VOA慢速英语2011--Girls Lacrosse Team Raises Hopes at Scho

Education Report - Girls Lacrosse Team Raises Hopes at School

This is the VOA Special English Education Report.
Ballou High School in Washington might not seem the mostly likely school to have a lacrosse team.
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But lacrosse has grown beyond the popular image of a sport mainly for wealthy private schools. Ballou is a public school in one of the poorest neighborhoods in the city. In the past six years, more than forty students have died violent deaths. Many were the result of drug violence.
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Ballou has just had its first year with a lacrosse team. The team is for girls. They lost every game. But their coach, Holly¹ McGarvie, says this was also the first time they ever played.
HOLLY McGARVIE: "You know, I think the goal each year is going to change. This year, I think, just starting and building a foundation² that we can build from and create a tradition of women’s lacrosse here at Ballou.”
Lacrosse is a fast-moving sport, the modern version³ of a game played by American Indians. Teams try to make goals with a ball caught and thrown using a net at the end of a stick.
School officials decided⁴ to make changes at Ballou after less than sixty percent of the senior class graduated in two thousand six. Since then the graduation rate has improved by ten to fifteen percent. Rahman Branch, the school principal⁵, says one change was to increase activities after the school day.
RAHMAN BRANCH: "We decided to take some more approaches to add on to them being comfortable being a kid, to now making sure they are a kid who knows what they want, what it takes to get there, and then has the stamina⁶ to go through.”
Mr. Branch says Holly McGarvie was a perfect match for Ballou. She was on a national team and a star player at Princeton University. She was in her first year of teaching⁷. She wanted to take the lessons she learned⁸ from sports and use them in teaching biology.
Coach McGarvie says the first practices for the new team were difficult. Some players got angry at one another. She helped them learn to keep their mind on the game.
HOLLY McGARVIE: "On our way home from our first game, from Wilson, and we are all talking about it, and the girls are extremely excited. Despite the loss of, I think, maybe eleven to one, you know, they were already in the mindset of what can we do better?”
Tylashia Joyner says lacrosse has helped her think more about her future.
TYLASHIA JOYNER: "I will want to play in college because it will keep me in shape and it will help me stay focused and want to do something. Because if you want to play a sport, you have to have your grades up."
And that’s the VOA Special English Education Report. You can watch a video report about the lacrosse team at voaspecialenglish.com. You can also write to us on Facebook and Twitter at VOA Learning⁹ English. I'm Christopher Cruise¹⁰.

1 holly   

n.[植]冬青属灌木

参考例句：

• I recently acquired some wood from a holly tree.最近我从一棵冬青树上弄了些木料。
• People often decorate their houses with holly at Christmas.人们总是在圣诞节时用冬青来装饰房屋。

2 foundation   

n.[pl.]地基；基础；基金会；建立，创办

参考例句：

• The foundation of the university took place 600 years ago.这所大学是600年前创办的。
• The Foundation gives money to help artists.那家基金会捐款帮助艺术家。

3 version   

n.版本；型号；叙述，说法

参考例句：

• His version of the events is pure supposition.他对这件事的说法纯属猜测。
• What is your version of this matter?你对这件事情的看法 怎么样？

4 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。

5 principal   

adj.主要的；n.负责人，校长，资本

参考例句：

• When he saw the principal,he raised his hand in salutation.他看到校长时举手敬礼。
• Their school gave a reception to their new principal.他们学校为新校长举办了一个招待会。

6 stamina   

n.体力；精力；耐力

参考例句：

• I lacked the stamina to run the whole length of the race.我没有跑完全程的耐力。
• Giving up smoking had a magical effect on his stamina.戒烟神奇地增强了他的体力。

7 teaching   

n.教学，执教，任教，讲授；(复数)教诲

参考例句：

• We all agree in adopting the new teaching method. 我们一致同意采取新的教学方法。
• He created a new system of teaching foreign languages.他创造了一种新的外语教学体系。

8 learned   

adj.有学问的，博学的；learn的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• He went into a rage when he learned about it.他听到这事后勃然大怒。
• In this little village,he passed for a learned man.在这个小村子里，他被视为有学问的人。

9 learning   

n.学问，学识，学习；动词learn的现在分词

参考例句：

• When you are learning to ride a bicycle,you often fall off.初学骑自行车时，常会从车上掉下来。
• Learning languages isn't just a matter of remembering words.学习语言不仅仅是记些单词的事。

10 cruise   

v.巡航，航游，缓慢巡行；n.海上航游

参考例句：

• They went on a cruise to Tenerife.他们乘船去特纳利夫岛。
• She wants to cruise the canals of France in a barge.她想乘驳船游览法国的运河。