茵场上的是一群深谙“可爱”这个词含义的人。有一次比赛，我注意到安的马尾辫上扎着一根蓝丝带，后来我发现队里每个女孩都系着一模一样的蝴蝶结。但我有点无法想象聚集在波士
顿花园更 衣间的凯尔特人队的球员们会同意系同色的汗巾。
16追求运动的理想以及一个女孩勇敢地去充分发挥 自己的特长这一现实，使我感动，令我
惊奇，让我充满希望，让我惊叹得说不出话来。
17我 看她在场上带球。我们在看台上大声地为她加油，尽管我知道她听不见。她竭尽全力，
脸涨得通红，全力 以赴投入比赛：运球、吸引防守、过人、奔跑。队友又把球回传给她。她
们冲破了对手的防线，她冲向球 篮。她的父亲看着她；她的两个妹妹看着她；我看着她。我
在想着，冲啊，安，快冲。

Unit 5 Athletes
Athletes Should Be Role Models
I love Charles Barkley like a brother, and except for the times when we're hanging
and pushing each other under the boards in games between my team, the Utah Jazz, and
his, the Phoenix Suns, we're great friends. We don't necessarily like the same things:
Charles loves golf so much he would play at halftime if he could, but I think a golf course
is a waste of good pasture-land. One of the reasons we get along so well, though, is that
we both say what's on our minds without worrying about what other people are going to
think—which means we disagree from time to time. Here's an example of what I mean: I
disagree with what Charles says in his Nike commercial, the one in which he insists,
not a role model.
it's your decision to make. We don't choose to be role models, we are chosen. Our only
choice is whether to be a good role model or a bad one.
I don't think we can accept all the glory and the money that comes with being a
famous athlete and not accept the responsibility of being a role model, of knowing that
kids and even some adults are watching us and looking for us to set an example. I mean,
why do we get endorsements in the first place? Because there are people who will follow
our lead and buy a certain sneaker or cereal because we use it.
I love being a role model, and I try to be a positive one. That doesn't mean I always
succeed. I'm no saint. I make mistakes, and sometimes I do childish things. And I don't
always wake up in a great, role-model mood. There are days when I don't want to pose for
a picture with every fan I run into, when I don't feel like picking up babies and giving
them hugs and kisses (no matter how cute they are), those are the days I just try to avoid
the public.
But you don't have to be perfect to be a good role model and people shouldn't expect
perfection. If I were deciding whether a basketball player was a positive role model, I
would want to know: Does he influence people's lives in a positive way away from the
court? How much has he given of himself, in time or in money, to help people who look
up to him? Does he display the values—like honesty and determination—that are part of
being a good person? I wouldn't ask whether he lives his life exactly the way I would live
it or whether he handles every situation just the way I would handle it.
I do agree with Charles on one thing he says in his commercial:
dunk a basketball doesn't mean I should raise your kids.
little assistance. There are times when it helps for a mother and father to be able to say to

their kids, you think Karl Malone or Scottie Pippen or Charles Barkley or David
Robinson would do that?
Sure, parents should be role models to their children. But let's face it, kids have lots of
other role models—teachers, movie stars, athletes, even other kids. As athletes, we can't
take the place of parents, but we can help reinforce what they try to teach their kids.
Parents just have to make sure they don't take it too far. Sometimes they put us on a
pedestal that feels more like a tightrope—so narrow that we're bound to fall off eventually.
This is not something I'm especially proud of, but I've had parents in Utah say things to
me like,
your picture is right up there on the wall beside Jesus Christ.
it any wonder some athletes don't want to be role models? Who wants to be held up to
that kind of impossibly high standard? Imagine someone putting a lifesized picture of you
on a wall and saying things to your picture before they go to bed. That's scary.
Constantly being watched by the public can be hard to tolerate at times. I am sorry
that Michael Jordan had to deal with the negative publicity he received about gambling. I
don't think most people can imagine what it's like to be watched that closely every minute
of every day. I was told once that it wouldn't be that bad for me because no one would
know me outside of Utah, but that's not true. Ever since I played on the Dream Team in
the Olympics, I can't go anywhere without being the center of attention, and that's very
confining at times. For instance, there have been occasions when I've felt like buying a big
Harley-Davidson motorcycle and riding it down the street. First, the Jazz would have a fit
and say it's too dangerous. Second, everyone would be watching to see if I wore a helmet,
if I was obeying the speed limit, if I was taking turns safely—you name it. The first time I
didn't measure up to expectations, I would hear,
other people who ride motorcycles?
But the good things about being a role model outweigh the bad. It's a great feeling to
think you're a small part of the reason that a kid decided to give school another try
instead of dropping out or that a kid had the strength to walk away when someone offered
him drugs. But one thing I would encourage parents to do is to remind their kids that no
matter which athletes they look up to, there are no perfect human beings. That ways if the
kid's heroes should make mistakes, it won't seem like the end of the world to them.
I would never criticize someone for saying what he thinks. If Charles doesn't consider
himself a role model, that's certainly his right. But I think he is a role model—and a good
one, too. And if he gets that NBA championship ring, I might just make him my role
model.

