上外版大学英语写作精选第四册(4)

    Football， though， did not provide Thorpe with his finest hour. He was selected for the United States Olympic track team in 1912， and went to Sweden with the team for the Games. On the ship， while the other athletes limbered up， Thorpe slept in his bunk. In Sweden， while other athletes trained， Thorpe relaxed in a hammock. He never strained when he didn't feel it necessary.

    Thorpe came out of his hammock when the Games began， to take part in the two most demanding Olympic events. He entered the pentathlon competition， a test of skill in five events： 200-meter run， 1500-meter run， broad jump， discus and javelin； and the decathlon competition， a series of ten events： 100-meter run， 400-meter run， 1500-meter run， high hurdles， broad jump， high jump， pole vault， discus， javelin and shot put. Though most athletes were utterly exhausted by the decathlon alone， Thorpe breezed through both events， his dark hair flopping， his smile flashing， his muscled body gliding along the track. He finished first in both the pentathlon and decathlon， one of the great feats in Olympic history.

    "You sir，" King Gustav V of Sweden told Thorpe as he presented him with two gold medals， "are the greatest athlete in the world." And William Howard Taft， the President of the United States， said， "Jim Thorpe is the highest type of citizen."

    King Gustav V was correct， but President Taft was not. Though Jim Thorpe had brought great glory to his nation， though thousands of people cheered him upon his return to the United States and attended banquets and a New York parade in his honor， he was not a citizen. He did not become one until 1916. Even then， it took a special government ruling because he was an Indian.

    Jim Thorpe was a hero after the Olympics and a sad， bewildered man not too much later. Someone discovered that two years before the Olympics he had been paid a few dollars to play semiprofessional baseball. Though many amateur athletes had played for pay under false names， Thorpe had used his own name. As a result， he was not technically an amateur when he competed at Stockholm as all Olympic athletes must be. His Olympic medals and trophies were taken away from him and given to the runners-up.

    After this heartbreaking experience， Thorpe turned to professional sports. He played major league baseball for six years and did fairly well. Then he played professional football for six years with spectacular success. His last professional football season was in 1926. After that， his youthful indifference to studies and his unwillingness to think of a nonsports career caught up with him. He had trouble finding a job， and his friends deserted him. He periodically asked for， but never was given back， his Olympic prizes. From 1926 until his death in 1953， he lived a poor， lonely， unhappy life.

    But in 1950 the Associated Press held a poll to determine the outstanding athlete of the half-century. Despite his loss of the Olympic gold medals and a sad decline in fortune during his later years， Thorpe was almost unanimously chosen the greatest athlete of modern times.

    Phrase & Expressions

    track and field the sport or athletic events， such as running， jumping and weight throwing performed on a running track and on the adjacent field 田径运动

    play a joke on sb. do sth. to make other people laugh at someone 同某人开玩笑

    put……out of action stop……working， make……unfit for a typical activity 使停止工作；使不再起作用；使失去战斗力

    limber up make the muscles stretch easily by exercise， esp. before violent exercise （比赛等前）做准备活动

    take part in have a share or part in； join in 参加

    breeze through proceed with effortlessly in a carefree manner 轻而易举地完成