原文
What Makes an Olympic Champion?
A
How does a person become an Olympic champion—someone capable of winning the gold? In reality, a combination of biological, environmental, and psychological factors, as well as training and practice, all go into making a super athlete.
B
Perhaps the most important factor involved in becoming an elite athlete is genetic. Most Olympic competitors are equipped with certain physical characteristics that differentiate them from the average person. Take an elite athlete’s muscles, for example. In most human skeletal muscles (the ones that make your body move), there are fast-twitch fibers and slow-twitch fibers. Fast-twitch fibers help us move quickly. Olympic weightlifters, for example, have a large number of fast-twitch fibers in their muscles—many more than the average person. These allow them to lift hundreds of kilos from the ground and over their heads in seconds. Surprisingly, a large, muscular body is not the main requirement to do well in this sport. It is more important to have a large number of fast-twitch fibers in the muscles.
C
The legs of an elite marathon runner, on the other hand, might contain up to 90 percent slow-twitch muscle fibers. These generate energy efficiently and enable an athlete to control fatigue and keep moving for a longer period of time. When we exercise long or hard, it’s common to experience tiredness, muscle pain, and difficulty breathing. These feelings are caused when the muscles produce high amounts of a substance called lactate and can’t remove it quickly enough. Athletes with many slow-twitch muscle fibers seem to be able to clear the lactate from their muscles faster as they move. Thus, the average runner might start to feel discomfort halfway into a race. A trained Olympic athlete, however, might not feel pain until much later in the competition.
D
For some Olympic competitors, size is important. Most male champion swimmers are 180 cm or taller, allowing them to reach longer and swim faster. For both male and female gymnasts, though, a smaller size and body weight mean they can move with greater ease, and are less likely to suffer damage when landing on the floor from a height of up to 4.5 meters.
E
Some athletes’ abilities are naturally enhanced by their environment. Those raised at high altitudes in countries such as Kenya, Ethiopia, and Morocco have blood that is rich in hemoglobin. Large amounts of hemoglobin carry oxygen around the body faster, enabling these athletes to run better. Cultural factors also help some athletes do well at certain sports. Tegla Loroupe, a young woman from northern Kenya, has won several marathons. She says some of her success is due to her country’s altitude (she trains at about 2,400 meters) and some to her cultural background. As a child, she had to run 10 kilometers to school every day. “I’d be punished if I was late,” she says.
F
Although genes, environment, and even culture play a part in becoming an elite athlete, training and practice are needed to succeed. Marathon runners may be able to control fatigue and keep moving for long periods of time, but they must train to reach and maintain their goals. Weightlifters and gymnasts perfect their skills by repeating the same motions again and again until they become automatic. Greg Louganis, winner of four Olympic diving gold medals, says divers must train the same way to be successful: “You have less than three seconds from takeoff until you hit the water, so it has to be reflex. You have to repeat the dives hundreds, maybe thousands, of times.” Training this way requires an athlete to be not only physically fit but psychologically healthy as well. “They have to be,” says Sean McCann, a sports psychologist at the Olympic Training Center in the United States. “Otherwise, they couldn’t handle the training loads we put on them. [Athletes] have to be good at setting goals, generating energy when they need it, and managing anxiety.”
G
How do athletes adjust to such intense pressure? Louganis explains how he learned to control his anxiety during a competition: “Most divers think too much . . . ,” he says. “They’re too much in their heads. What worked for me was humor. I remember thinking about what my mother would say if she saw me do a bad dive. She’d probably just compliment me on the beautiful splash.”
音标
What Makes an Olympic Champion?
/wʌt meɪks ən oʊˈlɪmpɪk ˈtʃæmpiən/
How does a person become an Olympic champion—someone capable of winning the gold?
/haʊ dəz ə ˈpɜrsən bɪˈkʌm ən oʊˈlɪmpɪk ˈtʃæmpiən | ˈsʌmwʌn ˈkeɪpəbəl əv ˈwɪnɪŋ ðə ɡoʊld/
In reality, a combination of biological, environmental, and psychological factors, as well as training and practice, all go into making a super athlete.
