2007年VOA标准英语-Wimbledon Evens Prize Money for Men and Women

By David Byrd
Washington
22 February 2007

After years of debate and criticism, the All England Club says men's and women's tennis players will earn the same amount of prize money at this year's Wimbledon Championships. As VOA's David Byrd reports, the decision leaves the French Open as the only major tennis tournament with a pay discrepancy¹.

Tim Phillips speaks during a press conference at Wimbledon, 22 Feb 2007

All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet chief Tim Phillips announced the move at a news conference in London Thursday. Phillips said that while his organization remains² a private club that decides what prizes to award, the time was right for a change.

"Obviously it is good news for the women players," he said. "And we also believe that it will serve as positive encouragement for women's sports in general but in tennis in particular and will provide the game with a boost in the crowded sporting landscape."

Until now, the All England Club had argued that men should be paid more because they had to play longer matchers. Women also had more opportunity to earn money because they often play doubles while men play mostly singles.

However, Phillips said the difference in pay had diminished to the point where equal prize money was the logical move. Last year's men's champion, Roger Federer of Switzerland, earned less than five percent more than women's champion Amelie Mauresmo of France. Federer received almost $1.2 million and women's champion Mauresmo got a little over $1.1 million.

Speaking in Dubai, Mauresmo said that the move was inevitable³ and she hopes the French Open will follow suit.

"They [Wimbledon] made the right decision and they had no choice for the equality of men and women in the world to make that choice. It is great that they did it. And now the French Open is going to struggle to stay back. I think they [the French] are going to have to make a step forward," she said.

Mr. Phillips said that social pressure did play a role in the decision, but that it was not based solely⁴ on outside influences. Wimbledon joins the Australian and U.S. Opens in offering equal prize money for both men and women. The French Open currently has equal pay only for its singles champions with the men's prize fund still larger than the women's.

1 discrepancy   

n.不同；不符；差异；矛盾

参考例句：

• The discrepancy in their ages seemed not to matter.他们之间年龄的差异似乎没有多大关系。
• There was a discrepancy in the two reports of the accident.关于那次事故的两则报道有不一致之处。

2 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

3 inevitable   

adj.不可避免的，必然发生的

参考例句：

• Mary was wearing her inevitable large hat.玛丽戴着她总是戴的那顶大帽子。
• The defeat had inevitable consequences for British policy.战败对英国政策不可避免地产生了影响。

4 solely   

adv.仅仅，唯一地

参考例句：

• Success should not be measured solely by educational achievement.成功与否不应只用学业成绩来衡量。
• The town depends almost solely on the tourist trade.这座城市几乎完全靠旅游业维持。