美国英语听力80篇3 Lesson47

[00:08.39]A North American Major League baseball record was established in 1939.

[00:15.46]The man who set it played in 2,130 games without missing 1 one.

[00:22.83]In 1995, the record was broken by Cal Ripken of the Baltimore Orioles.

[00:30.35]But there is not much chance that the man who set the first record will be forgotten.

[00:37.36]Today Shirley Griffith and Steve Ember tell about Lou Gehrig whose record lasted for fifty-six years.

[00:46.92]Lou Gehrig was born on June 19, 1903.

[01:05.33]He was a huge baby.

[01:08.00]He weighed six-and-one-third kilograms 2.

[01:10.84]His parents,Heinrich and Christina Gehrig, had come to America from Germany.

[01:17.56]They worked hard.

[01:20.17]But they always had trouble earning enough money.

[01:24.01]Lou loved to play baseball games on the streets of New York City, where he grew up.

[01:31.30]Yet he did not try to play on any sports teams when he entered high school.

[01:30.30]He thought of himself as a ball player only for informal 3 games with friends.

[01:36.99]Then one of Lou's high-school teachers heard that he could hit the ball very hard.

[01:42.86]The teacher ordered Lou to come to one of the school games.

[01:47.12]Years later, Lou said, "When I saw so many people and heard all the noise at the game,

[01:55.09]I was so scared I went home."

[01:57.78]The teacher threatened to fail Lou in school if he did not attend the next game.

[02:04.31]So Lou Gehrig went to that game.

[02:07.55]He became a valued member of the high school team.

[02:11.28]He also played other sports.

[02:14.11]The boy who feared noise and people was on his way to becoming a star baseball player.

[02:20.35]A representative 4 of a major league team, the New York Giants, came to watch him.

[02:27.95]He got Lou a chance to play for the manager of the Giants' team, John McGraw.

[02:33.70]McGraw thought Gehrig needed more experience before becoming a major league player.

[02:39.97]It was suggested that Lou get that experience on a minor 5 league team in the city of Hartford, Connecticut.

[02:47.91]Lou played in Hartford the summer after completing high school.

[02:52.95]He earned money to help his parents.

[02:56.21]His father was often sick and without a job.

[03:00.76]The money Lou earned also helped him attend Columbia University in New York City.

[03:08.28]The university had offered him financial help if he would play baseball on the Columbia team.

[03:15.21]But, the fact that Gehrig had accepted money for playing professional 6 baseball got him into trouble.

[03:21.89]Officials of teams in Columbia's baseball league learned 7 that Lou had played for the professional team in Hartford.

[03:31.48]The other teams got him banned from playing for Columbia during his first year at the college.

[03:38.64]Gehrig was permitted 8 to play during his second year,though.

[03:43.71]He often hit the ball so far that people walking in the streets near the baseball field were in danger of being hit.

[03:52.64]Lou's mother earned money as a cook and house cleaner.

[03:57.55]But she became very sick.

[04:00.19]The family could not make their monthly 9 payments 10 for their home.

[04:04.21]The New York Yankees major league baseball organization came to the rescue.

[04:10.22]The Yankees offered Lou 3,500 dollars to finish the 1923 baseball season.

[04:19.60]That was a great deal of money in those days.

[04:24.01]Gehrig happily accepted the offer.

[04:26.89]His parents were sad that he was leaving Columbia.

[04:31.25]Yet his decision ended their financial problems.

[04:35.19]The Yankees recognized that Gehrig was a good hitter.

[04:40.31]They wanted him to add to the team's hitting power provided 11 by its star player, Babe Ruth.

[04:47.00]But Gehrig had trouble throwing and catching 12 the ball.

[04:51.65]So they sent him back to the minor league team in Hartford.

[04:56.27]While playing there he improved his fielding.

[05:00.19]He also had sixty-nine hits in fifty-nine games.

[05:04.89]The next spring Gehrig went to spring training camp with the Yankees.

[05:11.03]Again he was sent to Hartford to get more experience.

[05:15.73]And again, the Yankees called him back in September.

[05:20.10]He hit six hits in twelve times at the bat before that baseball season ended.

[05:27.46]Lou Gehrig began to play first base for the Yankees regularly 13 in early June of 1925.

[05:36.58]He played well that day and for the two weeks that followed.

[05:41.73]Then Gehrig was hit in the head by a throw to second base.

[05:46.27]He should have left the game.

[05:45.27]But he refused to