/ɪn riˈæləti | ə ˌkɑmbəˈneɪʃən əv ˌbaɪəˈlɑdʒɪkəl | ɪnˌvaɪrənˈmɛntəl | ən ˌsaɪkəˈlɑdʒɪkəl ˈfæktərz | əz wɛl əz ˈtreɪnɪŋ ən ˈpræktɪs | ɔl ɡoʊ ˈɪntu ˈmeɪkɪŋ ə ˈsupər ˈæθlit/
Perhaps the most important factor involved in becoming an elite athlete is genetic.
/pərˈhæps ðə moʊst ɪmˈpɔrtənt ˈfæktər ɪnˈvɑlvd ɪn bɪˈkʌmɪŋ ən ɪˈlit ˈæθlit ɪz dʒəˈnɛtɪk/
Most Olympic competitors are equipped with certain physical characteristics that differentiate them from the average person.
/moʊst oʊˈlɪmpɪk kəmˈpɛt̬ət̬ərz ər ɪˈkwɪpt wɪð ˈsɜrtən ˈfɪzɪkəl ˌkɛrəktəˈrɪstɪks ðət ˌdɪfəˈrɛnʃiˌeɪt ðəm frəm ði ˈævərɪdʒ ˈpɜrsən/
Take an elite athlete’s muscles, for example.
/teɪk ən ɪˈlit ˈæθlits ˈmʌsəlz | fər ɪɡˈzæmpəl/
In most human skeletal muscles (the ones that make your body move), there are fast-twitch fibers and slow-twitch fibers.
/ɪn moʊst ˈhyumən ˈskɛlətəl ˈmʌsəlz | ðə wʌnz ðət meɪk yər ˈbɑdi muv | ðɛr ər ˈfæstˌtwɪtʃ ˈfaɪbərz ən ˈsloʊˌtwɪtʃ ˈfaɪbərz/
Fast-twitch fibers help us move quickly.
/ˈfæstˌtwɪtʃ ˈfaɪbərz hɛlp əs muv ˈkwɪkli/
Olympic weightlifters, for example, have a large number of fast-twitch fibers in their muscles—many more than the average person.
/oʊˈlɪmpɪk ˈweɪtˌlɪftərz | fər ɪɡˈzæmpəl | hæv ə lɑrdʒ ˈnʌmbər əv ˈfæstˌtwɪtʃ ˈfaɪbərz ɪn ðɛr ˈmʌsəlz | ˈmɛni mɔr ðən ði ˈævərɪdʒ ˈpɜrsən/
These allow them to lift hundreds of kilos from the ground and over their heads in seconds.
/ðiz əˈlaʊ ðəm tə lɪft ˈhʌndrədz əv ˈkiloʊz frəm ðə ɡraʊnd ən ˈoʊvər ðɛr hɛdz ɪn ˈsɛkəndz/
Surprisingly, a large, muscular body is not the main requirement to do well in this sport.
/sərˈpraɪzɪŋli | ə lɑrdʒ ˈmʌskyələr ˈbɑdi ɪz nɑt ðə meɪn rɪˈkwaɪrmənt tə du wɛl ɪn ðɪs spɔrt/
It is more important to have a large number of fast-twitch fibers in the muscles.
/ɪt ɪz mɔr ɪmˈpɔrtənt tə hæv ə lɑrdʒ ˈnʌmbər əv ˈfæstˌtwɪtʃ ˈfaɪbərz ɪn ðə ˈmʌsəlz/
The legs of an elite marathon runner, on the other hand, might contain up to 90 percent slow-twitch muscle fibers.
/ðə lɛɡz əv ən ɪˈlit ˈmɛrəˌθɑn ˈrʌnər | ɑn ði ˈʌðər hænd | maɪt kənˈteɪn ʌp tə ˈnaɪnti pərˈsɛnt ˈsloʊˌtwɪtʃ ˈmʌsəl ˈfaɪbərz/
These generate energy efficiently and enable an athlete to control fatigue and keep moving for a longer period of time.
/ðiz ˈdʒɛnəˌreɪt ˈɛnərdʒi ɪˈfɪʃəntli ən ɪˈneɪbəl ən ˈæθlit tə kənˈtroʊl fəˈtiɡ ən kip ˈmuvɪŋ fər ə ˈlɔŋɡər ˈpɪriəd əv taɪm/
When we exercise long or hard, it’s common to experience tiredness, muscle pain, and difficulty breathing.