运动员该成为榜样吗？
1. 我喜欢查尔斯•巴克利，就像他是我的亲兄弟一样，而且除了比 赛中在篮板下彼此冲撞的
时候（我在犹他爵士队；他在菲尼克斯太阳队），我们是很好的朋友。我们的爱 好不一定完
全相同：查尔斯酷爱高尔夫球，要是可能的话他中场休息时都会打，我却认为把优良的牧地< br>造成高尔夫球场是浪费。而我们能很好相处的一个原因是，我俩都心里想什么就说什么，不
管别人 会怎么想——这也意味着我们时常会意见不一致。有一个例子能说明我的意思：我不
同意查尔斯在他做的 耐克广告中说的话。在那则广告里，他强调说：“我不是一个行为榜样。”
查尔斯，你完全可以否认自己 是行为榜样，但是我认为这不是自己可以决定的。我们没想要
做行为榜样，而是大家要我们做。我们唯一 能选择的是做一个好榜样还是做一个坏榜样。
2 我认为成了著名运动员后，我们不能只接受随之而 来的荣誉和金钱，却拒绝承担作为榜
样的责任，或者没有意识到孩子们、甚至一些成年人正关注着我们， 期望我们树立起一个榜
样。我的意思是，首先为什么我们能有机会做广告呢？因为有人会以我们为榜样， 他们买某
种运动鞋或某种麦片，（仅仅）因为我们在用这些东西。
3 我喜欢成为榜样，并 努力去做个好榜样。但这并不是说我总是做得很好。我决非圣贤，
我会犯错误，而且有时还会做一些非常 幼稚的事情。我并非每天早上醒来都具备了做榜样的
好心情。有些日子，我并不想同遇见的每个球迷都摆 姿势合影，不想抱起婴儿拥抱、亲吻（无
论他们有多可爱）。处在这种时候，我就尽量避开公众。
4 但做个好榜样并不需要十全十美，而且人们也不应该期盼完美。如果由我来判定一个篮
球 运动员是否是个好榜样，我想知道的是：他在球场之外，是否给人们的生活带来了积极的
影响？他自己付 出了多少时间或金钱去帮助那些敬仰他的人？他显示出一个优秀者应具有
的诸如诚实、毅力这些品格吗？ 但我不会问他是否以我的那种方式生活，或者是否以我处理
事情的方式来应付每一个局面。
5 查尔斯在他的广告中所说的有一点我赞成，那就是“我能扣篮并不意味着我应该养育你们
的孩子。”但是 ，有时家长们也需要一点帮助。如果父母能对孩子说：“你想想卡尔•马龙、
斯科蒂•皮蓬、查尔斯•巴 克利或大卫•罗宾逊会那样做吗？”有时候，这是很管用的。
如果有人这样提到我的名字，对我来说是 一种荣誉。当然，父母应该成为自己孩子的行为榜
样。然而实际情况是孩子们有许多其他的行为榜样—— 老师、电影明星、运动员、甚至其他
孩子。作为运动员，我们不能取代父母，但是我们能协助他们去加强 和巩固他们努力教给孩
子的那些思想。
6 父母们一定不能做得太过火。他们有时把我们 奉若神明，使我们感到是在走钢索——在
这么细的钢索上我们最终必定会摔下来。这不是一件让我感到特 别自豪的事：在犹他州曾经
有孩子家长对我说过这样的话：“你要知道，卡尔，我们全家都对你崇拜得五 体投地，在我
们家里，我们把你的照片和基督画像一起并排挂在墙上。”这就太过分了。
难怪有些运动员不愿做行为榜样。谁会愿意被拔得那样高呢，那是能达到的标准吗？

