Iraqis Celebrate Olympic Soccer Quarterfinal Win
时间：2018-11-29 作者：英语课 分类：VOA2004（下）--雅典奥运
By Challiss McDonough
Three generations of one family erupt in joy. Emad Mohammed has scored the only goal of the game against Australia in the Olympic men's soccer quarterfinal.
Thirty tense minutes later, the final whistle blows and the real celebrations begin. Minibuses full of cheering young men cruise 1 the streets, waving Iraqi flags. Radio stations play patriotic 2 sporting-victory songs.
And all over Baghdad, Iraqis celebrate the way they always do, with guns.
The head of the household, Abu Mohammed, grabs 3 his AK-47 and runs outside to join his neighbors and relatives, shooting into the air in jubilation 4.
Nobody expected the Iraqi soccer team to do so well. A year ago, Iraq was still suspended 5 from playing in the Olympics. Violence has kept the team from being able to play at home. Their German coach quit three months ago after getting death threats.
But against all odds 6, the Iraqis have kept winning. First they beat Portugal, then Costa Rica. A loss to Morocco was not enough to dislodge the team from the top spot in their group, and this victory over Australia puts Iraq just two matches away from a possible medal.
Abu Mohammed says the team's unlikely 7 success has inspired the entire nation. "Winning this game lets Iraqis feel happy, and removes the gloom. I think it should unify 8 us," he says. "This is a good chance to forget our troubles and think of the future."
Victory in the quarterfinal means Iraq will have a real chance at a medal. Iraq has only won one Olympic medal before, in the 1960 weightlifting competition.
But whether they win or lose the next match, for most Iraqis, the soccer players are already heroes.
Challiss McDonough, VOA News, Baghdad.
注释：
Soccer 足球
Quarterfinal四分之一决赛
generation一代, 一代人
tense紧张的
whistle口哨,口哨声
cruise 巡游
patriotic爱国的
Baghdad巴格达(伊拉克首都)
jubilation庆祝
suspend 暂停参赛资格
Portugal葡萄牙(欧洲西南部国家)
Costa Rica哥斯达黎加
Morocco摩洛哥
dislodge驱逐
victory胜利
gloom 阴暗, 阴沉
unify (使)统一
weightlifting举重
- They went on a cruise to Tenerife.他们乘船去特纳利夫岛。
- She wants to cruise the canals of France in a barge.她想乘驳船游览法国的运河。
- His speech was full of patriotic sentiments.他的演说充满了爱国之情。
- The old man is a patriotic overseas Chinese.这位老人是一位爱国华侨。
- The job is up for grabs.Why don't you apply now? 那工作谁都可以争取，你怎么不现在就申请呢？ 来自《简明英汉词典》
- She grabs a stack of baby photos and thrusts them into my hands. 她抓起一沓婴儿照片塞到我手里。 来自辞典例句
- The goal was greeted by jubilation from the home fans.主场球迷为进球欢呼。
- The whole city was a scene of jubilation.全市一片欢腾。
- A lamp was suspended from the ceiling. 一盏吊灯悬在天花板上。
- The British government has now suspended humanitarian aid to the area. 英国政府现已暂停对这一地区的人道主义援助。
- The odds are 5 to 1 that she will win.她获胜的机会是五比一。
- Do you know the odds of winning the lottery once?你知道赢得一次彩票的几率多大吗？