/wɛn wi ˈɛksərˌsaɪz lɔŋ ɔr hɑrd | ɪts ˈkɑmən tə ɪkˈspɪriəns ˈtaɪərdnəs | ˈmʌsəl peɪn | ən ˈdɪfəkəlti ˈbriðɪŋ/
These feelings are caused when the muscles produce high amounts of a substance called lactate and can’t remove it quickly enough.
/ðiz ˈfilɪŋz ər kɔzd wɛn ðə ˈmʌsəlz prəˈdus haɪ əˈmaʊnts əv ə ˈsʌbstəns kɔld ˈlækˌteɪt ən kænt rɪˈmuv ɪt ˈkwɪkli ɪˈnʌf/
Athletes with many slow-twitch muscle fibers seem to be able to clear the lactate from their muscles faster as they move.
/ˈæθlits wɪð ˈmɛni ˈsloʊˌtwɪtʃ ˈmʌsəl ˈfaɪbərz sim tə bi ˈeɪbəl tə klɪr ðə ˈlækˌteɪt frəm ðɛr ˈmʌsəlz ˈfæstər əz ðeɪ muv/
Thus, the average runner might start to feel discomfort halfway into a race.
/ðʌs | ði ˈævərɪdʒ ˈrʌnər maɪt stɑrt tə fil dɪsˈkʌmfərt ˌhæfˈweɪ ˈɪntu ə reɪs/
A trained Olympic athlete, however, might not feel pain until much later in the competition.
/ə treɪnd oʊˈlɪmpɪk ˈæθlit | haʊˈɛvər | maɪt nɑt fil peɪn ənˈtɪl mʌtʃ ˈleɪt̬ər ɪn ðə ˌkɑmpəˈtɪʃən/
For some Olympic competitors, size is important.
/fər sʌm oʊˈlɪmpɪk kəmˈpɛt̬ət̬ərz | saɪz ɪz ɪmˈpɔrtənt/
Most male champion swimmers are 180 cm or taller, allowing them to reach longer and swim faster.
/moʊst meɪl ˈtʃæmpiən ˈswɪmərz ər wʌn ˈhʌndrəd ˈeɪti ˈsɛntəˌmit̬ərz ɔr ˈtɔlər | əˈlaʊɪŋ ðəm tə ritʃ ˈlɔŋɡər ən swɪm ˈfæstər/
For both male and female gymnasts, though, a smaller size and body weight mean they can move with greater ease, and are less likely to suffer damage when landing on the floor from a height of up to 4.5 meters.
/fər boʊθ meɪl ən ˈfiˌmeɪl ˈdʒɪmnæsts | ðoʊ | ə ˈsmɔlər saɪz ən ˈbɑdi weɪt min ðeɪ kən muv wɪð ˈɡreɪt̬ər iz | ən ər lɛs ˈlaɪkli tə ˈsʌfər ˈdæmɪdʒ wɛn ˈlændɪŋ ɑn ðə flɔr frəm ə haɪt əv ʌp tə fɔr pɔɪnt faɪv ˈmit̬ərz/
Some athletes’ abilities are naturally enhanced by their environment.
/sʌm ˈæθlits əˈbɪlətiz ər ˈnætʃərəli ɪnˈhænst baɪ ðɛr ɪnˈvaɪrənmənt/
Those raised at high altitudes in countries such as Kenya, Ethiopia, and Morocco have blood that is rich in hemoglobin.
/ðoʊz reɪzd ət haɪ ˈæltəˌtudz ɪn ˈkʌntriz sʌtʃ əz ˈkɛnyə | ˌiθiˈoʊpiə | ən məˈrɑkoʊ hæv blʌd ðət ɪz rɪtʃ ɪn ˈhiməˌɡloʊbɪn/
Large amounts of hemoglobin carry oxygen around the body faster, enabling these athletes to run better.
/lɑrdʒ əˈmaʊnts əv ˈhiməˌɡloʊbɪn ˈkɛri ˈɑksɪdʒən əˈraʊnd ðə ˈbɑdi ˈfæstər | ɪˈneɪbəlɪŋ ðiz ˈæθlits tə rʌn ˈbɛt̬ər/
Cultural factors also help some athletes do well at certain sports.
/ˈkʌltʃərəl ˈfæktərz ˈɔlsoʊ hɛlp sʌm ˈæθlits du wɛl ət ˈsɜrtən spɔrts/
Tegla Loroupe, a young woman from northern Kenya, has won several marathons.
