美国国家公共电台 NPR--The world's No. 1 competitive pinball player is a 19-year-old

The world's No. 1 competitive pinball player is a 19-year-old

Transcript¹

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

The world's top competitive pinball player is a 19-year-old from Longmont, Colo. How did Escher Lefkoff become No. 1? Colorado Public Radio's Matt Bloom wanted to know.

(SOUNDBITE OF PINBALL MACHINE DINGING)

ESCHER LEFKOFF: On this game, every single time you start, you get a ball on the right flipper². You control everything that happens in the game. And if you make a decision that ends with you draining, then that's on you.

MATT BLOOM, BYLINE³: Escher Lefkoff is playing a game inside a barn on his family's farm. It's full of rows of dozens of flashing, bright, pinball machines, from classics like Ready, Aim, Fire to more modern games like Jurassic Park.

UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR: Fossil collected.

BLOOM: Escher's journey to the top of the pinball world started here when he was just old enough to walk. His dad, Adam, a collector and competitive player, coached him. He'd bring Escher along with him to a local arcade⁴.

ADAM LEFKOFF: And it became a regular - every weekend, Escher and I would go to Lyons and play pinball. He really enjoyed playing it from the earliest of age.

BLOOM: Escher would stand on a wooden stool between his dad and the machine so he could watch him play. And when he saw a trick he wanted to learn, they would come home to the barn and practice it together.

E LEFKOFF: I remember there was this one skill called drop catching⁵, which is very difficult but very useful. And we went on Indiana Jones when I was, like, 9 years old in our basement. And he took the glass off, and we sat there for about 20 minutes just practicing over and over and over again. And then three weeks later, I was great at it.

BLOOM: After a while, they realized Escher was pretty good.

A LEFKOFF: Imagine if you played baseball and every single ballpark was completely different. And so the kids growing up, they - on these complicated games, I can't keep it all straight.

BLOOM: Escher's sharp memory of different games has helped him crush the competition, like during the recent world championships in California.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

UNIDENTIFIED ANNOUNCER #1: Fifteen seconds again.

BLOOM: Lefkoff beat out a veteran player in a Flash Gordon-themed game.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

UNIDENTIFIED ANNOUNCER #1: Yes, he got it.

UNIDENTIFIED ANNOUNCER #2: Wow. Wow.

UNIDENTIFIED ANNOUNCER #1: He got it.

UNIDENTIFIED ANNOUNCER #2: By 6,000 points.

UNIDENTIFIED ANNOUNCER #1: By 6,000 points, he wins it.

UNIDENTIFIED ANNOUNCER #2: Oh, my God.

E LEFKOFF: And the moment I saw my score pass 1.5 million, that's when I turned around and gave my dad a hug after I won.

A LEFKOFF: That was more than a hug.

E LEFKOFF: Yeah.

A LEFKOFF: You jumped into my arms.

E LEFKOFF: I jumped...

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

UNIDENTIFIED ANNOUNCER #2: Oh, my goodness.

UNIDENTIFIED ANNOUNCER #1: He wins it. Unbelievable.

BLOOM: The trophies⁶ he's won over the years line the walls inside the family's pinball barn. Escher and his dad have played over 200 tournaments together.

A LEFKOFF: I could beat 3-year-old Escher and 5-year-old Escher with one arm tied behind my back. But 16-year-old Escher and 19-year-old Escher has been kicking my butt⁷ for the last few years.

E LEFKOFF: Yeah, when I was about 13 is when it swapped⁸ to us being about even and then 16 was when I started...

A LEFKOFF: Yeah, there's a serious inflection point there.

E LEFKOFF: You can see. Yeah.

(SOUNDBITE OF PINBALL MACHINE DINGING)

BLOOM: Besides all the competition and rankings, they just love the game and everything it has to offer - the physicality of the buttons and flippers and, of course, the silver ball.

A LEFKOFF: You have this ball in play. No matter what you do, that ball is going to drain. You cannot play forever. We are going to die. That is just a fact of life. So it really depends on what you do with the ball with your opportunities.

BLOOM: Escher's taken that philosophy from his dad to heart.

E LEFKOFF: That's why having a plan in pinball is so important because you got to know what you're doing next. Have an end goal.

BLOOM: His latest goal - hold on to the crown as long as he can.

For NPR News, I'm Matt Bloom in Longmont.

(SOUNDBITE OF LEXICA'S "HELIOS")

1 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

2 flipper   

n. 鳍状肢，潜水用橡皮制鳍状肢

参考例句：

• The seal's flipper is homologous with the human arm. 海豹的鳍肢与人类的手臂同源。
• It's almost like a flipper action as she kicks down. 她向下踢腿时有鱼鳍的效果。

3 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

4 arcade   

n.拱廊；(一侧或两侧有商店的)通道

参考例句：

• At this time of the morning,the arcade was almost empty.在早晨的这个时候，拱廊街上几乎空无一人。
• In our shopping arcade,you can find different kinds of souvenir.在我们的拱廊市场，你可以发现许多的纪念品。

5 catching   

adj.易传染的，有魅力的，迷人的，接住

参考例句：

• There are those who think eczema is catching.有人就是认为湿疹会传染。
• Enthusiasm is very catching.热情非常富有感染力。

6 trophies   

n.（为竞赛获胜者颁发的）奖品( trophy的名词复数 )；奖杯；（尤指狩猎或战争中获得的）纪念品；（用于比赛或赛跑名称）奖

参考例句：

• His football trophies were prominently displayed in the kitchen. 他的足球奖杯陈列在厨房里显眼的位置。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The hunter kept the lion's skin and head as trophies. 这猎人保存狮子的皮和头作为纪念品。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

7 butt   

n.笑柄；烟蒂；枪托；臀部；v.用头撞或顶

参考例句：

• The water butt catches the overflow from this pipe.大水桶盛接管子里流出的东西。
• He was the butt of their jokes.他是他们的笑柄。

8 swapped   

交换（工作）( swap的过去式和过去分词 )； 用…替换，把…换成，掉换（过来）

参考例句：

• I liked her coat and she liked mine, so we swapped. 我喜欢她的外套，她喜欢我的外套，于是我们就交换了。
• At half-time the manager swapped some of the players around. 经理在半场时把几名队员换下了场。