VOA慢速英语2010年-THIS IS AMERICA - Poker and the 'Novem

FRITZI BODENHEIMER: Welcome to THIS IS AMERICA in VOA Special English. I’m Fritzi Bodenheimer with Mario Ritter. This week on our program, we deal with the World Series of Poker¹ in Las Vegas, Nevada.

MARIO RITTER: We also talk about the defending champions of baseball's World Series, the New York Yankees. We look at the effects that team owner George Steinbrenner had on the business of sports.

(MUSIC)

FRITZI BODENHEIMER: More than seven thousand players competed this month in the World Series of Poker Main Event. To enter, they had to pay ten thousand dollars. For thirteen days, player after player competed in games of no-limit Texas Hold 'em. Finally, in the early morning of July eighteenth, only nine remained.

These card players -- all men -- will return to Las Vegas in November for the final table. The winner will leave with almost nine million dollars and the title of two thousand ten world poker champion. The winner also gets a World Series of Poker gold bracelet².

But none of the so-called November Nine will leave empty-handed. The first finalist to lose will receive eight hundred thousand dollars. The winnings go up from there. For example, the player who finishes in fourth place will still take home more than three million dollars.

The final nine players of the World Series of Poker reach for the tournament bracelet held by Jack³ Effel, center, in Las Vegas on July 18. The players, from left, are Jason Senti, Joseph Cheong, John Dolan, Jonathan Duhamel, Mike Mizrachi, Matthew Jarvis, John Racener, Filippo Candio and Soi Nguyen.

MARIO RITTER: Last year, the World Series of Poker produced its youngest champion yet. Joe Cada of Michigan was just twenty-one last November when he won the main event.

This year a twenty-two-year-old from Quebec, Canada, is the leader going into the final table. Jonathan Duhamel has never finished above the top ten before. He says "I don't have much tournament experience but I'm confident in my game." He says he is going spend the next few months playing in European poker events but also having fun with his friends and family.

Twenty-four-year-old John Dolan of Florida is in second place going into the final table in November. He is a successful online player, but so far his biggest win in live tournament play was eighty-two thousand dollars. His mother and father spoke⁴ to reporters last week after he became one of the November Nine. They said they were not sure about his decision to withdraw from university studies to play poker. But now, his father says "He's a student of the game and obviously he’s good at it."

FRITZI BODENHEIMER: Organizers of the World Series of Poker tournament in Las Vegas say attendance was up twenty percent from last year. Jack Effel is tournament director of the World Series of Poker. He says the many websites for online poker help card players sharpen their skills.

JACK EFFEL: "I think poker has spread like wildfire. Obviously the ability to play online, to learn more about the game, you know, from the comfort of your own home [has] definitely, probably increased it more than anything else."

MARIO RITTER: Poker also gets a lot of attention on TV and from stars who play, like Ben Affleck, Jennifer Tilly, Jason Alexander and Shannon Elizabeth.

(MUSIC)

FRITZI BODENHEIMER: George Steinbrenner was called "The Boss." He owned the New York Yankees. His desire to win at all costs produced not only the most powerful team in Major League Baseball. It produced one of the most valuable sports teams in the world. Forbes magazine estimates the Yankees are worth a billion and a half dollars.

George Steinbrenner, New York Yankees chairman and principal owner, with his daughter Jennifer Steinbrenner Swindal at a spring training game at Steinbrenner Field in Tampa, Florida, on March 8

Mr. Steinbrenner died July thirteenth at the age of eighty. He had a heart attack at his home in Florida after several years of failing health. With his death, the Yankees remain under ownership of the Steinbrenner family.

MARIO RITTER: George Steinbrenner led a group of investors⁵ to buy the Yankees for ten million dollars in nineteen seventy-three. At that point, they had not been American League or World Series winners since the early nineteen sixties. Since then, they have won eleven American League pennants⁶ and seven World Series championships.

The Boss was always competing for the best unsigned players in baseball.

It used to be that players in professional sports could change teams only if they were traded, sold or released. But in nineteen seventy-five, two pitchers⁸ in Major League Baseball, Andy Messersmith and Dave McNally, fought the system and won.

FRITZI BODENHEIMER: Soon after that, other sports leagues accepted the idea of free agency. Players could sign with any team once their contract expired, as sports economist⁹ Andrew Zimbalist explains.

ANDREW ZIMBALIST: "Another way of looking at it is that a free agent in a sports league is the same thing as anybody else in the United States labor¹⁰ market. We're all free agents. If I wanted to work as a professor, I could send out notes to a hundred different universities and say 'Does anyone want to hire me?' I make my services available to everybody. And at least in theory I can make those schools compete against each other for my services."

