最新15篇文章贯通英语四级词汇MP3 Unit15-Part4

[00:00.00]The most prominent symbols
[00:02.18]of the Olympic Games today
[00:03.72]did not originate in classical times.
[00:06.67]The Olympic torch was
[00:08.89]an innovation in 1916.
[00:12.28]The five rings were originally
[00:14.69]introduced to represent the first
[00:16.99]five Olympics of the modern
[00:19.39]era from 1896 to 1912.
[00:23.55]In 1920 the rings were revived
[00:26.83]to represent the five continents
[00:28.58]with North and South America
[00:30.99]being represented by one ring.
[00:33.72]The 1936 Olympics in Nazi¹ Germany,
[00:37.66]was the site of
[00:39.08]the first lighting²
[00:40.07]of the Olympic flame.
[00:41.93]The spirit of intense competition
[00:44.56]in association with heroism³
[00:46.75]and national pride, remain
[00:49.48]major themes of the Olympics today,
[00:52.76]much as they were
[00:54.07]over 2000 years ago.
[00:56.04]Today, countries send their best,
[00:58.89]amateur and professional alike,
[01:01.18]to compete for the highest honours.
[01:04.80]Athletes also still try to
[01:06.98]find an advantage to
[01:08.63]give a better performance
[01:10.38]than all other competitors,
[01:12.24]sometimes, unfortunately,
[01:14.31]not always following the rules.
[01:17.92]Every four years, or
[01:21.43]every two years when
[01:23.39]one includes the winter Olympics,
[01:25.37]which began in 1924,
[01:27.11]the world focuses on
[01:29.08]a human event that represents
[01:31.49]the good of humanity.
[01:33.89]Motivated for a couple of weeks,
[01:36.31]in those years, people
[01:38.49]and nations try to forget
[01:42.21]their troubles, put aside
[01:43.96]their differences and conflicts,
[01:45.16]and become part of
[01:47.24]a vast promotion⁴ of
[01:46.57]good global relations and cooperation.
[01:50.40]One sometimes wonders if the Olympics
[01:53.79]serve as a safety valve
[01:55.54]in international human relations,
[01:57.73]attributing to a collective sanity⁵
[02:00.47]in a world that,
[02:02.21]not unlike that of ancient times,
[02:04.73]is perpetually the scene
[02:06.81]of conflict, strife⁶, and human misery⁷.
[02:11.07]Certainly one would like to
[02:13.48]think that that is the case.
[02:15.89]If not, one can always hope

1 Nazi   

n.纳粹分子，adj.纳粹党的，纳粹的

参考例句：

• They declare the Nazi regime overthrown and sue for peace.他们宣布纳粹政权已被推翻，并出面求和。
• Nazi closes those war criminals inside their concentration camp.纳粹把那些战犯关在他们的集中营里。

2 lighting   

n.照明，光线的明暗，舞台灯光

参考例句：

• The gas lamp gradually lost ground to electric lighting.煤气灯逐渐为电灯所代替。
• The lighting in that restaurant is soft and romantic.那个餐馆照明柔和而且浪漫。

3 heroism   

n.大无畏精神，英勇

参考例句：

• He received a medal for his heroism.他由于英勇而获得一枚奖章。
• Stories of his heroism resounded through the country.他的英雄故事传遍全国。

4 promotion   

n.提升，晋级；促销，宣传

参考例句：

• The teacher conferred with the principal about Dick's promotion.教师与校长商谈了迪克的升级问题。
• The clerk was given a promotion and an increase in salary.那个职员升了级，加了薪。

5 sanity   

n.心智健全，神智正常，判断正确

参考例句：

• I doubt the sanity of such a plan.我怀疑这个计划是否明智。
• She managed to keep her sanity throughout the ordeal.在那场磨难中她始终保持神志正常。

6 strife   

n.争吵，冲突，倾轧，竞争

参考例句：

• We do not intend to be drawn into the internal strife.我们不想卷入内乱之中。
• Money is a major cause of strife in many marriages.金钱是造成很多婚姻不和的一个主要原因。

7 misery   

n.痛苦，苦恼，苦难；悲惨的境遇，贫苦

参考例句：

• Business depression usually causes misery among the working class.商业不景气常使工薪阶层受苦。
• He has rescued me from the mire of misery.他把我从苦海里救了出来。