环球英语 — 435：Jesse Owens

　　Voice 1
Welcome to Spotlight¹. I’m Adam Navis.
Voice 2
And I’m Christy Van Arragon. Spotlight uses a special English method of broadcasting. It is easier for people to understand, no matter where in the world they live
Voice 1
Can one man prove a dictator² wrong? Can a runner fight lies? Can he prove to the world that all people are equal? In nineteen thirty six [1936], one man did just that.
Voice 2
Today’s Spotlight is on Jesse Owens. Jesse was born in 1913 in the United³ States. He was very poor, but one thing that never cost any money was running. “I always loved running,” he said, “...because you could do it all by yourself, all under your own power. You could go in any direction, as fast or slow as you wanted. You could seek out new things to see, just on the strength of your feet and the courage of your lungs.”
Voice 1
During this time in the United States, many white–skinned people treated dark–skinned people, like Jesse, very badly. This caused difficulties⁴ in his life. But Jesse found good running teachers who trained him and guided him in life. In 1936 Jesse qualified⁵ for the Olympics in Berlin, Germany.
Voice 2
At this time, Adolf Hitler ruled Germany. He believed people with white skin, yellow hair, and blue eyes, were the best people. He believed that they were the strongest and the smartest. These people were part of the “Aryan race”. Anyone else – anyone who looked different, like Jesse Owens – was less than human. Hitler planned to prove his ideas at the Berlin Olympics.
Voice 1
Many American athletes did not want to go to the Olympics because Jewish⁶ citizens there were being treated unfairly. But Jesse Owens just wanted to run. It was what he did best. This was his chance and he did not want to miss it.
Voice 2
If people had known⁷ the future, they may not have attended the Olympic Games. Hitler’s government would go on to kill millions of people. But at the time of the Olympics, people could not believe Hitler would do what he did. They could not know his terrible plans.
Voice 1
The athletes just wanted to do what they had trained to do, they wanted to compete. They decided⁸ that, to protest⁹ Hitler’s ideas, they would have to be faster and stronger than his German athletes.
Voice 2
Owens had prepared himself for a cold reception from the Germans spectators¹⁰. But when his name was called, the crowd went wild. He did not have light skin, or blue eyes, but they shouted and cheered. They knew about Owens. They wanted see the world’s fastest man run.
Voice 1
As he watched from his special area, Hitler could not have been happy. He would have liked it if someone with white skin was getting the cheers¹¹ instead.
Voice 2
Owens felt good. He felt like he was floating on air. He was running the one hundred metre race. He was running against the best in the world and anything could happen.
Voice 1
Six men gathered at the starting line. One hundred thousand people held their breath¹². Owens got down on the ground next to the other five runners. He got into the starting position.
Voice 2
The starter held his starter’s gun in the air. He spoke¹³, “on your marks”, “ready” ... they were off!
Voice 1
Owens jumped out of the starting blocks. His legs and arms pumped up and down. He pushed his body for more speed. He finished the race one metre before anyone else! His time was ten point three [10.3] seconds! He had just won an Olympic Gold medal.
Voice 2
From where he watched from his special area, Hitler was not pleased. Someone suggested to him that he should take a picture with Owens. Hitler responded¹⁴,
Voice 3
“The Americans ought to feel shame for letting their awards be won by people with black skin. I would never shake hands with them.”
Voice 1
For Owens, the next day was about the next competition – the long jump. This is where people run and jump as far as they can.
Voice 2
The Germans had a jumper named Luz Long. He was strong and fast. His eyes were blue and his hair was yellow. He was the kind of athlete that Hitler wanted.
Voice 1
When the time came for Owens to jump, he went through his normal warm–up. He began with a trial¹⁵ run, down the track¹⁶ and into the sand pit¹⁷. He did this to establish how many steps he needed to take. But as he finished his first warm–up he turned around to see the judge mark his first attempt as “foul¹⁸”!
Voice 2
It turned out that he was not able to warm–up this way! His warm–up counted as an attempt. Owens still had two jumps left. But, on his second jump, he only went twenty three feet, three inches. This was two inches less than he needed to qualify¹⁹. He had only one jump left!
Voice 1
Owens felt a hand on his shoulder. He turned around: it was Luz Long! Long told him to put a mark in front of the jumping area and in that way he would not foul the last jump.
Voice 2
Owens took this help and on his next jump he met the required distance easily. Long smiled at him. But he would not give up the gold medal without a fight.
Voice 1
Owens and Long were clearly the best jumpers. The gold medal would go to one or the other. On his second jump Owens landed at twenty five feet, ten inches! But two jumps later Long jumped the exact same distance. They were tied for first place.
Voice 2
Owens took his next jump and broke the Olympic record with a jump of twenty six feet! Long did his best, but fouled²⁰ on the take off. Owens had won another gold medal!
Voice 1
But he still had one jump left. He was so excited that he ran down the track and launched²¹ himself into the air. He landed at twenty six feet, five and one half inches!
Voice 2
Long was so excited for Owens that he marched him around the stadium²². After this, the two men would become close friends.
Voice 1
Owens earned two other gold medals in the Berlin Olympics. He achieved what few people had ever achieved. But more than this, he showed that a person’s strength, skill, or intelligence²³ cannot be told by the colour of their skin. One writer says this about Jesse Owens:
Voice 4
“Nothing Jesse Owens did took away from the terrible things to come. He saved no lives. However, while many countries were choosing to believe that things were not as bad as they heard, Owens stood up to Hitler at his own Olympics. He disproved Hitler’s terrible theories with his amazing running and jumping.”
 

