VOA标准英语2009年-Kansas Student, 13, Wins US National Spell

In a crowded ballroom¹ Kavya Shivashankar beat out 10 other finalists to win the Scripps National Spelling Bee on national television. Kavya correctly spelled the word "laodicean," meaning lukewarm or indifferent in politics or religion. Kavya who had previously² competed the past three years and has been studying for six says it was a long journey.

"Right now I'm feeling really excited, ectstatic, and it's hard to describe. This will probably help me in the future, because I've learned so many things, so many roots, and not only that, I've learned discipline, focus and I've learned a lot of things that I could carry on in life," she said.

The eighth grader from the state of Kansas won more than $40,000 in cash and prizes and a dazzling gold trophy³.

Like several other contestants⁵, Kavya's parents emigrated to the United States from another country and is the seventh Indian-American to win the trophy in the last 10 years. Her father Mirle Shivashankar says for children of immigrants, education is key. "Education is what we primarily focus on, working hard and continuing to work hard yields results," he said.

Contestant⁴ Neetu Chandak whose parents are from Mumbai, India, is competing for the third time and was pleased she made it to the finals. "My goal each time is to try to beat myself. Like I'm always competing with myself, so that's how I keep doing better," she said.

Neetu is coached by her mom, who helps her train rigorously for the lengthy⁶ words of Latin, Greek and many other origins. "When I do words my mom first asks me the words, and whatever words I keep going wrong, again and again, we do those words until I smack⁷ them down. Because those words usually get asked to me!," she said.

Neetu, with a bright smile and cheerful attitude, says she is eager to return next year.

As for Kevya Shivashankar's future career plans"I want to get into some science program in high school because I want to be a neurosurgeon. But I'm really going to miss spelling because it was such a big part of my life. I don't know if anything can replace spelling," she said.

The spelling champion says for right now she is going to go home and relax, but not for too long, because she says she will probably get bored.

1 ballroom   

n.舞厅

参考例句：

• The boss of the ballroom excused them the fee.舞厅老板给他们免费。
• I go ballroom dancing twice a week.我一个星期跳两次交际舞。

2 previously   

adv.以前，先前（地）

参考例句：

• The bicycle tyre blew out at a previously damaged point.自行车胎在以前损坏过的地方又爆开了。
• Let me digress for a moment and explain what had happened previously.让我岔开一会儿，解释原先发生了什么。

3 trophy   

n.优胜旗，奖品，奖杯，战胜品，纪念品

参考例句：

• The cup is a cherished trophy of the company.那只奖杯是该公司很珍惜的奖品。
• He hung the lion's head as a trophy.他把那狮子头挂起来作为狩猎纪念品。

4 contestant   

n.竞争者，参加竞赛者

参考例句：

• The company will furnish each contestant with a free ticket.公司将为每个参赛者免费提供一张票。
• The personal appearance and interview of the contestant is another count.参加比赛者的个人仪表和谈话也是一项。

5 contestants   

n.竞争者，参赛者( contestant的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The competition attracted over 500 contestants representing 8 different countries. 这次比赛吸引了代表8个不同国家的500多名参赛者。
• Two candidates are emerging as contestants for the presidency. 两位候选人最终成为总统职位竞争者。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 lengthy   

adj.漫长的，冗长的

参考例句：

• We devoted a lengthy and full discussion to this topic.我们对这个题目进行了长时间的充分讨论。
• The professor wrote a lengthy book on Napoleon.教授写了一部有关拿破仑的巨著。

7 smack   

vt.拍，打，掴；咂嘴；vi.含有…意味；n.拍

参考例句：

• She gave him a smack on the face.她打了他一个嘴巴。
• I gave the fly a smack with the magazine.我用杂志拍了一下苍蝇。