VOA常速英语2019--肯尼亚成立首支冰球队

Training takes place three times a week at Thesola ice rink. It’s here at Kenya’s Panera Sky Center that the Kenya Ice Lions, the first ice hockey team in Kenya, was formed. Tim Colbey moved to Nairobi from Ottawa in 2010 to offer the Canadian high commissioner¹. Several months later, he would help train and coach Kenya’s first ice hockey team. Years ago, a few of Kenyans really wanted to take it up, step it up a notch², play a lot more more serious, attract more people in a real hockey games. So we took it all with a few other Americans, Canadians, Slovak, Swedes and others. We start helping³ out a bit, but soon it didn’t take long for the kids to take it all over themselves.

一周要在索拉溜冰场进行3次训练。就是在肯尼亚的帕内拉天空中心，肯尼亚冰狮队——肯尼亚第一只冰球队诞生了。蒂姆·科尔贝2010年从渥太华搬到了内罗比，担任加拿大高级专员。几个月后，他会助力训练并教授肯尼亚的第一支冰球队。几年前，有几个肯尼亚人真地想担此重任，推动这项运动，认真百倍去从事这项运动，并在真实的比赛中吸引更多的人。所以，我们跟几个美国人、加拿大人、斯洛伐克人、瑞典人一起挑此大梁。我们只需领进门，孩子们就能自己修行了。

Up to last year, the Ice Lions team still did not have another team to play, so the Canadian restaurant chain Tim Hortons brought members of the team to play their first real game against the team of firefighters⁴ from Toronto.

直到去年为止，冰狮队依然没有参加过比赛，于是加拿大连锁餐厅蒂姆·霍顿斯带着队员来进行首战，对阵的是来自多伦多的一队消防员。

Gideoon Mutua was part of this team, and he says ice hockey has changed his life forever. My biggest dream is to play in a game. You get paid just to play, so one day I think my dream will be fulfilled⁵. It is the young players where the future of Kenya ice hockey lies. It’s used to be about 10-12 Kenyans playing. Now up to around thirty. At least half of them are young. When I say young, I mean under fifteen which is really good for the sport in the future. Alibaba and Tim Hortons have provided⁶ sponsorship⁷ and equipment to the team. Support for the team has also come from Finland, Sweden and Czechoslovakia. While the Ice Lions still have no other team to compete against at home, they hope that things may change in the future as a new generation continues to embrace⁸ the game.

吉迪恩·穆图亚是该队的队员，他表示，冰球彻底改变了他的一声。我最大的梦想就是参加比赛。养兵千日，用兵一时，我相信总有一天会实现我的梦想。肯尼亚的未来要依靠年轻的球员。以前，玩儿冰球的大概有10-12人。现在大概有30人。而且至少一半都是年轻人。我所指的年轻人是指15岁以下的人，他们对冰球的未来大有裨益。阿里巴巴和蒂姆·霍顿斯为该队提供赞助和设备。该队也有部分支持来自于芬兰、瑞典和捷克斯洛伐克。虽然该队目前在本国还有可以竞赛的对手，但他们希望未来情况会发生改变，希望新一代人能够喜欢这项运动。

1 commissioner   

n.（政府厅、局、处等部门）专员，长官，委员

参考例句：

• The commissioner has issued a warrant for her arrest.专员发出了对她的逮捕令。
• He was tapped for police commissioner.他被任命为警务处长。

2 notch   

n.(V字形)槽口，缺口，等级

参考例句：

• The peanuts they grow are top-notch.他们种的花生是拔尖的。
• He cut a notch in the stick with a sharp knife.他用利刃在棒上刻了一个凹痕。

3 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

4 firefighters   

n.消防队员( firefighter的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Firefighters tried to extinguish the flames. 消防队员奋力救火。
• By the time firefighters were called the house was well ablaze. 消防队员接到火警电话时，房子已是一片火海。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 fulfilled   

adj.满足的，个人志向得以实现的v.满足( fulfil的过去式和过去分词 )；执行；尽到；应验

参考例句：

• He doesn't feel fulfilled in his present job. 目前的工作未能让他感到满足。
• I withheld payment until they had fulfilled the contract. 他们履行合同后，我才付款。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 provided   

conj.假如，若是；adj.预备好的，由...供给的

参考例句：

• Provided it's fine we will have a pleasant holiday.如果天气良好，我们的假日将过得非常愉快。
• I will come provided that it's not raining tomorrow.如果明天不下雨，我就来。

7 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》

8 embrace   

vt.拥抱；包括；包围，环绕；n.拥抱，怀抱

参考例句：

• He held her to him in a warm embrace.他热列地拥抱她。
• The hills embrace the village.山丘环绕着村庄。