39 the greatest American athlete

The Greatest American Athlete

The railroad station was jammed. Students from Lafayette College were crowding onto the train platform eagerly awaiting the arrival of the Carlisle Indian School's track and field squad¹. NO one would have believed it a few months earlier. A school that nobody had heard of was suddenly beating big， famous colleges in track meets. Surely these Carlisle athletes would come charging off the train， one after another，like a Marine² battalion³ .The train finally arrived and two young men——one big and broad，the other small and slight——stepped onto the platform.“Where is the track team？” a Lafayette student asked.“This is the team，” replied the big fellow.“Just the two of you？”

“Nope， just me，”said the big fellow.“This little guy is the manager.”

The Lafayette students shook their heads in wonder. Somebody must be playing a joke on them. If this big fellow was the whole Carlisle track team， he would be competing against an entire Lafayette squad.

He did. He ran sprints⁴， he ran hurdles⁵， he ran distant races.He high-jumped， he broad-jumped.He threw the javelin⁶ and the shot. Finishing first in eight events， the big fellow beat the whole Lafayette team.

The big fellow was Jim Thorpe， the greatest American athlete of modern times.

火车站挤得水泄不通。拉斐德学院的学生们一齐拥上站台，热切地等待着卡莱尔印地安人学校田径队的到来。倘若在几个月前，准没有人相信，一个谁也没听说过的学校，会在田径场上突然大败许多有名的大学。不用说。这些卡莱尔的运动员抵达后，准会象一营海军陆战队队员那样，一个接一个冲下火车。

火车终于到站了，两个年轻人——一位，个儿高，体态魁梧；另一位，个儿矮，长相瘦弱——踏上了站台。

“田径队在哪儿？”一位拉斐德的学生问道。

“就在这儿，”大个子回答道。

“就你们两个？”

“不，就我一个，”大个子说。“这位小兄弟是领队。”

拉斐德的学生们诧异地摇摇头。一定有人在和他们开玩笑。如果卡莱尔田径队就只有大个子一人，那他就得和整个拉斐德田径队比试高低了。

确实如此。他短跑、跨栏、长跑、跳高、跳远。他又投标枪又掷铅球。大个子赢得八项第一，一个人击败了整个拉斐德田径队。

这位大个子就是美国现代最伟大的运动员吉姆。索普。

1 squad   

n.班，小队，小团体；vt.把…编成班或小组

参考例句：

• The squad leader ordered the men to mark time.班长命令战士们原地踏步。
• A squad is the smallest unit in an army.班是军队的最小构成单位。

2 marine   

adj.海的；海生的；航海的；海事的；n.水兵

参考例句：

• Marine creatures are those which live in the sea. 海洋生物是生存在海里的生物。
• When the war broke out,he volunteered for the Marine Corps.战争爆发时，他自愿参加了海军陆战队。

3 battalion   

n.营；部队；大队(的人)

参考例句：

• The town was garrisoned by a battalion.该镇由一营士兵驻守。
• At the end of the drill parade,the battalion fell out.操练之后，队伍解散了。

4 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

5 hurdles   

n.障碍( hurdle的名词复数 )；跳栏；（供人或马跳跃的）栏架；跨栏赛

参考例句：

• In starting a new company, many hurdles must be crossed. 刚开办一个公司时，必须克服许多障碍。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• There are several hurdles to be got over in this project. 在这项工程中有一些困难要克服。 来自辞典例句

6 javelin   

n.标枪，投枪

参考例句：

• She achieved a throw of sixty metres in the javelin event.在掷标枪项目中，她掷了60米远。
• The coach taught us how to launch a javelin.教练教我们投标枪。