Reader question:

Please explain “track record” in this sentence: “Horford says he wasn’t certain if Delly did it on purpose but he has a track record.”

Does Horford suspect that Delly did it on purpose?

My comments:

Yes, Horford, Al Horford of the Atlanta Hawks, a pro basketball team of the NBA) suspects that Delly (Matthew Dellavedova of the Cleveland Cavaliers) did it (diving at Horford’s leg) on purpose.

Horford has this suspicion because of Delly’s track record. In other words, Horford suspects that Delly did it before.

Track, you see, is the path people or animals make by walking frequently in the same direction. If a pack of wolves run past the village on virgin snow, for example, they will leave a track of footprints. Following this track, or rather these footprints, huntsmen can track the wolves down.

As in beaten track, that is.

A record on the other hand is a written list of a detailed event or events stored in, say, the computer so that it can be looked at in the future.

A track record, therefore, is, literally, a record of someone’s past deeds put together. If you want to know what they did in the past, either good or bad, all you need to do is look into this record.

In our example, although Horford wasn’t certain if Delly did it on purpose, he says he is suspicious because Delly has a track record of similar events in the past.

Anyways, that’s what a track record is, and it can be either good or bad. Delly’s track record is not very good in Horford’s eyes.

If you have a track record of hard work, that record may help you when you look for jobs in the future.

Now, that’s an example of a good track record.

See?

Alright, let’s read media examples of “track record”, including the report involving the said Horford and Delly (in Example 3):

1. Former Republican Rep. J.C. Watts said on Sunday’s “Face the Nation” that he is supporting former House Speaker Newt Gingrich because he has a track record of “getting results.”

“I think Newt Gingrich has a proven track record of changing Washington and getting results,” the former Oklahoma congressman told “Face the Nation” host Bob Schieffer.

“All the things we’re talking about on a national level today - balanced budgets, tax relief, paying down our national debt, entitlement reform - when Newt was Speaker, he did those things,” Watts added. “We had balanced budgets... The only time we’ve had balanced budgets in my lifetime, and I’m 54. We had entitlement reform with welfare. We paid our $450 billion toward our national debt... I am one of the people that believe that Newt Gingrich creates, I think, the kind of Republican Party that I want.”

- J.C. Watts: Gingrich has a proven track record, CBSNews.com, January 1, 2012.

2. David Cameron has said there is an “economic, moral and practical” case for lower taxes as he set out his central election pledges on taxation.

The prime minister said, under his plans, no-one would pay tax on the first ￡12,500 of their income by 2020.

In a speech in Hampshire, he said the government had a track record of taking the lowest-paid out of tax altogether.

But Nick Clegg said it was a “brazen attempt” by the Conservatives to take credit for a Liberal Democrat policy.

The Conservative-Lib Dem coalition has increased the point at which people start paying income tax - known as the annual personal allowance - from ￡6,475 in 2010-2011 to ￡10,600 in 2015-6 - meaning from April those earning less than ￡100,000 will pay no tax on the first ￡10,600 of income.

Both parties have pledged to lift this threshold to ￡12,500 during the next Parliament although they are at odds over who has spearheaded the policy, with both seeking to take the credit.

- Election 2015: People ‘deserve tax cuts’ Cameron says, BBC.com, January 26, 2015.

3. CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Atlanta Hawks forward Al Horford says he does not know if Cavaliers guard Matthew Dellavedova dove at his legs with malicious intent, but he says Cleveland’s second-year player needs to develop a sense of the difference between hustle and recklessness.

Horford was ejected Sunday from Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Finals against the Cavaliers after retaliating with an elbow to the back of Dellavedova’s head as the two players crashed to the floor with 34 seconds left in the second quarter.

The Cavaliers went on to defeat the Hawks, 114-111 in overtime to take a commanding 3-0 lead in the best-of-seven series.

Horford said afterward that Dellavedova has a track record of diving at players legs, that includes an ankle injury to Kyle Korver in Game 2, and rolling into Horford’s leg in that same game. He also pointed to Dellavedova’s involvement in the ejection of Chicago Bulls forward Taj Gibson in Game 5 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals.

“I don’t think it was malicious,” Horford said of Dellavedova’s contact to his legs. “But I think he’s got to learn.”

Horford, who was leading the Hawks with 14 points and had four rebounds at the time of the play, said he told referee Ken Mauer that he thought Dellavedova was diving at his legs.

“If it was on purpose or not we don’t know, maybe it wasn’t on purpose,” Horford said. “But with (Dellavedova’s) track record, I just felt like it was. And again, on my part it was very, very poor judgement.”

- Atlanta Hawks forward Al Horford says Cavaliers’ Matthew Dellavedova has a ‘track record’ of diving at players, Cleveland.com, May 24, 2015.

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About the author:

Zhang Xin is Trainer at chinadaily.com.cn. He has been with China Daily since 1988, when he graduated from Beijing Foreign Studies University. Write him at: zhangxin@chinadaily.com.cn, or raise a question for potential use in a future column.

（作者張欣 中國(guó)日?qǐng)?bào)網(wǎng)英語(yǔ)點(diǎn)津 編輯：陳丹妮）