美国国家公共电台 NPR Olympic Rugby Returns For Men; Women Make Their Debut

Olympic Rugby Returns For Men; Women Make Their Debut¹

RENEE MONTAGNE, HOST:

And 92 years of missing out on the Olympics, and rugby players are back. The return of rugby in Rio marks the first Olympic appearance for women in that sport. It's also the debut of rugby sevens. It's a seven-on-seven game - half the number of traditional rugby - and sevens is fast. NPR's Tom Goldman reports.

TOM GOLDMAN, BYLINE²: I didn't grow up in New Zealand or Australia or England, so my rugby knowledge, like many Americans, is limited. I can conjure³ up images kind of like football, teams moving a watermelon-shaped ball toward a goal line, tough players tackling without pads or helmets, running with the ball and passing, although no forward passing. On a summer visit I made to the Olympic Training Center in Chula Vista⁴, Calif., U.S. women's team captain Kelly Griffin was patient. She knows my type.

KELLY GRIFFIN: Have you watched any rugby at all?

GOLDMAN: Not much, not much.

GRIFFIN: Well, it's a very - rugby sevens especially is, like, the perfect game for America because, one, it's fast-paced.

UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN #1: My ball, my ball, my ball.

UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN #2: Go, go, go.

GOLDMAN: During this morning practice, offensive players sprint⁵ toward defenders⁶. The ball carrier shovels⁷ an under-handed pass to a teammate or fakes the pass and tries to split the defense⁸. Sevens is a lot faster because it's played on the same size field as traditional rugby but with half the players. The game's much more wide open. Not only is the action fast, the games are too - seven-minute halves in between a barely-long-enough-for-a-bathroom-break half-time. In total, a 16-minute game, which actually is plenty of time, says U.S. team member Jillion Potter.

JILLION POTTER: You know, you can be down with one minute to go and you need, you know, 14 points or something, and you could turn around and win the game, you know? So it's just that kind of high intensity⁹, that kind of excitement that will draw people in.

GOLDMAN: So will the hitting. That's another reason Kelly Griffin says rugby sevens is the perfect game for America. This country loves a good smack¹⁰ to its sports, and rugby lets women fully¹¹ in on the action. In post-Title IX America, female athletes get many opportunities but not often the chance to hit and be hit as part of a team game. I asked Richelle Stephens whether that was frustrating¹² in her pre-rugby the life. She plays the fly-half position on the U.S. team.

All that time you were playing those other sports, did you feel an inner beast that you had to let out?

Now, before she answers, I'll note on this day Stephens was sporting a rainbow-colored shiner - courtesy of rugby - under her left eye.

RICHELLE STEPHENS: In softball, I used to do the collision at home plate (laughter).

GOLDMAN: Even if you didn't need to.

STEPHENS: Yeah (laughter). It was so silly, but I liked the, like, I don't know, just getting in someone's face.

GOLDMAN: Jillion Potter is in a class of her own when it comes to rugby toughness. She's a cancer survivor¹³ and is playing six years after breaking her neck in a match. She admits being timid when she first came back after the injury.

POTTER: And then kind of once you hit a couple pads, you hit a couple people, and then you're like, all right, let's play.

GOLDMAN: Physical, fast, lightning-quick games - there's a lot to draw people in, as Potter predicts. But a new wave of interest also depends on fans understanding the game.

ANDREW LOCKE: Don't worry about the pad. Just focus on the ball.

UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN #3: Left, left, left, left, left.

GOLDMAN: There are kickoffs. Assistant Coach Andrew Locke leads a kickoff drill at this practice. There are positions such as prop¹⁴ and hooker, a player who hooks the ball with their feet to an open teammate. That happens during a scrum, the classic rugby scene where a group from each team locks shoulders and arms in what looks like a big, interconnected huddle¹⁵. A score is called a try - rugby's version of a touchdown - where the runner crosses the try line and touches down the ball. That's the briefest of primers, or there's rugby 101 from Jillion Potter.

POTTER: Tackle the person with the ball. Run when you have it (laughter). That's what - the first thing they teach you.

