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(单词翻译:双击或拖选)
Another change due to the coronavirus — Japan's prime minister says the Tokyo Olympics, which were supposed to start on July 24, will be postponed2 until next summer at the latest. Now, the Olympics have been cancelled three times before because of world wars. They've never been rescheduled, though. NPR's Anthony Kuhn is covering this from Seoul, South Korea. Hi, Anthony.
现在来关注另一个由冠状病毒引起的变化——日本首相宣布,推迟原定于7月24日开幕的东京奥运会,最晚明年夏天举行。此前,奥运会曾因世界大战取消过三次。但从未改期。NPR新闻的安东尼·库恩将从韩国首尔带来详细报道。你好,安东尼。
ANTHONY KUHN, BYLINE3: Hi, Noel.
安东尼·库恩连线:你好,诺埃尔。
KING: What did Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe say about the cancellation4?
金:日本首相安倍晋三对取消计划有何说明?
KUHN: Well, he came out and spoke5 to reporters after a phone call with International Olympic Committee chief, President Thomas Bach, and he said that he had requested the postponement6 because of the current situation and in order to have the optimum conditions for athletes and a safe environment for spectators. And he said Thomas Bach and the IOC support him 100% on his suggestion.
库恩:他与国际奥委会(简称IOC)主席托马斯·巴赫通话后接受了记者采访,他表示,他要求推迟奥运会是出于对当前情况的考量,也是为了给运动会提供最佳的条件,为观众提供安全的环境。他说,托马斯·巴赫主席和国际奥委会百分百支持他的建议。
KING: The really interesting thing here is that even, like, yesterday, the IOC and Japanese officials were insistent7 that the Olympic Games would not be postponed or canceled. Why were they so adamant8 at that time?
金:非常值得注意的是,就在昨天,国际奥委会和日本官员还坚称奥运会不会推迟或取消。当时他们为什么如此坚定?
KUHN: Well, for weeks, they just wouldn't budge9. They said that cancellation or postponement was unthinkable. They said, hey, it's four months out; it's too early to decide this sort of thing. And increasingly, they were being criticized for being in denial and not prioritizing the health of the athletes. You know, I think it may have also been just such a nightmarish scenario10 to them to postpone1 the games that they just wouldn't admit it if they absolutely did not have to, and that's the way it started to get.
库恩:数周以来,他们一直不肯改变意见。他们认为,取消或推迟是不可想象的。他们说,嘿,还有四个月时间;现在决定这类事情为时过早。而指责他们剥夺和不重视运动员健康的人越来越多。我认为推迟奥运会对他们来说可能是噩梦般的场景,所以如果完全没有必要的话,他们不会接受这种情况,这就是一开始的情况。
At this point, almost half of the athletes have had — not had their qualifying trials. And yeah, so — and also, training camps have been canceled or postponed. So it's not clear how this would happen if the games were to go ahead. At the same time, you've got corporate11 sponsors in Japan who are sinking hundreds of million dollars into advertising12 and sponsorship deals, and they were getting antsy. They wanted clarification.
目前,几乎一半的运动员仍未获得参赛资格。训练营已被取消或推迟。现在并不清楚如果奥运会照常举行,会是怎样的情形。同时,日本的企业赞助商在广告和赞助合同上投入了数亿美元,他们已经坐立不安。他们需要解释。
So finally, on Sunday, the IOC said, all right, we have to consider some Plan B's, including postponement. Yesterday, Shinzo Abe said, well, under the current conditions, we cannot hold the games. But he did insist that the games would go on later, that, you know, at worst they would be postponed but not cancelled.
终于,国际奥委会在周日表示,好吧,我们必须考虑B计划,这包括延期。昨天,安倍晋三表示,鉴于目前的情况,我们无法举行奥运会。但他坚称,奥运会将在晚些时候举行,最坏的情况是推迟而不是取消。
KING: And here we have him saying that they will be postponed, and I wonder what's involved in that? I would imagine, first, there's a lot of money on the line here, right?
金:他说他们将推迟奥运会,我想知道这牵涉哪些事情?我可以想象到,首先这涉及大量资金,对吧?
