VOA慢速英语2019 除了世界杯,美国女足还希望在比赛中获得更多的支持

Beyond World Cup, US Team Hopes for Greater Support for Women's Game

The U.S. women’s national soccer team began its effort to capture¹ a fourth World Cup championship Tuesday with a record-breaking win.

美国女子国家足球队周二取得了破纪录的胜利，并开始向其第四次世界杯冠军发起冲刺。 

The U.S. beat Thailand 13-0 in the first round of Group F play.

在F组首场比赛中，美国队以13-0击败了泰国队。 

Along with winning championships and setting² records, the U.S. women hope to break through barriers in their sport.

除了赢得冠军和创造纪录，这些美国女足队员还希望跨越她们在这项运动中的障碍。 

For years, professional women soccer players have suffered low pay and a lack of sponsorship⁴ deals.Such problems have a common source: the lack of a large audience.

多年来，职业女足运动员一直遭受低工资和缺乏赞助协议的困扰。这些问题有一个共同的根源:缺乏大量观众。

This year, however, could be different, as France holds the 2019 women’s World Cup event.FIFA, soccer’s governing body, is predicting one billion people will watch the games around the world.That would be an increase of over 30 percent from the 2015 women’s World Cup, held in Canada.

然而，今年情况可能有所不同，因为法国将举办2019年女足世界杯。足球管理机构国际足联预测，全世界将有10亿人观看比赛。这将比2015年在加拿大举行的女足世界杯观众人数增加30%多。

American soccer player and 2015 World Cup winner Julie Ertz says her team is thinking mainly about two things: winning and increasing the sport’s popularity⁵.

美国足球运动员、2015年世界杯冠军朱莉·厄尔兹说，她的球队现在主要考虑两件事:取胜和提高这项运动的受欢迎程度。

She said, “That’s been a huge goal of this team — to continue to grow the sport...It’s exciting to be a part of the growth of the sport.”

她说，壮大这项运动是我们球队一个大目标。作为促使这项运动发展力量的一部分是令人兴奋的。 

The U.S. team is the most successful team in women’s soccer.They have won three World Cups since women joined the event in 1991,four Olympic golds in the last six Games and have topped the FIFA women’s teams’ ratings⁶ every year but one for the last 11 years.

美国女足是女子足球队伍中最成功的球队。自1991年女足参加世界杯以来，她们已经赢得了三届世界杯冠军，在过去六届奥运会上获得了四枚金牌，除了一年以外，在过去的11年里，她们每年都在国际足联女足排行榜上名列前茅。

At an open training session⁷, French children surrounded the U.S. players in hopes of getting autographs.They shouted for Alex Morgan, whose fearless way of playing has made her one of the biggest names in the sport.

在一次公开的训练中，法国孩子围在美国球员周围，希望能得到签名。这些孩子为亚历克斯·摩根呐喊助威，她无畏的打球方式使她成为体育界最著名的人物之一。

Yet, even with their success, the American women earn much less prize money than the less successful U.S. men’s team.

然而，即使如此成功，美国女队获得的奖金也远低于没那么成功的美国男队。 

In 2015, the women’s team made $2 million after becoming world champions.A year earlier, the men earned $9 million after losing in the Round of 16 of the World Cup event held in Brazil.

2015年，女队夺得世界冠军后赚了200万美元。一年前，在巴西举行的世界杯16强淘汰赛中失利后，男足赚了900万美元。

In a sign of growing recognition⁸ for the women’s game, the prize money has doubled this year to $4 million.In comparison⁹, France’s victorious¹⁰ men’s team earned $38 million in 2018.

今年女足的奖金增加了一倍，增长到了400万美元，这表明人们对女子足球的认可度越来越高。相比之下，法国队在2018年赢得冠军之后，拿到了3800万美元。

American player Lindsey Horan said this year’s World Cup,“in itself is going to change things for women’s soccer, how we play and how the world sees us.”

美国球员林赛·霍兰表示，今年的世界杯本身就将改变女子足球的某些方面，改变我们踢球的方式，改变世界对我们的看法。

Words in This Story

sponsorship - n. an arrangement in which a sponsor³ agrees to give money to someone or something

audience - n. a group of people who gather together to listen to something (such as a concert) or watch something (such as a movie or play): the people who attend a performance

1 capture   

vt.捕获，俘获；占领，夺得；n.抓住，捕获

参考例句：

• The company is out to capture the European market.这家公司希望占据欧洲市场。
• With the capture of the escaped tiger,everyone felt relieved.逃出来的老虎被捕获后，大家都松了一口气。

2 setting   

n.背景

参考例句：

• The play has its setting in Vienna.该剧以维也纳为背景。
• Where and when a story takes place is called the setting.故事发生的地点和时间称为故事背景。

3 sponsor   

vt.发起，主办；资助；n.发起者，资助人

参考例句：

• Sponsor stated they have no idea where he is.赞助方表示他们不知道他在哪儿。
• The sponsor has permanent ad on the website commonly.赞助商一般在网站上有永久性广告。

4 sponsorship   

n.赞助；发起；倡议；保证人

参考例句：

• Sport is being debased by commercial sponsorship. 体育运动因受商业赞助而降低了声誉。
• Any sponsorship deal would be scuppered if Jones misses the Olympics. 如果琼斯不能参加奧运会，赞助商的所有赞助协议都会化成泡影。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 popularity   

n.普及，流行，名望，受欢迎

参考例句：

• The story had an extensive popularity among American readers.这本小说在美国读者中赢得广泛的声望。
• Our product enjoys popularity throughout the world.我们的产品饮誉全球。

6 ratings   

n.等级( rating的名词复数 )；收视率；表示电影分级的数字（或字母）；（海军）水兵

参考例句：

• He won high ratings [marks] in all his examinations. 他所有的考试都获得高分。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• The boat was operated by two naval ratings in dress whites. 船由两个穿着白色礼服的水兵驾驶。 来自辞典例句

7 session   

n.会议，开庭期，市盘，学期；adj.短期的

参考例句：

• This matter will go over until the next session.这件事将留待下次会议讨论。
• Congress is now in session.国会现在正在开会。

8 recognition   

n.承认，认可，认出，认识

参考例句：

• The place has changed beyond recognition.这地方变得认不出来了。
• A sudden smile of recognition flashed across his face.他脸上掠过一丝笑意，表示认识对方。

9 comparison   

n.比较，对照；比拟，比喻

参考例句：

• They make a comparison of New York to a beehive.他们把纽约比作一个蜂巢。
• This dress is really cheaper by comparison.比较起来，这件衣服确实便宜。

10 victorious   

adj.胜利的，得胜的

参考例句：

• We are certain to be victorious.我们定会胜利。
• The victorious army returned in triumph.获胜的部队凯旋而归。