/ˈtɛɡlə ləˈrupi | ə yʌŋ ˈwʊmən frəm ˈnɔrðərn ˈkɛnyə | həz wʌn ˈsɛvərəl ˈmɛrəˌθɑnz/
She says some of her success is due to her country’s altitude (she trains at about 2,400 meters) and some to her cultural background.
/ʃi sɛz sʌm əv hər səkˈsɛs ɪz du tə hər ˈkʌntriz ˈæltəˌtud | ʃi treɪnz ət əˈbaʊt tu ˈθaʊzənd fɔr ˈhʌndrəd ˈmit̬ərz | ən sʌm tə hər ˈkʌltʃərəl ˈbækˌɡraʊnd/
As a child, she had to run 10 kilometers to school every day.
/əz ə tʃaɪld | ʃi hæd tə rʌn tɛn kəˈlɑmət̬ərz tə skul ˈɛvri deɪ/
“I’d be punished if I was late,” she says.
/aɪd bi ˈpʌnɪʃt ɪf aɪ wəz leɪt | ʃi sɛz/
Although genes, environment, and even culture play a part in becoming an elite athlete, training and practice are needed to succeed.
/ɔlˈðoʊ dʒinz | ɪnˈvaɪrənmənt | ən ˈivən ˈkʌltʃər pleɪ ə pɑrt ɪn bɪˈkʌmɪŋ ən ɪˈlit ˈæθlit | ˈtreɪnɪŋ ən ˈpræktɪs ər ˈnidəd tə səkˈsid/
Marathon runners may be able to control fatigue and keep moving for long periods of time, but they must train to reach and maintain their goals.
/ˈmɛrəˌθɑn ˈrʌnərz meɪ bi ˈeɪbəl tə kənˈtroʊl fəˈtiɡ ən kip ˈmuvɪŋ fər lɔŋ ˈpɪriədz əv taɪm | bət ðeɪ mʌst treɪn tə ritʃ ən meɪnˈteɪn ðɛr ɡoʊlz/
Weightlifters and gymnasts perfect their skills by repeating the same motions again and again until they become automatic.
/ˈweɪtˌlɪftərz ən ˈdʒɪmnæsts pərˈfɛkt ðɛr skɪlz baɪ rɪˈpit̬ɪŋ ðə seɪm ˈmoʊʃənz əˈɡɛn ən əˈɡɛn ənˈtɪl ðeɪ bɪˈkʌm ˌɔt̬əˈmætɪk/
Greg Louganis, winner of four Olympic diving gold medals, says divers must train the same way to be successful: “You have less than three seconds from takeoff until you hit the water, so it has to be reflex. You have to repeat the dives hundreds, maybe thousands, of times.”
/ɡrɛɡ luˈɡeɪnɪs | ˈwɪnər əv fɔr oʊˈlɪmpɪk ˈdaɪvɪŋ ɡoʊld ˈmɛdəlz | sɛz ˈdaɪvərz mʌst treɪn ðə seɪm weɪ tə bi səkˈsɛsfəl | yu hæv lɛs ðən θri ˈsɛkəndz frəm ˈteɪkˌɔf ənˈtɪl yu hɪt ðə ˈwɔt̬ər | soʊ ɪt hæz tə bi ˈriˌflɛks | yu hæv tə rɪˈpit ðə daɪvz ˈhʌndrədz | ˈmeɪbi ˈθaʊzəndz | əv taɪmz/
Training this way requires an athlete to be not only physically fit but psychologically healthy as well.
/ˈtreɪnɪŋ ðɪs weɪ rɪˈkwaɪərz ən ˈæθlit tə bi nɑt ˈoʊnli ˈfɪzɪkli fɪt bət ˌsaɪkəˈlɑdʒɪkli ˈhɛlθi əz wɛl/
“They have to be,” says Sean McCann, a sports psychologist at the Olympic Training Center in the United States.
/ðeɪ hæv tə bi | sɛz ʃɔn məˈkæn | ə spɔrts saɪˈkɑlədʒɪst ət ði oʊˈlɪmpɪk ˈtreɪnɪŋ ˈsɛntər ɪn ðə yuˈnaɪt̬əd steɪts/
“Otherwise, they couldn’t handle the training loads we put on them. [Athletes] have to be good at setting goals, generating energy when they need it, and managing anxiety.”
