20180507VoaLeb:
【1】Report Says Tennis Has 'Significant' Integrity Problems
【2】Japan's Shohei Ohtani Making 'ShoTime' in California
【3】科技:Scientists Observe Birth of Huge Galaxy Cluster 1 hour ago
4) The Making of a Nation
(1)
AS IT IS
Report Says Tennis Has 'Significant' Integrity Problems
FILE - A ball boy with new tennis balls during a Wimbledon match on July 4, 2017. (REUTERS/Toby Melville)
A new report says the sport of tennis faces “very significant” problems with integrity.
The report said the problems, involving issues like fair play and honesty, are most notable at the lower levels of the sport. It said a major cause was a sharp increase in internet betting -- with some players winning money by losing to their opponents on purpose.
The Interim Report of the Independent Review of Integrity was released last week after a two-year independent investigation. It said that investigators had not found widespread corruption at the highest levels of tennis worldwide. But it did find that there is “evidence of some issues at these levels.”
The report offered suggestions for dealing with those issues. One idea is a proposal to study how tennis players are paid. Currently, payments are based on appearances in tennis events. The report also proposed a study of the current system for rating players. And it called for closer examination of the lower levels of tennis.
The Review was ordered by major bodies of the sport in 2016. They acted following a report by the British Broadcasting Company and BuzzFeed News. The report claimed that 16 of the world’s top 50 players were suspected of purposefully losing to other players.
The report said the “problems are greatest where prize money relative to costs,” likelihood of public interest and attention, and financial resources of tennis events are lowest.
It added that the launch of online gaming and the sale of official ‘live’ results of tennis matches have worsened the problem. Such results are published on the internet and social media as play continues.
The writers of the report added that there are no simple solutions. But they want “to address and limit the betting markets that ultimately drive…the problem.”
The report said many at the lowest level of tennis struggle to cover the costs of competing. This, the report said, made the idea of placing bets on matches more appealing to players. Many of them had knowledge of match-fixing.
A study of 3,200 players found that 16 percent said they knew players placing bets on matches, while 11 percent knew of inside information being provided.
Tennis’s governing organizations have promised to enact the report’s final findings after a period of discussion.
I’m Jonathan Evans.
Neil Robinson reported this story for the Reuters news agency. Jonathan Evans adapted it for Learning English. George Grow was the editor.
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Words in This Story
betting – n. the custom of risking money in a game or bet; gambling
significant – adj. major or important; having meaning
integrity – n. the quality of being honest and fair
interim – adj. used or accepted for a limited time; not permanent
resource – n. a supply of something; a thing that provides something useful
review – n. a study or investigation
online – adj. of or involving computers or computer technology
address – v. to deal with; to communicate directly
ultimately – adj. eventually
(2)AS IT IS
Japan's Shohei Ohtani Making 'ShoTime' in California
Los Angeles Angels pitcher Shohei Ohtani delivers during the first inning of the team's baseball game against the Houston Astros, Tuesday, April 24, 2018, in Houston. (AP Photo/Eric Christian Smith)
“An incredible player came from Japan” a fan of the Los Angeles Angels said recently.
The player is Shohei Ohtani. And he has gained a lot of attention since he joined Major League Baseball in America.
Major League Baseball teams usually select a player to be a pitcher or a batter. Ohtani is special because he can play both at the highest level.
Ohtani was already famous when he was in high school.
Against the best pitcher in the high school national tournament, he hit a home run. Before turning 18, he recorded the fastest pitch in the history of Japanese high school baseball at 160 kilometers an hour. Very few major league pitchers in America can throw that fast.
Nippon-Ham Fighters Japanese team
After high school, Ohtani was the first player selected by the Nippon-Ham Fighters, a Japanese professional team, in 2012.
By 2016, Ohtani excelled as both a pitcher and a batter for the team in Sapporo.
He hit 22 home runs as a batter and had 10 wins as a pitcher while striking out 174 opposing batters. As a pitcher, Ohtani also threw the fastest pitch in the history of Nippon Professional Baseball at 165 kilometers an hour.
He then led the Nippon-Ham Fighters to the championship of the Nippon Professional Baseball league.
At the end of every season in Japan, sports reporters choose the Best Nine. The award is given to the best player at each position in the league. Ohtani won the Best Nine award as a designated hitter and as a pitcher. And he also won the league’s Most Valuable Player Award.
The Los Angeles Angels
On December 8, 2017, Shohei Ohtani joined the Los Angeles Angels of Major League Baseball in the U.S. He chose the team over the well-known New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox.
In his first three home games as the Angels’ designated hitter, Ohtani hit three homeruns. He became the first Angels rookie to do so.
As a pitcher, Ohtani won his first game striking out six batters in six innings on April 1. Then, on April 8, he had a perfect game through six and one third innings before permitting a hit.
In baseball, when a pitcher does not permit any runs, hits or errors, he is said to have pitched a perfect game.
Compared to famous players of the past
When he played in Japan, some Japanese fans compared Ohtani to Babe Ruth. Ruth is one of the greatest American professional baseball players. He began his Major League career as a pitcher for the Boston Red Sox but played in the outfield for the New York Yankees. Now, many people in the United States have started to compare Ohtani to Babe Ruth.
