Based on the provided story, here are explanations for the difficult words and phrases.
College and Sports Terminology
Bottom of the roster: This phrase means a player is at the lowest position on a team's list of members. They are the least likely to play in a game.
College athlete: This is a student who plays a sport at a college or university.
Straight A’s: This refers to a student receiving the highest possible grade (an A) in all of their classes.
Sophomore/Junior/Senior season: In the U.S. education system, a sophomore is a second-year student, a junior is a third-year student, and a senior is a fourth-year student. A "season" refers to the period of the school year when a sport is played.
Pitching staff: In baseball, the pitching staff is the group of all the players on the team whose job is to throw the ball to the batter.
All-conference team: This is an honor given to the best players in a particular sports conference, which is a group of colleges that compete against each other.
ESPN Academic All-America Team: A prestigious honor given to college athletes who excel both in their sport and in their academic studies.
Descriptive Phrases
Rippled into the classroom: This is a metaphor. It means the positive effects of one thing (gaining confidence) spread out and caused positive changes in another area (academics), just as dropping a pebble in water creates ripples that spread outward.
Featherweight: This term is often used in sports like boxing to describe a very light person. In this context, it's used to emphasize how skinny the author was at 170 pounds before he started weight training.
Medically induced coma: This is a temporary coma caused by medication given by doctors. It's used to protect the brain from swelling or damage after a severe injury.
Sounds boastful: This phrase means the author is worried he sounds like he is bragging or showing off about his accomplishments.
Fulfill my potential: This means to achieve or realize one's full abilities and capabilities.
Compound into remarkable results: This refers to the idea that small, consistent actions, when repeated over a long period, grow and multiply into very significant outcomes. Think of it like a small amount of money in a savings account that grows exponentially over many years due to interest.
Gradual evolution: This means a slow and steady process of change over a long period of time, rather than a sudden or immediate transformation.
Tiny breakthroughs: These are small, but significant, moments of progress or discovery that contribute to overall success. They are not huge, "ah-ha!" moments, but rather little wins that build on each other.
No comments:
Post a Comment