VOA慢速英语2014 Winter Olympics Open in Sochi 冬奥会在索契开幕

 

Winter Olympics Open in Sochi 冬奥会在索契开幕

From VOA Learning English, this is In The News.                      

Millions of sports lovers are thinking about just one thing right now -- the Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia.  Close to 2,900 men and women are set to compete in the 2014 Winter Games.  The opening ceremonies were held Friday night.  The games continue through Sunday, February 23.

The Olympics are bringing a lot of attention to Sochi, a city on the Black Sea.  Sochi is a popular area for vacation travelers.  The area is known for its mild winters, with warm to hot weather in the summer. 

 

At least $50 billion are being spent on the 2014 Winter Games, making it the costliest¹ Olympics in history.  Seven billion dollars was spent on the 2010 Winter Games in Vancouver, Canada.  Olympic officials chose Sochi to host the 2014 games almost seven years ago. 

At the time, Russian President Vladimir Putin said the games would cost about $13 billion.  Yet the real cost is four times his estimate.  So where did all the money go?  Many Russians say people involved in the project have taken some of it.  One research group found that 38 percent of Russians it spoke² with said the Olympics increased the likelihood of corruption³.

Other observers say the high cost is partly the result of security measures.  Brian Jenkins is a terrorism expert from the RAND Corporation.

“There are anywhere between 70,000 and 100,000 policemen and military troops deployed⁴ around the city.  In addition, we hear reports that Russian authorities are going door to door in Sochi looking for suspects.”

The main threat comes from separatist and Islamist groups from the North Caucasus, especially from Chechnya and Dagestan.  One group claimed responsibility for two suicide bombings in Volgograd last December.  The attacks killed more than 30 people.  The city is only about 600 kilometers away from Sochi. 

Bruce Hoffman is a terrorism expert from Georgetown University in Washington, DC.  He says the increased security makes Sochi a difficult target for terrorists.  He says they probably know they cannot get close to those attending the games.

“….But they can, and I believe their intention is to, make life difficult for the Russians and to create some sort of incident that takes away from the enjoyment⁵ and the sporting spectacular that is the Winter Olympics.”

The last time Olympians from around the world competed on Russian soil was in 1980.  That was a year after Soviet⁶ troops invaded Afghanistan.  Sixty countries boycotted⁷ the Moscow Summer Games.  Thomas de Waal, a British journalist, says President Putin has a lot invested in the Sochi Olympics.

“He is a man who, as we know, has made his whole brand about being this man who has put Russia back on the map.  He has made Russia strong again, respected again, a place of prestige.”

As the games began, protesters were criticizing Russia’s treatment of homosexuals.  Critics of a Russian law recently demonstrated in 20 cities around the world.  They said the law bars nearly all public discussion of homosexuality.  President Barack Obama is not sending any top officials to the Sochi Olympics.  Instead, the US delegation⁸ includes tennis great Billie Jean King and two other openly gay athletes. 

And that’s In the News, from VOA Learning English.  I’m Steve Ember.

1 costliest   

adj.昂贵的( costly的最高级 )；代价高的；引起困难的；造成损失的

参考例句：

• At 81 billion dollars, Katrina is the costliest natural disaster in American history. “卡特里娜”飓风造成了近810亿美圆的损失，是美国历史上最严重的自然灾难之一。 来自互联网
• Senator John Kerry has proposed a tax on the costliest health plans sold by insurance companies. 参议员约翰？克里(JohnKerry)已经提议对保险公司销售的高价值的保险计划征税。 来自互联网

2 spoke   

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

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

3 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。

4 deployed   

（尤指军事行动）使展开( deploy的过去式和过去分词 )； 施展； 部署； 有效地利用

参考例句：

• Tanks have been deployed all along the front line. 沿整个前线已部署了坦克。
• The artillery was deployed to bear on the fort. 火炮是对着那个碉堡部署的。

5 enjoyment   

n.乐趣；享有；享用

参考例句：

• Your company adds to the enjoyment of our visit. 有您的陪同，我们这次访问更加愉快了。
• After each joke the old man cackled his enjoyment.每逢讲完一个笑话，这老人就呵呵笑着表示他的高兴。

6 Soviet   

adj.苏联的，苏维埃的；n.苏维埃

参考例句：

• Zhukov was a marshal of the former Soviet Union.朱可夫是前苏联的一位元帅。
• Germany began to attack the Soviet Union in 1941.德国在1941年开始进攻苏联。

7 boycotted   

抵制，拒绝参加( boycott的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Athletes from several countries boycotted the Olympic Games. 有好几国的运动员抵制奥林匹克运动会。
• The opposition party earlier boycotted the Diet agenda, demanding Miyaji's resignation. 反对党曾杯葛国会议程，要宫路下台。

8 delegation   

n.代表团；派遣

参考例句：

• The statement of our delegation was singularly appropriate to the occasion.我们代表团的声明非常适合时宜。
• We shall inform you of the date of the delegation's arrival.我们将把代表团到达的日期通知你。