The year of the Yao《挑战者姚明》精讲之一

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　　影片对白

　　Colin: It wasn't until 1971 that China's attitude towards the West was visibly changed by, of all things, pingpong. China's surprise invitation to the American pingpong team paved the way for President Nixon's historic icebreaker trip in 1972. The last thirty years has seen China change in radical ways and also cling stubbornly to the past. But now a group of pingpong balls have again become symbolically tied to the start of a new era. Each spring, the National Basketball Association conducts 惊悚片 itsdraft lottery where a winning pingpong ball can change a team's destiny by granting it the first pick in the coming player draft.

　　Host: And the first pick in the 2002 NBA draft goes to the Houston Rockets.

　　Colin: The Rockets immediately made it clear that they would take 7'6'' Yao Ming from China. At 22 years old Yao Ming was the star of the Chinese national team and a huge gamble for the Rockets.

　　Charles: If I had the number one pick in the draft,I would take Caron Butler or Jay Williams.

　　Kenny: Well, I have to agree a lot with Charles.

　　Anchorperson: With the first pick in the 2002 NBA draft, the Houston Rockets select Yao Ming from Shanghai, China and the Shanghai Sharks.

　　Man: Yao was an unknown to many of the people in the United States. Nevertheless, Houston was using the number one pick to select him. But the extra that was added was literally being asked to carry the hopes of a nation of a billion people and that placed enormous, enormous pressure on him.

　　妙语佳句，活学活用

　　1. pave the way

　　这里的意思是“为……做准备，使容易”的意思，引申为“为……铺平道路”，比如：His visit paved the way for an agreement. 他的访问为达成协议铺平了道路。

　　2. icebreaker trip

　　Icebreaker 的本意是“破冰船”，icebreaker trip就是“破冰之旅”的意思了。电影中指的是1972年尼克松总统访华，中美交往的大门终于打开，这在历史上被称为“破冰之旅”。

　　我们来看个例子：Premier’s visit to Japan is seen as an icebreaker trip. 总理这次对日本的访问被视为破冰之旅。

　　3. draft lottery

　　NBA的选秀之前要先决定各大球队的选秀顺序和头三号新秀权的归属。头三号新秀权是以抽签的形式决定的。因此称为draft lottery。这个抽签是用乒乓球的组合形式来实行的，我们在后面的“文化面面观”部分会详细介绍。

　　4. first pick

　　Pick 作名词时的意思是“选择”的意思，这里是指选秀中的头号“状元秀”，比如2002年姚明就是被休斯顿火箭队以第一轮第一顺位选中的，成为当年的选秀状元。通常first pick 表示“第一选择”，这里代表着头衔和荣誉。比如：He is thought to be the first pick. 他被认为是第一人选。