(单词翻译:单击)
听力文本
We are getting wordy once again in the Learning English studio. I'm Caty Weaver and here with me are reporters Ashley Thompson and Dan Friedell.
Hey, Caty.
Hi, Caty.
Hello, you two. Thanks for coming in! We are going to try another installment of "Words to the Wise," our new program where we discuss, explain, and learn very current words and terms.
It's...it's that time of year again. The most wonderful time of the year...
My birthday?!
Really? Happy Birthday, Ashley.
Thanks.
Yes, Ashley, happy birthday, again. But actually that is not the event Dan is talking about. March Madness has begun. I thought we should go over some related language.
Ah, yes, the big college basketball championship. It begins in the middle of March. And people definitely go "mad" over it.
But not mad as in angry, right Dan?
Well, Caty, some people might get a little mad if their favorite team does poorly. But March Madness refers to the wild nature of the tournament. There are so many teams and a lot of games ending at the same time -- dramatic endings, especially! We'll hear about some of those endings later on.
And the "madness" also refers to the wild excitement the tournament causes. Actually, college basketball, or NCAA (National Collegiate Athletic Association) basketball, is very popular here in the United States. In many parts of the country, it's a lot more popular than the NBA even, or National Basketball Association.
Yeah. So, anybody checking out American news and social media will likely face some of the "madness" online.
That's right, Caty. The tournament really begins on Selection Sunday, and that's when a committee decides which universities' teams will get into the tournament. They start out with 68 teams, and then it gets down to the championship game, which doesn't actually happen in March. It happens at the beginning of April. So, we go from one Sunday in March all the way to the beginning of April.
Wow, Dan... March Madness, Selection Sunday. There sure are a lot of alliterations involved. Those are phrases where many or all of the words start with the same letter or sound.
And we haven't talked about the "Final Four" yet!
Oh, another one!
So, we start out with 68 teams in the men's tournament and 64 in the women's. And then they start dancing, right Dan?
Yeah, I've heard everyone say 'Oh, this school or that school... they're all going to the Big Dance.'
Mhmm.
What is this "Big Dance?"
Well the Big Dance... that's just what they call it for fun. They don't dance. They play basketball. It's like a big party for a few weeks. Each of the teams are ranked, based on their performances during the regular season. And those rankings are called "seeds." Each group of teams is put into one of four regions. And each region has the number-one seed all the way down to the 16th seed.
Um, just to be clear, Dan, the word "seed" in this case does not relate plant life, right?
That's right, Ashley. "Seed" has to do with the ranking of the teams in the competition. And they wanna make sure that the best teams don't play each other too early. So, there are four sets of number-one seeds, and four sets of number-two seeds, and so forth and so on.
So, in other words, you want to spread around the competition to produce a better sporting event. Kind of like a farmer spreads seeds for a good crop.
So, it does come back to that literal meaning that I mentioned.
Mhmm. So, before it began, a lot of people in the United States tried to pick which team would win each game of the tournament.
That's right, Caty. That's called the "bracket." And it's a chart. It shows all of the teams and their projected next-round opponent. But nobody knows for sure which team will win the subsequent games. So you choose the winner, the team that you think will win, and filter it all the way down to the Sweet Sixteen, and the Elite Eight, and the Final Four, and all the way down to the championship game.
Okay, so it sounds like someone here has his own bracket all finished up!
Wait, um, why don't people just pick the higher-seeded team to win each game when they're filling their brackets out? I mean, that's what I would do.
Seems sensible.
It seems like a sensible method, right.
Well, it rarely works out that way. Sometimes two or three of the best four teams will make it to the Final Four. But usually there's a team that's unexpected.
Okay, so there's that "Final Four" phrase again, Dan...Can you explain that to our audience?
So the Final Four, those last four teams that make it, that's the semifinals of the tournament. And the previous round is the quarterfinals. And we call that the Elite Eight.
Another alliteration!
And before that you have the Sweet Sixteen!
Oh my gosh. So you might say there are a lot of "upsets" along the way, then?
Right, an upset is when one team that's favored doesn't win the game. The "underdog" team upsets the favorite. And some of those upsets happen with dramatic moments at the end of the game. Those are called "buzzer beaters."
That sounds violent!
So, it's not violent, usually! The "buzzer" is a device that makes a loud sound to signal end of play. And a "buzzer beater" is a moment at the very end of the game, when that game can be decided with one just shot that goes into the basket before the buzzer.
