The Cheer leaders Trivia

Cheerleaders - what do you think when you hear that term? Good-looking girls waving 1)pompons? And what about male cheerleaders? 2)Geeky guys jumping around with 3)megaphones? Well, cheerleading is not what a lot of us think it is.

They may be the hottest college 4)athletes in the country, sought after by 5)recruiters nationwide. What these kids do can mean the difference between victory and defeat, and millions of dollars worth of university sports programs. But don’t look for them at the next Olympics. That’s because you’re watching cheerleaders.

    This story is about male cheerleaders, who are now the strongest, most 6)agile 1 7)Jocks on campus, a sort of 8)Barishnikov meets the rock, showing a high powered display of muscle and 9)hydraulics. Make a mistake and somebody pays the price.

Ryan Spahr (The Cheerleader of Michigan State University): If I was to compare it with any sport, it’s probably the toughest sport I ever played in my life, including 10)wrestling and football, there’s not a second that you’re not using every muscle in your body.

    And to state the obvious, these 11)dudes are 12)hunks, great looking guys for great looking 13)gals. And make no mistake; these guys are not your father’s cheerleaders, who are really kind of 14)wimpy 2 all 15)decked out in their lettered sweaters. Of course, men were the first cheerleaders, in fact for the first half of the nineteen hundreds, yell leaders were on playing fields everywhere. But during World War II, men turned the 16)sidelines over to women and they didn’t return until four decades later. When they were reunited, male and female cheerleaders for the first time added strength to their enthusiasm.

Chris Obey (The cheerleader of Ohio State University): Girls can do so much in cheering. But when you bring a guy in, you can go, you have that much more strength, more excitement, louder, bigger 17)stunts.

Scott Carney (Advising Coach): Adding their 18)brawn 4 to the team seems to be good for the male brain. You gain leadership skills with 19)multiple people not just your gender 5, not just different races but everybody. You learn how to work with, what motivates people, what doesn’t motivate people.

    Which is why these guys are now hot property. Colleges actively 6 recruit them. 200 schools now offer cheerleading scholarships, and corporations want them, too.  Male cheerleaders are among the most sought after graduates, especially for sales jobs. The theory is if a guy can sell a crowd, he can sell, well, anything.

    Yep, George W. Bush was a cheerleader. But he’s not the first cheerleading chief executive. Ronald Reagan was one, so was Dwight Eisenhower. Richard Nixon was not a cheerleader although he did have his own cheerleading 20)squad 7. But who knew so many politicians had on the squad training, like Mississippi Senator Brad Cochrane, a cheerleader for the University of Mississippi back in the fifties by popular vote.

Cochrane: It was a very strenuous 8 campaign to get elected cheerleader, you had to go around to the residence halls. It was a popularity contest.

Journalist: Was that your first campaign?

Cochrane: Well, it turned out to be as a matter of fact, it was a political campaign.

Journalist: Do you find it surprising that so many of your colleagues were once cheerleaders?

Cochrane: Well, I think it is surprising to a lot of people, but I’m not surprised.

    It certainly surprised us when we found out that Senate majority leader, Trent Lott, was also once a cheerleader at Ole Miss.

Lott: When I got there as a freshman 9, I was told by sort of my 21)mentor, a senior from my home town that I would go out for that position, and I said what are you talking about and I loved it. It was a lot of fun.

    Now we tried to but couldn’t find a Democratic lawmaker who got his start as a male cheerleader.

Journalist: Oh sure, there are some prominent registered democrats 10 who once cheered like Steve Martin, Kirk Douglas, even Michael Milkin, but for some reason we’ve yet to find a Democratic male cheerleader.

Cochrane: Well, surely there’s some out there.

Journalist: We haven’t found one.

Cochrane: Maybe they’re shy, I don’t know.

Lott: I’m sure that the democrats were not good athletes, so that wouldn’t have been where they weren’t on the field of play. I guess  they were in the stands somewhere.

And who says most of us forget what we learned in school? Did George W Bush’s cheerleading routines 22)pay off later on the campaign 23)trail? Well, let’s take a look: There’s the arm wave - right and left, double arm wave; there’s baby holding, baby passing with full arm extension; thumb raised, double thumb raised; 24)interpretive dance, and “hey, give me a W”! CE

09、啦啦队队长别传

“啦啦队队长”——你听到这个词时会想到什么？挥舞着绒彩球的漂亮女生？那么“男啦啦队队长”呢？拿着扩音器四处乱窜的滑稽小子？其实啦啦队队长和很多人所想的不是一回事。

他们或许是全美国最炙手可热的运动员，是各招生处争相网罗的对象。这些年轻人所做的事情关系成败，还涉及到价值数百万美元的大学运动项目经费。但是别指望你能在下一届奥运会上看到他们的身影，因为他们是啦啦队队长。

