               Unit 4

Text
    Jim Thorpe, an American Indian, is generally accepted as the greatest all-round athlete of the first half of the 20th century. Yet the man, who brought glory to his nation, had a heartbreaking life. What caused his sadness and poverty?

             JIM THORPE
                         Steve Gelman
    The railroad station was jammed. Students from Lafayette College were crowding onto the train platform eagerly awaiting the arrival of the Carlisle Indian school's track and field squad. No one would have believed it a few months earlier. A school that nobody had heard of was suddenly beating big, famous colleges in track meets. Surely these Carlisle athletes would come charging off the train, one after another, like a Marine battalion.
    The train finally arrived and two young men  one big and broad, the other small and slight  stepped onto the platform.
    "Where's the track team?" a Lafayette student asked.
    "This is the team," replied the big fellow.
    "Just the two of you?"
    "Nope, just me," said the big fellow. "This little guy is the manager."
    The Lafayette students shook their heads in wonder. Somebody must be playing a joke on them. If this big fellow was the whole Carlisle track team, he would be competing against an entire Lafayette squad.
    He did. He ran sprints, he ran hurdles, he ran distance races. He high-jumped, he broad-jumped. He threw the javelin and the shot. Finishing first in eight events, the big fellow beat the whole Lafayette team.
    The big fellow was Jim Thorpe, the greatest American athlete of modern times. He was born on May 28,1888, in a two-room farmhouse near Prague, Oklahoma. His parents were members of the Sac and Fox Indian tribe and he was a direct descendant of the famous warrior chief, Black Hawk.
    As a Sac and Fox, Jim had the colorful Indian name Wa-Tho-Huck. Which, translated, means Bright Path. But being born an Indian, his path was not so bright. Although he had the opportunity to hunt and fish with great Indian outdoorsmen, he was denied opportunity in other ways. The United States government controlled the lives of American Indians and, unlike other people, Indians did not automatically become citizens. It was almost impossible for an Indian to gain even a fair education and extremely difficult, as a result, for an Indian to rise high in life.
    Young Bright Path seemed destined to spend his life in the Oklahoma farmland. But when he was in his teens, the government gave him the chance to attend the Carlisle Indian School in Pennsylvania. Soon Carlisle was racing along its own bright path to athletic prominence. In whatever sport Jim Thorpe played, he excelled, He was a star in baseball, track and field, wrestling, lacrosse, basketball and football. He was so good in football, in fact, that most other small schools refused to play Carlisle. The Indian school's football schedule soon listed such major powers of the early twentieth century as Pittsburgh, Harvard, Pennsylvania, Penn State and Army.
    Thorpe was a halfback. He was six feet one inch tall, weighed 185 pounds and had incredible speed and power. He built upon these natural gifts daily. He would watch a coach or player demonstrate a difficult maneuver, then he would try it himself. Inevitably, he would master the maneuver within minutes.
    During every game, opponents piled on Thorpe, trampled him, kicked him and punched him, trying to put him out of action. They were never successful. Years later someone asked him if he had ever been hurt on the field. "Hurt?" Thorpe said. "How could anyone get hurt playing football?"
    But Jim never played his best when he felt he would have to no fun playing. "What's the fun of playing in the rain?" he once said. And his Carlisle coach, Pop Warner, once said, "There's no doubt that Jim had more talent than anybody who ever played football, but you could never tell when he felt like giving his best."
    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.

          New Words
    jam
v.  fill or block up (the way) by crowding; (cause to ) be packed, pressed, or crushed tightly into a small space ʹ
  
    platform
n.  a raised flat surface built along the side of the track at a railway station for travellers getting on or off a train ̨
    
    await
vt. wait for; look forward to 

    track
n.  a course for running or racing; track-and-field sports, esp. those performed on a running track ܵ˶ﾶ˶

    field
n.  an area, esp. circled by a track where contests such as in jumping or throwing are held; the sports contested in this area أ˶

    squad
n.  a small group of persons working, training, or acting together; the smallest military unit, usually made up of eleven men and a squad leader Сӣ

    charge
vi  rush in or as if in an attack ǰ壻

    Marine
n.  a member of the U.S. Marine Corps ½սʿ
 

    battalion
n.  military unit made up of several companies Ӫ

    broad
a.  wide, large across ģ
 
    nope 
ad. (AmE sl.) no

    compete 
vi. take part in a race, contest, etc.' try to win sth. in competition with sb. else 

    sprint
n.  short race; dash 
vi. run at one's fastest speed, esp. for a short distance

    hurdle 
n.  a light frame for people or horses to jump over in a race 

    broad(-) jump  
n.& vi. (AmE) (do) a long jump Զ

    javelin
n.  light spear for throwing (usu. in sport) ǹ

    shot
n.  the heavy metal ball used in the shot put Ǧ


    tribe
n.  

    descendant
n. a person descended from another or from a common stock 

    warrior
n.  a man who fights for his tribe; a soldier or experienced fighter ʿʿϣսʿ

    colorful 
a.  full of color; exciting the senses or imagination ģḻʵ

    hunt
v.  go after (wild animals) for food or sport; search (for) ׷ԣԣѰ

    outdoorsman
n.  a man, such as a hunter, fisherman, or camper, who spends much time outdoors for pleasure 

    deny 
vt. say that (sth.) is not true; refuse to give ϣܾ

    destine
vt. (usu. passive) intend or decide by fate; intend for some special purpose עԤ

    farmland
n.  land used or suitable for farming ũ

    teens
n.  the period of one's life between and including the ages of 13 and 19

    prominence
n.  the quality or fact of being prominent or distinguished ܳ
  
    prominent  a.

