罗马市长反对申办2024年奥运会

 　　Rome’s mayor has announced her opposition¹ to Italy’s bid to host the Olympic Games in 2024, in a move that is likely to mean the end of the capital’s ambitious campaign.

　　罗马市长表态反对意大利申办2024年奥运会，这可能为罗马期待已久的申奥之旅画上句号。

　　Virginia Raggi was elected in June and has faced a tumultuous start to her tenure².

　　维吉尼亚?拉吉在六月当选罗马市长，任期伊始便面临混乱场面。

　　“We are effectively asking the people of Rome and of Italy to shoulder the debts. We just don’t support it,” Raggi said on Wednesday.

　　“这实际上在向罗马甚至全国人民摊派债务。我不能支持这种做法，”拉吉在周三表示。

　　罗马市长反对申办2024年奥运会

　　The announcement will add to concerns that the Olympic Games are increasingly being viewed with scepticism by potential host cities who worry about costs, environmental concerns, and the objections of local citizens.

　　因担心产生巨大开销和环境问题，害怕当地民众反对，候选城市正日益对奥运会投向质疑的目光。这番表态无疑将加重这种印象。

　　While the Roma 2024 campaign has not formally abandoned its bid, organisers had already suggested that the mayor’s support would be necessary to continue. The move leaves Paris, Los Angeles and Budapest in contention³. Boston and Hamburg, two other early potential candidates, have already pulled out.

　　虽然官方还未正式放弃申奥，但组织人员已暗示没了市长的支持，申奥活动难以为继。波士顿和汉堡这两个可能的候选城市早在之前就已退出。这一变化会使此次申奥成为巴黎、洛杉矶和布达佩斯的角逐。

　　The decision was not surprising because Raggi had already signalled during her election campaign that she did not support the Olympic bid. Her party, the Five Star Movement, is vehemently⁴ opposed to unwieldy infrastructure⁵ projects and initiatives that are seen as vanity projects that come at a high cost to taxpayers⁶.

　　这一决定可谓意料之中，早在市长竞选时拉吉就透露过不支持申奥。她所属的五星运动党强烈反对不实用的基础设施项目和倡议，将这些视为给纳税人带来沉重负担的面子工程。

　　The decision came at a time when Raggi has come under pressure to right the course of her administration following a series of personnel issues, and when Italy’s prime minister Matteo Renzi, who enthusiastically launched the bid in December 2014, is facing a difficult referendum this autumn that could – at least temporarily – end his career in politics.

　　拉吉作出放弃申奥的决定之时，正值舆论要求自己纠正执政方向。此前发生了一系列人事问题。2014年12月，意大利总理马泰奥?伦齐满怀热情地宣布进行申奥。而这个秋天他正面临一场困难的公投，若不是灭顶之灾，至少也会暂时结束他的政治生涯。

　　Renzi had launched the Olympic bid even though Rome at the time found itself at the centre of a series of public corruption⁷ scandals that came to be known as Mafia Capitale, raising questions about whether it could pull off a “clean” Olympics.

　　伦齐宣布申奥时，罗马正陷于一场公开的贪腐丑闻“黑手党案”（Mafia Capitale），这使得人们质疑罗马是否能举办一场“干净”的奥运。

　　“We can’t allow our problems to stop us from dreaming,” he said in 2014.

　　“我们不能让问题阻止我们追梦的脚步，”他在2014年这样说道。

　　For proponents⁸ of the bid, the idea of hosting the Olympic Games, while daunting⁹, was seen as a way for the city to unite around a lofty goal, and a way to give the city the motivation necessary to pull off a huge global event that could return the city to the glory days of La Dolce Vita.

　　对申奥的支持者来说，举办奥运会虽然任务艰巨，却不失为一种手段，让整个城市在一个崇高的目标之下团结一体，赋予罗马必要的动力举办一场全球盛会，从而使罗马能重回《甜蜜生活》中的光辉岁月。

　　If Renzi’s view was too optimistic, then Raggi’s may have sounded a bit too downtrodden. The 38-year-old lawyer said the city was still paying debts it had accrued¹⁰ for the Games in 1960, and would not stand for more “cathedrals in the desert” – abandoned stadiums – that the city could ill afford.

　　如果说伦齐太过乐观，那么拉吉的想法可能听起来有点太过压抑。这位38岁的律师说，这座城市依然在偿还1960年奥运会欠下的债务，不能再有更多“荒原上的教堂”了，城市已难以承受更多弃置的体育馆。

　　“The Olympics are a dream that turn into a nightmare. I don’t have all the facts about Rio, but we have the image in our eyes of the citizens of Rio,” she said.

　　“奥林匹克这场美梦已成为一个梦魇。我不了解里约经历了什么，但在我们身上看得到里约市民的影子，”她说。

　　The day included a touch of drama after Italy’s Olympic Committee president, Giovanni Malago, who was supposed to meet with Raggi before the press conference, left city hall in a huff after complaining that he had waited for her for half an hour but that she had not showed up.

　　这一天还发生了一个小插曲。意大利奥委会主席乔凡尼?马拉戈本要在新闻发布会之前与拉吉碰面，但最终气冲冲地离开市政厅，抱怨说拉吉让他等了半个小时也没有露面。

1 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

2 tenure   

n.终身职位；任期；(土地)保有权，保有期

参考例句：

• He remained popular throughout his tenure of the office of mayor.他在担任市长的整个任期内都深得民心。
• Land tenure is a leading political issue in many parts of the world.土地的保有权在世界很多地区是主要的政治问题。

3 contention   

n.争论，争辩，论战；论点，主张

参考例句：

• The pay increase is the key point of contention. 加薪是争论的焦点。
• The real bone of contention,as you know,is money.你知道，争论的真正焦点是钱的问题。

4 vehemently   

adv. 热烈地

参考例句：

• He argued with his wife so vehemently that he talked himself hoarse. 他和妻子争论得很激烈，以致讲话的声音都嘶哑了。
• Both women vehemently deny the charges against them. 两名妇女都激烈地否认了对她们的指控。

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 taxpayers   

纳税人，纳税的机构( taxpayer的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Finance for education comes from taxpayers. 教育经费来自纳税人。
• She was declaiming against the waste of the taxpayers' money. 她慷慨陈词猛烈抨击对纳税人金钱的浪费。

7 corruption   

n.腐败，堕落，贪污

参考例句：

• The people asked the government to hit out against corruption and theft.人民要求政府严惩贪污盗窃。
• The old man reviled against corruption.那老人痛斥了贪污舞弊。

8 proponents   

n.（某事业、理论等的）支持者，拥护者( proponent的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Reviewing courts were among the most active proponents of hybrid rulemaking procedures. 复审法院是最积极的混合型规则制定程序的建议者。 来自英汉非文学 - 行政法
• Proponents of such opinions were arrested as 'traitors. ' 提倡这种主张的人马上作为“卖国贼”逮捕起来。 来自辞典例句

9 daunting   

adj.使人畏缩的

参考例句：

• They were faced with the daunting task of restoring the house.他们面临着修复房子的艰巨任务。
• Starting a new job can be a daunting prospect.开始一项新工作有时会让人望而却步。

10 accrued   

adj.权责已发生的v.增加( accrue的过去式和过去分词 )；（通过自然增长）产生；获得；（使钱款、债务）积累

参考例句：

• The company had accrued debts of over 1000 yuan. 该公司已积欠了1000多万元的债务。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• I have accrued a set of commemoration stamps. 我已收集一套纪念邮票。 来自《简明英汉词典》