(单词翻译:单击)
听力文本
Now, the VOA Special English program, PEOPLE IN AMERICA. A North American Major League baseball record was established in nineteen thirty-nine. The man who set it played in two thousand one hundred thirty games without missing one. In nineteen ninety-five, the record was broken by Cal Ripken of the Baltimore Orioles. But there is not much chance that the man who set the first record will be forgotten.
Today Shirley Griffith and Steve Ember tell about Lou Gehrig whose record lasted for fifty-six years. Lou Gehrig was born on June nineteenth, nineteen-oh-three. He was a huge baby. He weighed six-and-one-third kilograms. His parents, Heinrich and Christina Gehrig, had come to America from Germany. They worked hard. But they always had trouble earning enough money.
Lou loved to play baseball games on the streets of New York City, where he grew up. Yet he did not try to play on any sports teams when he entered high school. He thought of himself as a ball player only for informal games with friends. Then one of Lou's high school teachers heard that he could hit the ball very hard. The teacher ordered Lou to come to one of the school games. Years later, Lou said: "When I saw so many people and heard all the noise at the game, I was so scared I went home." The teacher threatened to fail Lou in school if he did not attend the next game.
So Lou Gehrig went to that game. He became a valued member of the high school team. He also played other sports. The boy who feared noise and people was on his way to becoming a star baseball player. A representative of a major league team, the New York Giants, came to watch him. He got Lou a chance to play for the manager of the Giants' team, John McGraw. McGraw thought Gehrig needed more experience before becoming a major league player. It was suggested that Lou get that experience on a minor league team in the city of Hartford, Connecticut. Lou played in Hartford that summer after completing high school. He earned money to help his parents. His father was often sick and without a job.
The money Lou earned also helped him attend Columbia University in New York City. The university had offered him financial help if he would play baseball on the Columbia team. But, the fact that Gehrig had accepted money for playing professional baseball got him into trouble. Officials of teams in Columbia's baseball league learned that Lou had played for the professional team in Hartford. The other teams got him banned from playing for Columbia during his first year at the college. Gehrig was permitted to play during his second year, though. He often hit the ball so far that people walking in the streets near the baseball field were in danger of being hit.
Lou's mother earned money as a cook and house cleaner. But she became very sick. The family could not make their monthly payments for their home. The New York Yankees major league baseball organization came to the rescue. The Yankees offered Lou three thousand five hundred dollars to finish the nineteen twenty-three baseball season. That was a great deal of money in those days. Gehrig happily accepted the offer. His parents were sad that he was leaving Columbia. Yet his decision ended their financial problems. The Yankees recognized that Gehrig was a good hitter. They wanted him to add to the team's hitting power provided by its star player, Babe Ruth. But Gehrig had trouble throwing and catching the ball. So they sent him back to the minor league team in Hartford. While playing there he improved his fielding. He also had sixty-nine hits in fifty-nine games.
The next spring Gehrig went to spring training camp with the Yankees. Again he was sent to Hartford to get more experience. And again, the Yankees called him back in September. He hit six hits in twelve times at the bat before that baseball season ended. Lou Gehrig began to play first base for the Yankees regularly in early June of nineteen twenty-five. He played well that day and for the two weeks that followed. Then Gehrig was hit in the head by a throw to second base. He should have left the game. But he refused to. He thought that if he left, he never again would have a chance to play regularly.
Gehrig continued to improve as a player. By Nineteen twenty-seven, pitchers for opposing teams were having bad dreams about Lou Gehrig and Babe Ruth. Ruth hit sixty home runs that year. Gehrig hit forty-seven and won the American League's Most Valuable Player Award. Nobody was surprised when the Yankees won the World Series. Gehrig, however, almost did not play. His mother had to have an operation. He felt he should be with her. Missus Gehrig and the Yankees' manager urged him to play in the World Series. His mother recovered.
More major threats to Gehrig's record of continuous games played took place in nineteen twenty-nine. His back, legs and hands were injured. He was hit on the head by a throw one day as he tried to reach home plate. Another Yankee player said: "Every time he played, it hurt him." Gehrig felt good in nineteen thirty. He said his secret was getting ten hours of sleep each night and drinking a large amount of water. Lou Gehrig now was becoming one of the greatest players in baseball history. He hit three home runs in the World Series of nineteen thirty-two. His batting average was five-twenty-nine. The manager of an opposing team, the Chicago Cubs, said of Gehrig: "I did not think a player could be that good."
In nineteen thirty-three, Gehrig married Eleanor Twitchell. Eleanor helped him take his place as one of baseball's most famous players. The younger Lou Gehrig had stayed away from strangers when he could. The married Lou Gehrig was much more friendly. As time went on, Gehrig played in game after game. He appeared not to have thought about his record number of continuous games played until a newspaper reporter talked to him about it. An accident during a special game played in Virginia almost broke the record. Gehrig was taken to a hospital after being hit in the head with a pitch. He played the next day, though. He just wore a bigger hat so people could not see his injury.