本故事说的是男啦啦队队长。他们是校园最强壮敏捷的运动员，刚柔并济，肌肉结实，动作优美，体现出高度力感。如果失手，就得有人付出代价。

莱恩·史巴（密歇根州立大学啦啦队队长）∶跟所有运动相比，当啦啦队队长可能是我这辈子做过的最辛苦的运动，摔跤和足球都比不上它，没有哪一秒钟是没有动用全身肌肉的。

显而易见，这些人魅力超群，俊男配美女。别弄错了，他们可不是上一代的啦啦队队长，那时候穿的是标了字母的运动衫，实在缺乏英气。最早的啦啦队队长是由男士担任的，事实上在二十世纪前半部分，他们在各地运动场上呐喊助威。可到了二战期间，男士退居二线，把这个工作交给女士，直到四十年后才卷土重来。等到男女啦啦队队长一起合作后，热情不减更平添力量美。

克里斯·奥贝（俄亥俄州立大学啦啦队队长）∶女孩很适合啦啦队。不过加入了男孩，更具力度，更有激情，呼声更大，能完成更多高难度动作。

史科特·康尼(教练)∶男孩参加啦啦队有助于大脑更灵活。跟各种人打交道可以培养领导才能，不局限于性别和种族，什么人都有。你能学会如何和别人一起合作，知道什么能和什么不能激励别人。

所以啦啦队长们是抢手对象，各大学积极地录取他们。如今有200所学校设有啦啦队奖学金，各公司也争相要聘请他们。当过啦啦队长的男生毕业后不愁出路，尤其是推销工作这一行。其中道理在于：如果一个人能令观众完全投入，他自然能销售好任何东西。

对了，小布什曾是啦啦队长。可他不是第一个当啦啦队队长的总统。罗纳德·里根当过，艾森豪威尔也当过。理查德·尼克松没有当过啦啦队长，但他曾有过自己的啦啦队。可是原来有很多政客都接受过啦啦队训练，比如：密西西比州参议员布拉德·科克伦，在五十年代他凭投票结果当上密西西比大学的啦啦队队长。

科克伦：竞选啦啦队队长非常激烈，你得在宿舍楼里来回奔走拉票，那是知名度的考验。

记者：那是你第一次参加竞选吗？

科克伦：的确是，那可算是政治竞选活动。

记者∶你会不会惊讶，如果你的很多同事都曾经当过啦啦队队长？

科克伦：我觉得很多人都会感到惊讶，可我不会。

我们的确是很惊讶地发现，参议院多数派领袖昌特·洛特也在欧密思学校当过啦啦队队长。

洛特∶我念大一时，有个和我同乡的学长鼓励我去角逐这个职位，我说∶你说什么啊。结果我却乐在其中，十分好玩。

我们努力地想找出一个当过啦啦队队长的民主党立法人，可是没找到。

记者∶哦，有些著名的民主党人曾参加过啦啦队，如：史蒂夫·马丁、科克·道格拉斯、甚至迈克尔·麦尔金，但基于某些原因，我们至今没见到过一个民主党啦啦队队长。

科克伦：准会有的。

记者：可我们没找到。

科克伦：或许他们是害羞吧，我不清楚。

洛特：我相信民主党人不是一流运动员，所以他们没上场。我猜他们准是待在看台上吧。

谁说我们忘了在学校里学到的东西？小布什接受的啦啦队训练有没有让他在后来的竞选中获益呢？好，我们一起来看看吧∶他挥手——挥右手、挥左手、左右齐挥；他抱着婴儿、伸直手交回婴儿；他竖起一个拇指、竖起双拇指；他大展舞姿，还有“嗨，给我一个W！”CE

1) pompon [5pCmpCn] n. 绒球，丝球

2) geeky [5gi:ki] a. 滑稽的

3) megaphone [5megEfEun] n. 扩音器

4) athlete [ 5AWli:t] n. 运动员

5) recruiter [ri5kru:tEr]n. 招聘人员

6) agile [5AdVail] a. 轻快的，灵活的

7) Jock [dVCk] n. （俚语）大学运动员

8) Barishnikov即Mikhail Barishnikov，著名俄罗斯芭蕾舞男演员。

9) hydraulics [hai5drC:liks] n. 水力学

10) wrestling [5resliN] n. 摔跤

11) dude [dju:d] n. （美式英语）男人，家伙

12) hunk [hQNk]n. （美国俚语）对女子富有魅力的健美男子

13) gal[gAl]n. 女孩，少女

14) wimpy [5wimpi] a. 相当于wimpish 11，俚语，懦弱无用的

15) deck out 用……装饰

16) sideline [5saidlain] n. 副职，副业

17) stunt 3 [stQnt] n. 惊人表演，绝技

18) brawn [brC:n] n. 强壮的肌肉，腕力

19) multiple [5mQltipEl] a. 多样的

20) squad [skwCd] n. 班

21) mentor[5mentE:r] n.高中级学生，辅导老师

22）pay off 使得人益，得报偿

23）trail [treil] n. 痕迹，小路

24）interpretive [in5tE:pritiv] a. 解释的