At first, George Steinbrenner opposed free agency. He thought it would ruin baseball. But he quickly adapted to the new rules. He paid record amounts to sign two of the first free agents: pitcher⁷ Catfish¹¹ Hunter and hitter Reggie Jackson. They powered the Yankees to World Series wins in nineteen seventy-seven and the following year.

MARIO RITTER: Under George Steinbrenner the Yankees made offers for nearly all of the best free agents, says sports economist Andrew Zimbalist.

ANDREW ZIMBALIST: "He was one of the first individuals to take advantage of the new rules. And he pushed the envelope on salaries. He realized he was in this massive media market in New York. And if he could bring great players to New York, they'd be worth a lot of money to him."

In two thousand seven, the Yankees signed a ten-year contract with Alex Rodriguez for a record two hundred seventy-five million dollars.

The competition for the best players has forced up salaries for all players, not just free agents. In nineteen seventy-five, the average salary in Major League Baseball was just under forty-five thousand dollars. Last year it was nearly three million dollars.

FRITZI BODENHEIMER: High salaries in sports may be the cause of debate. But, as economist Andrew Zimbalist points out, they are the effect of a free market.

ANDREW ZIMBALIST: "The reason they get so much money is because people love sports in the United States and elsewhere. And they are willing to pay a lot of money to go to games, to buy tickets, to buy luxury seats, to buy the concessions¹². Corporations are willing to pay a lot of money to be corporate¹³ sponsors of these teams. And television stations are willing to pay a lot of money to broadcast their games. So the market system says these players are worth a lot of money."

Unlike Major League Baseball, salaries in the National Basketball Association and some other leagues are capped. There are limits on how much team owners can spend. The idea is to help keep a competitive balance by preventing the wealthiest teams from getting all the good players.

MARIO RITTER: In the NBA, some people think twenty-five-year-old LeBron James could become the best player ever. The Cleveland Cavaliers drafted him out of high school in two thousand three. He stayed with them, but he was unhappy to never win a championship.

LeBron James hugs Dwyane Wade¹⁴ in the NBA All-Star Game in February; Wade was named most valuable player of the game

On July first, after seven years with Cleveland, LeBron James became a free agent. He has decided¹⁵ to play for the Miami Heat. Cleveland could have paid him one hundred twenty-five million dollars over six years to stay.

The most Miami could offer him was ninety-six million dollars over five years. But he chose the Heat so he can join two other newly signed stars, Chris Bosh and Dwayne Wade. Sports economist Andrew Zimbalist says the deal shows that money is not everything.

ANDREW ZIMBALIST: "Because the NBA has a free agency system that has a maximum salary, the players in this case were able to exercise their leverage¹⁶ in an unanticipated way by bringing the three of them together. And in turn there might be an unanticipated outcome, which is that the Miami Heat might end up dominating the NBA for many years to come."

FRITZI BODENHEIMER: Andrew Zimbalist is the Robert A. Woods Professor of Economics at Smith College in Northampton, Massachusetts. His latest book, "Circling the Bases: Essays on the Challenges and Prospects¹⁷ of the Sports Industry," will be published in September.

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MARIO RITTER: Last year the New York Yankees moved into a new Yankee Stadium. Many people disagreed with George Steinbrenner's decision to tear down the original stadium from nineteen twenty-three. Others say it was a smart business move -- like his decision to create a regional sports network on cable television.

Bob Sheppard in April 2006

For many years, the voice of Yankee Stadium was Bob Sheppard, the team's public address announcer. He started in nineteen fifty-one. He had to stop when he got sick late in the two thousand seven season. But he recorded the player introductions that were used in two thousand eight at the final game in the original Yankee Stadium.

BOB SHEPPARD: "Your attention please, ladies and gentlemen. Here is the Yankee line-up. At shortstop -- number two, Derek Jeter -- number two."

Bob Sheppard was nicknamed "The Voice of God." He was also the stadium announcer for several other sports teams.

He was ninety-nine years old when he died at his home on July eleventh. That was just two days before the death of Yankees owner George Steinbrenner.

(MUSIC)

Our program was written by Mike DeFabo, Steve Schy and Caty Weaver¹⁸, who was also our producer. You can watch a TV report on the World Series of Poker at voaspecialenglish.com. You can also read, download and comment on all of our programs. We're also us on Facebook and Twitter at VOA Learning English. I'm Mario Ritter.

