VOA慢速英语 2007 0203

This is IN THE NEWS in VOA Special English.

This Sunday is the biggest sporting event of the year for Americans: the Super Bowl. More than ninety million people in the United States watched the National Football League championship game on television last year. That was several million more than voted in the November elections¹.

There are thirty-two teams in the league. They battle each other through a sixteen-game season, and then playoffs. This year the Chicago Bears face the Indianapolis Colts for the championship. The Colts are favored to win.


Lovie Smith, left, head coach of the Chicago Bears and Tony Dungy, head coach of the Indianapolis Colts

But something is already different about this year's game. In the N.F.L., about seventy percent of the players are black. Yet that was true of just seven of the thirty-two head coaches this season. In the forty-one year history of the Super Bowl, no African-American coach has ever led a team to the big game. This year, all that has changed.

Bears head coach Lovie Smith and Colts head coach Tony Dungy are both black. They are close friends known for their calmness on the field and respectful² treatment of their players. Both men also share a strong Christian³ faith, which they often talk about with reporters.

Lovie Smith has said he looks forward to the day when it is no longer news that a Super Bowl team is coached by an African-American.

This year the Super Bowl is in Miami, Florida. But the state that profits most will likely be Nevada. Nevada is the only state where widespread betting⁵ on sports is legal. And more bets⁶ are placed on the Super Bowl than any other single sports event.

The State Gaming Control Board estimates⁷ that more than one hundred million dollars could be bet⁴ in Nevada casinos on this year's game. That would top last year's record-setting ninety-four and a half million.

Most Internet gambling⁸ is illegal in the United States. And the government has succeeded in making it more difficult for Americans to use foreign gambling sites.

But experts believe that five to six billion dollars is bet illegally on the game in the United States. That includes small bets with friends or at work, but it also includes bets placed with a local bookmaker. Hundreds of different kinds of bets are made on the Super Bowl, way beyond simply trying to guess which team will win.

CBS television will broadcast the game this year. People watch the Super Bowl -- or at least parts of it -- not just to see the players, but also the famous performers at halftime. Even the specially⁹ produced commercials throughout the game are popular. Advertisers can pay two and a half million dollars or more for thirty seconds of airtime.

Some people think it is not enough that Super Bowl Sunday has become a national celebration. There is an online petition¹⁰ campaign by a group of men in North Carolina to make it a national holiday, followed on Monday by a day of observation.

IN THE NEWS in VOA Special English was written by Brianna Blake. I'm Steve Ember.

1 elections   

n.选举，当选，推举( election的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The Republicans got shellacked in the elections. 共和党在选举中一败涂地。
• He emerged victorious in the elections. 他在竞选中脱颖而出获得胜利。

2 respectful   

adj.恭敬的，对...表示尊敬的

参考例句：

• He is respectful to his elders.他对长辈很尊敬。
• She received guests with a respectful attitude.她恭恭敬敬地接待了客人。

3 Christian   

adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒

参考例句：

• They always addressed each other by their Christian name.他们总是以教名互相称呼。
• His mother is a sincere Christian.他母亲是个虔诚的基督教徒。

4 bet   

v.打赌，以(与)...打赌；n.赌注，赌金；打赌

参考例句：

• I bet you can't do this puzzle.我敢说，你解决不了这个难题。
• I offered to bet with him.我提出与他打赌。

5 betting   

n. 打赌; 动词bet的现在分词形式

参考例句：

• If you are only betting two dollars, I'll book you myself. 如果你只下两元赌注，我可以和你赌。
• Some people are fond of betting. 有些人喜欢打赌。

6 bets   

v.敢说，八成儿( bet的第三人称单数 )；打赌(on,against,with)；敢断定；敢说

参考例句：

• Place your bets now—the race begins in half an hour! 现在可以下赌注——赛事于半小时后开始。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• But he did not enter all the losing bets in the accounts-book. 但输家交来的赠金，他并不全部登记入册。 来自辞典例句

7 estimates   

估计

参考例句：

• Unofficial estimates put the figure at over two million. 非官方的估计数字为200万以上。
• We got estimates from three different contractors before accepting the lowest. 我们得到3个承包商的报价后，接受了最低的报价。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 gambling   

n.赌博；投机

参考例句：

• They have won a lot of money through gambling.他们赌博赢了很多钱。
• The men have been gambling away all night.那些人赌了整整一夜。

9 specially   

adv.特定地；特殊地；明确地

参考例句：

• They are specially packaged so that they stack easily.它们经过特别包装以便于堆放。
• The machine was designed specially for demolishing old buildings.这种机器是专为拆毁旧楼房而设计的。

10 petition   

n.请愿书，申请书，诉状；v.请愿，正式请求

参考例句：

• Thousands of citizens subscribed the petition.几千名公民在请愿书上签名。
• The number of signers of the petition for a new school snowballed.要求增设新学校而签名的人像滚雪球似的越来越多。