The 40 -year-old superstar concluded his fabled1 15-year National Basketball Association2 career in defeat ( April 16 , 2003) when Philadelphia 76ers beat his Washington Wizards 107-87. But the game was secondary to Jordan’s third and final retirement from the game he loved like no player before him, a sport that rewarded his devotion with NBA titles, two Olympic gold medals and a legendary global legacy.

　　Jordan led the Chicago Bulls to six NBA titles. He was named the season MVP five times and won the NBA scoring title a record 10 times. Jordan has retired twice before only to return, but at age 40 and on longer be able to dominate games single -handedly,

　　he has said he is“100 percent sure ”this was his farewell performance in the game he will forever love.“Love is a very delicate thing, ”Jordan said. “Once you love it, you will never lose the love for the game. You never know when you can walk away from it. I tried a couple of times. ”Jordan’s first retirement was in 1993 . It ended in 1995 after an ill-fated fling with baseball. After three more titles, he departed again in 1999, only to return a year later as the Wizard’s top executive . He was back on the court 18 months later.

　　“Each time I tried to put a time frame on when this love affair was going to be over between basketball and me. And I don’t think it ever will. It’s just that I got strong enough to say I need to move away from it. ”

　　Jordan left no doubt that he will not make yet another comeback. In his final game, Jordan scored 15 point, the last of them on a free throw with 1∶45 to play. He was pulled from the game a moment later, taking a seat on the bench while a sell-out crowd of 21 , 257 gave a three -minute standing ovation3 .

　　Jordan scored Washington’s first four points in the third quarter but spend most of the fourth quarter on the bench, prompting fans to chant“We Want Mike ”as they hungered for one final glance at Jordan on the court. 4 Their persistence was rewarded when Jordan return to the court with 2∶35 remaining to a standing ovation, the crowd ignoring the re mainder of the blowout to thrill at his final touches.

　　Thank for Jordan, for all the magic moments and memories.

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　　練習(xí)題：

　?、? Matching:

　　1. put an end A. have control of

　　2. leave behind B. by one person

　　3. single-handedly C. great applause or cheering

　　4. ovation D. end

　　5. dominate E. take leave of

　?、? True o r Fa lse :

　　1. Jordan concluded his career as a basketball player in victory.

　　2. Probably Jordan will come back again after retirement for the third time.

　　3. Jordan was named the season MVP five times and won NBA scoring title a record 10 times.

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　　參考答案

　?、? 1. D 2. E 3 . B 4 . C 5. A

　　Ⅱ. 1. F 2. F 3 . T

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　　參考譯文：

　　飛人喬丹費(fèi)城謝幕

　　107比87 負(fù)于76 人隊(duì)——— 這場(chǎng)球給超級(jí)巨星15 年輝煌的籃球職業(yè)生涯畫(huà)上了句號(hào)。

　　在賓西法尼亞州的費(fèi)城, 邁克爾· 喬丹終于鼓起勇氣離開(kāi)籃球場(chǎng)。打完了最后一場(chǎng)比賽, 他告別了籃球——— 這項(xiàng)被他稱(chēng)為情人與摯友的運(yùn)動(dòng)。

　　2003 年4 月16 日, 費(fèi)城76 人隊(duì)以107 比87 戰(zhàn)勝了喬丹率領(lǐng)的華盛頓奇才隊(duì)——— 這位40 歲的超級(jí)巨星, 就這樣結(jié)束了他15 年富有傳奇色彩的N BA 職業(yè)生涯。這是喬丹第三次也是最后一次退役, 因而比賽本身倒顯得次要了。喬丹對(duì)籃球的摯愛(ài)是前無(wú)古人的,而這項(xiàng)運(yùn)動(dòng)也帶給他6 次N BA 總冠軍、2 枚奧運(yùn)會(huì)金牌和一個(gè)世界傳奇。

　　喬丹率領(lǐng)芝加哥公牛隊(duì)取得了6 個(gè)N BA 總冠軍。他曾5 次獲得賽季最有價(jià)值球員稱(chēng)號(hào), 并創(chuàng)下了10 次被評(píng)為得分王的記錄。喬丹兩度退隱, 又兩度復(fù)出, 然而年近四十的他已無(wú)法再只手控制比賽了, 他說(shuō)他“ 百分之百地肯定”這是他在這項(xiàng)他終身熱愛(ài)的運(yùn)動(dòng)中的最后表演。“ 愛(ài)是很微妙的東西, ”喬丹說(shuō),“ 一旦你愛(ài)上了這項(xiàng)運(yùn)動(dòng), 你就會(huì)永遠(yuǎn)愛(ài)它,不知什么時(shí)候才能離開(kāi)。我已經(jīng)試過(guò)兩次。”喬丹第一次退隱是在1993 年。此后他玩過(guò)棒球, 但毫無(wú)建樹(shù)。1995 年復(fù)出后, 他又摘取了3 個(gè)N BA 冠軍。1999 年他再次退役, 翌年出任奇才隊(duì)的最高執(zhí)行官。而一年半后, 他又重返籃球賽場(chǎng)。“ 每次我都想為我和籃球的這場(chǎng)戀愛(ài)設(shè)定一個(gè)結(jié)束的時(shí)間?？晌抑烙肋h(yuǎn)也無(wú)法結(jié)束。只是現(xiàn)在我已經(jīng)足夠堅(jiān)強(qiáng), 能夠說(shuō), 我需要離開(kāi)它。”

　　這次喬丹肯定他不會(huì)再?gòu)?fù)出。在最后一場(chǎng)比賽中, 他得了15 分, 最后一分是在比賽還剩1 分45 秒的時(shí)候罰球命中的。隨后他被換下場(chǎng), 坐在替補(bǔ)席上。此時(shí)運(yùn)動(dòng)場(chǎng)上座無(wú)虛席, 21 259 名觀眾起身為他歡呼了三分鐘。

　　比賽的第三節(jié)喬丹率先為華盛頓奇才隊(duì)取得了4 分, 但是第四節(jié)他幾乎一直坐在替補(bǔ)席上。這使得臺(tái)下的球迷齊呼“ 我們要邁克”, 因?yàn)樗麄兛释欢脝痰ぴ谇驁?chǎng)上最后的英姿。在球迷的一再堅(jiān)持下, 離比賽結(jié)束還有2 分35 秒時(shí), 喬丹再度上場(chǎng)。觀眾起立為他最后的亮相歡呼, 而無(wú)視球隊(duì)的潰敗。

　　感謝喬丹, 感謝他為我們帶來(lái)的所有的神奇回憶。