Gehrig completed his two-thousandth game on May thirty-first, Nineteen thirty-eight. That was almost two times as many continuous games as anyone ever had played before. Gehrig finished that season with a batting average of almost three hundred. He scored one hundred fifteen runs. He batted in almost as many runs.
But the Lou Gehrig of that year was not the Lou Gehrig of earlier years. He walked and ran like an old man. He had trouble with easy catches and throws. Yet his manager commented: "Everybody is asking what is wrong with Gehrig. I wish I had more players on this club doing as poorly as he is doing." Gehrig thought his problems were temporary. Then he fell several times the next winter while ice skating with Eleanor. He had trouble holding onto things. And he failed to hit in three games as the next season opened. In May, nineteen thirty-nine, he finally told his manager he could not play.
Lou Gehrig had played in two thousand one hundred thirty games without missing any that his team played. Gehrig observed his thirty-sixth birthday on June nineteenth. That same day, doctors told him he had a deadly disease that attacks the muscles in the body. The disease is called amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. Today, it is known as Lou Gehrig's Disease. Gehrig did not act like a dying man, though. He refused to act frightened or sad. On July fourth, nineteen thirty-nine, more than sixty thousand people went to Yankee Stadium to honor one of America's greatest baseball players. Gehrig told the crowd he still felt he was lucky. His words echoed throughout the stadium.
"I consider myself the luckiest man on the face of the Earth. I might have been given a bad break, but I've got an awful lot to live for. Thank you."
Gehrig fought his sickness. But he became weaker and weaker. He died on June second, nineteen forty-one. He was thirty-seven years old. America mourned the loss of a great baseball hero. Those who knew him best - family, friends, baseball players -- mourned the loss of a gentle man.
重点解析
1.threaten 威胁
He said army officers had threatened to destroy the town.
他说军官们已威胁要摧毁这座小镇。
2.fear 害怕
Many people fear change because they do not like the old ways to be disrupted.
很多人惧怕变化，因为他们不喜欢旧有的生活方式遭到破坏。
3.minor 次要的
She is known in Italy for a number of minor roles in films.
她因担任电影中一些配角而闻名意大利。
4.financial 金融的; 财政的
The company is in financial difficulties.
这个公司处于财务困难之中。
5.get into trouble 使自己或他人陷入困扰之境
If you get into trouble, I’ll step out and help you out.
如果你遇到麻烦，我一定站出来帮助你走出困境。
6.in danger of 处于…危险之中
You are in danger of catching cold.
