美国国家公共电台 NPR Rural South Korean County Prepares For Role As 2018 Winter Olympics Host

 

DAVID GREENE, HOST:

Next February, South Korea is going to be hosting the Winter Olympics. It is being held in a county called PyeongChang which really does not like to be confused with North Korea's capital Pyongyang, so much so that it altered the spelling of its name. Even with that, though, a delegate to a recent Olympic conference flew to the wrong Korea by accident. NPR's Lauren Frayer did manage to visit the actual Olympic venues¹ in the correct spot, and she sent this report.

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LAUREN FRAYER, BYLINE²: Jeon Chung-won tends sheep on a hilly farm where he was born in PyeongChang, 80 miles east of Seoul.

JEON CHUNG-WON: (Speaking Korean).

FRAYER: It's a simple, peaceful place where the mountain air hugs you," he says.

JEON: (Speaking Korean).

FRAYER: Only a handful of domestic tourists typically come here to hike green hills dotted with Buddhist³ temples or visit a small ski station nearby. But that is about to change.

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UNIDENTIFIED MAN #1: PyeongChang 2018, new horizons.

FRAYER: Next year, this county of just 43,000 people will host the Winter Olympics. Besides locals, PyeongChang was previously⁴ known only to athletes like Bae Ji-young, who moved here 15 years ago to train with South Korea's national cross-country ski team.

BAE JI-YOUNG: When I went here first time, this place was really undeveloped. Normally, we have a lot of heavy snow, so I climbed every mountain.

FRAYER: She's watched hundreds of buildings shoot up over the course of three Olympic bids - the third was successful. I got a tour of the Olympic venues. The wind is howling. The height is pretty terrifying. I'm staring down a narrow trough at the top of the PyeongChang ski jump.

NANCY PARK: We hear a lot of, you know, stories about the Olympic Games where people are, you know, they're still, you know, building things as athletes walk in. And we don't have that situation.

FRAYER: Olympic spokeswoman Nancy Park says 97 percent of the Olympic venues are already complete. The surrounding infrastructure⁵, on the other hand...

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FRAYER: Single-lane mountain roads are being widened. There's no local airport. A high-speed rail link is being built from the capital. Eight months out, all of PyeongChang is like an obstacle course of orange cones⁶. And then there's another possible hazard - North Korea, just 40 miles away. Olympic spokeswoman Park says North Korean athletes have been granted rare permission to drive across the demilitarized zone to compete.

PARK: As of yet, they don't have any qualified⁷ athletes. But if they do attend as qualifying athletes, of course, they'll be staying in the Olympic Village. Obviously, there is a lot of attention for these North Korean athletes, but they are a symbol of the peace element of the Olympics.

FRAYER: When a North Korean propaganda balloon recently flew across the border, South Korean soldiers stationed near PyeongChang fired 90 machine gun rounds at it. But locals are more worried about absorbing the estimated 80,000 tourists a day come February.

UNIDENTIFIED MAN #2: (Speaking Korean).

FRAYER: Some of those tourists may book accommodation here, in a seventh century Buddhist temple, one of dozens in the PyeongChang Hills. Temple tour guide Choi Du-yeol is actually a Catholic.

CHOI DU-YEOL: (Speaking Korean).

FRAYER: But he says he takes pride in Korea's Buddhist history.

CHOI: (Speaking Korean).

FRAYER: "We're all working together to show off our tiny corner of Korea to the world," he says. This is the first winter Olympics in East Asia since the Nagano Games 20 years ago. The opening ceremony is set for February 9. Lauren Frayer, NPR News, PyeongChang, South Korea.

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1 venues   

n.聚集地点( venue的名词复数 )；会场；（尤指）体育比赛场所；犯罪地点

参考例句：

• The band will be playing at 20 different venues on their UK tour. 这个乐队在英国巡回演出期间将在20个不同的地点演出。
• Farmers market corner, 800 meters long, 60 meters wide livestock trading venues. 农牧市场东北角，有长800米，宽60米的牲畜交易场地。 来自互联网

2 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

3 Buddhist   

adj./n.佛教的，佛教徒

参考例句：

• The old lady fell down in adoration before Buddhist images.那老太太在佛像面前顶礼膜拜。
• In the eye of the Buddhist,every worldly affair is vain.在佛教徒的眼里，人世上一切事情都是空的。

4 previously   

adv.以前，先前（地）

参考例句：

• The bicycle tyre blew out at a previously damaged point.自行车胎在以前损坏过的地方又爆开了。
• Let me digress for a moment and explain what had happened previously.让我岔开一会儿，解释原先发生了什么。

5 infrastructure   

n.下部构造，下部组织，基础结构，基础设施

参考例句：

• We should step up the development of infrastructure for research.加强科学基础设施建设。
• We should strengthen cultural infrastructure and boost various types of popular culture.加强文化基础设施建设，发展各类群众文化。

6 cones   

n.（人眼）圆锥细胞；圆锥体( cone的名词复数 )；球果；圆锥形东西；（盛冰淇淋的）锥形蛋卷筒

参考例句：

• In the pines squirrels commonly chew off and drop entire cones. 松树上的松鼠通常咬掉和弄落整个球果。 来自辞典例句
• Many children would rather eat ice cream from cones than from dishes. 许多小孩喜欢吃蛋卷冰淇淋胜过盘装冰淇淋。 来自辞典例句

7 qualified   

adj.合格的，有资格的，胜任的，有限制的

参考例句：

• He is qualified as a complete man of letters.他有资格当真正的文学家。
• We must note that we still lack qualified specialists.我们必须看到我们还缺乏有资质的专家。