GOLDMAN: The U.S. women are considered medal contenders. The favorites include New Zealand, Australia, Canada. Competition begins the morning after the opening ceremony and wraps up a mere¹⁶ two days later - like everything else with rugby sevens, fast. Tom Goldman, NPR News

1 debut   

n.首次演出，初次露面

参考例句：

• That same year he made his Broadway debut, playing a suave radio journalist.在那同一年里，他初次在百老汇登台，扮演一个温文而雅的电台记者。
• The actress made her debut in the new comedy.这位演员在那出新喜剧中首次登台演出。

2 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。

3 conjure   

v.恳求，祈求；变魔术，变戏法

参考例句：

• I conjure you not to betray me.我恳求你不要背弃我。
• I can't simply conjure up the money out of thin air.我是不能像变魔术似的把钱变来。

4 vista   

n.远景，深景，展望，回想

参考例句：

• From my bedroom window I looked out on a crowded vista of hills and rooftops.我从卧室窗口望去，远处尽是连绵的山峦和屋顶。
• These uprisings come from desperation and a vista of a future without hope.发生这些暴动是因为人们被逼上了绝路，未来看不到一点儿希望。

5 sprint   

n.短距离赛跑；vi. 奋力而跑，冲刺；vt.全速跑过

参考例句：

• He put on a sprint to catch the bus.他全速奔跑以赶上公共汽车。
• The runner seemed to be rallied for a final sprint.这名赛跑者似乎在振作精神作最后的冲刺。

6 defenders   

n.防御者( defender的名词复数 )；守卫者；保护者；辩护者

参考例句：

• The defenders were outnumbered and had to give in. 抵抗者寡不敌众，只能投降。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• After hard fighting,the defenders were still masters of the city. 守军经过奋战仍然控制着城市。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 shovels   

n.铲子( shovel的名词复数 )；锹；推土机、挖土机等的)铲；铲形部份v.铲子( shovel的第三人称单数 )；锹；推土机、挖土机等的)铲；铲形部份

参考例句：

• workmen with picks and shovels 手拿镐铲的工人
• In the spring, we plunge shovels into the garden plot, turn under the dark compost. 春天，我们用铁锨翻开园子里黑油油的沃土。 来自辞典例句

8 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

9 intensity   

n.强烈，剧烈；强度；烈度

参考例句：

• I didn't realize the intensity of people's feelings on this issue.我没有意识到这一问题能引起群情激奋。
• The strike is growing in intensity.罢工日益加剧。

10 smack   

vt.拍，打，掴；咂嘴；vi.含有…意味；n.拍

参考例句：

• She gave him a smack on the face.她打了他一个嘴巴。
• I gave the fly a smack with the magazine.我用杂志拍了一下苍蝇。

11 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

12 frustrating   

adj.产生挫折的，使人沮丧的，令人泄气的v.使不成功( frustrate的现在分词 )；挫败；使受挫折；令人沮丧

参考例句：

• It's frustrating to have to wait so long. 要等这么长时间，真令人懊恼。
• It was a demeaning and ultimately frustrating experience. 那是一次有失颜面并且令人沮丧至极的经历。 来自《简明英汉词典》

13 survivor   

n.生存者，残存者，幸存者

参考例句：

• The sole survivor of the crash was an infant.这次撞车的惟一幸存者是一个婴儿。
• There was only one survivor of the plane crash.这次飞机失事中只有一名幸存者。

14 prop   

vt.支撑；n.支柱，支撑物；支持者，靠山

参考例句：

• A worker put a prop against the wall of the tunnel to keep it from falling.一名工人用东西支撑住隧道壁好使它不会倒塌。
• The government does not intend to prop up declining industries.政府无意扶持不景气的企业。

15 huddle   

vi.挤作一团；蜷缩；vt.聚集；n.挤在一起的人

参考例句：

• They like living in a huddle.他们喜欢杂居在一起。
• The cold wind made the boy huddle inside his coat.寒风使这个男孩卷缩在他的外衣里。

16 mere   

adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过

参考例句：

• That is a mere repetition of what you said before.那不过是重复了你以前讲的话。
• It's a mere waste of time waiting any longer.再等下去纯粹是浪费时间。