< br>设想一下，有人把你真人大小的照片挂在墙上，而且每晚睡觉前都要对着你的照片倾诉一番，
这是 很可怕的。
7 时刻处在公众的注视之下有时令人难以忍受。我十分同情迈克尔•乔丹，他不得不 对付
有关他赌博的负面报道。我想大多数人都无法想象，分分秒秒、日复一日都被如此密切地注
视着是什么滋味。曾经有人对我说，我个人的情况还不至于那么糟，因为出了犹他州就没人
认识我了。但 事实并非如此。自从我作为梦之队的一员参加了奥运会的比赛后，我无论到哪
里都会成为人们注意的中心 。这有时使人受到很大的限制。例如，我有好几次想买一辆哈利
-戴维森牌的大摩托车，骑着它逛逛街。 首先爵士队会大发雷霆，说这太危 险。其次，每个
人都会盯着我，看我是否戴了头盔，是否按照限定的 速度行驶，是否安全转弯，不一而足。
一旦我没有达到他们的期望，就会有人说：“这给其他骑摩托车的人树立了个什么榜样啊？”
但是，
8 做一个行为榜样的好处要多于坏处。想到某个孩子决定在学业上再做一番尝试而 不是辍
学，或者碰到有人向他兜售毒品时，能从毒贩子身边走开，而这其中也有你的一小部分功劳
时，那种感觉好极了。但是我要鼓励父母们去做一件事，那就是提醒他们的孩子无论他们敬
仰哪位运动 员，十全十美的人是没有的。这样一来，如果孩子们心目中的英雄犯了错误，他
们就不会觉得世界末日到 了。
9 我决不会因为某个人说了心里话而批评他。如果查尔斯认为他自己不是个行为榜样，这是他的权利。但我认为他是一个行为榜样，而且是一个好榜样。如果他能戴上NBA的冠
军戒指， 我也许会把他当作我自己的行为榜样。

Athletes Should Not Be Role Models
These days there are so many stories about the criminal activities of athletes that
sports pages are beginning to look like police reports. What's going on? American sports
fans ask over their morning toast and coffee, What's happening to our heroes?
It's not difficult to understand our desire for athletes to be heroes. On the surface, at
least, athletes display a vital and indomitable spirit; they are gloriously alive inside their
bodies. And sports do allow us to witness acts that can legitimately be described as
courageous, thrilling, beautiful, even noble. In an increasingly complicated and disorderly
world, sports are still an arena in which we can regularly witness a certain kind of
greatness.
Yet there's something of a paradox here, for the very qualities a society tends to seek
in its heroes—selflessness, social consciousness, and the like—are precisely the opposite
of those needed to transform a talented but otherwise unremarkable neighborhood kid
into a Michael Jordan. To become a star athlete, you have to have an extremely

competitive outlook and you have to be totally focused on the development of your own
physical skills. These qualities may well make a great athlete, but they don't necessarily
make a great person. On top of this, our society reinforces these traits by the system it has
created to produce athletes—a system characterized by limited responsibility and
enormous privilege.
The athletes themselves suffer the costs of this system. Trained to measure
themselves perpetually against the achievements of those around them, many young
athletes develop a sense of what sociologist Walter Schafer has termed
self- worth
their lives—parents, coaches and peers as long as they are perceived as
Unfortunately they become conceited and behave as if their athletic success will last
forever.
Young athletes learn that success, rather than hard and honest play, is what brings
rewards. And for those successful enough to rise to the level of big-time college sports, the

many of the responsibilities other students face. Coaches—whose own jobs, of course,
depend on maintaining winning programs—protect their athletes to ensure that nothing
threatens their eligibility to compete. If an athlete gets into trouble with the law, for
instance, a coach will very likely intervene—hiring an attorney, perhaps even managing to
have the case quietly dismissed. In some schools, athletes don't even choose their own
classes or buy their own books; the athletic department does all this for them. It's not
unheard-of for athletic department staff to wake up athletes in the morning and to take
them to class.
Given this situation, it's not too surprising that many young American athletes lack a
fully developed understanding of right and wrong. Professor Sharon Stoll of the
University of Idaho has tested more than 10,000 student athletes from all over the
country, ranging from junior high to college age; she reports that in the area of moral
reasoning, athletes invariably score lower than non-athletes—and that they grow worse
the longer they participate in athletics.
Overprotected by universities, flattered by local communities, given star status by the
public, rewarded with seven or eight-figure salaries, successful athletes, inevitably
develop the feeling that they are privileged beings—as indeed they are. The danger arises
when they think that because they are privileged they can have anything they want.
Mike Tyson, of course, is the most obvious example of this phenomenon. Having
been taught as a young man that he was special—his trainer, Cus D' Amato, had one set of

