英语听力精选进阶版 13869

BBC Learning English 

Words in the News  

27 June 2012 

South Africa's female footballers 

Transcript: 

In training for the Olympics.  

South Africa's women's football team is the first in the country's history to 

qualify for the games.  

Although the team is dreaming of winning gold, their debut¹ is about more than 

the glory alone. 

Women's football is not yet professional in South Africa, so the team wants to 

raise the profile of the sport and inspire more young female athletes. 

Vocabulary: 

In training for  

Practising for  

to qualify for 

to get to the final stage of a competition 

glory 

great achievement, high honour 

professional 

something people are paid to do 

to raise the profile of 

to increase awareness² of  

Watch the video online:    

South Africa's female footballers  http://bbc.in/LsJDlg 

Exercise: 

Use one of the words or phrases below to complete each of these sentences from 

BBC news reports.  

Note that you may have to change the form of a word to complete the sentence 

correctly. 

training / to qualify for / glory / professional / to raise the profile of 

1. All eyes may be on the England football team as they battle for Euro 2012 

success, but a more mechanical squad³ from Devon is also bidding for ________. 

2. Ugandan track event athletes have blamed their failure ________________ 

the Olympics on the inferior track they were forced to use for time trials. 

3. Although a former _________ diver, it was his first time under water in more 

than a decade and his morale⁴ was high after the 100 hours were up, organisers 

said. 

4. "We can look forward to welcoming many elite⁵ Olympians and Paralympians to 

these shores," she said. "This will help ______________________ the sports 

and facilities we have on offer and I hope will inspire our local athletes of 

tomorrow." 

5. Uefa has confirmed there were "isolated⁶ incidents of racist⁷ chanting" aimed at 

Netherlands players during an open _____________ session for Euro 2012. 

Answers:  

1. All eyes may be on the England football team as they battle for Euro 2012 

success, but a more mechanical squad from Devon is also bidding for glory. 

Source:  Plymouth University robot footballers bid for success 

2. Ugandan track event athletes have blamed their failure to qualify for the 

Olympics on the inferior track they were forced to use for time trials. 

Source:  Uganda athletes anger at Happy Science Olympic mix-up    

3. Although a former professional diver, it was his first time under water in 

more than a decade and his morale was high after the 100 hours were up, 

organisers said. 

Source:  Essex ex-Royal Engineer Mark Colman breaks underwater record 

4. "We can look forward to welcoming many elite Olympians and Paralympians to 

these shores," she said. "This will help to raise the profile of the sports and 

facilities we have on offer and I hope will inspire our local athletes of tomorrow." 

Source:  Olympic torch: Comedian⁸ Kielty carries torch in hometown 

5. Uefa has confirmed there were "isolated incidents of racist chanting" aimed at 

Netherlands players during an open training session for Euro 2012. 

Source:  Euro 2012: Uefa confirms 'isolated racist chanting' towards Dutch 

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 awareness   

n.意识，觉悟，懂事，明智

参考例句：

• There is a general awareness that smoking is harmful.人们普遍认识到吸烟有害健康。
• Environmental awareness has increased over the years.这些年来人们的环境意识增强了。

3 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。

4 morale   

n.道德准则，士气，斗志

参考例句：

• The morale of the enemy troops is sinking lower every day.敌军的士气日益低落。
• He tried to bolster up their morale.他尽力鼓舞他们的士气。

5 elite   

n.精英阶层；实力集团；adj.杰出的，卓越的

参考例句：

• The power elite inside the government is controlling foreign policy.政府内部的一群握有实权的精英控制着对外政策。
• We have a political elite in this country.我们国家有一群政治精英。

6 isolated   

adj.与世隔绝的

参考例句：

• His bad behaviour was just an isolated incident. 他的不良行为只是个别事件。
• Patients with the disease should be isolated. 这种病的患者应予以隔离。

7 racist   

n.种族主义者，种族主义分子

参考例句：

• a series of racist attacks 一连串的种族袭击行为
• His speech presented racist ideas under the guise of nationalism. 他的讲话以民族主义为幌子宣扬种族主义思想。

8 comedian   

n.喜剧演员；滑稽演员

参考例句：

• The comedian tickled the crowd with his jokes.喜剧演员的笑话把人们逗乐了。
• The comedian enjoyed great popularity during the 30's.那位喜剧演员在三十年代非常走红。