Jackie Robinson came from a humble background, but he was always a high achiever. Born into a poor family in 1919, he later became a star athlete at UCLA. Encouraged by his mother to fight back rather than hold back, he never allowed discrimination1 to crush his spirit. While in the army, Robinson was arrested2 after refusing to give up his seat on a bus to a white officer. Robinson was found innocent of the charges,3 but his greatest battle was about to begin.
As per his agreement with Rickey, Robinson sacrificed4 his pride and patiently endured two seasons of threats, insults, and hatred. But in 1949, Robinson began playing baseball with a vengeance. He started protesting5 unfair calls by umpires and criticizing6 hotels that welcomed his white teammates but refused to admit him. The 1949 season was also the best of Robinson’s ten-year baseball career. The aggressive second baseman hit .342, stole 37 bases, and won the Most Valuable Player award.
羅賓森：超越種族界限的棒壇傳奇(中)
杰基·羅賓森雖然出身卑微，卻總有高水準的表現(xiàn)。他在1919 年出生于一個貧困家庭，后來成為加州大學洛杉磯分校的明星球員。由于母親常鼓勵他要堅強還擊，而不是忍氣吞聲，因此他從不讓別人的歧視擊垮自己的意志。服役期間，羅賓森因在公交車上拒絕給一名白人軍官讓座而遭到逮捕。雖然羅賓森在此案中獲判無罪，但他的偉大戰(zhàn)役才正要展開。
按照他與瑞基的協(xié)議，羅賓森犧牲尊嚴，耐心地忍受了兩個賽季的威脅、侮辱及仇恨。但是到了 1949 年，羅賓森開始在球場上奮力反擊。他開始*裁判不公正的判決，并抨擊那些只接待他的白人隊友、卻拒絕他進入的飯店。1949 年同時也是羅賓森10年職棒生涯中表現(xiàn)的一個賽季。這名斗志旺盛的二壘手擁有高達三成四二的打擊率，盜壘37次，并贏得“最有價值球員獎”。
Vocabulary
1.discrimination n. the practice of treating sb. differently because of their race, sex, religion, etc. 歧視；差別待遇
For a long time, sexual discrimination prevented women from voting in elections.
有很長的一段時間，性別歧視使得婦女無法在選舉中行使投票權。
2.arrest v. to catch and hold sb. in order to find out whether they are guilty of a crime 逮捕；拘捕
Rico was arrested by the police for armed robbery and taken to jail.
瑞克因持械搶劫被警方逮捕入獄。
3.charge n. a formal statement accusing sb. of a crime 指控；控訴
The movie stars pressed charges against the magazine for publishing unauthorized pictures of their wedding.
電影明星控告該雜志在未經(jīng)授權的情況下刊登了他們的結(jié)婚照。
●4.sacrifice v. to give up sth. important 犧牲
They sacrificed their retirement savings in order to enable their son to attend college.
他們拿出自己的退休金供兒子上大學。
●5.protest v.
to disagree publicly *；反對
Crowds of angry people protested the government’s plan to raise health insurance fees.
憤怒的群眾*政府提高醫(yī)療保險費用的計劃。
●6.criticize v. to say what one thinks is wrong about sb./sth. 批評
Many politicians are criticized for not keeping their promises.
許多政客因不守承諾而受到抨擊。
More Information
1.as per prep. 根據(jù)；按照
2.with a vengeance adv. phr. 激烈地；猛烈地 (vengeance意為報復，此指Robinson奮力表現(xiàn)，以還擊之前遭受的不平對待)
3.call n. (比賽等)裁判的判決
4.umpire n. 裁判
5.baseman n. 壘手 (second baseman 即為二壘手；base指壘包，steal base為盜壘)