VOA标准英语2008年-Silver Anniversary for American Swimmer Dara To

At age 41, American swimmer Dara Torres has won her third silver medal at the Beijing Olympics. VOA's Jim Stevenson has more on the oldest member of this year's U.S. Olympic swimming team.
　
US swimmer Dara Torres waves from podium after receiving her silver medal in the women's 50 meters freestyle at Beijing 2008 Olympics, 17 Aug 2008

Torres earned a silver medal in the women's 50-meter freestyle Sunday. Her personal best time of 24.07 seconds fell short of German Britta Steffen by the smallest margin¹ in the sport.

"It was tough to lose a 50 [meter race] by a hundredth of a second. And I realize maybe I should not have filed my nails last night," said Torres. "But what are you going to do. It was my best time ever. And as competitive as I am and I want to win, I am very happy that I got the silver."

Torres was back in the pool a short time later in the 4X100- meter medley² relay, in which the United States placed second to Australia. Earlier last week, she had won another silver in the 100-meter team relay final.

Torres first swam at the Olympics in 1984. Current teammate Natalie Coughlin, who is 26-years-old, says Torres has proven that age is not necessarily a factor in the pool.

"Yes, women can have children and still compete at a high level. She has gotten rid of a lot of the mythology³ in swimming that has been there for so, so long," said Coughlin.

Torres hopes her performance in her fifth Olympics will be inspirational.

"If it helps anyone else out there who is in their middle aged⁴ years, [who] maybe put off something they thought they could not do because they were too old. Or maybe thought because they have children that they can not balance what they want to do and being a parent," she said. "If that can help anyone out there to show what I have done and that you can do it, then I am absolutely thrilled."

Dara Torres retired⁵ from swimming after the 2000 Sydney games and had a daughter in 2006. But she was drawn⁶ back to the pool again for one more Olympic bid. Her three silver medals in Beijing bring her overall career total to 12. For now, Torres plans to return home and resume being a full-time⁷ mother.

　

1 margin   

n.页边空白；差额；余地，余裕；边，边缘

参考例句：

• We allowed a margin of 20 minutes in catching the train.我们有20分钟的余地赶火车。
• The village is situated at the margin of a forest.村子位于森林的边缘。

2 medley   

n.混合

参考例句：

• Today's sports meeting doesn't seem to include medley relay swimming.现在的运动会好象还没有混合接力泳这个比赛项目。
• China won the Men's 200 metres Individual Medley.中国赢得了男子200米个人混合泳比赛。

3 mythology   

n.神话，神话学，神话集

参考例句：

• In Greek mythology,Zeus was the ruler of Gods and men.在希腊神话中，宙斯是众神和人类的统治者。
• He is the hero of Greek mythology.他是希腊民间传说中的英雄。

4 aged   

adj.年老的，陈年的

参考例句：

• He had put on weight and aged a little.他胖了，也老点了。
• He is aged,but his memory is still good.他已年老，然而记忆力还好。

5 retired   

adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的

参考例句：

• The old man retired to the country for rest.这位老人下乡休息去了。
• Many retired people take up gardening as a hobby.许多退休的人都以从事园艺为嗜好。

6 drawn   

v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的

参考例句：

• All the characters in the story are drawn from life.故事中的所有人物都取材于生活。
• Her gaze was drawn irresistibly to the scene outside.她的目光禁不住被外面的风景所吸引。

7 full-time   

adj.满工作日的或工作周的，全时间的

参考例句：

• A full-time job may be too much for her.全天工作她恐怕吃不消。
• I don't know how she copes with looking after her family and doing a full-time job.既要照顾家庭又要全天工作，我不知道她是如何对付的。