VOA慢速英语2016 澳大利亚代表队入住奥运村

AS IT IS 2016-07-30 Australian Team Moves Into Athlete’s Village 澳大利亚代表队入住奥运村

When the Australian athletes in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, arrived last weekend for the Olympic Games, they got a surprise.

当澳大利亚的运动员上周到达巴西里约热内如的奥运村，他们收到了“惊喜”。

The team’s housing¹ in the athlete’s village was not ready.

澳大利亚队员的房间并没有准备好。

Some of the hallways were dark, electrical wiring had not been covered, the toilets did not work and sinks were blocked.

电线还没有准备好，有些门厅还是没有灯光的。卫生间不能使用，并且洗手盆的下水管道是堵住的。

But, after four days at a hotel, the Australian athletes finally moved in on Wednesday.

住了四天宾馆后，澳大利亚的运动员周三还是搬进了奥运村。

Olympic organizers agreed that some buildings were not ready for occupancy after some disagreements between representatives of the Australian Olympic team and the mayor² of Rio de Janeiro.

奥运会官方承认，的确一些建筑设施还没有准备好，因为澳大利亚代表团和里约热内如市长之间意见不统一。

Eduardo Paes is Rio’s mayor.

爱德瓦尔多.帕耶斯是里约的市长。

Earlier this week, he said that the Australian athletes might feel more comfortable if he placed a kangaroo at the door.

本周早些，他表示如果他布置袋鼠，澳大利亚的运动员会感觉很舒服。

But by mid-week, the city and the Australian team were on better terms.

但是，本周中旬，奥运村已经为澳大利亚的队员了提供了较好的条件。

Kitty Chiller is the head of the Australian Olympic delegation³. She said the athletes’ village is one of the best she has seen. She also said that the athletes may face other issues with the housing in the village, but “it is just a matter of dealing⁴ with them as best we can, in good humor⁵.”

凯蒂是澳大利亚代表团的代表。她说：奥运村是她见过最好的。她也很幽默的表示运动员们可能会遇见其他的住宿问题，但是我们会尽最大的努力去处理他们的。

Chiller and members of the Australian team met with Mayor Paes on Wednesday. She brought him a small kangaroo toy. He presented the Australians with a ceremonial key to the city.

凯蒂和其它成员本周三约见了帕耶斯市长。她给市长准备了一个小袋鼠作为礼物。市长送给凯蒂一枚城市纪念钥匙。

Paes apologized for his comment about the kangaroo. He told a Brazilian television broadcaster it was “a bad joke.” He also said that he would be cheering for Australia at the Olympic Games, along with Brazil’s team.

帕耶斯对他关于袋鼠的言论表示歉意。他告知巴西广播电视台，这是一个“糟糕的笑话”。他会为巴西队呐喊助威，也一样会为澳大利亚队呐喊助威的。

ABC, Australia’s public broadcaster, reported that the Australian athletes even took the mayor’s advice. They placed both a stuffed⁶ animal kangaroo and an emu by their front door. An emu is a large bird that cannot fly. It is only found in Australia.

ABC（澳大利亚广播）报道：澳大利亚的运动员已经接受了市长的建议。他们摆放了袋鼠和鸸鹋在他们的前门。鸸鹋是一种不能飞的大型鸟类。它只生活在澳大利亚。

Argentina has also expressed concern about the housing for its athletes. But the Rio Olympic organizers said that 630 people are working all day and all night so the village will be ready for the athletes.

阿根廷也为他们运动员的住宿问题表示了关心。但是里约奥运会官方表示630人不分昼夜的工作，所以奥运村已经为运动员们做好了准备。

The opening ceremony is August 5. But, some soccer games begin earlier, on August 3.

8月5日将举行开幕式。但是一些足球项目在8月3日开始。

Thomas Bach, the head of the International Olympic Committee, said there are always small problems that must be solved just before the games begin.

托马斯.巴赫，国际奥运会委员会主席表示仍然有一小问题在奥运会开始之前是必须解决的。

“We always had confidence in Brazil, in the Brazilians, that it will be a fantastic Olympic Games,” he said.

他说：我们对巴西有信心，对巴西人民有信心，这将是一场别开生面的奥运会。

Words in This Story

sink – n. a wide bowl that has a faucet⁷ for water and a drain⁸ at the bottom and is usually positioned in a counter or on a pedestal

fantastic – adj. extremely good

1 housing   

n.房屋，住宅；住房建筑；外壳，外罩

参考例句：

• Do you think our housing sales will turn around during this year?你认为今年我们的住宅销路会好转吗？
• The housing sales have been turning down since the summer.入夏以来，房屋的销售量日趋减少。

2 mayor   

n.市长

参考例句：

• The new mayor said he would clean the city up.新市长说，他要整顿本市。
• The mayor hurried into his office,brushing off the reporters.市长赶快走进办公室，拒不接见记者。

3 delegation   

n.代表团；派遣

参考例句：

• The statement of our delegation was singularly appropriate to the occasion.我们代表团的声明非常适合时宜。
• We shall inform you of the date of the delegation's arrival.我们将把代表团到达的日期通知你。

4 dealing   

n.经商方法，待人态度

参考例句：

• This store has an excellent reputation for fair dealing.该商店因买卖公道而享有极高的声誉。
• His fair dealing earned our confidence.他的诚实的行为获得我们的信任。

5 humor   

n.(humour)幽默，诙谐

参考例句：

• He is distinguished for his sense of humor.他以其幽默感著称。
• American humor is founded largely on hyperbole.美式幽默主要以夸张为基础。

6 stuffed   

adj.充满的；饱的v.塞住( stuff的过去式和过去分词 )；把…装进；把…装满；（使）吃撑

参考例句：

• stuffed animals in glass cases 玻璃柜里的动物标本
• I was stuffed to the gills with chocolate cake. 我嘴里塞满了巧克力蛋糕。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 faucet   

n.水龙头

参考例句：

• The faucet has developed a drip.那个水龙头已经开始滴水了。
• She turned off the faucet and dried her hands.她关掉水龙头，把手擦干。

8 drain   

n.排水沟，阴沟；消耗，负担；v.排去，放干

参考例句：

• Drain off the rest of the wine from this barrel.把桶里剩余的酒排出去。
• First,you have to drain the container of all the old oil.首先，你得从油箱中把所有的陈油都抽去。