Armour: Lies of Lance Armstrong keep coming

Armour: Lies of Lance Armstrong keep coming

Part 1: Pre-reading

1. Lance Armstrong might have a new scandal recently.

2. No.  Coin has two sides. People have two sides likewise. It would be more scientific to judge people by Objective facts rather than subjective assumption. Positive power in society should be advocated for the sake of harmonious and sustainable development of our human beings.      

Part 2: Comprehension

1. The author of this article is possibly one of Lance Armstrong’s opponents and was very probably discredited ever by Lance Armstrong and the cycling's highest officials. Or the author is likely a journalist, and his job is just to create such appealing articles with many disputes to meet his commercial purpose. The more attention attracted, the more profits he would obtain.

2. The intended audience might be sports authorities, cyclists, including Lance Armstrong, and all the cycling fans. As we can see from the journal, this article was posted on website “http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/cycling/2015/03/09/lance-armstrong-circ-report-inestigation-uci-doping-tour-de-france/24671189/”.  People who are interested in sports, especially in cycling, tend to read such articles frequently to get latest hot news about their idols, e.g. game schedules, game follow-ups, or any disputed scandals.

3.  The author has a very clear target.  He aimed to remind the sports authorities, cyclists, and all the cycling fans that Lance Armstrong is not a trustful person. What Armstrong has said or done shouldn’t be believed.  The article content is full of adverse comments about Lance Armstrong. The language he used is slanderous, insulting and sarcastic.

4. The central claim of the article is that Lance Armstrong is not a trustful person.

5. Below are three reasons that have been provided to support the central claim.

(1). New evidence from the Cycling Independent Reform Commission (CIRC) shows up. Armstrong wasn't trying to compete in the games fairly before but through some particular ways to control the field period. That made the competition results lose authenticity.

(2). Armstrong's lawyers and agent were possibly involved in the supposedly independent investigation into allegations that Armstrong had doped in the 1999 Tour. That shouldn’t have happened if he were innocent.

(3). The reason Armstrong was still able to get a role in the playing field at that time is that cycling badly needs a favorable turn after those ugly doping scandals. No matter what purpose they had, Armstrong’s words and behavior became unreliable.

6. Two confusing vocabulary words were found.  After searching in Oxford dictionary website, the definitions are as below:

(1). Pariah - definition of a pariah in English from the Oxford: Basic meaning is an outcast and historically a member of an indigenouos ［sic］people of southern India originally ［sic］functioning as ceremonial drummers but later having a low caste. (Oxford Dictionaries)

(2). Complicity: It is a noun. It means the fact or condition of being involved with others in an activity that is unlawful or morally wrong. (Oxford Dictionaries)

Part 3: Summarize & Respond

Nancy Armour in her article Armour: Lies of Lance Armstrong keep coming states that “There is no end to Lance Armstrong's lies and deceit”. (Armour) She lists three reasons to prove that Lance Armstrong is not a trustful person. One reason is a finding from a new report from the Cycling Independent Reform Commission (CIRC). Namely, Armstrong wasn't trying to compete in the games fairly before but used some hanky-panky tactics to control the field period. By “special relationship” (Armour), he was very likely to manage to get cycling's highest officials to discredit anyone who dared doubt or offend him. Next, she brings out another reason that Armstrong's lawyers and agent were possibly involved in the “supposedly independent investigation into allegations that Armstrong had doped in the 1999 Tour”. (Armour) That would make Armstrong lose more integrity in front of the public. Lastly, she points out that it is because cycling badly needs a favorable turn after those ugly doping scandals, then Armstrong was still able to get a role in the playing field. No matter what Armstrong said or did, in her eyes, it is not creditable at all. She believes Armstrong must be a completely hypocrite with different kinds of lies and deceit. People should be reminded to open their eyes to look for the truth behind.

However, the fact is, genius is envied by people easily, meanwhile, Blood of the Losers. No one is perfect. Lance Armstrong is a genius and hero in the cycling sport.  What he accomplished in his life has deeply impressed most people in the world beyond all questions. It is undoubted that the doping affair indeed brought him a lot of negative influences. But no one can erase his brilliant records made in sports history. As a symbol of an era, his extraordinary courage and power demonstrated in the games are illuminating and shaping generations of the youth of different countries. During the cancer recovery period, he kept high spirit like a fighter all the time and did believe he would be better. In his autobiographic book It's Not About the Bike, he emphasizes that he needs to be remembered not just for winning many bicycle races, at the same time, he is a cancer survivor. As a member of the President's Cancer Panel, he spared no effort to help the cancer patients and survivors and tried his best to promote the attention level for cancer from society.  His personal achievements are also irreplaceable that he continuously won the Tour de France champion for seven times. Most important, he is so brave to stand out to speak for the justice of sports and apologize sincerely for what he did improperly in the past. It doesn’t matter that he is for commercial purpose or development of cycling or not.  It is a real success story and will inspire all the young people throughout the world in years to come to pursue their dreams. That is enough. Though all the honorable reputations have been deprived, he remains a hard man. Just take a look at his present life, he doesn’t become depressed or frustrated like those who lost glorious career in the field usually did. Life is not always fair and rewarding. Sometimes, we must stand the life and make our most endeavor to find a way out. He sets us a good example to face the up-and-downs of our life. This world is never prepared for any cowards. It is for the man who has great willpower and courage. Lance Armstrong is the winner of life.