It might even go in after the buzzer, right? The shooter has to have let go of the ball before the buzzer... buzzes.
Yes. A really exciting game might combine a "Cinderella Story" team and a buzzer beater.
Cinderella? Are we going to Disneyland?
Tell her. Go ahead, Dan. Tell her.
So, a Cinderella team is a team that is not expected to do well. Maybe they don't have the best record. Maybe they were not the best team in their conference during the season. But usually something happens where they start winning some games, they get confident, and it's a surprise... like Cinderella getting to the ball and winning the prince's favor.
Okay you guys, so do want to tell the world about your brackets, who've you got picked? Who do you think, Dan, will "cut down the net" this year?
Cut it down? What... is this destructive all the sudden?
Actually, it is. There's a tradition where the winning team takes scissors and cuts down the net so that they can put it in their trophy case back at their university for future generations of fans to admire.
Oh, well, in that case, the net will go home to the University of Kansas.
Oh really?
That's my guess.
Oh yes, Dan? Who do you think's gonna cut down the net?
I think I'll go with Villanova, which is a small school near Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. They were the champions last year, in one of the most exciting championship games ever -- won on a buzzer beater! And I think they can do it again this year.
Okay, cool. Well I have no idea who might win. I'm not even sure -- now I know two teams that are actually involved in the tournament,
But...
Both number-one seeds!
Okay, I didn't know that! But I will say, I will watch the games, 'cuz I love watching basketball. So I'm gonna watch this weekend.
I'm Caty Weaver.
I'm Ashley Thompson.
And I'm Dan Friedell.
重点解析
1.start with 从······开始
To work out a plan, one has to start with investigation.
制定计划要从调查研究入手。
2.based on 基于
Democracy is based on good will and mutual understanding.
民主建立在善意和相互理解的基础上。
3.regular season 常规赛季
They cruised through the regular season and the first three rounds of the playoffs.
热队在常规赛和季后赛前三轮中一路顺风。
参考译文
我们又要在学英语的演播室里唠嗑了。我是卡蒂·韦弗，和我一起的是记者阿什丽·汤普森和丹·弗里德尔。
嘿，卡蒂。
嗨，卡蒂
你们好。感谢你们来演播室！我们要尝试另一期的“一点就通（Words to the Wise）”，这是我们的新节目，讨论，讲解和学习非常流行的单词和短语。
又是一年的那个时候。一年中最好的时候······
我的生日？！
真的吗？生日快乐，阿什丽。
谢谢！
是啊，阿什丽，再一次祝你生日快乐。但实际上这不是丹想要说的。“疯狂三月（March Madness）”已经开始了。我想我们应该讨论下一些相关的语言。
