2007年VOA标准英语-Pan Am Games Underway in Rio de Janeiro

By David Byrd
Rio de Janeiro
18 July 2007
  

More than 5,500 athletes from 42 nations and territories are in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, competing in the Pan American Games. The games, which opened Friday, will last for about two weeks. As VOA's David Byrd reports from Rio, the host city has as much at stake as any of the athletes going for gold.

Rio de Janeiro is putting its best face forward as athletes gather from across the Western hemisphere for 16 days of competition. The bustling¹ Brazilian city is making sure the more than 500,000 tourists who attend the games will have a time they will never forget.

The city is no stranger to hosting huge events -- every year more than a million people flock to the city for Carnival².

Sugarloaf Mountain overlooks the city and offers tourists a panoramic³ view of most of Rio, including Leblon, Copacabana, Centro, and Ipanema.

Maracana stadium is one of the venues4 for the games

Rio's Maracana stadium -- the site of the Pan American Games' opening and closing ceremonies -- is one of the top football venues in the world.

The city's famous beaches draw sun worshippers by the thousands. Copacabana Beach is the site for the Pan Am's Beach Volleyball competition. Copcabana also hosted one of the recent Live Earth concerts. 

Rio also has the distinction of owning one of the new Seven Wonders of the World -- the Christ the Redeemer statue that overlooks the city.

Rio has spent nearly $2 billion preparing for the Pan Ams. But that investment is not just for these games. Rio is bidding to host the Olympic games in 2016. Though the cosmopolitan⁵ city has bid for the Olympics before, it has never made the final round.

International Olympic Committee President Jacques Rogge says that Rio stands as good a chance as anyone. "Having seen the infrastructure⁶ this will leave a tremendous legacy⁷ for Rio, not just for the 16 days of competition but for decades to come, for many generations who will benefit from this legacy,” says Rogge. “And I think in this aspect it is socially warranted and responsible."

The Rio 2007 Organizing Committee

Rio 2007 organizing committee head, Carlos Arthur Nuzman, says that all is ready for this month's competition and that Rio is ready to host the world.  “Everything is ready with the exception of some adjustments that need to be made for the television broadcasts, but everything else is ready," says Nuzman.

But Rio also has to overcome a darker side of life if it is to host the Olympics. Earlier this month, 19 people were killed when police raided the Complexo do Alemao favela, one of the slums that line the city's hillsides. More than 15,000 extra police and paramilitary units are patrolling the city and protecting the venues to ensure safety.

Rio is hoping the Pan Am games will also help Brazil's bid to host the World Cup football tournament in 2014.

Since the Olympics have never been in South America, and with two Olympics in a row in Europe -- London in 2012 and Sochi, Russia for the 2014 Winter Games, a non-European candidate stands a good chance of hosting the summer games in 2016.

The competition is sure to be a tough one. In addition to Rio and Chicago, Madrid, Spain; Tokyo, Japan; Doha, Qatar; and Baku, Azerbaijan are expected to bid. The host city is chosen in October of 2009. Rio is hoping that the International Olympic Committee sees these Pan American Games as an example of its ability to host the world.

1 bustling   

adj.喧闹的

参考例句：

• The market was bustling with life. 市场上生机勃勃。
• This district is getting more and more prosperous and bustling. 这一带越来越繁华了。

2 carnival   

n.嘉年华会，狂欢，狂欢节，巡回表演

参考例句：

• I got some good shots of the carnival.我有几个狂欢节的精彩镜头。
• Our street puts on a carnival every year.我们街的居民每年举行一次嘉年华会。

3 panoramic   

adj. 全景的

参考例句：

• Most rooms enjoy panoramic views of the sea. 大多数房间都能看到海的全景。
• In a panoramic survey of nature, speed is interesting because it has a ceiling. 概观自然全景，速率是有趣的，因为它有一个上限。

4 venues   

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

参考例句：

• The band will be playing at 20 different venues on their UK tour. 这个乐队在英国巡回演出期间将在20个不同的地点演出。
• Farmers market corner, 800 meters long, 60 meters wide livestock trading venues. 农牧市场东北角，有长800米，宽60米的牲畜交易场地。 来自互联网

5 cosmopolitan   

adj.世界性的，全世界的，四海为家的，全球的

参考例句：

• New York is a highly cosmopolitan city.纽约是一个高度世界性的城市。
• She has a very cosmopolitan outlook on life.她有四海一家的人生观。

6 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。

7 legacy   

n.遗产，遗赠；先人(或过去)留下的东西

参考例句：

• They are the most precious cultural legacy our forefathers left.它们是我们祖先留下来的最宝贵的文化遗产。
• He thinks the legacy is a gift from the Gods.他认为这笔遗产是天赐之物。