VOA慢速英语20060227a

DEVELOPMENT REPORT - An Olympic Winner Turns His Victory Into Child's PlayBy Jill Moss¹

Broadcast: Monday, February 27, 2006

I'm Steve Ember with the VOA Special English Development Report.

The twentieth Winter Olympics have just ended in Turin, Italy. But for some possible future Olympians, the games are about to begin with help from an American speed skater.

Joey Cheek won a gold medal in the five hundred meter event. And he won a silver medal in the one thousand meter race. The United States Olympic Committee gave him forty thousand dollars in prize money. Twenty-five thousand dollars for his gold medal, and fifteen thousand for the silver.


United States Joey Cheek, from Greensboro, N.C., holds an American national flag as he makes a victory lap during the Winter Olympics men's 500 meter speedskating sprint² race in Turin, Italy, Monday, Feb. 13, 2006

Joey Cheek announced that he was giving the money to the international group Right to Play. This group is based in Toronto, Canada. It brings sports and play to children in developing countries. Olympic and professional athletes from around the world help support Right to Play with their time and money.

Right to Play uses athletes as ambassadors³. It says star athletes are not only the heroes of children, they can also influence decision makers⁴.

The group says well-designed sports and play programs help children develop physically⁵, mentally and socially. Sports can help create connections between children and adults. They can also bring children together to learn teamwork, conflict resolution and cultural understanding. For example, Right to Play has programs in Israel and the Palestinian territories.

In parts of Africa, the group uses sports as a way to build community support for national health campaigns. It says a new project in Sri Lanka and Indonesia will work with people affected⁶ by the tsunami⁷ in December of two thousand four. Right to Play also has programs in Azerbaijan, Pakistan and Thailand.

Right to Play began as Olympic Aid. It started as a way to show support for people in areas of war and crisis⁸ and collect money for them. The Lillehammer Olympic Organizing Committee came up with the idea. That was in preparation for the nineteen ninety-four Winter Games in Lillehammer, Norway.

The president and chief executive⁹ officer of Right to Play is Johann Olav Koss. He has four gold medals in speed skating, three of them from Lillehammer.

Right to Play says it reaches more than five hundred thousand children each week.

Its Web site is w-w-w dot righttoplay, all one word, dot com.

This VOA Special English Development Report was written by Jill Moss. Read and listen to our reports at www.unsv.com. I'm Steve Ember.

1 moss   

n.苔，藓，地衣

参考例句：

• Moss grows on a rock.苔藓生在石头上。
• He was found asleep on a pillow of leaves and moss.有人看见他枕着树叶和苔藓睡着了。

2 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。

3 ambassadors   

大使( ambassador的名词复数 )； （派驻联合国等国际组织的）代表； 特使； [比喻]使者

参考例句：

• Kennedy, greatly admiring, rated him very high among his ambassadors. 肯尼迪十分赏识他，在所有大使中对他评价很高。
• Many countries were represented by their ambassadors at the Independence Day celebrations. 庆祝美国独立纪念日时，许多国家都派其大使代表参加。

4 makers   

n.制造者，制造商（maker的复数形式）

参考例句：

• The makers of the product assured us that there had been no sacrifice of quality. 这一产品的制造商向我们保证说他们没有牺牲质量。
• The makers are about to launch out a new product. 制造商们马上要生产一种新产品。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 physically   

adj.物质上，体格上，身体上，按自然规律

参考例句：

• He was out of sorts physically,as well as disordered mentally.他浑身不舒服，心绪也很乱。
• Every time I think about it I feel physically sick.一想起那件事我就感到极恶心。

6 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

7 tsunami   

n.海啸

参考例句：

• Powerful quake sparks tsunami warning in Japan.大地震触发了日本的海啸预警。
• Coastlines all around the Indian Ocean inundated by a huge tsunami.大海啸把印度洋沿岸地区都淹没了。

8 crisis   

n.危机，危急关头，决定性时刻，关键阶段

参考例句：

• He had proved that he could be relied on in a crisis.他已表明，在紧要关头他是可以信赖的。
• The topic today centers about the crisis in the Middle East.今天课题的中心是中东危机。

9 executive   

adj.执行的，行政的；n.执行者，行政官，经理

参考例句：

• A good executive usually gets on well with people.一个好的高级管理人员通常与人们相处得很好。
• He is a man of great executive ability.他是个具有极高管理能力的人。