rules for Tyson and another, more demanding, set for all his other boxers—and having
lived his entire adult life surrounded by a team of admiring Tyson eventually
came to believe, like a medieval king, that all he saw rightfully belonged to him. Blessed
with money and fame enough to last a lifetime, he spent his time outside the ring
acquiring and discarding the objects of his desire: houses, automobiles, jewelry, clothes,
and women. As a result of the publicity surrounding his rape trial, countless women have
related stories of Tyson asking them for sexual favors and then, upon being refused,
saying with surprise,
world.
recognize that they have been granted some extraordinary gifts in this life and want to
give something back to the community.
Some remarkable individuals will always rise above the deforming athletic system
we've created. After retiring from football, Alan Page of the Minnesota Vikings became a
successful lawyer and established the Page Education Foundation, which helps minority
and disadvantaged kids around the country pay for college. Frustrated by the old-boy
network by which Minnesota judges were always appointed, Page challenged the system
in court and was eventually elected judge in the Supreme Court. He thus became the first
black ever elected to a statewide office in Minnesota. Thankfully, there will always be
some legitimate heroes (or, to use the more contemporary term, role models) to be found
among professional athletes.
Still, it's probably misguided for society to look to athletes for its heroes—any more
than we look among the ranks of, say, actors or lawyers or pipefitters. The social role
played by athletes is indeed important (imagine a society without sports; I wouldn't want
to live in it), but it's fundamentally different from that of heroes.

运动员不应是行为榜样
1如今有关运动员犯罪行为的报道如此 之多，以至于体育专栏变得像警方报告栏了。这是怎
么回事?美国的体育迷们在吃早点喝咖啡时不禁都会 问：我们的英雄们怎么了?
2我们渴望运动员成为英雄，这不难理解。至少从表面上来看运动员们展现 出了朝气蓬勃、
不屈不挠的精神，他们体内焕发着活力。体育运动的确让我们目睹了真正可以称之为勇敢 、
激动人心、优美乃至高尚的行为。在一个日益复杂无序的世界中，体育仍是一个可以让我们
时 常目睹某种伟大表现的竞技场。
3然而这显然是自相矛盾的。社会想从英雄身上寻求的品质，如大公无 私、社会意识等等，
恰好与运动员所需的品质大相径庭，用这些品质是无法把一个有体育天赋而在其他方 面表现
平平的街坊小孩变成迈克尔·乔丹的。要成为一名体育明星，你必须具备非凡的竞争意识，

