Passage 19
学霸导读 篮坛巨星科比虽已陨落，但他的曼巴精神将永远激励我们前进。
In “Dear Basketball”, a letter announcing his retirement, Kobe Bryant wrote,
From the moment
I started rolling my Dad’s tube socks
And shooting imaginary
Game-winning shots ...
I knew one thing was real:
A love so deep I gave you my all.
“My all” meant training obsessively （ 着迷地，强迫症般地 ）. He would go to the gym， shooting for hundreds of times， not just taking shots， but making them， running steps and patterns， practicing shots off the rebound （ 篮板球 ） for hours， all day， all night. Then， when the a 1 game arrived， it was all just muscle-memory.
For 20 seasons， Bryant played as a shooting guard （ 得分后卫 ） for the Lakers. With them he won f ive NBA championship rings and was the Most Valuable Player in two f inals. His 81 points at home against Toronto， in 2006， was the second-highest individual score recorded in the league （ 联赛 ） history. By the time he retired he had the third-highest points total， 33，643， overtaken o 2 recently by the game’s present leading star， LeBron James.
The following day， Bryant was gone. The helicopter he was taking to his daughter’s youthbasketball tournament （ 锦标赛 ） crashed in California. The l 3 was one of the most shocking in the history of sports. To many， it was as if a vein （ 静脉 ） had been o 4 . Fans around the world and many NBA players wept （ 哭泣 ） publicly at the legendary player’s untimely passing.
Bryant’s relentless （ 持续强烈的 ） pursuit of perfection i 5 a generation in what has become known as the Mamba Mentality （ 曼巴精神 ）. “I r 6 having a conversation with him about how inspiring it was to watch his documentary Kobe Bryant’s Muse...，” Cleveland Cavaliers forward Kevin Love said. “I talked to him about it at length （ 充分地，详细地 ）， and it still gives me chills （ 让我战栗 ） to this day.”
“Just grit （ 坚毅 ）， stick-to-itiveness （ 坚持不懈 ）， toughness，” Cavaliers forward Larry Nance Jr. said. “Obviously， everyone doesn’t have the same level of skill or t 7 ， but to maximize and optimize the potential that you have and squeeze everything that you can out of this game that we all love is just so important. The Mamba Mentality， I wish more people got to see it up close and see it in person.”
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高频词汇
imaginary adj. 想象中的，虚构的
overtake /ˌəʊvə'teɪk/ v. 超过，赶上
legendary /'ledʒəndri/ adj. 名声显赫的；津津乐道的
untimely /ʌn'taɪmli/ adj. （坏事的发生） 过早的；不合时宜的
pursuit /pə'sjuːt/ n. 追求；从事；实行
toughness /'tʌfnəs/ n. 韧性，坚韧
maximize /'mæksɪmaɪz/ v. 使最大化；使最重要
optimize /'ɒptɪmaɪz/ v. 持续优化完善
squeeze /skwiːz/ v. 捏，挤，榨