VOA常速英语2008年-Hollywood Soccer Mom Plans TV Reality Show

By Mike O'Sullivan
Los Angeles
18 March 2008

A suburban¹ mother in Los Angeles hopes to share her newfound interest in soccer with the world.  Mike O'Sullivan reports, Los Angeles "soccer mom" Conroy Kanter is developing a soccer-based reality television show.

Kanter is not a typical American housewife.  The neighborhood where she lives is the exclusive seaside community of Malibu.  And when she is not taking her children to soccer games, she is an actress and film producer.

Kanter began to pay attention to soccer while watching her 11-year-old son and nine-year-old daughter playing in a youth league.  Last year, she got a glimpse of the sport's worldwide impact when she attended a conference in Dubai on the business of soccer.

With the proliferation of reality shows on American television, she decided² viewers would love one about the sport.  

"I'm at home with my nine and 11-year-old, and there are really not many things that they like to watch on TV," she said.  "So I thought, this is an opportunity to develop a show for children and their families. "

The show would have teams of young people involved in competitions in various countries.  She says the diversity of the teams and players will appeal to viewers.

"There's always someone you can relate to," she said.  "And you want to get behind and root for them and push for them.  And that's what we're going to do.  We're going to show you kids from around the world."

There is an irony³ surrounding soccer in the United States, where millions of youngsters play the game.  In fact, it is so common that mothers who ferry their children to practices and games are called "soccer moms."  But professional soccer ranks low in popularity on the list of televised sports, and its biggest fans are immigrants.  Kanter says most other American focus on sports like basketball.

"In America, we're spoiled.  We're used to instant gratification," she explained.  "And we like scoring - in basketball, it's score, score, score, and if you don't, it's oh! [groans]"

She says soccer teaches discipline and teamwork.

The proposed show has celebrity⁴ backers and advisors⁵, including a well-known television host and famous movie producer.  A Hollywood restaurateur named Dan Tana is also on board with the project.  He defected in 1953 from communist Yugoslavia, where he played for the Red Star Belgrade team.  He remains⁶ a big soccer promoter, and is a board member of the team and an official with the Serbian Football Association.

Kanter says soccer is immensely popular in Eastern Europe and Asia, in fact, nearly everywhere, except the United States.

"It's huge in the Middle East, South America, Africa, Europe all over, Russia.  So it's an international sport," she said.

She says that with millions of American youngsters already playing, it is only a matter of time before soccer is just as popular in this country.

1 suburban   

adj.城郊的，在郊区的

参考例句：

• Suburban shopping centers were springing up all over America. 效区的商业中心在美国如雨后春笋般地兴起。
• There's a lot of good things about suburban living.郊区生活是有许多优点。

2 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。

3 irony   

n.反语，冷嘲；具有讽刺意味的事，嘲弄

参考例句：

• She said to him with slight irony.她略带嘲讽地对他说。
• In her voice we could sense a certain tinge of irony.从她的声音里我们可以感到某种讥讽的意味。

4 celebrity   

n.名人，名流；著名，名声，名望

参考例句：

• Tom found himself something of a celebrity. 汤姆意识到自己已小有名气了。
• He haunted famous men, hoping to get celebrity for himself. 他常和名人在一起, 希望借此使自己获得名气。

5 advisors   

n.顾问，劝告者( advisor的名词复数 )；（指导大学新生学科问题等的）指导教授

参考例句：

• The governors felt that they were being strung along by their advisors. 地方长官感到他们一直在受顾问们的愚弄。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• We will consult together with advisors about her education. 我们将一起和专家商议她的教育事宜。 来自互联网

6 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。