新视野大学英语视听说教程 4 Unit 2-15

News Report
Miss World
Script
The Miss World title went to first black African contestant¹ ever in its 51-year history at the Miss World finals in Sun City, South Africa on Friday.
Organizers of the pageant² said they expected about one billion people to have turned in to watch the beauty queen extravaganza. The event was hosted by American talk show host, Jerry Springer, at a glitzy resort in the heart of South Africa’s bush country.
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The pageant was created in 1951 by a public relations executive for a small leisure and entertainment company. It was initially³ intended to be only a one-time event, but was continued after the United States began the rival Miss Universe contest in 1952.
In more than half a century, there have been only three Miss World winners from Africa, two of them white South Africa and the third from Egypt.
Miss World has until now been dominated by winner from Europe, the Americas, and India, the majority of them being Caucasian.
The contestants⁴ in this pageant are judges in three different categories: beauty, grace, and charm; talent, poise⁵, and personally; and figure and deportment. After the first round of judging, the original group of 92 contestants was pared down to only ten finalists who would go on to compete for the title.
The second-runner up in this ten year’s pageant was Miss Scotland, 18-year-old Juliet-Jane Horne.
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The People’s Republic of China was represented for the first time this year by 18-year-od Bing Li.
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The title of first runner up went to Miss Aruba, 19-year-old Zerelda Lee.
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The competition was fierce as each of the ten finalists took her turn in the spotlight⁶ in front of a live audience.
But out of the 92 contestants, it was Miss Nigeria, 18-year-old Agbani Darego, who took home covered title and the $100,000 prize.
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Before being crowed, Darego took the victory walk wearing a lime-green, body hugging dress and waved to a cheering crowd.
The news of her victory sparked rapturous celebrations all over Nigeria’s biggest city, Lagos.
 

1 contestant   

n.竞争者，参加竞赛者

参考例句：

• The company will furnish each contestant with a free ticket.公司将为每个参赛者免费提供一张票。
• The personal appearance and interview of the contestant is another count.参加比赛者的个人仪表和谈话也是一项。

2 pageant   

n.壮观的游行；露天历史剧

参考例句：

• Our pageant represented scenes from history.我们的露天历史剧上演一幕幕的历史事件。
• The inauguration ceremony of the new President was a splendid pageant.新主席的就职典礼的开始是极其壮观的。

3 initially   

adv.最初，开始

参考例句：

• The ban was initially opposed by the US.这一禁令首先遭到美国的反对。
• Feathers initially developed from insect scales.羽毛最初由昆虫的翅瓣演化而来。

4 contestants   

n.竞争者，参赛者( contestant的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The competition attracted over 500 contestants representing 8 different countries. 这次比赛吸引了代表8个不同国家的500多名参赛者。
• Two candidates are emerging as contestants for the presidency. 两位候选人最终成为总统职位竞争者。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 poise   

vt./vi. 平衡，保持平衡；n.泰然自若，自信

参考例句：

• She hesitated briefly but quickly regained her poise.她犹豫片刻，但很快恢复了镇静。
• Ballet classes are important for poise and grace.芭蕾课对培养优雅的姿仪非常重要。

6 spotlight   

n.公众注意的中心，聚光灯，探照灯，视听，注意，醒目

参考例句：

• This week the spotlight is on the world of fashion.本周引人瞩目的是时装界。
• The spotlight followed her round the stage.聚光灯的光圈随着她在舞台上转。