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冬奥会：索契居民看家乡变迁

People in Sochi faced huge disruptions in the years running up to the Winter Olympics, with the construction of brand new venues¹ in the space of just seven years. So how do they feel about it now that the Games are underway?

索契民众在冬季奥运会之前的这些年来面临了巨大的动荡，在仅仅7年当中就建设了崭新的场馆。在冬奥会进行之际，他们对此感受如何呢？

The futuristic Olympic stadium and ice domes² are a striking presence on the shoreline of Sochi.  The $51 billion price tag has delivered facilities generally praised by athletes and spectators.

奥运场馆在索契的海岸线上成为一道亮丽风景。这项耗资510亿美元的工程交付了获得运动员和观众普遍赞誉的设施。

But what about the people who live here? Early skepticism appears to have been largely replaced by pride.

可是住在这里的人怎么样呢？看来早期的怀疑已经在很大程度上被骄傲取代了。

Anastasia Vodoloyev, a young mother who lives in Sochi, admits that initally she had misgivings³.

“I was very disappointed when we found out the Olympic Games would be in Sochi,” she says, “because it caused so many problems for local people." But now that everything is finished, she says they are happy and proud.

“当我们得知奥运会将在索契举行的时候，我很失望，因为它给当地民众造成这么多的问题。但是现在一切都完成了，我们都很高兴，并且为我们的国家感到骄傲。”

Strolling through the tree-lined park in the city center, Vladimir Malegin agrees. Sochi is much improved, he says. Pointing to a new park, he says that all there used to be was a road. Now he’s happy because he can walk his dog there.

索契居民弗拉基米尔.马列金说：“索契已经大为改观。这个地方曾经是一条道路。现在是一个公园，我可以在这里遛狗。我非常高兴。 ”

Sochi residents point to new road and rail projects they say have rid the city of traffic gridlock.

索契居民在谈论时提到新的公路和铁路项目。

But the spruce up and construction have had an environmental cost. Since 2007, local residents have endured Europe’s biggest construction site on their doorstep. Many complain of waste being dumped in the countryside. Among them is Vladimir Kimaev from the group Northern Caucasus Environmental Watch.

但这个整洁的市容和建设都有环境遭破坏的代价。许多人抱怨建筑垃圾都被丢弃到了农村。

“It's a very distressing⁴ situation for the residents of local villages,” he says, “because they are situated⁵ close to the waste dumps." He says, "there is construction waste and municipal waste, the whole range of garbage produced in Sochi,” says Kimaev.

吉马耶夫说：“这对于当地村庄的居民来说是非常令人痛心的局面，因为他们住的地方靠近废料堆。有建筑垃圾，也有城市垃圾，在索契产生的各种垃圾。”

Villages in the mountains behind Sochi have been transformed for some of the events. A new train puts the coast within 40 minutes.

在索契后面山上的各个村庄都为滑雪项目进行了改造。新的火车把海边拉进40分钟的车程之内。

Edouard Baturin, who lives in a small house in Krasnaya Polyana, says things are very different now.

爱多瓦尔德?巴图林住在克拉斯纳波利亚纳村的一幢小房子里。

“Before, everyone had chickens and pigs.  Many people had cows, and we lived a village life,” he says. “Now because of the Olympics, all of this is gone and it is very hard for us to adapt.”

他说：“以前大家都养鸡养猪。很多人养牛，我们过的是山村生活。现在呢，因为奥运会，这一切消失了，我们很难适应。”

But Baturin is being won over by Olympic spirit. He says because they are hosting the Olympics, he is filled with pride.

但巴图林已经被奥林匹克精神所折服。他说：“因为我们主办奥运会，我们在这里主办这些比赛活动，我充满了自豪，这就是我想说的。 ”

Russian organizers say the huge cost will be repaid by the millions of tourists they predict will come to Sochi after the Games.

俄罗斯主办方说，主办奥运会的巨大成本将带来旅游业商机的回报，数以百万计的游客预计将在索契奥运会后蜂拥而至。

But there are doubts over whether visitors will arrive in such big numbers.  A report by the credit rating agency Moody’s warns that the high cost of the event and other negative publicity⁶ limit the potential benefit to post-Olympic Sochi.

不过，也有人怀疑会不会有如此大量的访客到索契观光。信用评级机构穆迪公司的一份报告警告说，这次奥运会的巨大开支和其他负面宣传将使索契在奥运会之后的收益受到限制。

For now, people in Sochi appear proud to have the eyes of the world on their once quiet seaside city. The coming years will reveal if it was worth the price.

眼下，索契民众似乎为他们这个曾经寂静的海滨城市吸引着世界的目光而感到骄傲。