【轻松英文阅读】奥林匹克的那些事儿

 Speaking of Olympic trivia, the Sochi Olympics are already breaking many records. Probably the most surprising is the cost of the games. According to some estimates, this will be the most expensive Olympic Games ever, summer or winter. In fact, at 51 billion dollars it will total more than every previous Winter Olympics combined. A lot of that money will be going to security. This will be the most heavily guarded Olympics in history.

 

This year’s Olympics are expensive, but that money is not going into making bronze medals. A bronze medal is made of an alloy¹ of tin and copper² and costs around five dollars.

 

But third place winners can't complain too much; in the early Olympics they didn’t even get a medal. At the Paris Games in 1900 even the first place winners didn’t get a medal; they got trophies³ instead.

 

Did you know that an Olympic gold medal is made almost entirely⁴ of sterling⁵ silver? Yes, it’s true. In fact, the only difference between it and the silver medal is about six grams of gold covering the surface. The last time somebody got a pure gold medal was at the 1912 Olympics in Stockholm.

 

Medals that will be given out on February 15 will have a special ingredient. They will contain fragments of the meteorite⁶ which crashed into Russia last year on the same date. It will be the first cosmic medal— a pretty cool idea, don’t you think?

1 alloy   

n.合金，(金属的)成色

参考例句：

• The company produces titanium alloy.该公司生产钛合金。
• Bronze is an alloy of copper and tin.青铜是铜和锡的合金。

2 copper   

n.铜；铜币；铜器；adj.铜(制)的；(紫)铜色的

参考例句：

• The students are asked to prove the purity of copper.要求学生们检验铜的纯度。
• Copper is a good medium for the conduction of heat and electricity.铜是热和电的良导体。

3 trophies   

n.（为竞赛获胜者颁发的）奖品( trophy的名词复数 )；奖杯；（尤指狩猎或战争中获得的）纪念品；（用于比赛或赛跑名称）奖

参考例句：

• His football trophies were prominently displayed in the kitchen. 他的足球奖杯陈列在厨房里显眼的位置。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The hunter kept the lion's skin and head as trophies. 这猎人保存狮子的皮和头作为纪念品。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

4 entirely   

ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The fire was entirely caused by their neglect of duty. 那场火灾完全是由于他们失职而引起的。
• His life was entirely given up to the educational work. 他的一生统统献给了教育工作。

5 sterling   

adj.英币的(纯粹的，货真价实的)；n.英国货币(英镑)

参考例句：

• Could you tell me the current rate for sterling, please?能否请您告诉我现行英国货币的兑换率？
• Sterling has recently been strong,which will help to abate inflationary pressures.英国货币最近非常坚挺，这有助于减轻通胀压力。

6 meteorite   

n.陨石；流星

参考例句：

• The meteorite in Jilin Exhibition Hall is believed to be the largest in the world.吉林展览馆的陨石被认为是世界上最大的。
• The famous Murchison meteorite smashed into the Australian ground in 1969.1969年著名的默奇森陨石轰然坠落在澳大利亚。