你有患感冒的危险。
参考译文
这里是VOA慢速英语栏目《美国人物志》。1939年，北美职业棒球大联盟上创造了一项记录。创造这一记录的那个男人，在2130场比赛中，没错过一场。1995年，这项纪录被巴尔的摩金莺队的小卡尔·瑞普肯打破。但人们不会遗忘那个首创该项记录的人。今天雪莉·格里菲斯和史蒂夫·恩贝尔将为大家讲述卢·格里克的故事，他的这个记录维系了56年之久。
卢·格里克于1903年6月19日出生。他是个大胖小子，体重6.3公斤。他的父母海因里希和克里斯蒂娜·格里克从德国来到美国。他们工作很努力，但总是挣不到足够的钱。卢在纽约长大，他喜欢在这里的街道上玩棒球游戏，但高中时期，他并没有参加任何体育队。他认为自己只在和朋友进行的非正式比赛中才是一名棒球手。卢高中的一名老师听说他的球打得很好，这位老师要求卢参加学校比赛。多年后，卢称：“当我看到这么多人，听到比赛场上的呐喊时，我非常害怕，所以我回家了。”这位老师威胁卢，如果不参加下一场比赛就会让他挂科。所以卢·格里克又去了比赛场。他成为了高中组里的一名有价值成员，他还参加了其他体育项目。这个害怕喧闹和人群的男孩正在通往成为明星棒球手的道路上。
职业联盟纽约巨人队的一名代表前来观看他的比赛。他为卢拿到了一个为巨人队经理人约翰·麦格罗效力的机会。麦格罗认为在成为一名职业棒球运动员之前，格里克需要更多的经验。有人提议让卢在康涅狄格州哈特福特的一个次级棒球联盟中积累经验。卢在高中毕业后的那个夏天在哈特福特打比赛。他挣钱帮助他的父母。他的父亲经常生病且没了工作。卢所挣的钱也帮助他前往纽约哥伦比亚大学读书。大学可以为他提供经济上的帮助，前提是他在哥伦比亚队中效力。但格里克其实也接受了打职业棒球赛的钱，他因而陷入麻烦。哥伦比亚棒球联盟球队的官员了解到卢在哈特福特打职业赛。其他球队禁止他在大一期间为哥伦比亚队打比赛。格里克被允许在大二参赛。他击球的速度非常快，以至于走在棒球场附近街道上的人都有被击中的危险。
卢的母亲靠做饭和家庭清洁工挣钱。但她病得很严重。家里无法支付每月的开销。纽约洋基队职业棒球组织前来救济。洋基队支付了卢3500美元让他结束1923年的棒球赛季。在那个时代，这是一大笔钱。格里克很高兴地接受了这笔钱。他的父母很难过他要离开哥伦比亚，但他的决定解决了家里的经济困难。洋基队意识到格里克是一名很好的击球手，他们想让格里克和队里的明星球员巴比·鲁斯共同增强球队的击球能力。但是格里克的投球和接球存在问题，因此他们又把他送回了哈特福特的次级联队。在哈特福特的比赛提高了他的防守能力，他在59场比赛中击中69球。
第二年春季，格里克和洋基队前往春季训练营，他再一次被送往哈特福特积累更多经验。洋基队再次于9月份将他召回。在那次的赛季结束前，他上场击球12次，击中6次。1925年六月初，卢·格里克开始在洋基队中打一垒的位子。那一天以及接下来的两周，他都表现优秀。然后格里克被抛向二垒的球击中头部，他本应该离场，但他拒绝了。他认为人如果他离开了，就再也没有机会在队里打主力位置了。格里克继续提高自己作为球手的能力。到1927年，对手球队的投手们将卢·格里克和巴比·鲁斯视为他们的噩梦。那一年鲁斯拿到了60个全垒打，格里克击中47个并获得美国联赛MVP奖。当洋基队赢得世界职业棒球大赛时，没人感到意外。但格里克几乎没上场，他的母亲要做一场手术，他觉得自己得陪着她。格里克太太和洋基队经理力劝他去参加世界职业棒球大赛。他的母亲康复了。
格里克连续比赛场数的记录在1929年遭遇更多威胁。他的腰、腿和手掌都受伤了。一次当他全力到达本垒板时，他的头部被球击中。另一名洋基队球员称：“他每次比赛，都会受伤。”格里克在1930年感觉良好，他说他的秘诀是每晚睡足10个小时，并大量饮水。现在卢·格里克成为了棒球历史上最伟大的球员之一。他在1932年的世界职业棒球大赛中拿到三个全垒打。他的击球率是529。对方芝加哥小熊队的经理称：“我认为一个球员不可能那么优秀。
1933年，格里克和伊莲娜·特威契尔结婚了。伊莲娜帮助他坐上了棒球界最著名球员之一的位子。小时候的卢·格里克会远离那些陌生人。婚后的卢·格里克亲切多了。时间流逝，格里克一场接着一场的比赛。他没有想过自己的连续出场次数创下了记录，直到一家报社记者和他谈到了这个话题。在弗吉尼亚州的一场特殊比赛中，一次意外差点打破了这个记录。格里克在被投球击中脑袋后被送往医院。他第二天还是上场了。他只是戴了一个更大的帽子，这样人们就看不见他的伤了。格里克在1938年5月31日完成了他的第2000场比赛。这几乎是此前任何球员的多长连续比赛场次的两倍之多。格里克以近300的击球率结束了那个赛季，他跑垒得分115分，他的击球数几乎和跑垒数一样多。
但是那一年的卢·格里克和早些年的不同。他走路和跑步就像一位老人一样，他简单的接扔球都有问题。但他的经理人评论称：“每个人都问格里克是不是出问题了。我希望这家俱乐部中有更多和他一样出问题的球员。”格里克认为他的问题只是暂时性的，第二年冬季，在和伊莲娜滑冰的时候，他跌倒了几次，他连东西都握不住。下一赛季开赛时，他在三场比赛中都落败了。1939年5月，他终于告诉他的经理人，他无法比赛了。卢·格里克参加了2130场比赛，没有错过他们队的任何一场比赛。
格里克在6月19日，庆祝了自己36岁的生日。同一天，医生告诉他，他患上了一种不治之症，病症对身体肌肉造成破坏。这个病被称为肌萎缩性脊髓侧索硬化症，如今也被称为卢·格里克症。格里克并不像一个将死之人，他拒绝惊讶或悲伤之情。1939年7月4日，六万人来到洋基体育场向这位美国最伟大的棒球手之一表示敬意。格里克告诉众人，他仍觉得自己很幸运，他的声音回响在体育场内。“我认为自己是这地球上最幸运的人，我或许遭遇不幸，但还有很多值得我活下去的事情，谢谢你们。”格里克和疾病进行斗争，但他变得越来越虚弱。他在1941年6月2日去世，年37岁。美国为这位伟大棒球英雄的陨落而默哀。那些和他最亲近的人—家人、朋友、队员—为失去这位绅士而哀悼。
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