Unit Five
New Horizon English Course
Section A
Rocketing to Stardom
Unit Five
Warming Up
Reading Through
Text A
Main Idea & Structure
Words & Expressions
Exercises
Unit Five
Warming up
Activity I
Background Information
Activity II
Spot Dictation
Unit Five
National Basketball Association
Unit Five
NBA Draft
• NBA draft refers to a procedure
that started in 1947 whereby new
or existing sports players are made
available
for
selection
or
reselection by the teams in a
league, usually with the earlier
choices being given to the weaker
teams during the annual selection
process. No. 1 draft pick means the
first player selected by a sports
team.
Unit Five
Houston Rockets
This team, from
Houston, Texas,
is one of the NBA’s 30
basketball teams. Houston is the city where
the NASA Mission Control Center is located,
and hence the name of “Rockets” for the
team. It belongs to the Western Conference.
Yao Ming has been playing basketball in this
team since 2002.
Spot Dictation
Unit Five
Directions: The following paragraph is taken from Text A. Listen
carefully and fill in the blanks without referring to the original text.
Every year when the NBA season
______ ends, Yao _____
heads
back to his homeland, where he plays for the Chinese
National Team. This mixing of cultures is typical
______ for Yao.
Sport is a universal language and Yao has often been the
translator bringing two very different countries together,
________,
ties
and_________developing
the close ____ between
two peoples.
Unit Five
Reading
Through
Unit Five
Text A
Rocketing to Stardom
Today, the world’s best-known basketball player, Yao
Ming, is a busy guy on and off the court.
There are times
when all Yao Ming wants to do on his time off is sleep. The
National Basketball Association’s No. 1 draft pick for 2002 has
now rocketed to stardom and led a busy life in America,
playing center for NBA’s Houston Rockets and spending some
80 nights a year on the road with his teammates.
Chinese
Text A Para. 1
Unit Five
Every year when the NBA season ends, Yao
heads back to his homeland, where he plays for the
Chinese National Team.
This mixing of cultures is
typical for Yao. Sport is a universal language and Yao
has often been the translator, bringing two very
different countries together, and developing the close
ties between two peoples.
Chinese
Text A Para. 2
Unit Five
When he was a child, Yao even dreamed of looking
forward to playing with the best in the world. Now
his skills have allowed that dream to come true. He
moves fast and shoots very well.
That’s a rare thing
in a player so tall.
Chinese
Text A Para. 3
Unit Five
The 7-foot-5 star is now no longer a shy boy when he is in
front of cameras and surrounded by reporters. Though at first
he was a bit surprised by American culture, language, and food,
he has now got used to them and the fast pace of the NBA as
well. His English has also greatly improved though he often uses
the help of his translator. He speaks English all the time with his
teammates. People now are aware that Yao has earned the
respect of those he works with. As Rockets’ strength coach says,
there is something inside of Yao that makes him work harder
and want to do even better.
Chinese
Text A Para. 4
Unit Five
Yao knows well that communicating with his fans is very
important to him. So he has set up two of his own websites. One
is his official site and the other is his fan club.
“I felt it was really important for me to have the websites
because it is a way for me to reach out to my fans,” Yao explains.
“My goal was to allow fans to talk with me. Even though I have
a busy schedule, I want my fans to feel that they can still reach
out to me when they want to during the season and the offseason.”
Chinese
Text A Para. 5& Para. 6
Unit Five
Perhaps his right attitude towards the sport and his success in
the United States will advance the development of basketball in
China and encourage other young players to practice harder in
order to realize their own dreams.
Text A Para. 7
Chinese
Unit Five
1
There are times when all Yao Ming wants to do on his time
off is sleep.
Meaning: When Yao Ming does not play basketball off
the court, what he wants to do most is sleep.
Meaning of the Sentences
Unit Five
2
Every year when the NBA season ends, Yao heads back to his
homeland, where he plays for the Chinese National Team.
Meaning: Every year when the NBA basketball playtime
finishes, Yao Ming will return to China and play
for the Chinese National Team.
