VOA慢速英语:Giving Thanks for a Winning Soccer Team

1.Steve Wilson thinks the Woodburn boys soccer team's continued hard work and effort to win the state championship is similar to their cultural experiences.

be similar to与…相似

例句：I guess it may be similar to the Hindu culture.
      我猜想，这可能很接近于在印度文化中的情形了。

2.Mr. Wilson wondered if those challenges were preventing the team from reaching its goal of winning a state championship.

Mr. Wilson wondered是这句话的主语和谓语，if引导宾语从句。prevent from阻止某人做某事。

3.This holiday season, a group of student-athletes in Woodburn, Oregon has given its community something to be thankful for.

something定语后置

　　当被修饰词为复合不定代词something, anything, nothing, everything; somebody, anybody, nobody, everybody; someone, anyone, everyone, no one时，修饰语常位于被修饰的不定代词之后。 例如： 
　　1) I have something important to tell you. 我有些重要的事情要告诉你。 
　　2) Do you have anything else to say about it? 关于这件事，你还有什么要说的吗？ 
　　3) Someone important will give the students a lecture on the current international situation this afternoon. 今天下午，一位重要的人物将给学生们做一场有关当前国际形势的报告。 
　　 
4.But the Bulldogs had never won the state championship -- until this year.

never until，never表示否定，相当于not，这里就是not until的变体。