美国国家公共电台 NPR U.S. Olympian Kim Rhode Takes Her Shot At History To Dispel Stigma

U.S. Olympian Kim Rhode Takes Her Shot At History To Dispel¹ Stigma²

ELISE HU, HOST:

Olympic skeet shooter Kim Rhode has a shot at history this year. With a medal in Rio, she could become the first U.S. Olympic athlete to medal in six consecutive³ Summer Games. But you won't see her on a Wheaties box. That's because shooting sports don't garner⁴ the same type or amount of attention as others. NPR's Nathan Rott reports that Rhode is aiming to change that.

(SOUNDBITE OF GUNSHOT)

NATHAN ROTT, BYLINE⁵: Even without her 12-gauge over-under shotgun resting on her right shoulder, Kim Rhode looks the part of a professional shooter - that is, if you ignore her feet.

KIM RHODE: I do train in flip-flops. I'm trying to get some sun on me.

ROTT: The Southern California sun is cooking out here at the Redlands Shooting Range (ph), but Rhode still has to train. She's planning to shoot about 400 rounds today.

K RHODE: Normally, I'd be up around 800 to 1,000.

ROTT: Eight hundred to 1,000 rounds in a day?

K RHODE: Yeah.

RICHARD RHODE: Every day, seven days a week?

ROTT: That voice you hear is Kim's coach, the same coach she's had her whole life, her dad, Richard Rhode.

R RHODE: OK, let's shoot some.

ROTT: We'll explain the mechanics of the sport as we go. Kim Rhode is an Olympic skeet shooter. She shoots clay pigeons or birds from eight fixed⁶ positions on a field like the one we're on now. Think of it like the game "Duck Hunt," only you're not on your couch, the gun is real and the birds aren't pixels, they're saucer-sized disks flashing across the sky.

R RHODE: It's moving at probably 54 to 65 miles an hour.

ROTT: And for those of you who shoot skeet and know the sport, that's about twice as fast as you typically find at a shooting range. There are other differences with the Olympic game, too. Shooters have to start with a gun at their hip⁷. The birds are thinner, and some of them are packed with powder.

K RHODE: So that when we shoot them, they puff⁸ and create a big cloud for the cameras.

ROTT: Rhode trains with all of that.

K RHODE: OK, singles or doubles?

R RHODE: Do doubles.

K RHODE: Doubles.

(SOUNDBITE OF GUNSHOTS)

K RHODE: So you can see a regular puff and then a non-puff target.

ROTT: Yeah, we could see it because she blasted both of them. It's a recurring⁹ theme through the day.

(SOUNDBITE OF GUNSHOTS)

R RHODE: Good shot.

ROTT: Rhode makes shooting look easy. For professionals at her level, she says, shooting is like walking.

K RHODE: You know, when you walk down the street, you don't think right, left, right, left. You just naturally do it. It's the same thing for us. We don't really think hold point, lead, stance. It's very natural for us.

ROTT: Rhode has been shooting since she could hold a gun. She's an avid¹⁰ hunter, an outdoorswoman. And as she's grown older, becoming an icon¹¹ in the world of sports shooting, she's become more political, not entirely¹² by choice. She says athletes in shooting sports have to be.

K RHODE: At the London Games, the first question I got asked, you know, when I just won a gold medal in the Olympics wasn't, tell us what it's like to represent your country, or what is it like standing¹³ on the podium, or what does this medal mean to you? It was, can you comment on Aurora¹⁴?

ROTT: The mass shooting in a movie theater that killed 12 people.

K RHODE: No other sport in the Olympics gets that.

ROTT: Rhode says it's the same in the lead-up to these Olympics. She gets asked about the mass shootings in Orlando, in nearby San Bernardino. And she sees a polarized political fight over guns that she feels is hurting not only her sport's image but its long-term viability¹⁵.

K RHODE: We have a lot of bills and a lot of legislation that is making it very difficult for people to go out and enjoy the sport that, you know, I personally love.