FRITZI BODENHEIMER: And I'm Fritzi Bodenheimer. Join us again next week for THIS IS AMERICA in VOA Special English
 

1 poker   

n.扑克；vt.烙制

参考例句：

• He was cleared out in the poker game.他打扑克牌，把钱都输光了。
• I'm old enough to play poker and do something with it.我打扑克是老手了，可以玩些花样。

2 bracelet   

n.手镯，臂镯

参考例句：

• The jeweler charges lots of money to set diamonds in a bracelet.珠宝匠要很多钱才肯把钻石镶在手镯上。
• She left her gold bracelet as a pledge.她留下她的金手镯作抵押品。

3 jack   

n.插座，千斤顶，男人；v.抬起，提醒，扛举；n.（Jake）杰克

参考例句：

• I am looking for the headphone jack.我正在找寻头戴式耳机插孔。
• He lifted the car with a jack to change the flat tyre.他用千斤顶把车顶起来换下瘪轮胎。

4 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。

5 investors   

n.投资者，出资者( investor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• a con man who bilked investors out of millions of dollars 诈取投资者几百万元的骗子
• a cash bonanza for investors 投资者的赚钱机会

6 pennants   

n.校旗( pennant的名词复数 )；锦标旗；长三角旗；信号旗

参考例句：

• Their manes streamed like stiff black pennants in the wind. 它们的鬃毛直立起来，在风中就像一面面硬硬的黑色三角旗。 来自互联网
• Bud ashtrays, bar towels, coasters, football pennants, and similar items were offered for sale. 同时它还制作烟灰缸、酒吧餐巾、杯垫子、杯托子、足球赛用的三角旗以及诸如此类的物品用于销售。 来自互联网

7 pitcher   

n.(有嘴和柄的)大水罐；(棒球)投手

参考例句：

• He poured the milk out of the pitcher.他从大罐中倒出牛奶。
• Any pitcher is liable to crack during a tight game.任何投手在紧张的比赛中都可能会失常。

8 pitchers   

大水罐( pitcher的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Over the next five years, he became one of the greatest pitchers in baseball. 在接下来的5年时间里，他成为了最了不起的棒球投手之一。
• Why he probably won't: Pitchers on also-rans can win the award. 为什麽不是他得奖：投手在失败的球队可以赢得赛扬奖。

9 economist   

n.经济学家，经济专家，节俭的人

参考例句：

• He cast a professional economist's eyes on the problem.他以经济学行家的眼光审视这个问题。
• He's an economist who thinks he knows all the answers.他是个经济学家，自以为什么都懂。

10 labor   

n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦

参考例句：

• We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
• He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后，他已经疲惫不堪了。

11 catfish   

n.鲶鱼

参考例句：

• Huge catfish are skinned and dressed by hand.用手剥去巨鲇的皮并剖洗干净。
• We gigged for catfish off the pier.我们在码头以鱼叉叉鲶鱼。

12 concessions   

n.（尤指由政府或雇主给予的）特许权( concession的名词复数 )；承认；减价；（在某地的）特许经营权

参考例句：

• The firm will be forced to make concessions if it wants to avoid a strike. 要想避免罢工，公司将不得不作出一些让步。
• The concessions did little to placate the students. 让步根本未能平息学生的愤怒。

13 corporate   

adj.共同的，全体的；公司的，企业的

参考例句：

• This is our corporate responsibility.这是我们共同的责任。
• His corporate's life will be as short as a rabbit's tail.他的公司的寿命是兔子尾巴长不了。

14 wade   

v.跋涉，涉水；n.跋涉

参考例句：

• We had to wade through the river to the opposite bank.我们只好涉水过河到对岸。
• We cannot but wade across the river.我们只好趟水过去。

15 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

16 leverage   

n.力量，影响；杠杆作用，杠杆的力量

参考例句：

• We'll have to use leverage to move this huge rock.我们不得不借助杠杆之力来移动这块巨石。
• He failed in the project because he could gain no leverage. 因为他没有影响力，他的计划失败了。

17 prospects   

n.希望，前途(恒为复数)

参考例句：

• There is a mood of pessimism in the company about future job prospects. 公司中有一种对工作前景悲观的情绪。
• They are less sanguine about the company's long-term prospects. 他们对公司的远景不那么乐观。

18 weaver   

n.织布工；编织者

参考例句：

• She was a fast weaver and the cloth was very good.她织布织得很快，而且布的质量很好。
• The eager weaver did not notice my confusion.热心的纺织工人没有注意到我的狼狈相。