VOA慢速英语，作为国际英语学习者的重要资源，通过清晰缓慢的发音与简洁的词汇，为初学者及中等水平学习者搭建了通往流利英语的桥梁。它不仅帮助提升听力理解能力，还丰富了词汇量，增强了语感，是学习地道英语表达不可或缺的工具，对全球英语学习者的语言提升至关重要。让我们一起进入今天的VOA慢速英语听力训练：词汇典故体育。

英文原文

Sports are a great source of enjoyment and competition for people around the world. There are many expressions related to sports in English that we use in our daily lives. In the United States, the most popular sports include baseball and American football. So, terms and sayings connected to those games are especially common. We often use sports-related terms in our daily lives to describe moments of success, difficulty, failure, and fairness.

体育是全球人民娱乐和竞技的重要来源。英语中有许多与体育相关的表达，我们在日常生活中经常会用到。在美国，最受欢迎的运动包括棒球和美国橄榄球。因此，与这些运动相关的术语和说法尤为常见。我们经常在日常生活中使用与体育相关的术语来描述成功、困难、失败和公平的时刻。

Timothy Wall teaches English as a second language to adults in Los Angeles, California. He also wrote the book "Footbology: Elements of American Football" for non-native speakers of English. Wall says using sports idioms is a great way to sound more like a native speaker and better understand a new culture. Knowing how to use American sports idioms can help people from different cultures make personal connections in a foreign place.

蒂莫西·沃尔在加利福尼亚州洛杉矶教授成人英语作为第二语言。他还为非英语母语者撰写了《足球学：美式橄榄球要素》一书。沃尔说，使用体育俚语是听起来更像母语者并更好地理解新文化的好方法。了解如何使用美式体育俚语可以帮助来自不同文化背景的人在异国他乡建立个人联系。

Here are a few expressions to practice. Let's consider the phrasal verb "huddle up." The verb "huddle" means to crowd together. In American football, the offensive team huddles throughout the game to discuss its plan of play. The team forms a sort of circle with their backs to everyone else. This helps keep the players' brief meeting private. They do not want the opposition to learn what moves they are planning to make.

这里有一些可以练习的表达。让我们来看看短语动词“huddle up”。动词“huddle”的意思是挤在一起。在美式橄榄球中，进攻方会在整场比赛中挤在一起讨论比赛计划。球队会形成一种背对着其他人的圆圈形状。这有助于保护球员们简短会议的隐私。他们不想让对手知道他们打算采取什么行动。

Apparently, the football huddle began at Gallaudet University, a university for students who have hearing disabilities. The players use sign language, speaking through signs they make with their hands. So, the Gallaudet players faced each other so the other team could not see their hands.

显然，橄榄球中的挤在一起（huddle）起源于加拉德特大学，这是一所为听力障碍学生设立的大学。球员们使用手语，通过手势进行交流。因此，加拉德特大学的球员们面对面站着，这样其他球队就看不到他们的手势了。

Here are two example sentences of the phrase used outside of football: "The students huddled up around the chemistry teacher as she performed the experiment." "The patient's doctor and family huddled up to discuss possible treatments."

以下是该短语在非橄榄球语境中的两个例句：“学生们在化学老师做实验时围在她身边。”“病人的医生和家人聚在一起讨论可能的治疗方法。”

One of the most common American football idioms is "a Hail Mary." Hail Mary is the name of a Christian prayer. It is used in football to describe a play made by the losing team toward the end of the game. The play is not likely to be successful, but is made in desperation. "The prisoner hid under a car in a Hail Mary effort to escape police."

美式橄榄球中最常见的俚语之一是“Hail Mary”。Hail Mary是基督教祈祷的名字。在橄榄球中，它被用来描述比赛接近尾声时落后一方所做的最后一搏。这种进攻很可能不成功，但却是出于绝望之举。“囚犯藏在一辆车下，为了躲避警察的追捕。”

The idiom "drop the ball" most often describes a situation where someone failed to do something important or necessary. This term is used in many sports. A baseball, football, or basketball player can "drop the ball," usually resulting in some kind of loss or penalty for their team. In non-sports talk, you might say you "drop the ball" if you did not finish your schoolwork on time, or forgot to pay the electric company, or did not follow your supervisor's orders for a project at work.

“drop the ball”这个俚语通常用来描述某人未能做重要或必要事情的情况。这个词在许多运动中都会用到。棒球、橄榄球或篮球运动员可能会“drop the ball”，这通常会导致他们的球队遭受某种损失或受到处罚。在非运动语境中，如果你没有按时完成作业，或者忘记了付电费，或者没有按照上司的指示完成工作任务，你也可以说你“drop the ball”了。

Listen to this short discussion as an example: "Sorry, I'm late for work. I had to walk because there was no gas in the car. John was supposed to take it to the fuel station. Wow, didn't you also tell me that he left your phone outside in the rain yesterday? Yep, he has really been dropping the ball lately. And only I seem to suffer the results."

以下是一个例子，听听这段简短的对话：“抱歉，我上班迟到了。我不得不走路来，因为车里没油了。约翰本该把它开到加油站去的。哇，你不是还告诉我他昨天把你的手机忘在雨里了吗？是的，他最近一直在犯错。而似乎只有我在承受后果。”

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