并全力以赴提高自身的体育技能。这些品质很可能会造就一名优秀的运动员，但却未必能塑造一个伟人。此外，我们的社会用它自己创建的培养运动员的制度，进一步助长了这些特征。
该制度 的特点是：责任有限，待遇丰厚。
4运动员自身也为这种制度付出了代价。由于受到的训练是，永远拿 自己与周围人的成绩相
比较，许多年轻运动员便产生了一种意识，这种意识被社会学家沃尔特·谢弗称之 为“有条件
的自我价值”。他们很快就明白了，只要自己被看作是“胜者”，便会被父母、教练以及同伴
这些自己生活中很重要的人所接受。不幸的是，他们变得很自负，表现得就像他们的运动生
涯会 永远辉煌下去。
5年轻的运动员们深知，是成功给他们带来了回报，而不是艰辛和诚实的比赛。对于那 些能
在最高水平的大学体育竞技中崭露头角的运动员来说，“回报”往往是一种人为设置的社会环
境，这种环境使他们免于承担其他学生要面对的许多责任。教练自身的工作当然取决于如何
保住获胜的 项目，他们会保护运动员，确保他们的参赛资格不受到任何威胁。例如，如果某
个运动员惹上了官司，教 练便很可能会干预——请一位律师，甚至还会设法使案件悄悄驳回
不予受理。在某些学校，运动员甚至不 用自己选课或买书，体育系替他们包办了一切。体育
系的员工早上叫醒队员并带他们去课堂，这也并非闻 所未闻的事。
6鉴于上述情况，许多年轻的美国运动员缺乏成熟的是非观也就不足为奇了。爱达荷大学 的
莎伦·斯托尔教授对全国从初中到大学的一万多名学生运动员进行测试。她报道说在伦理道
德 方面，运动员们总是比非运动员得分低，而且从事体育运动的时间越长，得分越低。
7大学的过分呵护 、当地社区的吹捧、公众给予的明星地位，以及七八位数字的年薪，这些
使得成功的运动员必然形成这样 的感觉：他们是有特权的人——他们也确实是有特权的人。
当他们因为享有特权便自认为可以为所欲为时 ，危险就随之而至。
8迈克·泰森当然是这一现象最明显的例子。他年轻时就被灌输他是与众不同的— —他的教练
员屈斯·达马托单独为他制定了一套训练规则，而为所有其他拳击手制定了另一套要求更高< br>的规则——而且他的整个成年时期都生活在一群仰慕他的“奴隶”中。泰森终于渐渐相信，他
所见 到的一切都理应归其所有，俨然一个中世纪的国王。由于一生可享尽荣华富贵，他将拳
击台外的时间都用 来追逐又抛弃他所要的东西：房子、汽车、珠宝、服饰以及女人。由于强
奸案的曝光，无数的女人讲述了 当泰森向他们提出性要求而被拒绝时，他竟吃惊地说道：“你
们难道不知道我是谁吗?我是世界重量级拳 击冠军。”不用说，并不是所有运动员都像迈克·泰
森那样；有许多运动员认识到自己此生被赋予了非凡 才能，愿意给社会一些回报。
9总有一些杰出的个人会从我们所创建的畸形的体育制度中脱颖而出。明 尼苏达海盗队的艾
伦·佩奇从橄榄球队退役后，成了一名成功的律师并创立了佩奇教育基金会，资助全国 的少
数民族和贫困儿童上大学。明尼苏达州的法官原先总是由联谊会任命的，由于对这一体制不
满，佩奇在法庭上对此提出了质疑，并终于获选为最高法院的法官。他于是成为第一个当选
为明尼苏达州 州级官员的黑人。令人欣慰的是，在职业运动员的行列里，总能找到一些真正
的英雄(或者，用一个更现 代的词：行为榜样)。

10然而，人们期望运动员来充当社会的英雄是一种误导，也许 比我们期待在演员、律师或
者管道工等行业中产生社会英雄更不明智。运动员所起的社会作用的确很重要 (设想一个没
有体育运动的社会，我是不愿意生活在其中的)，但他们与英雄所起的作用有本质的不同。

Playing to Win
My daughter is an athlete. Nowadays, this statement won't strike many parents as
unusual, but it does me. Until her freshman year in high school, Ann was not really
interested in sports of any kind. When she played, she didn't like to move around, often
dropped the ball, and had the annoying habit of laughing on the field or the court.
Indifference combined with another factor that was not a good sign for a sports
career. Ann was growing up to be beautiful. By the eighth grade, nature and dental work
had produced a 5-foot-8-inch, 125-pound, brown-eyed beauty with a wonderful smile.
People told her, too. And as many young women know, it is considered a satisfactory
accomplishment to be pretty and stay pretty. Then you can simply sit still and enjoy the
unconditional positive reward. Ann loved the attention and didn't consider it insulting
when she was awarded
So it came as a surprise when she became an athlete. The first indication that athletic
indifference had ended came when she joined the high-school cross-country team. She
signed up for the team in early September and came third within three days. Not only
that. After one of those 3.1-mile races up and down hill on a rainy November afternoon,
Ann came home muddy and bedraggled. Her hair was wet and the mascara she had
applied so carefully that morning ran in dark circles under her eyes. This is it, I thought.
Wait until Lady Astor sees herself in the mirrors. But the kid with the best hair in
eighth-grade went on to finish the season and subsequently letter in cross-country, soccer,
basketball, and football.

doctorate leaves me little time for either playing or watching. My love of sports is bound
up with the goals in my life and my hopes for my three daughters. I have begun to hear
the message of sports. It is very different from many messages that women receive about
living, and I think it is good.
My husband, for example, talked to Ann differently when he realized that she was a
serious competitor and not just someone who wanted to get in shape so she'd look good
in a prom dress. Be aggressive, he'd advise. Go for the ball. Be intense.