/ˈʌðərˌwaɪz | ðeɪ ˈkʊdənt ˈhændəl ðə ˈtreɪnɪŋ loʊdz wi pʊt ɑn ðəm | ˈæθlits hæv tə bi ɡʊd ət ˈsɛt̬ɪŋ ɡoʊlz | ˈdʒɛnəˌreɪtɪŋ ˈɛnərdʒi wɛn ðeɪ nid ɪt | ən ˈmænɪdʒɪŋ æŋˈzaɪəti/
How do athletes adjust to such intense pressure?
/haʊ du ˈæθlits əˈdʒʌst tə sʌtʃ ɪnˈtɛns ˈprɛʃər/
Louganis explains how he learned to control his anxiety during a competition: “Most divers think too much . . . ,” he says.
/luˈɡeɪnɪs ɪkˈspleɪnz haʊ hi lɜrnd tə kənˈtroʊl hɪz æŋˈzaɪəti ˈdʊrɪŋ ə ˌkɑmpəˈtɪʃən | moʊst ˈdaɪvərz θɪŋk tu mʌtʃ | hi sɛz/
“They’re too much in their heads. What worked for me was humor.”
/ðɛr tu mʌtʃ ɪn ðɛr hɛdz | wʌt wɜrkt fər mi wəz ˈhyumər/
“I remember thinking about what my mother would say if she saw me do a bad dive.”
/aɪ rɪˈmɛmbər ˈθɪŋkɪŋ əˈbaʊt wʌt maɪ ˈmʌðər wəd seɪ ɪf ʃi sɔ mi du ə bæd daɪv/
“She’d probably just compliment me on the beautiful splash.”
/ʃid ˈprɑbəbli dʒʌst ˈkɑmpləmənt mi ɑn ðə ˈbyutəfəl splæʃ/
双语
What Makes an Olympic Champion?
什么造就了奥运冠军？
How does a person become an Olympic champion—someone capable of winning the gold?
一个人是如何成为奥运冠军——也就是有能力夺得金牌的运动员——的呢？
In reality, a combination of biological, environmental, and psychological factors, as well as training and practice, all go into making a super athlete.
事实上，生理、环境和心理因素，再加上训练和练习，共同造就了一名顶尖运动员。
Perhaps the most important factor involved in becoming an elite athlete is genetic.
要成为一名顶尖运动员，最重要的因素或许是遗传因素。
Most Olympic competitors are equipped with certain physical characteristics that differentiate them from the average person.
大多数奥运选手都具备某些特殊的身体特征，使他们有别于普通人。
Take an elite athlete’s muscles, for example.
以顶尖运动员的肌肉为例。
In most human skeletal muscles (the ones that make your body move), there are fast-twitch fibers and slow-twitch fibers.
人体大多数骨骼肌（也就是让身体活动的肌肉）中，都有快肌纤维和慢肌纤维。
Fast-twitch fibers help us move quickly.
快肌纤维能帮助我们快速运动。
Olympic weightlifters, for example, have a large number of fast-twitch fibers in their muscles—many more than the average person.
例如，奥运会举重运动员的肌肉中含有大量快肌纤维，比普通人多得多。
These allow them to lift hundreds of kilos from the ground and over their heads in seconds.
这些快肌纤维使他们能够在几秒钟内将数百公斤的重量从地面举过头顶。
Surprisingly, a large, muscular body is not the main requirement to do well in this sport.
令人意外的是，要在这项运动中取得好成绩，高大强壮、肌肉发达的体格并不是最主要的条件。
It is more important to have a large number of fast-twitch fibers in the muscles.
更重要的是肌肉中拥有大量的快肌纤维。
The legs of an elite marathon runner, on the other hand, might contain up to 90 percent slow-twitch muscle fibers.
相比之下，一名顶尖马拉松运动员腿部肌肉中的慢肌纤维比例可能高达90%。
These generate energy efficiently and enable an athlete to control fatigue and keep moving for a longer period of time.
这些慢肌纤维能够高效产生能量，使运动员更好地控制疲劳，并长时间保持运动。
When we exercise long or hard, it’s common to experience tiredness, muscle pain, and difficulty breathing.
当我们长时间运动或进行高强度运动时，通常会感到疲劳、肌肉疼痛和呼吸困难。
These feelings are caused when the muscles produce high amounts of a substance called lactate and can’t remove it quickly enough.