Meaning of the Sentences
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3
This mixing of cultures is typical for Yao.
Meaning: It is quite usual for Yao to mix American culture
and Chinese culture.
Meaning of the Sentences
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4
That’s a rare thing in a player so tall.
Meaning: It is an unusual quality for such a tall player as Yao.
Meaning of the Sentences
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5
Even though I have a busy schedule, I want my fans to feel
that they can still reach out to me when they want to
during the season and the off-season.
Meaning: Although I have a very full plan for what I should
do every day, I want my fans to feel that they can
still contact me whenever they want to whether
during the season or not.
Meaning of the Sentences
Unit Five
Main Idea
This passage tells you something about a most common
sport, the game of basketball, and especially a famous
Chinese basketball player, Yao Ming. With great effort, Yao
has developed from a shy boy into an international
basketball star. He also accelerates the development of
basketball both in America and in China.
Main Idea & Structure
Unit Five
Structure
Part I: Para. 1
Part II: Para. 2-6
Main idea: Yao Ming is busy
on and off the court.
Part III: Para. 7
Main idea: Yao Ming has set
an example for young players.
Main idea: Yao worked hard and rocketed to
stardom.
Main Idea & Structure
Unit Five
Words & Expressions
rocket
draft
New
Words
shoot
aware
attitude
court
typical
pace
schedule
Unit Five
Words & Expressions
on one’s time off
dream of/about
Expressions
come true
set up
reach out to
Unit Five
rocket n. & vi.
n. [C] a tube-shaped object used for traveling into space
火箭
e.g. A rocket hit the house, causing a big fire.
vi. move or increase very fast 急速移动，迅速上涨
e.g. The train rocketed through the tunnel.
Interest rates rocketed.
New words
Unit Five
court n.
【1】[C; U] (a part of) an area specially prepared and marked
for various ball games 球场
e.g. Which do you prefer to play tennis on, a grass or a clay
court?
The ball was off court.
【2】[C; U] a room or building in which law cases can be
heard and judged 法院；法庭
e.g. She was prepared to go to court as a witness.
New Words
Unit Five
draft n. & vt.
n. 【1】(singular) the process or method of selecting one or more
individuals from a group 挑选
e.g. The first draft of people for blood donation was completed.
【2】[C] the first rough and incomplete form of something written,
drawn or planned 草稿；草图；草案
e.g. The first draft of the will could not be found.
vt. select; choose 挑选；抽调
e.g. Some students are drafted to conduct the survey.
New Words
Unit Five
typical adj.
【1】showing the usual behavior or manner; characteristic 表现
出个性特征的；一向如此的
e.g. It was typical of him to get angry about it.
【2】having the usual features or qualities of a particular thing or
group 典型的；有代表性的
e.g. This painting is fairly typical of his early work.
New Words
Unit Five
shoot v.
kick or throw a ball so as to win a point in a game 射门；投篮
e.g. 1. When he shot, nobody thought he would miss the hoop.
2. Michael turned and shot the ball, making a 3 pointer in
the final second.
New Words
Unit Five
pace n.
【1】(singular) the speed at which something happens or is
done 速度；节奏
e.g. He liked to work at his own pace.
【2】[C] a single step in running or walking, or the distance
moved in one step 一步；步子
e.g. She took a pace backwards in horror.
New Words
Unit Five
aware adj. having knowledge or understanding 意识到的；明白的
e.g. 1. Most smokers are perfectly aware of the dangers of
smoking.
2. I gradually became aware that there was someone else in
the room.
3. Nowadays everyone is much more environmentally aware.
New Words
Unit Five
schedule n.
【1】[C] a planned list or order of things to be done, dealt with
计划（表）；程序表；进度表
e.g. 1. I have got a very full schedule today.
2. Our production schedule is so tight that we
may have to take on extra staff.
【2】timetable 时刻表
e.g. The majority of holiday flights depart and
arrive on schedule.
New Words
Unit Five
attitude n.
