复增强。然后，当真正的比赛开始时，他只需释放肌肉记忆就行了。

1 aged   

adj.年老的，陈年的

参考例句：

• He had put on weight and aged a little.他胖了，也老点了。
• He is aged,but his memory is still good.他已年老，然而记忆力还好。

2 upwards   

adv.向上，在更高处...以上

参考例句：

• The trend of prices is still upwards.物价的趋向是仍在上涨。
• The smoke rose straight upwards.烟一直向上升。

3 pebbled   

用卵石铺（pebble的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• And quick to the white-pebbled bottom it fell! 接着它飞快地回落到白色卵石的井底潺潺！
• Outside, the rain had stopped but the glass was still pebbled with bright drops. 窗外的雨已经停了，但玻璃上还是布满明亮的水珠。

4 grooves   

n.沟( groove的名词复数 )；槽；老一套；（某种）音乐节奏v.沟( groove的第三人称单数 )；槽；老一套；（某种）音乐节奏

参考例句：

• Wheels leave grooves in a dirt road. 车轮在泥路上留下了凹痕。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Sliding doors move in grooves. 滑动门在槽沟中移动。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

5 triumphant   

adj.胜利的，成功的；狂欢的，喜悦的

参考例句：

• The army made a triumphant entry into the enemy's capital.部队胜利地进入了敌方首都。
• There was a positively triumphant note in her voice.她的声音里带有一种极为得意的语气。

6 whoosh   

v.飞快地移动，呼

参考例句：

• It goes whoosh up and whoosh down.它呼一下上来了，呼一下又下去了。
• Whoosh!The straw house falls down.呼！稻草房子倒了。

7 dodging   

n.避开，闪过，音调改变v.闪躲( dodge的现在分词 )；回避

参考例句：

• He ran across the road, dodging the traffic. 他躲开来往的车辆跑过马路。
• I crossed the highway, dodging the traffic. 我避开车流穿过了公路。 来自辞典例句

8 squeal   

v.发出长而尖的声音；n.长而尖的声音

参考例句：

• The children gave a squeal of fright.孩子们发出惊吓的尖叫声。
• There was a squeal of brakes as the car suddenly stopped.小汽车突然停下来时，车闸发出尖叫声。

9 pro   

n.赞成，赞成的意见，赞成者

参考例句：

• The two debating teams argued the question pro and con.辩论的两组从赞成与反对两方面辩这一问题。
• Are you pro or con nuclear disarmament?你是赞成还是反对核裁军？

10 outfit   

n.（为特殊用途的）全套装备，全套服装

参考例句：

• Jenney bought a new outfit for her daughter's wedding.珍妮为参加女儿的婚礼买了一套新装。
• His father bought a ski outfit for him on his birthday.他父亲在他生日那天给他买了一套滑雪用具。

11 retired   

adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的

参考例句：

• The old man retired to the country for rest.这位老人下乡休息去了。
• Many retired people take up gardening as a hobby.许多退休的人都以从事园艺为嗜好。

12 obsessively   

ad.着迷般地，过分地

参考例句：

• Peter was obsessively jealous and his behaviour was driving his wife away. 彼得过分嫉妒的举止令他的妻子想离他而去。
• He's rude to his friends and obsessively jealous. 他对他的朋友很无礼而且嫉妒心重。

13 maniac   

n.精神癫狂的人；疯子

参考例句：

• Be careful!That man is driving like a maniac!注意！那个人开车像个疯子一样！
• You were acting like a maniac,and you threatened her with a bomb!你像一个疯子，你用炸弹恐吓她！

14 rebound   

v.弹回；n.弹回，跳回

参考例句：

• The vibrations accompanying the rebound are the earth quake.伴随这种回弹的振动就是地震。
• Our evil example will rebound upon ourselves.我们的坏榜样会回到我们自己头上的。

15 backwards   

adv.往回地，向原处，倒，相反，前后倒置地

参考例句：

• He turned on the light and began to pace backwards and forwards.他打开电灯并开始走来走去。
• All the girls fell over backwards to get the party ready.姑娘们迫不及待地为聚会做准备。