2007年VOA标准英语-US Men's College Basketball Final Four Set to T

By Parke Brewer¹
Atlanta
31 March 2007

The U.S. men's national college basketball Final Four is set to tip off Saturday at the Georgia Dome³ stadium in the southeast city of Atlanta. VOA Sports Editor Parke Brewer is there and has a preview.

Top-ranked Ohio State will face Georgetown University, located in Washington, D.C., in the first semifinal game. These teams also met in last year's tournament.

Georgetown scored an upset victory in that second round contest and is hoping to repeat that success, but coach John Thompson the third says there is no comparison because of the new freshman⁴ starters.

"It's two totally different teams, their team as well as our team. So you look at that game because you know you want to look at how they approach things, how we approach things, and you throw it (last year's match-up) out. You just start to look and prepare with the teams they've had (played) this year. They are significantly different, as are we," he said.

Ohio State brings a 21-game winning streak⁵ and the Associated Press national number-one ranking into the game against Georgetown.

Mar2 2007" hspace="2" src="/upimg/allimg/070529/1503590.jpg" width="167" vspace="2" border="0" />

Ohio State's Greg Oden, center, tries to block the shot of Tennessee's Ramar Smith (12) as Dane Bradshaw, top, watches during their NCAA South Regional semifinal, 22 Mar 2007

With defending champion Florida and last year's runner-up UCLA playing in the other semifinal, Ohio State Coach Thad Matta said the fans should be in for a great night of basketball. "We're very excited for our players, for Ohio State to be part of the Final Four. I think we've got what I think is probably one of the greatest Final Fours as far as the players and the teams involved. And we have a tremendous match-up ahead of us with Georgetown," he said.

In the second semifinal, UCLA hopes to find a way to defeat a Florida team that has all five starting players back from last year's champions. And UCLA coach Ben Howland acknowledged his players face a difficult task.

"This is an incredible team. This is one of the great basketball teams in college basketball history. You have to give it (highest praise) to them. They would be the first team to win back-to-back championships since the Duke (University of North Carolina) teams in the early 90's (1991-92). So we know we're facing a very, very daunting⁶ challenge," he said.

But Florida coach Billy Donovan knows it won't be easy. "People want to talk about the repeating part of it. But you've got to get to Monday first. So to me, I don't even really think about the repeating as much as I really think about trying to play the best game we can to the very best of our ability against a terrific UCLA team. This game's just about playing UCLA to get the opportunity to play for it all," he said.

And the winners of Saturday night's games will meet for it all in the national championship here on Monday night.

1 brewer   

n. 啤酒制造者

参考例句：

• Brewer is a very interesting man. 布鲁尔是一个很有趣的人。
• I decided to quit my job to become a brewer. 我决定辞职，做一名酿酒人。

2 mar   

vt.破坏，毁坏，弄糟

参考例句：

• It was not the custom for elderly people to mar the picnics with their presence.大人们照例不参加这样的野餐以免扫兴。
• Such a marriage might mar your career.这样的婚姻说不定会毁了你的一生。

3 dome   

n.圆屋顶，拱顶

参考例句：

• The dome was supported by white marble columns.圆顶由白色大理石柱支撑着。
• They formed the dome with the tree's branches.他们用树枝搭成圆屋顶。

4 freshman   

n.大学一年级学生(可兼指男女)

参考例句：

• Jack decided to live in during his freshman year at college.杰克决定大一时住校。
• He is a freshman in the show business.他在演艺界是一名新手。

5 streak   

n.条理，斑纹，倾向，少许，痕迹；v.加条纹，变成条纹，奔驰，快速移动

参考例句：

• The Indians used to streak their faces with paint.印第安人过去常用颜料在脸上涂条纹。
• Why did you streak the tree?你为什么在树上刻条纹？

6 daunting   

adj.使人畏缩的

参考例句：

• They were faced with the daunting task of restoring the house.他们面临着修复房子的艰巨任务。
• Starting a new job can be a daunting prospect.开始一项新工作有时会让人望而却步。