Be intense. She came in for some of the most severe criticism from her dad when,
during basketball season, her intensity decreased. You're pretending to play hard, he said.
You like it on the bench? Do you like to watch while your teammates play?
I would think, how is this kid reacting to such advice? For years, she'd been told at
home, at school, by countless advertisements.
reported that Ann was too talkative, not obedient enough, too superficial. I had dressed
her up in frilly dresses and told her not to get dirty. Ideals of femininity in ads were still,
quiet, cool females whose empty expressionless faces made them look elegant and mature.
How can any adolescent girl know what she's up against? Have you ever really noticed
intensity? It is neither quiet nor good. And it's definitely not pretty.
In the end, her intensity revived. At halftime, she'd look for her father, and he would
come out of the bleachers to discuss tough defense, finding the open player, improving
her jump shot. I'd watch them at the edge of the court, a tall man and a tall girl, talking
about how to play.
Not that dangers don't lurk for the females of her generation. I occasionally run this
horror show in my own mental movie theater: An overly polite but handsome lawyerlike
drone of a young man sees my Ann. Hmmm, he says unconsciously to himself, good gene
pool, and wouldn't she go well with my BMW and the condo? Then I see Ann with a great
new hairdo kissing the drone
money with her beautiful friends.
But the other night she came home from softball tryouts at 6 in the evening. The dark
circles under her eyes were from exhaustion, not makeup.
says.
After she has revived, she explains. She wants to play a particular position. There is
competition for it.
can do it.
but she will start with the varsity team. My husband explains to her how coaches often
work and tells her to keep trying. are doing fine,he says. She gets that
I-am-going-to-keep-trying look on her face.
Of course, Ann doesn't realize the changes she has made, the power of her
self-definition. an athlete, Ma,she tells me when I suggest participation in the
school play or the yearbook. But she has really caused us to rethink our views of existence:
her youngest sisters who consider sports a natural activity for females, her father whose
advocacy of women has increased, and me. Because when I doubt my own abilities, I say
to myself, get intense, Margaret. Do you like to sit on the bench?

And my intensity revives.
I am not suggesting that participation in sports is the answer for all young women. It
is not easy—the losing, jealousy, raw competition, and intense personal criticism of
performance.
And I don't wish to imply that the sports scene is a morality play either. Girls' sports
can be funny. You can't forget that out on that field are a bunch of people who know the
meaning of the word cute. During one game, I noticed that Ann had a blue ribbon tied on
her ponytail, and it dawned on me that every girl on the team had an identical bow.
Somehow I can't picture the Celtics gathered in the locker room of the Boston Garden
agreeing to wear the same color sweatbands.
What has struck me, amazed me, and made me hold my breath in wonder and in
hope is both the ideal of sport and the reality of a young girl not afraid to do her best.
I watched her bringing ball up the court. We yell encouragement from the stands,
though I know she doesn't hear us. Her face is red with exertion, and her body is
concentrated in the task. She dribbles, draws the defense to her, passes, runs. A
teammate passes the ball back to her. They've beaten the other team's defense. She heads
towards the hoop. Her father watches her; her sisters watch her; I watch her. And I think,
drive, Ann, drive.

为胜利而拼搏
l我女儿是一 名运动员。如今这话不再使许多父母觉得不同寻常，但对我依然非同一般。安
在上高中前对体育并不真正 感兴趣。打球时，她不喜欢四处跑动，时常失球，还有一个讨厌
的习惯，在运动场或球场上会笑个不停。
2安对体育不感兴趣还不算，还有一个不利于体育生涯的因素，那就是安越长越漂亮。到了
八年 级，天生丽质外加牙科矫形，使她出落成一个身高5英尺8英寸、重125磅、有着迷
人微笑和棕色眼睛 的美人。人们也都这样对她说。正如许多年轻女性所知，长得漂亮并永葆
青春靓丽被认为是一种令人心仪 的成就。它可以使你坐享美貌带来的无条件的回报。安喜欢
引人注目，在八年级年鉴中获得女性“靓发” 称号时，她不认为这是一种侮辱。
3所以，当她成为运动员时，大家都吃了一惊。最初显示她对体育开 始感兴趣的迹象是她加
入了高中的越野队。她9月初报名入队，三天内就成了队里的第三名。不仅如此。 在11月
一个雨天的下午，安跑完3．1英里的山地越野赛后，到家时满身是泥，衣衫不整。她头发都湿透了，早晨小心翼翼涂上的睫毛膏，在眼睛下成了一个个黑圈。我想，这下好了，等着
阿斯特小 姐瞧瞧她在镜中的模样吧。但是，在八年级拥有最漂亮头发的她，坚持完成了赛季，
后来相继在越野赛、 英式足球、篮球和橄榄球比赛中获得校名(首)字母奖励。
4“我非常喜欢运动，”她告诉任何一个愿 意倾听的人。我也喜欢运动，尽管人到中年还攻读