KUHN: That's right, by some estimates $28 billion in spending on infrastructure13 investment, broadcasting rights, corporate sponsorship, advertising — all this stuff is now up in the air. Remember that, you know, they need sports venues14 for these things, and some of those things are already booked with other events for 2021. So they've now got to redo that schedule. You know, travel — so many logistical things need to be rethought out. It really is a nightmare for them. One interesting thing is they said it's still going to be called the 2020 Olympics, even though it's going to be in the summer of 2021, so maybe they'll save a little money on not having to reprint T-shirts.
库恩:没错,据估计,基础设施投资、转播权、企业赞助、广告等方面的支出达到280亿美元,现在这些全部成为不确定因素。要记住,他们需要准备运动场馆,部分场馆已经被定于2021年举行的其他比赛预定。因此,他们现在必须重新制定计划。还有许多后勤工作需要重新考虑。这对他们来说真的是场噩梦。其中一件值得注意的事情是,他们说这仍将被称为2020年奥运会,尽管奥运会将推迟到2021年夏天,也许不必重新印制T恤会为他们节省一点资金。
KING: Oh, that's so interesting. It's like when the Super Bowl — when they print T-shirts for the side that wins but also the side that loses in advance. That's kind of fascinating. So let me ask you about the spread of the virus in Japan. We haven't heard much about that recently. Is the virus spreading there quickly, and is that a contributing factor with respect to the cancellation?
金:哦,这真有趣。这很像超级碗,他们为获胜队伍印制T恤,同时也会提前为输球的队伍印制T恤。这很有趣。我想问一下日本的病毒传播情况。最近我们没有听到太多消息。病毒是否在日本迅速传播,这是否是导致计划取消的因素?
KUHN: It's not spreading as quickly as some people had feared. And their 1,800 cases there, which includes passengers on a cruise ship, is a lot lower than their neighbors in China and in South Korea. But experts have been warning that there could be a second wave of cases, and they've warned local governments and hospitals to prepare to be flooded with these people. They point out that, you know, they've really been testing very few people relative to their capacity. And Tokyo's governor warned yesterday that if — warned today that if cases spike15, they might have to lock down Tokyo.
库恩:传播速度没有一些人担心的那样快。目前日本报告了1800例病例,这包括在一艘游轮上感染的乘客,病例数量比邻国中国和韩国要少得多。但专家警告称,可能出现第二波病例,他们告诫当地政府和医院为应对这些人的涌入做好准备。他们指出,相对于他们的能力来说,他们检测的人数很少。东京市长今天警告说,如果病例数激增,他们可能会封锁东京。
KING: Just really quickly — are we certain that the games will be held in the summer of 2021?
金:请快速回答这个问题,我们能确定东京奥运会将在2021年夏天举行吗?
KUHN: It's certainly too early to tell now. But, you know, cancellation would be their absolute worst-case scenario, and it would cost them even more than they would lose from postponement.
库恩:显然,现在下结论为时过早。但是,取消奥运会对他们来说绝对是最坏的情况,因为这会令他们付出的代价远超因延期而蒙受的损失。
KING: NPR's Anthony Kuhn in Seoul. Anthony, thanks so much.
金:以上是NPR新闻的安东尼·库恩从首尔带来的报道。安东尼,非常谢谢你。
KUHN: Thank you.
库恩:谢谢。
![收听单词发音](/images/play.gif)
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postpone
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v.延期,推迟 | |
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postponed
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vt.& vi.延期,缓办,(使)延迟vt.把…放在次要地位;[语]把…放在后面(或句尾)vi.(疟疾等)延缓发作(或复发) | |
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byline
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n.署名;v.署名 | |
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cancellation
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n.删除,取消 | |
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spoke
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n.(车轮的)辐条;轮辐;破坏某人的计划;阻挠某人的行动 v.讲,谈(speak的过去式);说;演说;从某种观点来说 | |
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postponement
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n.推迟 | |
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insistent
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adj.迫切的,坚持的 | |
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adamant
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adj.坚硬的,固执的 | |
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budge
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v.移动一点儿;改变立场 | |
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scenario
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n.剧本,脚本;概要 | |
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corporate
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adj.共同的,全体的;公司的,企业的 | |
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advertising
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n.广告业;广告活动 a.广告的;广告业务的 | |
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infrastructure
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n.下部构造,下部组织,基础结构,基础设施 | |
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venues
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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 | |
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spike
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n.长钉,钉鞋;v.以大钉钉牢,使...失效 | |
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