ROTT: She points to laws that recently passed in California and how no lawmakers reached out to her or, to her knowledge, any other professional shooters for their input¹⁶. Perhaps a bigger challenge though, Rhode says, is addressing the stigma that exists around guns.

K RHODE: Everything we hear on the media and the news, there's nothing positive.

ROTT: It's negative stories. But Rhode says there are positive stories to be told, too. And she hopes that by competing in Rio, by potentially accomplishing something no other U.S. Olympian has ever done, she can become one of those positive stories. Nathan Rott, NPR News.

1 dispel   

vt.驱走，驱散，消除

参考例句：

• I tried in vain to dispel her misgivings.我试图消除她的疑虑，但没有成功。
• We hope the programme will dispel certain misconceptions about the disease.我们希望这个节目能消除对这种疾病的一些误解。

2 stigma   

n.耻辱，污名；(花的)柱头

参考例句：

• Being an unmarried mother used to carry a social stigma.做未婚母亲在社会上曾是不光彩的事。
• The stigma of losing weighed heavily on the team.失败的耻辱让整个队伍压力沉重。

3 consecutive   

adj.连续的，联贯的，始终一贯的

参考例句：

• It has rained for four consecutive days.已连续下了四天雨。
• The policy of our Party is consecutive.我党的政策始终如一。

4 garner   

v.收藏；取得

参考例句：

• He has garnered extensive support for his proposals.他的提议得到了广泛的支持。
• Squirrels garner nuts for the winter.松鼠为过冬储存松果。

5 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。

6 fixed   

adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的

参考例句：

• Have you two fixed on a date for the wedding yet?你们俩选定婚期了吗？
• Once the aim is fixed,we should not change it arbitrarily.目标一旦确定，我们就不应该随意改变。

7 hip   

n.臀部，髋；屋脊

参考例句：

• The thigh bone is connected to the hip bone.股骨连着髋骨。
• The new coats blouse gracefully above the hip line.新外套在臀围线上优美地打着褶皱。

8 puff   

n.一口(气)；一阵(风)；v.喷气，喘气

参考例句：

• He took a puff at his cigarette.他吸了一口香烟。
• They tried their best to puff the book they published.他们尽力吹捧他们出版的书。

9 recurring   

adj.往复的，再次发生的

参考例句：

• This kind of problem is recurring often. 这类问题经常发生。
• For our own country, it has been a time for recurring trial. 就我们国家而言，它经过了一个反复考验的时期。

10 avid   

adj.热心的；贪婪的；渴望的；劲头十足的

参考例句：

• He is rich,but he is still avid of more money.他很富有,但他还想贪图更多的钱。
• She was avid for praise from her coach.那女孩渴望得到教练的称赞。

11 icon   

n.偶像，崇拜的对象，画像

参考例句：

• They found an icon in the monastery.他们在修道院中发现了一个圣像。
• Click on this icon to align or justify text.点击这个图标使文本排齐。

12 entirely   

ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The fire was entirely caused by their neglect of duty. 那场火灾完全是由于他们失职而引起的。
• His life was entirely given up to the educational work. 他的一生统统献给了教育工作。

13 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

14 aurora   

n.极光

参考例句：

• The aurora is one of nature's most awesome spectacles.极光是自然界最可畏的奇观之一。
• Over the polar regions we should see aurora.在极地高空,我们会看到极光。

15 viability   

n.存活(能力)

参考例句：

• What is required to achieve or maintain such viability? 要达到或维持这种生存能力需要什么？
• Scientists are experimenting to find ways to ensure the viability of seeds for even longer periods of time. 正如我们所说，科学家正在试验努力寻找让种子的生命力更加延长的方法。

16 input   

n.输入(物)；投入；vt.把(数据等)输入计算机

参考例句：

• I will forever be grateful for his considerable input.我将永远感激他的大量投入。
• All this information had to be input onto the computer.所有这些信息都必须输入计算机。