博士学位的我几乎无暇打球或者观看比 赛。我对运动的热爱与我的生活目标以及我对三个女
儿的殷切希望密切相关。我已开始感受到体育的意义 ，它与女人们通常感受到的有关生活的
意义截然不同。我认为这挺好。
5拿我丈夫来说吧，他 以全然不同的方式与安交谈，因为此时他意识到安参加比赛是认真的，
不像有些人只想健身以便在班级舞 会上穿上礼服时看上去漂亮些。他提醒安，攻击性要强，
向球冲去，要全身心投入。
6要全身 心投入。正当篮球赛季，安的热情却有所减退，她受到了父亲最严厉的批评。“你
假装打得很卖力，”他 说。“你喜欢坐在一旁当替补?你喜欢旁观队友打球?”
7我真想知道，面对这类忠告，这孩子是怎么 想的呢?多年来，在家里，在学校，无数的广
告都在告戒她：要文静，要乖，要稳重。学校老师曾说过， 安话太多，不够听话，太肤浅。
我曾给她穿上有很多褶边的裙子，嘱咐她别弄脏了。理想的女性在广告中 都稳重而冷静，面
无表情，从而显得优雅成熟。一位少女如何能知道自己所面临的问题呢?你有没有真正 注意
过什么是全身心投入?它既不是文静也不是优雅，也绝对不是漂亮。
8终于，她又恢复了 往日的紧张认真。在中场休息时，她会寻找她的父亲，于是他从露天看
台出来，和她讨论如何应对严密防 守，如何发现没有被盯死的队友，如何改善她的跳投动作。
我总是在球场边看着他们，一个高个子男人和 一个高个子女孩，讨论如何打好球。
9并不是说她们这一代女性没有潜伏的危险。偶尔我脑海中会呈现 这种恐怖场面：一个律师
模样文质彬彬的英俊青年看上了我的女儿安。他下意识地自言自语道：集中了多 好的遗传基
因啊，与我的宝马车和住房不是很相配吗?之后，我就看见安梳着漂亮的新发型，和那家伙< br>吻别后，就和她漂亮的朋友们到最近的购物中心花钱去了。
10有一天傍晚6点，她从垒球选拔 赛回来。她眼睛下又有黑圈，这是疲惫不堪而不是化妆
引起的。“我今天太卖力了，”她说。“我感觉要 病倒了。”
11体力恢复后，她解释说，她想打某个位置，但这个位置竞争很大。她说：“我不会让别 人
得到这个位置，我得证明我能行。”后来，我们得知她没能得到她很想要的三垒位置，不过
她 将加入学校体育代表队。我丈夫向她解释教练的做法，并要求她继续努力。“你现在做得
很好，”他说。 她脸上露出了那种“我会不断努力”的神情。
12当然，安没有意识到自己的变化，没有意识到她的自 我定义能力。当我建议她参加学校
戏剧演出或年鉴编写时，她告诉我：“妈妈，我是一名运动员。”但是 她确实使我们几个人重
新考虑自己的生存观点：她的两个妹妹认为女子参加运动是天经地义的，她父亲则 更加支持
女性，我也一样。这不，每当我怀疑自己的能力时，我就对自己说：玛格丽特，要奋力拼搏。< br>难道你想当替补队员吗?
13于是我又激情万丈了。
14我不是说参加体育运动是年 轻女性的必然选择。这绝非易事——要输球，受妒忌，面对残
酷的竞争，还有针对你个人表现的激烈批评 。
15我并不是暗示运动场景也是一种道德剧。女孩子的运动可以很有趣。你不能忘记，在绿