[C; U] a way of feeling or thinking about sb. or sth. 态度；看法
e.g. 1. Their attitude towards the new policy is to wait and
see.
2. As soon as they found out I was a doctor their whole
attitude changed.
New Words
Unit Five
on one’s time off 在某人不需要工作的时候
e.g. When I am on my time off, I usually go shopping.
不上班的时候我常去购物。
Practice
他有空就想打牌。
What he wants to do on his time off is playing cards.
Expressions
Unit Five
dream of/about 梦见；梦想
e.g. I dreamed of flying last night.
昨夜我梦见我能飞。
Practice
小夫妻俩一直梦想买套属于自己的大房子。
The young couple always dream of buying a large house of
their own.
Expressions
Unit Five
come true 成为现实；实现
e.g. His dream of breaking the world record finally came
true. 他打破世界纪录的梦想终于实现了。
Practice
她对考试不及格的担心结果变成真的了。
Her worry about the failure in the exam came true.
Expressions
Unit Five
set up 树立；建立; 准备；安排
e.g. The city has set up a special fund for the disabled.
该市为残疾人设立了特殊基金。
Practice
1.他建立了一家小型旅游公司。
He set up a small travel business.
2.我让秘书给我们准备工作餐。
I’ll get my secretary to set up a working lunch for us.
Expressions
Unit Five
reach out to 与……联络（联系）
e.g. She told the students her cell phone number, so that
they could reach out to her whenever needed.
她把自己的手机号码给了学生，以便他们在需要时可以联
系她。
Practice
1.顾客们可以用这个号码与他联系。
The customers can reach out to him by this phone
number.
2.如果要联系，这是我的电话。
Here’s my phone number, in case you need to reach
out to me.
Expressions
Unit Five
Para. 1
译文
如今，全球最知名的篮球运动员姚明，无论球场上还
是球场下，都是个大忙人。往往一有空，姚明想做的就是
睡觉。这位全美篮球协会2002年的选秀状元，现在已迅速
成了篮球明星，在美国过着忙碌的生活：他在全美篮球协
会的休斯敦火箭队司职中锋，每年有80个夜晚和队友在旅
途中度过。
Unit Five
Para. 2
译文
每年，NBA赛季一结束，姚明就会回到祖国，为中国
国家篮球队效力。这种双重文化的交叠，姚明已经习以为
常了。体育是一种全球性的语言，而姚明常常就是个翻译，
他把两个非常不同的国家联系在一起，加深两国人民的友
好往来。
Unit Five
Para. 3
译文
还是个孩子的时候，姚明就梦想有朝一日和世界上最
好的球员同场竞技。如今，他的球艺使他梦想成真。他移
动迅速，投篮准确。这对一个身材如此高大的球员来说难
能可贵。
Unit Five
译文
Para. 4
面对众多的照相机，处于记者的重重包围之中，这个
身高七英尺五英寸的球星如今不再是个羞涩的大男孩了。
虽然当初他对美国的文化、语言和食物感到惊讶，如今的
他已经适应了，也习惯了NBA的快节奏。他的英语水平大
有提高，尽管他还是经常需要翻译帮忙。他一直都和队友
说英语。人们现在意识到，姚明已经赢得了同事的尊敬。
正如火箭队体能教练说的那样，姚明身上有一种内在的东
西，激励着他更加努力，努力干得更漂亮。
Unit Five
Para. 5 & Para. 6
译文
姚明知道和球迷进行交流非常重要，因此他开设了自己
的两个网站：一个是他的官方网站，另一个是他为球迷设
的网站。
“我觉得拥有自己的网站很重要，因为它是我接触球迷
的方式之一，”姚明解释道。“我的目的是让球迷能与我交
谈。虽然我的工作日程很忙，我还是想让我的球迷觉得只
要他们愿意，他们在赛季和非赛季都能联系到我。”
Unit Five
Para. 7
译文
也许，他对待体育的正确态度以及他在美国的成功将会
促进中国篮球的发展，并且激励其他的年轻球员更加刻苦
训练，从而实现他们各自的梦想。