7-10 现代奥运回顾：1984年洛杉矶奥运会

Modern Olympic Games Review:

1984 Olympics, Los Angeles

 

The summer Games returned to the United States for the first time since the Second World War and to Los Angeles for the second time. Its first effort, in 1932, was hit by the Great Depression¹ and this one also had problems ---the Soviet¹ Union and 13 Communist allies² stayed home in an obvious payback for the West's snub² of Moscow in 1980. Romania was the only Warsaw Pact³³ country to come to L.A..

 

In the absence of the awesome⁴ Eastern European track team, the Americans predictably were the biggest beneficiaries⁴, but Carl Lewis would have been a worth champion even if the whole world had been present. The young Californian emulated⁵ the great Jesse Owens 48 years before to win the 100m, 200m, long jump⁶ and sprint⁶ relay⁷, and was the true track star of the Games. 

 

China for the first time since 1952 sent 353 athletes to participate in 16 events, winning 15 gold, eight silver and nine bronze medals. The first Olympic champion in Chinese history was Xu Haifeng.

 

Sebastian of Britain became the first repeat winner of the 1,500 meters since 1906. Romanian gymnast Ecaterina Szabó matched Lewis' four gold medals and added a silver, but the darling of the Games was little 16-year-old Mary Lou Retton, who won the women's All-Around⁸ with a pair of 10s in her last two events.

 

The L.A. Olympics were the first privately⁷ financed⁸ Games ever and made an unheard-of⁹ profit of ＄ 215 million. Time magazine was so impressed by it and named organizing president Peter Ueberroth its Man of the Year.

 

注释：

1. the Great Depression 大萧条(指1929年到20世纪30年代早期的世界性严重经济萧条)

2. snub [snQb] n. 冷落，怠慢；严厉的斥责

3. Warsaw [`wR:sR:] Pact 《华沙条约》；华沙条约组织(1955～1991)

4. beneficiary [7beni5fiFEri] n. 受益者，受惠者

5. emulate⁵ [5emjuleit] vt. 比得上，赛得过

6. long jump [体]跳远

7. sprint [sprint] relay  短跑接力

8. all-around a.〈美〉=all-round全能的；多面的

9. unheard-of a. 前所未闻的；无前例的；空前的

 

现代奥运回顾

--1984年洛杉矶奥运会

 

自第二次世界大战以来，夏季奥运会首次重返美国。这是洛杉矶第二次获得举办权。1932年洛杉矶第一次举办奥运会时，遭受到经济大萧条的打击，而这一次又出了问题：苏联和13个共产主义盟国没有出席，显然是对1980年西方国家抵制莫斯科奥运会的报复。罗马尼亚是华沙条约组织中惟一来到洛杉矶参赛的国家。

由于劲敌东欧田径队的缺席，可想而知，美国人成为了最大的受益者。但是即使全世界高手都云集于此，卡尔·刘易斯也肯定会是名副其实的冠军。这位年轻的加利福尼亚人重现了杰出的杰西·欧文斯48年前的壮举，将100米、200米、跳远和短跑接力赛的金牌尽收囊中，成为本届奥运会田径场上真正的明星。

中国自1952年后首次参赛，派出了353名运动员参加了16个项目的比赛，赢得了15枚金牌、8枚银牌和9枚铜牌。中国历史上诞生了第一位奥运会冠军许海峰。

英国的塞巴斯蒂安成为1906年以来1500米赛跑项目的首位蝉联冠军。罗马尼亚体操运动员埃卡特琳娜·绍伯与刘易斯一样，夺得4枚金牌，还多赢得1枚银牌。但是本届奥运会的宠儿却是身材矮小、年仅16岁的玛丽·卢·雷顿。她在最后两个项目中以两个满分的成绩获得了女子体操全能冠军。

洛杉矶奥运会是有史以来第一届由私人赞助的奥运会，并创造了空前的2.15亿美元的赢利。这给《时代》周刊杂志留下了深刻印象，组委会主席彼得·尤伯罗思因此成为了该杂志的年度人物。

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 allies   

联盟国，同盟者； 同盟国，同盟者( ally的名词复数 )； 支持者； 盟军

参考例句：

• The allies would fear that they were pawns in a superpower condominium. 这个联盟担心他们会成为超级大国共管的牺牲品。
• A number of the United States' allies had urged him not to take a hasty decision. 美国的一些盟友已力劝他不要急于作决定。

3 pact   

n.合同，条约，公约，协定

参考例句：

• The two opposition parties made an electoral pact.那两个反对党订了一个有关选举的协定。
• The trade pact between those two countries came to an end.那两国的通商协定宣告结束。

4 awesome   

adj.令人惊叹的，难得吓人的，很好的

参考例句：

• The church in Ireland has always exercised an awesome power.爱尔兰的教堂一直掌握着令人敬畏的权力。
• That new white convertible is totally awesome.那辆新的白色折篷汽车简直棒极了.

5 emulate   

v.努力赶上或超越，与…竞争；效仿

参考例句：

• You must work hard to emulate your sister.你必须努力工作，赶上你姐姐。
• You must look at the film and try to emulate his behavior.你们必须观看这部电影，并尽力模仿他的动作。

6 sprint   

n.短距离赛跑；vi. 奋力而跑，冲刺；vt.全速跑过

参考例句：

• He put on a sprint to catch the bus.他全速奔跑以赶上公共汽车。
• The runner seemed to be rallied for a final sprint.这名赛跑者似乎在振作精神作最后的冲刺。

7 privately   

adv.以私人的身份，悄悄地，私下地

参考例句：

• Some ministers admit privately that unemployment could continue to rise.一些部长私下承认失业率可能继续升高。
• The man privately admits that his motive is profits.那人私下承认他的动机是为了牟利。

8 financed   

为…供给资金，从事金融活动( finance的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Capital expenditure can be financed by borrowing; operating expenditure should not. 资本支出可以靠借款，而运营费用不行。
• All purchases shall be financed with the proceeds of loan. 全部货款用贷款支付。