《英语流行话题阅读:语境识词4500》23 My Greatest Olympic Prize

　　Unit 23
My Greatest Olympic Prize
It was the summer of 1936. The Olympic Games were being held in Berlin. Because Hitler insisted childishly that his performers were members of a master race, nationalistic feelings were at all-time high.
I had trained, sweated and disciplined myself for 6 years. I had my eyes especially on the running broad jump, determined¹ to earn one gold medal for America. A year before, as a sophomore² at the Ohio State, I'd set the world's record of 26 feet 8 1/4 inches. Nearly everyone expected me to win this event.
I was in for a surprise. When the time came for the broad-jump trials, I was startled to see a tall boy hitting the pit at almost 26 feet on his practice leaps. He turned out to be a German named Luz Long. He had easily qualified³ for the finals on his first attempt. I guessed that if Long won, it would add new support to the Nazi⁴'s "master race" theory. After all, I'm a Negro. Angry about Hitler's ways, I was determined do show Hitler who was superior and who wasn't.
An angry athlete is an athlete who will make mistakes. I fouled⁵ twice on my qualifying jumps. Walking a few yards from the pit, I kicked at the dirt disgustedly. Suddenly I felt a hand on my shoulder. I turned to look into the friendly blue eyes of Luz Long. "Hi, I'm Luz Long. I don't think we've met." He spoke⁶ English well, though with a German twist. "Glad to meet you," I said. Then, trying to hide my nervousness, I added, "How are you?" "I'm fine. Something must be eating you. You should be able to qualify with your eyes closed." He said.
he seemed to understand my anger, and took pains to reassure⁷ me. Although he'd been schooled in the Nazi youth movement, he didn't believe in the Aryan-superiority business any more than I did. For the next few minutes we talked together. Finally, seeing that I had calmed down somewhat, he said, "What does it matter if you're not the first in the trials? Tomorrow is what counts." All the tension left my body as the truth of what he said hit me. Confidently, I drew a line a full feet behind the board and proceeded to jump from there. I qualified with almost a foot to spare.
As it turned out, Luz broke his own record. In doing so, he pushed me on to a peak performance. The instant I landed from my final jump -- the one which set the Olympic record of 26 feet 5 1/16 inches -- he was at my side, congratulating me. Despite the fact that Hitler glared at us from the stands not a few yards away, Luz shook my hand hard -- and it wasn't a "fake smile with a broken heart" sort of grip, either.
I realized then that Luz was just what Pierre de Coubertin, founder⁸ of the modern games, must have had in his mind when he said, "The important thing in the Olympic Games is not winning but taking part. The essential thing in life is not conquering but fighting well."

1 determined   

adj.坚定的；有决心的

参考例句：

• I have determined on going to Tibet after graduation.我已决定毕业后去西藏。
• He determined to view the rooms behind the office.他决定查看一下办公室后面的房间。

2 sophomore   

n.大学二年级生；adj.第二年的

参考例句：

• He is in his sophomore year.他在读二年级。
• I'm a college sophomore majoring in English.我是一名英语专业的大二学生。

3 qualified   

adj.合格的，有资格的，胜任的，有限制的

参考例句：

• He is qualified as a complete man of letters.他有资格当真正的文学家。
• We must note that we still lack qualified specialists.我们必须看到我们还缺乏有资质的专家。

4 Nazi   

n.纳粹分子，adj.纳粹党的，纳粹的

参考例句：

• They declare the Nazi regime overthrown and sue for peace.他们宣布纳粹政权已被推翻，并出面求和。
• Nazi closes those war criminals inside their concentration camp.纳粹把那些战犯关在他们的集中营里。

5 fouled   

v.使污秽( foul的过去式和过去分词 )；弄脏；击球出界；（通常用废物）弄脏

参考例句：

• Blue suit and reddish-brown socks!He had fouled up again. 蓝衣服和红褐色短袜！他又搞错了。
• The whole river has been fouled up with filthy waste from factories. 整条河都被工厂的污秽废物污染了。

6 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

7 reassure   

v.使放心，使消除疑虑

参考例句：

• This seemed to reassure him and he continued more confidently.这似乎使他放心一点，于是他更有信心地继续说了下去。
• The airline tried to reassure the customers that the planes were safe.航空公司尽力让乘客相信飞机是安全的。

8 Founder   

n.创始者，缔造者

参考例句：

• He was extolled as the founder of their Florentine school.他被称颂为佛罗伦萨画派的鼻祖。
• According to the old tradition,Romulus was the founder of Rome.按照古老的传说，罗穆卢斯是古罗马的建国者。