《挑战者姚明》精讲之一

文化面面观NBA选秀是一年一度的NBA盛会，在选秀大会上，30支NBA球队都可以挑选自己需要的新球员，这些球员通常都是来自美国国内的各所大学，但近年来越来越多的国际球员和高中毕业生参加了选秀。

影片简介时至今日，姚明这个名字在中国恐怕已经没有人不知道。这部电影讲述的就是姚明在2002年成为NBA状元秀后一个赛季的生活和职业生涯，让你和主人公一起体验在NBA的点点滴滴。

Colin: It wasnt until 1971 that Chinas attitude towards the West was visibly changed by, of all things, pingpong. Chinas surprise invitation to the American pingpong team paved the way for President Nixons 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 its draft lottery where a winning pingpong ball can change a teams 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 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：Premiers 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。

4. first pick

pick作名词时的意思是“选择”，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。