有声英文阅读-冬季奥运蓄势待发

When the Olympic Flame arrives in Salt Lake City, Utah, to inaugurate the 2002 Winter Games, it will have traveled roughly 22,500 kilometers through more than 40 states. For many people in Salt Lake City, though, the most difficult journey was completed in 1995. That was when their city was selected as the site of the 19th Winter Games.

The selection was a culmination¹ of three decades of effort. During this time, Salt Lake City had been chosen to represent the United States three times. It lost out twice to Japanese cities, and once to Innsbruck, Austria.

More than a million people are expected to descend² on Salt Lake City for the 2002 Winter Games. This is a far cry from 1924, when the Winter Games were not much more than a tack-on to the (Summer) Olympics.

The Winter Olympic Games became official in 1928. They have been held every four years since, with the exceptions of 1940 and 1944. By 1988, the Winter Games had become so popular that IOC officials decided³ to hold the Winter and Summer Games in different years.

This year, 2,345 men and women from 80 nations will compete for medals in events ranging from figure skating to snowboarding. The most popular event, though, is expected to be the spectacle of the opening ceremonies when an estimated 3.5 billion people will tune⁴ in.

1. culmination n. 全盛
2. far cry phr. 遥远的距离，大不同的事物
3. spectacle n. 奇观
4. tune in phr.v. 收看（电视转播的）频道

到奥运圣火抵达犹他州的盐湖城为2002年的冬季奥运会揭幕的时候，它将已经穿过了40多个州，横跨大约22，500公里。然而，对于盐湖城的许多居民来说，最艰难的一段旅程，在1995年就已经走完了。那一年，盐湖城当选为第十九届冬季奥运会的主会场。

这次当选是30年来努力的结果。30年来，盐湖城三次代表美国争取主办权，其中两次败给了日本的城市，一次败给了奥地利的因斯布鲁克。

预计将会有一百多万人涌入盐湖城观看2002年的冬季奥运会。和1924年的冬运会相比，可以说是天壤之别，那个时候，冬运会不过是（夏季）奥运会的附属品而已。

1928年，冬季奥运会正式开始举行。从那以后，除了1940年和1944年（因二次世界大战）停办之外，冬运会每4年举办一届。到1988年，冬季奥运会受到了普遍的欢迎，国际奥委会于是决定（自1994年起）将冬运会和夏季奥运会分别在不同的年份举办。

今年，来自80个国家的2345位男女运动员将角逐花样滑冰、滑板滑雪等项目的奖牌。然而，最受瞩目的一项应该是开幕式的壮观场景，估计届时将有35亿观众收看电视转播节目。

1 culmination   

n.顶点；最高潮

参考例句：

• The space race reached its culmination in the first moon walk.太空竞争以第一次在月球行走而达到顶峰。
• It may truly be regarded as the culmination of classical Greek geometry.这确实可以看成是古典希腊几何的登峰造级之作。

2 descend   

vt./vi.传下来，下来，下降

参考例句：

• I hope the grace of God would descend on me.我期望上帝的恩惠。
• We're not going to descend to such methods.我们不会沦落到使用这种手段。

3 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

4 tune   

n.调子；和谐，协调；v.调音，调节，调整

参考例句：

• He'd written a tune,and played it to us on the piano.他写了一段曲子，并在钢琴上弹给我们听。
• The boy beat out a tune on a tin can.那男孩在易拉罐上敲出一首曲子。