这些感觉是由于肌肉产生了大量一种叫作乳酸盐的物质，却无法及时清除而造成的。
Athletes with many slow-twitch muscle fibers seem to be able to clear the lactate from their muscles faster as they move.
拥有大量慢肌纤维的运动员似乎能够在运动过程中更快地清除肌肉中的乳酸盐。
Thus, the average runner might start to feel discomfort halfway into a race.
因此，普通跑者可能在比赛进行到一半时就开始感到不适。
A trained Olympic athlete, however, might not feel pain until much later in the competition.
然而，经过专业训练的奥运运动员可能要到比赛后期才会开始感到疼痛。
For some Olympic competitors, size is important.
对于一些奥运选手来说，体型十分重要。
Most male champion swimmers are 180 cm or taller, allowing them to reach longer and swim faster.
大多数男子游泳冠军身高都在180厘米或以上，这使他们能够伸展得更远，游得更快。
For both male and female gymnasts, though, a smaller size and body weight mean they can move with greater ease, and are less likely to suffer damage when landing on the floor from a height of up to 4.5 meters.
然而，对于男女体操运动员来说，较小的体型和较轻的体重意味着他们能够更加轻松地完成动作，而且从最高可达4.5米的高度落到地面时，也更不容易受伤。
Some athletes’ abilities are naturally enhanced by their environment.
一些运动员的运动能力会自然地受到生活环境的影响和提升。
Those raised at high altitudes in countries such as Kenya, Ethiopia, and Morocco have blood that is rich in hemoglobin.
那些在肯尼亚、埃塞俄比亚和摩洛哥等国家的高海拔地区长大的人，血液中的血红蛋白含量较高。
Large amounts of hemoglobin carry oxygen around the body faster, enabling these athletes to run better.
大量的血红蛋白能够更快地将氧气输送到全身，从而使这些运动员拥有更出色的跑步表现。
Cultural factors also help some athletes do well at certain sports.
文化因素也有助于一些运动员在某些运动项目中取得出色表现。
Tegla Loroupe, a young woman from northern Kenya, has won several marathons.
来自肯尼亚北部的年轻女子特格拉·洛鲁佩曾多次赢得马拉松比赛。
She says some of her success is due to her country’s altitude (she trains at about 2,400 meters) and some to her cultural background.
她说，她的成功一部分归功于本国的高海拔环境（她在海拔约2,400米的地方训练），另一部分则归功于她的文化背景。
As a child, she had to run 10 kilometers to school every day.
小时候，她每天都必须跑10公里去上学。
“I’d be punished if I was late,” she says.
她说：“如果我迟到了，就会受到惩罚。”
Although genes, environment, and even culture play a part in becoming an elite athlete, training and practice are needed to succeed.
虽然基因、环境甚至文化都会对成为顶尖运动员产生影响，但要想取得成功，训练和练习同样必不可少。
Marathon runners may be able to control fatigue and keep moving for long periods of time, but they must train to reach and maintain their goals.
马拉松运动员或许能够控制疲劳并长时间保持运动，但他们仍然必须通过训练来实现并保持自己的目标。
Weightlifters and gymnasts perfect their skills by repeating the same motions again and again until they become automatic.
举重运动员和体操运动员通过一遍又一遍地重复相同的动作来不断完善技巧，直到这些动作成为下意识的反应。
Greg Louganis, winner of four Olympic diving gold medals, says divers must train the same way to be successful: “You have less than three seconds from takeoff until you hit the water, so it has to be reflex. You have to repeat the dives hundreds, maybe thousands, of times.”
曾获得四枚奥运会跳水金牌的格雷格·洛加尼斯说，跳水运动员也必须以同样的方式训练才能取得成功：“从起跳到入水，你只有不到三秒钟，所以动作必须成为本能反应。你必须把这些跳水动作重复几百次，甚至几千次。”
Training this way requires an athlete to be not only physically fit but psychologically healthy as well.
以这种方式进行训练，不仅要求运动员身体素质良好，也要求他们拥有健康的心理状态。
“They have to be,” says Sean McCann, a sports psychologist at the Olympic Training Center in the United States.
“他们必须如此。”美国奥林匹克训练中心的运动心理学家肖恩·麦肯说道。
“Otherwise, they couldn’t handle the training loads we put on them. [Athletes] have to be good at setting goals, generating energy when they need it, and managing anxiety.”