    excel
vi. be very good (in or at sth) ͻ

    wrestling 
n.  a sport or contest in which each of two opponents tries to throw or force the other to the ground ˤӣ˶

    wrestle v.
 
    lacrosse
n.  ˶

    football
n.  ˶

    power
n.  a person, group or nation that has authority or influence дȨӰĻǿ

    halfback 
n.  (ȣǰ

    incredible
a.  too extraordinary to be believed, unbelievable ŵ

    coach
n.  a person who trains sportsmen for games, competitions, etc. 

    demonstrate
vt. explain by carrying out experiments or by showing examples ʵʵ˵ʾ

    maneuver 
n.  a skillful move or trick, intended to deceive, to gain sth., to escape, or to do sth. ԣ

    opponent
n.  a person who is on the other side in a fight, game, or discussion ֣

    trample
vt. step heavily with the feet on; crush under the feet ȣ̤

    punch
vt. strike (sb. or sth.) hard with the fist ȭͻ

    Olympic
a.  of or connected with the Olympic Games

    limber
v.  make or become flexible ʹ

    bunk
n.  a narrow bed fixed on the wall, e.g. of a cabin in a ship or in a train ̣λ

    hammock
n.  a hanging bed of canvas or rope network, e.g. as used by sailors, or in gardens ״

    strain
vi. make violent efforts; strive hard ʹ

    demanding
a. making severe demands Ҫߵģ

    pentathlon
n.  an athletic contest in which each contestant takes part in five events ˶

    competition
n.  competing; contest; match

    discus
n.  a heavy, circular plate of rubber, plastic or wood with a metal rim 
    decathlon
n.  an athletic contest consisting of ten events ʮ˶

    shot put 
n.  a competition to throw a heavy metal ball the furthest distance Ǧ

    utterly
ad. completely; totally

    utter  a.

    breeze
vi. move or go quickly and in a carelessly confident way ж

    flop 
vi. move or bounce loosely ˶

    flash
vi. give out sudden, brief light or flame; shine or gleam ⣻˸

    glide 
vi. move in a smooth continuous manner which seems easy and without effort 
    feat
n.  an act showing great skill, strength, or daring; a remarkable deed, notable esp. for courage 书գ

    glory
n.  high fame and honour won by great achievements; sth. deserving respect and honour ٣

    banquet 
n.  a dinner for many people, at which speeches are made, in honour of a special person or occasion 

    ruling 
n.  an official decision þ

    Olympic
n.  Olympic Games ƥ˶

    professional
a.  done by, played by, or made up of people who are paid ְҵ
n.  a person who lives on the money he earns by practising a particular skill or sport ضְҵı

    amateur
n.  a person playing a game, taking part in sports, etc. without receiving payment ҵమ
a.  of, by, or with amateurs; not paid lacking skill ҵ

    technically
ad. in technical terms; in a technical sense; according to fixed rules ϣ

    trophy
n.  a prize given for winning a race, competition, or test of skill Ʒ

    runner-up 
n.  a player or team that comes second in a contest Ǿ

    heartbreaking 
a.  causing great sorrow or grief; extremely distressing 

    league
n.  a group of sports clubs or teams that play matches among themselves Э

    spectacular
a.  strikingly grand or unusual ׳۵ģ˵

    season
n.  the period of time during which a sport is played 

    youthful
a.  young; having the qualities of young people

    indifference
n.  absence of interest or feeling ģĮ

    indifferent  a.

    periodically
ad. at regular intervals, every now and then

    outstanding
a.  much better than most others; very good ܳ

    despite
prep. in spite of

    decline
n.  losing of power, strength, wealth, or beauty; falling to a lower level ˥䣻½

    unanimously
a.  with complete agreement; without a single opposing vote һµأ

       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 ﾶ˶
  
  play a joke on sb.
  do sth. to make other people laugh at someone ͬĳ˿Ц

  putout of action
  stopworking, makeunfit for a typical activity ʹֹͣʹãʹʧȥս

  limber up
  make the muscles stretch easily by exercise, esp. before violent exercise ǰ׼

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

  breeze through
  proceed with effortlessly in a carefree manner ׾ٵ

  in one's hono(u)r/in 
  򡭡ʾ⣻ΪףΪ
  hono(u)r of

  catch up with 
have the expected ill effect or result on ԡԤڶ

         Proper Names
  Thorpe   
  
  
  Lafayette College  
  쳵ѧԺ

  Carlisle Indian School  
  ӡڰѧУ
 
  Prague
  ָ

  Oklaboma
  

  Sac and Fox
  ӡڰ˲֮һ

  Black Hawk
  ӡڰ

  pennsylvania
  Ϧǣ

  Pittsburgh
  ƥȱУ

  Penn
  (short for) Pennsylvania

  Pop Warner 
  .
  
  Sweden
  

  Gustav  V
  ˹

  William Howard Taft 
  ǫ..

  Stockholm
  ˹¸Ħ׶
 
  the Associated Press
  ͨѶ()(ͨѶ)




    


    
 
    