啊，是的，盛大的大学篮球联赛。“疯狂三月”于三月中旬开始。大家对此绝对很疯狂。
但是气得发疯吧，丹？
好吧，卡蒂，有些人可能会因为自己喜欢的篮球队表现不佳而生气。但“三月疯狂”其实是指锦标赛的野性。有太多的篮球队会和比赛一起终结，特别是戏剧性的结局。我们稍后会聊到其中的一些结局。
“疯狂”也指对于联赛事业的原始兴奋。实际上，大学篮球，或者NCAA（全国大学体育协会），在美国很受欢迎。在美国的许多地方，甚至比NBA，也就是美国职业篮球联赛（National Basketball Association）还受欢迎。
是的。所以任何看美国新闻或者社交媒体的人都有可能在网上会看到“疯狂”的讯息。
是的，卡蒂。比赛真正开始是从星期天的选拔赛，选拔赛能决定最终参加联赛的大学队伍。开始有68支队伍，接下来就是联赛，不过那时实际上不是三月了，是四月初。所以我们从三月的一个星期天开始一路比赛到四月初。
哇，丹······“疯狂三月（March Madness）”，“遴选星期天（Selection Sunday）”。这里涉及到很多的头韵（alliterations），头韵的短语，指的是部分或者全部单词的开头使用同样的字母或语音。
我们还没聊“最后四强（Final Four）”呢！
哦，又一个表达！
我们开始是68支男子篮球队和64支女子篮球队。然后他们开始打比赛，对吗，丹？
是的，我听见每个人说“哦，这个学校或者那个学校······他们都要开始‘大舞会’（Big Dance）了。”
嗯。
“大舞会”是啥？
“大舞会”······，这个只是他们叫着玩的。他们不跳舞，他们是打篮球。大学篮球联赛像持续几周的一场大型派对。每支球队会依据在常规赛（regular season）中的表现有一个排名。这些有排名的球队被称为“种子（seeds）”。每组球队会被分到四大赛区（four regions）其中一区。每个赛区会包含一号种子一直到16号种子。
呃，清楚地说（to be clear），这儿的单词“种子”和植物无关，对吧？
是的，阿什丽。“种子”和球队在比赛中的排名相关。他们得保证最好的队伍不会在早期就碰上。所以，有四组头号种子，四组二号种子，四号种子等等。
所以，换句话说，你想分散比赛来制造一场更好的体育赛事。这有点像农民撒播种子以使庄稼长得更好。
那么，我提到的这个词确实使用的它的字面意思。
嗯。在比赛开始前，美国许多人就开始挑选他们觉得联赛中每场比赛中会赢的篮球队。
是的，卡蒂。那称为“对阵竞猜（bracket）”。对阵竞猜都在一张表上。对阵竞猜表展示了所有的队伍以及预测的他们下一轮（next-round）的对手（opponent）。但是没人能打包票哪支队在接下来的比赛中会赢。所以你选了会赢的队伍，你认为会赢的队伍，陪着这支队伍一路闯关到甜蜜16强（Sweet Sixteen），精英八强（Elite Eight）和最终四强（Final Four），一直到决赛（the championship game）。
好的，听起来像这里有人已经对阵竞猜完了！
等下，呃，人们为什么在每场比赛填写对阵竞猜的时候不直接填好的种子呢？我意思是，我会那么做的。
听起来有道理。
这似乎是个明智的方法，对吧。
好吧，那种方法很少奏效。有时候两到三支最好的队伍会挺进最后四强。但通常会有一支球队令人出乎意料。
好的，又是“最后四强（Final Four）”这个短语，丹······你能像听众解释下这个短语吗？
“最后四强”，由最后四支队伍组成，是联赛的半决赛。半决赛前面是四分之一决赛（the quarterfinals），我们称之为精英八强（Elite Eight）。
又一个头韵！
在那之前是甜蜜16强（Sweet Sixteen）！
哦，天哪。你意思是整个赛程会有很多的“黑马”（upsets），然后呢？
对，“黑马”指的是一支被看好的球队输了比赛。“劣势（underdog）”的队伍打败了被看好的队伍。其中一些黑马戏剧性地出现在比赛尾声。这些时刻被称为“绝杀时刻（buzzer beaters）”。
这听起来很残酷！
那么，通常是不残酷的！“蜂鸣器（buzzer）”是能发出巨响来象征比赛结束的一种装置。“绝杀时刻”是比赛快结束的最后时刻，决定胜负的一个进球时刻。
它甚至有可能在蜂鸣器响后进入，对吗？射手必须在蜂鸣器发出嗡嗡声之前把球放下。
是的。一场激动人心的球赛也许需要具备“局势反转（Cinderella Story）”和绝杀时刻（buzzer beater）。
灰姑娘？你要去迪士尼吗？
给她解释一下。丹，说吧，解释给她听。
一支不被看好的球队（a Cinderella team）是指大家觉得不行的球队。也许因为他们没有最好的记录。也许他们在赛季时不是篮球联盟最好的球队。但是当他们赢了一些比赛之后，他们开始转变，他们变得自信，很让人惊喜······就像灰姑娘去了舞会，赢得了王子的青睐。
好吧，你俩这么想聊你们的对阵竞猜吗，你们选了谁？丹，你觉得今年谁能夺冠（cut down the net）？
把它剪下来（cut it down）？这突如其来的破坏是什么？
确实是这样的。这是一个传统，夺冠的球队会用带来的剪刀把球网剪下来当作战利品（trophy case）带回他们的大学以供更年轻一代的球迷景仰。
哦，好吧，那样的话，冠军将是堪萨斯大学。
真的吗？
我猜的。
是吗，丹？你觉得谁会夺冠？
我想我会支持维拉诺瓦大学，这是大学是宾夕法尼亚州费城附近的一所小学校。去年他们是冠军，曾是令人兴奋的夺冠赛之一——绝杀夺冠！我觉得今年他们依然能夺得冠军。
真酷。我不知道谁会赢。我甚至都不确定——现在我知道两支参加联赛的球队，
但是，
两支都是排名第一的种子！
好吧，我不懂那些！但我想说，我会看比赛的，因为我喜欢看篮球比赛。我这周末要看。
我是卡蒂·韦弗
我是阿什丽·汤普森。
我是丹·弗里德尔。