“否则，他们根本无法承受我们安排给他们的训练量。运动员必须善于设定目标，在需要时调动自己的能量，并且懂得管理焦虑情绪。”
How do athletes adjust to such intense pressure?
那么，运动员是如何适应如此巨大的压力的呢？
Louganis explains how he learned to control his anxiety during a competition: “Most divers think too much . . . ,” he says.
洛加尼斯解释了自己是如何学会在比赛中控制焦虑的。他说：“大多数跳水运动员想得太多了……”
“They’re too much in their heads. What worked for me was humor.”
“他们太容易陷入自己的思绪之中。对我来说，真正管用的是幽默。”
“I remember thinking about what my mother would say if she saw me do a bad dive.”
“我记得当时会想，如果我妈妈看到我这一跳跳砸了，她会说些什么。”
“She’d probably just compliment me on the beautiful splash.”
“她大概只会夸我溅起的水花真漂亮。”
练习
A. Choose the best answer for each question.
1. What is this reading mainly about?
a. how to qualify for the Olympics
b. factors that make someone a super athlete
c. the different muscle types of a super athlete
d. the size of a super athlete
Answer
b. factors that make someone a super athlete
2. Having a lot of slow-twitch muscle fibers is particularly important for ________.
a. long-distance cyclists
b. table-tennis players
c. divers
d. weightlifters
Answer
a. long-distance cyclists
（Paragraph C）
The legs of an elite marathon runner, on the other hand, might contain up to 90 percent slow-twitch muscle fibers. These generate energy efficiently and enable an athlete to control fatigue and keep moving for a longer period of time. When we exercise long or hard, it’s common to experience tiredness, muscle pain, and difficulty breathing. These feelings are caused when the muscles produce high amounts of a substance called lactate and can’t remove it quickly enough. Athletes with many slow-twitch muscle fibers seem to be able to clear the lactate from their muscles faster as they move. Thus, the average runner might start to feel discomfort halfway into a race. A trained Olympic athlete, however, might not feel pain until much later in the competition.
3. When lactate builds up in their muscles, people feel ________.
a. strength
b. energy
c. pain
d. dizziness
Answer
c
（Paragraph C）
The legs of an elite marathon runner, on the other hand, might contain up to 90 percent slow-twitch muscle fibers. These generate energy efficiently and enable an athlete to control fatigue and keep moving for a longer period of time. When we exercise long or hard, it’s common to experience tiredness, muscle pain, and difficulty breathing. These feelings are caused when the muscles produce high amounts of a substance called lactate and can’t remove it quickly enough. Athletes with many slow-twitch muscle fibers seem to be able to clear the lactate from their muscles faster as they move. Thus, the average runner might start to feel discomfort halfway into a race. A trained Olympic athlete, however, might not feel pain until much later in the competition.
4. What is the main idea of paragraph F?
a. Genes are an important part of athletic success.
b. Marathon runners must train hard to succeed.
c. Divers must train to be successful.
d. Success in sports comes from a lot of practice.
d. Success in sports comes from a lot of practice.
(Paragraph F)
Although genes, environment, and even culture play a part in becoming an elite athlete, training and practice are needed to succeed. Marathon runners may be able to control fatigue and keep moving for long periods of time, but they must train to reach and maintain their goals. Weightlifters and gymnasts perfect their skills by repeating the same motions again and again until they become automatic. Greg Louganis, winner of four Olympic diving gold medals, says divers must train the same way to be successful: “You have less than three seconds from takeoff until you hit the water, so it has to be reflex. You have to repeat the dives hundreds, maybe thousands, of times.” Training this way requires an athlete to be not only physically fit but psychologically healthy as well. “They have to be,” says Sean McCann, a sports psychologist at the Olympic Training Center in the United States. “Otherwise, they couldn’t handle the training loads we put on them. [Athletes] have to be good at setting goals, generating energy when they need it, and managing anxiety.”
5. What statement would diver Greg Louganis probably agree with?
a. Athletes cannot perform well unless they are under pressure.
b. It’s important to practice and train hard, but not take things too seriously.
c. A professional athlete should think carefully about each movement.
d. It’s important to joke with your teammates before you perform any sport.
b. It’s important to practice and train hard, but not take things too seriously.