1 spotlight   

n.公众注意的中心，聚光灯，探照灯，视听，注意，醒目

参考例句：

• This week the spotlight is on the world of fashion.本周引人瞩目的是时装界。
• The spotlight followed her round the stage.聚光灯的光圈随着她在舞台上转。

2 dictator   

n.独裁者，爱发号施令的人

参考例句：

• We felt quite impotent to resist the will of the dictator.我们感到无力抗拒独裁者的意志。
• A dictator must have a firm hand.独裁者的手段是很厉害的。

3 united   

adj.和谐的；团结的；联合的，统一的

参考例句：

• The whole nation is closely united.全国人民紧密团结。
• The two men were united by community of interests.共同的利益使两个人结合在一起。

4 difficulties   

n.困难( difficulty的名词复数 )；难度；难事；麻烦

参考例句：

• I am acutely aware of the difficulties we face. 我十分清楚我们面临的困难。
• the difficulties of English syntax 英语句法的难点

5 qualified   

adj.合格的，有资格的，胜任的，有限制的

参考例句：

• He is qualified as a complete man of letters.他有资格当真正的文学家。
• We must note that we still lack qualified specialists.我们必须看到我们还缺乏有资质的专家。

6 Jewish   

adj.犹太人的，犹太民族的

参考例句：

• The coin bears a Jewish symbol.硬币上有犹太标记。
• They were two Jewish kids;I was friendly with both of them.他们是两个犹太小孩；我同他们都很要好。

7 known   

adj.大家知道的；知名的，已知的

参考例句：

• He is a known artist.他是一个知名的艺术家。
• He is known both as a painter and as a statesman.他是知名的画家及政治家。

8 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。

9 protest   

v.反对，抗议；宣称；n.抗议；宣称

参考例句：

• I can't pass the matter by without a protest.我不能对此事视而不见，我要提出抗议。
• We translated his silence as a protest.我们把他的沉默解释为抗议。

10 spectators   

n.观众，旁观者( spectator的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The spectators were wilting visibly in the hot sun. 看得出观众在炎热的阳光下快支撑不住了。
• The policemen asked the spectators to stand well back. 警察要求旁观者靠后站。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 Cheers   

int.干杯，(英口语)谢谢，再见

参考例句：

• The crowd burst into cheers.人群中爆发出一片欢呼声。
• To your health!Cheers!祝您健康！干杯！

12 breath   

n.呼吸，气息，微风，迹象，精神，一种说话的声音

参考例句：

• I'm just going out for a breath of fresh air.我正要出去呼吸新鲜空气。
• While climbing up the stairs the old man always loses his breath.那老人上楼时总是气喘吁吁的。

13 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

14 responded   

回答，回报，响应( respond的过去式和过去分词 )； 有反应； 有效果； 有影响

参考例句：

• Most of the staff who responded to the questionnaire were supportive. 回答了问卷的职员大多数表示支持。
• She responded to the news by bursting into tears. 她听到那个消息后眼泪夺眶而出。

15 trial   

n.审判，试验，艰苦，麻烦事，考验；adj.尝试的，试验性的

参考例句：

• We shall put the machine to further trial.我们将进一步试验这部机器。
• He appeared as a witness in the trial.在审判中他出庭作证。

16 track   

n.轨道；足迹；痕迹；磁轨；途径；vt.循路而行；追踪；通过；用纤拉；vi.追踪

参考例句：

• The new race track is nearly six miles in extent.这条新跑道将近六英里长。
• The police are on his track.警察在跟踪他。

17 pit   

n.深坑，核，矿井，陷阱，英国剧场正厅后排，凹陷疤痕；vt.使...有伤痕，去...的核，与...较量

参考例句：

• A sheep fell into a pit,and I helped it out.一只羊掉进坑里，我把它弄了出来。
• They dug a pit to bury the rubbish.他们挖了一个坑把垃圾埋掉。

18 foul   

adj.污秽的；邪恶的；v.弄脏；妨害；犯规；n.犯规

参考例句：

• Take off those foul clothes and let me wash them.脱下那些脏衣服让我洗一洗。
• What a foul day it is!多么恶劣的天气！

19 qualify   

vt.取得资格，有资格，限定，描述；vi.取得资格，有资格

参考例句：

• I won't qualify until next year.我明年才具备资格。
• You must qualify yourself for the post.你必须使自己具备担任这一工作的资格。

20 fouled   

v.使污秽( foul的过去式和过去分词 )；弄脏；击球出界；（通常用废物）弄脏

参考例句：

• Blue suit and reddish-brown socks!He had fouled up again. 蓝衣服和红褐色短袜！他又搞错了。
• The whole river has been fouled up with filthy waste from factories. 整条河都被工厂的污秽废物污染了。

21 launched   

v.发射( launch的过去式和过去分词 )；[计算机]开始（应用程序）；发动；开展（活动、计划等）

参考例句：

• He launched a bitter diatribe against the younger generation. 他对年轻一代发起了猛烈的抨击。
• The product was launched amid much fanfare worldwide. 这个产品在世界各地隆重推出。

22 stadium   

n.露天大型运动场

参考例句：

• The new football stadium can hold eighty thousand people.新的足球场可以容纳八万人。
• The stadium is being used for a match.那个露天运动场正在进行一场比赛。

23 intelligence   

n.智力，聪明，智能；情报

参考例句：

• He was a man of intelligence and of firmness of will.他是个聪明而又意志坚定的人。
• He equals me in strength but not in intelligence.他和我力气相等，但智力不同。