Baseball is one of the most popular sports in Japan. More than 20 million people attend professional baseball games in Japan each year.
Now, Major League Baseball is getting more popular among Japanese baseball fans. One of the reasons is that more star Japanese baseball players, like Ohtani, are playing in the United States.
Japanese fans get up early to watch
Ryohei Takahashi is a Japanese baseball fan. He especially likes Major League Baseball.
These days, he gets up very early in the morning to watch Ohtani’s games. He sometimes needs to wake up at 4:00 in the morning. There is a 16-hour time difference between Japan and the U.S. West Coast.
Ryohei told VOA that he did not expect that Ohtani would be such a good hitter. He thought that the Japanese star might instead mainly pitch. But, “I am glad to watch his two-way success,” he said.
Ryohei added that, “He is already playing an important role for the Angels. Ohtani will be able to continue to have a big impact on the rest of the season. I am hoping that his successful story continues, and he becomes [an] MVP candidate.”
Shunsuke Ijima is a Japanese university student. He watched Ohtani’s near-perfect game in Anaheim, California.
He told VOA, “When I entered the stadium in Anaheim, I saw many people wearing Ohtani T-shirts. During the game, the spectators gave a standing ovation for his wonderful pitching. Ohtani is a treasure of Japan. I am proud to be from [the] same country as him.”
Japanese media have closely covered Ohtani and his games.
When the New York Yankees played against the Angels in late April, they were hoping for a dream match-up between Ohtani as a batter against the Japanese pitcher Masahiro Tanaka.
In his first time batting against the Yankees, the 23-year-old Ohtani hit a home run against pitcher Luis Severino. But he sprained his ankle later in the game.
So, the dream match-up will have to wait for another day.
I'm Mario Ritter.
Rei Goto wrote this story for VOA Learning English. Mario Ritter and Hai Do were the editors.
We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments section, and visit our Facebook page.
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Words in This Story
pitcher –n. the player who throws the ball to the batter in baseball
designated hitter –n. a player who bats (usually in place of the pitcher) but does not play on the field
roster –n. a list of players on the team
rookie –n. a first year player in professional sports (and in some other jobs)
role –n. the part someone plays in a group effort
MVP (Most Valuable Player) –n. an award in some professional sports given to the player considered better than all the others
spectator –n. someone who watches an event, usually a sport with many people in attendance
standing ovation –n. when people stand and clap to recognize a good job by a performer
(3)
SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY
Scientists Observe Birth of Huge Galaxy Cluster
Astronomers recently discovered a group of interacting and merging galaxies in the early universe, as seen in this artist’s illustration. (Credit: ESO/M. Kornmesser)
For the first time ever, astronomers have observed the birth of a galaxy cluster, known as a protocluster. The event, billions of light-years away, could form one of the largest-known structures in today’s universe.
Using the most powerful telescopes on Earth, the scientists have observed a group of 14 galaxies in the early stages of crashing into one another. The galaxies are forming stars at a rate 1,000 times faster than our own Milky Way galaxy. Yet all 14 galaxies fit into an area just about four times the size of our galaxy.
The gathering of galaxies is 12.4 billion light-years away from Earth. Because of the length of time it takes for light to travel, the scientists are actually looking back in history.
The protocluster, named SPT2349-56, appeared when the universe was about a tenth of its current age.
They say it happened 1.4 billion years after the Big Bang. The Big Bang is the explosive force that gave rise to the universe about 13.8 billion years ago.
Chris Hayward is a scientist with the Flatiron Institute in New York. He told the Simons Foundation, “This is the missing link in our understanding of how clusters form.”
The astronomers reported this galactic gathering in the journal Nature in late April.
History of the universe
Scott Chapman of Dalhousie University in Canada is one of the authors of the report. Chapman, Hayward, Tim Miller of Yale University and others observed the protocluster using the South Pole Telescope in Antarctica.
Chapman said how the group of galaxies got so big so fast "is a bit of a mystery.”
"It just hit you in the face because all of a sudden there are all these galaxies there," Chapman said. "We went from three to 14 in one fell swoop. It instantly became obvious this was a very interesting, massive structure forming and not just a flash in the pan.”
The protocluster was formed before the more mature galaxy clusters seen in the modern universe. That makes the protocluster an excellent test bed for learning more about how present-day clusters formed and evolved.
I’m Pete Musto.
Pete Musto adapted this story for VOA Learning English based on a Simons Foundation report. Hai Do was the editor.
We want to hear from you. What other discoveries do you think scientists will make that might change their ideas about the history of the universe? Write to us in the Comments Section or on our Facebook page.
Words in This Story
cluster – n. a group of things or people that are close together
light-year(s) – n. a unit of distance equal to the distance that light travels in one year, about 9.46 trillion kilometers
galaxies – n. the very large groups of stars that make up the universe
journal – n. a magazine that reports on things of special interest to a particular group of people
author(s) – n. a person who has written something
in one fell swoop – idm. done all at once or all together
obvious – adj. easy to see or notice
flash in the pan – idm. a brief, intense effort that produces no really major result
mature – adj. grown to full size
evolve(d) – v. to change or develop slowly often into a better, more complex, or more advanced state
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