每日英語 #149: Making it in Professional Sports 成為職業運動員

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Making it in Professional Sports 成為職業運動員

Professional sports in the United States are “big business” – it makes a lot of money for the team owners and the players. In 2011, the lowest “salary” (amount paid for working) for a professional Major League Baseball player is $400,000 a year, for example. The “average” (number one gets by adding all of the numbers in a list and dividing by the number of items) salary is “slightly” (a little bit) less than $3,000,000 a year.

美國的職業運動是“大的產業”，它為球隊老闆和球員帶來了大量的金錢。舉例來說，2011年，職業棒球大聯盟球員的最低“薪水”是一年40萬美元。“平均”薪水是略低於300萬美元一年。

Not surprisingly, a lot of boys and girls grow up dreaming of “making it” (being successful; being part of) professional sports. But how “realistic” (practical; possible) is this dream? Should parents encourage their children “to pursue” (to try to achieve; to try to get) a career (life-long job; working for many years) in sports?

不出所料，很多男孩女孩從小夢想著成為職業運動員。但這個夢想有多“現實”呢？父母是否應該鼓勵孩子“追求”一份體育職業生涯（終生職業）？

A study reported in a 2011 newspaper article in the Wall Street Journal “calculated” (determined mathematically) the percentage of high school “athletes” (people who play sports) who make it to the professional level. Here’s the total percentage of young athletes who make it, by sport, from lowest percentage to highest:

根據《華爾街日報》2011年的一篇報導，一項研究“計算”了能成為職業運動員的高中“運動員”比例。以下是各運動項目成功成為職業運動員的比例，從最低到最高：

• Men’s Basketball: 0.03%
  男子籃球：0.03%
• Women’s Basketball: 0.03%
  女子籃球：0.03%
• Men’s Soccer: 0.07%
  男子足球：0.07%
• Football (American): 0.08%
  美式足球：0.08%
• Men’s Ice Hockey: 0.31%
  男子冰球：0.31%
• Baseball: 0.44%
  棒球：0.44%**

The total of all of these combined is less than 1%. In other words, more than 99% of all student athletes will fail to make money playing these professional sports, the most popular in the United States.

所有這些運動的總和還不到1%。換句話說，超過99%的學生運動員無法通過參加這些在美國最受歡迎的職業運動賺錢。

重要單字

• 1. salary /ˈsæləri/ 薪水
• 2. average /ˈævərɪdʒ/ 平均
• 3. slightly /ˈslaɪtli/ 稍微
• 4. realistic /ˌrɪəˈlɪstɪk/ 現實的
• 5. pursue /pərˈsuː/ 追求
• 6. career /kəˈrɪr/ 職業
• 7. calculated /ˈkælkjʊleɪtɪd/ 計算