VOA标准英语2014--Sochi Olympics Begin With Spectacular Opening Ceremony 索契冬奥会壮观的开幕式

 

Sochi Olympics Begin With Spectacular Opening Ceremony 索契冬奥会壮观的开幕式

Competition begins in earnest Saturday at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Russia's Black Sea resort city of Sochi. The Games kicked off Friday with a glitzy opening ceremony that organizers hoped would paint a shining image of post-Soviet¹ Russia.

Brand-new Fisht Olympic Stadium was a sea of Russian color and pageantry Friday.  

There, the opening ceremony for the Sochi Olympics featured Russian music, plus ballet stars, acrobats² and cosmonauts, and many other entertainers.

Athletes from the more than 80 nations competing in Sochi packed the 40,000-seat stadium, as did Olympic fans from all over the world.

World leaders

More than 40 world leaders were in attendance, including Russian President Vladimir Putin and United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.

VOA Moscow bureau chief James Brooke was also there. He spoke³ to VOA by Skype.

“Yes, it was really a celebration that Russia’s back, a celebration of Russian pride, stretching through 400 years of Russian history, from Peter the Great building the navy, all the way up to the Soviet cosmonauts exploring space," said Brooke. "There were ballerinas; there were references to the classical authors Tolstoy, Dostoevsky, music by Stravinsky, Tchaikovsky.  Very stirring, and huge applause by the crowd of 40,000.”

After the customary lighting⁴ of the Olympic torch, an amazing fireworks show brightened the night sky with the event reaching its conclusion.

"A spectacular collection of fireworks that went off in just many minutes," said Brooke. "One person commented to me, 'I think that’s why we had a lousy fireworks display in my hometown. They sent all the fireworks to Sochi.' They just went on and on and on lighting up the Black Sea skyscape here. Really spectacular.”

Security issues

On the security front Friday, International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach said it is unfair to single out the Sochi Games as facing a particular threat.

"You can maybe not imagine how many threats there were on each of the Games before. We had threats on Sydney, we had threats on Athens. Maybe you remember the situation in Salt Lake City. There were many [threats], so you cannot single out these Games in this way," said Bach.

Russian security forces are on high alert following threats by Islamic extremists to carry out attacks and disrupt the Games.

 

Analysts⁵ have warned of possible attacks against soft targets, such as train stations and other areas where civilians⁶ congregate⁷.

1 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。

2 acrobats   

n.杂技演员( acrobat的名词复数 )；立场观点善变的人，主张、政见等变化无常的人

参考例句：

• I was always fascinated by the acrobats at the circus. 我总是着迷于马戏团里的杂技演员。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The acrobats' performance drew forth applause from the audience. 杂技演员的表演博得了观众的掌声。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 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。

4 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。

5 analysts   

分析家，化验员( analyst的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• City analysts forecast huge profits this year. 伦敦金融分析家预测今年的利润非常丰厚。
• I was impressed by the high calibre of the researchers and analysts. 研究人员和分析人员的高素质给我留下了深刻印象。

6 civilians   

平民，百姓( civilian的名词复数 )； 老百姓

参考例句：

• the bloody massacre of innocent civilians 对无辜平民的血腥屠杀
• At least 300 civilians are unaccounted for after the bombing raids. 遭轰炸袭击之后，至少有300名平民下落不明。

7 congregate   

v.(使)集合，聚集

参考例句：

• Now they can offer a digital place for their readers to congregate and talk.现在他们可以为读者提供一个数字化空间，让读者可以聚集和交谈。
• This is a place where swans congregate.这是个天鹅聚集地。