2024年3月10日发(作者：)

四级词汇练习：Tear them apart!

四级词汇练习：Tear them apart!

Tear them apart! “Kill the fool!” “Murder the referee！”

These are common remarks one may hear at various sporting events. At the

time they are made, they may seem innocent enough. But let’s not kid ourselves.

They have been known to influence behavior in such a way as to lead to real

bloodshed. Volumes have been written about the way words affect has been

shown that words having certain connotations may cause us to react in ways quite

foreign to what we consider to be our usual humanistic behavior. I see the term

“opponent” as one of those words. Perhaps the time has come to delete it from

sports terms.

The dictionary meaning of the term “opponent” is “adversary”;“enemy” ;

“one who opposes your interests”. Thus, when a player meets an opponent, he or

she may tend to treat that opponent as an enemy. At such times, winning may

dominate one’s intellect, and every action, no matter how gross, may be

considered justifiable. I recall an incident in a handball game when a referee

refused a player’s request for a time out for a glove change because he did not

considered then wet enough. The player proceeded to rub his gloves across his

wet T?shirt and then exclaimed. “Are they wet enough now?”

In the heat of battle, players have been observed to throw themselves across

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the court without considering the consequences that such a move might have on

anyone in their way. I have also witnessed a player reacting to his opponent’s

international and illegal blocking by deliberately hitting him with the ball as hard

as he could during the course of play. Off the court, they are good friends. Does

that make any sense? It certainly gives proof of a court attitude which departs

from normal behavior.

The dictionary meaning of the term “associate” is “colleague” ; “friend” ;

“companion”. Reflect a moment ! You may soon see and possibly feel the

difference in your reaction to the term “associate” rather than “opponent.”

【2005年6月】

“撕碎他们!”“杀了那些笨蛋！”“干掉裁判！”

这些话语在各种体育赛场上均能听到。说这些话的人，往往觉得自己很无辜。但我们

不是三岁小孩，我们深知如此过激行为常会导致流血冲突。关于言辞如何影响我们的书本

卷帙浩繁。业已证实，言语的某些特定含义往往会致使我们以迥异于日常行为的方式做出

反应。“对手”一词便是一例，或许将该词从体育术语中删去的时刻已经到来。

词典里关于“对手”一词的定义是：“对抗者”，“敌人”，“一个与自身利益相对

立的人”。因此，当参赛者遭遇对手时，往往会把对方看成敌人。此刻，获胜已主宰了个

人理智；因此，不管个人行为多么粗俗，参赛者都会认为合情合理。这让我们回想起发生

在一场手球比赛场的事件：裁判拒绝一位参赛者停止比赛去换副手套的请求，因为裁判认

为那副手套不够湿，不一定非得要换。此时，那位参赛者把手套在其湿淋淋的T恤衫上擦

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