Take Away English-Online Gaming 在线游戏

Online gamers control characters in a virtual world

UK online gamers are on red alert as they prepare for the arrival of the Cyberathlete Professional League World Tour.

The tour, which takes in nine countries on four continents, is the first of its kind and demonstrates the desire amongst the pro-gaming community to be taken seriously as a professional sport.

For those who don’t know, online gamers compete against each other playing popular games such as Counter Strike, World of Warcraft, and Unreal Tournament. The games are played on PCs rather than games consoles.

Thousands of fans are expected to descend¹ upon Sheffield, a city in the north of England, to watch their favourite pro-gamers battle it out in a $1million tournament. One competitor who is sure to cause a splash is 23-year-old American, Jonathan Wendel, better known by gaming alias², “Fatal1ty”.

Despite his youth, “Fatal1ty” is a gaming legend, having won three Cyberathlete Professional League championships and become the world’s first Doom³ 3 world champion, for which he won $25000 prize money. He has also signed lucrative⁴ sponsorship deals with companies which produce peripherals and accessories for gamers.

The UK is also fielding a strong team. Top UK player, David Treacy, a member of the British team Four-Kings, has already secured a place in the events grand final in the United States. The Four-Kings Counter Strike team have also made good progress taking second place overall in the first season of the tournament and winning $20000 in prize money.

The team have recently competed in the World E-Sports Games league in South Korea. The reception they received there demonstrates the growing status of pro-gamers. ‘They were mobbed for photographs and autographs before they played the season final’, says Four-Kings co-manager Phillip Wride.

Chinese gaming fanatics⁵ don’t have long to wait for their opportunity to witness the spectacle of world-class gaming. The CPL World Tour comes to Beijing on October 13th with a top prize of $50000. So keep your finger on the trigger – maybe you could be the next world champion.

GLOSSARY 词汇表
online gamers 网络游戏手 Cyberathlete 电脑/网络运动员 PCs 个人电脑 battle it out 奋力争夺 gaming alias 游戏化名 peripherals 辅助设备 secured a place 进入比赛；获得比赛资格 autographs 亲笔签名 trigger 扳机	on red alert 处于紧急危险状态 pro-gaming 职业游戏 games consoles 游戏机 cause a splash 引人注目；引起轰动 lucrative sponsorship deals 利润丰厚的赞助交易 fielding a strong team 培养一个强大的队伍 mobbed 被包围、簇拥 witness the spectacle 目睹盛况

1 descend   

vt./vi.传下来，下来，下降

参考例句：

• I hope the grace of God would descend on me.我期望上帝的恩惠。
• We're not going to descend to such methods.我们不会沦落到使用这种手段。

2 alias   

n.化名；别名；adv.又名

参考例句：

• His real name was Johnson,but he often went by the alias of Smith.他的真名是约翰逊，但是他常常用化名史密斯。
• You can replace this automatically generated alias with a more meaningful one.可用更有意义的名称替换这一自动生成的别名。

3 doom   

n.厄运，劫数；v.注定，命定

参考例句：

• The report on our economic situation is full of doom and gloom.这份关于我们经济状况的报告充满了令人绝望和沮丧的调子。
• The dictator met his doom after ten years of rule.独裁者统治了十年终于完蛋了。

4 lucrative   

adj.赚钱的，可获利的

参考例句：

• He decided to turn his hobby into a lucrative sideline.他决定把自己的爱好变成赚钱的副业。
• It was not a lucrative profession.那是一个没有多少油水的职业。

5 fanatics   

狂热者，入迷者( fanatic的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The heathen temple was torn down by a crowd of religions fanatics. 异教徒的神殿被一群宗教狂热分子拆除了。
• Placing nukes in the hands of baby-faced fanatics? 把核弹交给一些宗教狂热者手里？