VOA标准英语2008年-Four Days of Competition Remain at Beijng Olymp

The big push begins Thursday for the conclusion of the Olympic Games in Beijing. A total of 23 medals are to be awarded as four days of competition remain. VOA's Jim Stevenson reports from China where tournaments are concluding and individual events are requiring the best from the finalists.

Wrestling wraps up its long run at the Beijing Games with three final events. Medals will go out in the men's 84-, 96- and 105-kilogram weight divisions.

The women's water polo tournament ends with the gold medal match between the United States and the Netherlands. American Natalie Golda wants gold.

"You know, you see all those other people getting their medals watching TV. Everybody is getting medals every day. And you just want one for yourself. So hopefully we can bring home that gold medal," she said.
　
US Beach Volleyball players Misty¹ May-Treanor, right, and Kerri Walsh, celebrate win in Beijing 15 Aug 2008

Gold will also be won on the sand in women's Beach Volleyball at the special venue² constructed at Chaoyang Park. Men's and women's BMX cycling rolls to the finish line at Laoshan Bicycle Motocross venue.

The final Olympic softball game is between the United States and Japan at Fenghai Field. The sport bids farewell to the Olympics as it is being dropped from the games for 2012 in London. Women's football finishes with the bronze and gold medal games at Worker's Stadium. The United States women face Brazil for the Olympic title.

Sailing finals will be held in the men's Keelboat Star event and Multihull Tornado³ race. The men endure the 10-kilometer swimming marathon while the women will jump and fall for gold in the 10-meter platform diving final.

American Laura Wilkinson says Beijing is a great place to have the final.

"The Chinese crowd knows a lot about diving. And they love diving. It is one of their nation's biggest sports. So they are very interesting. And they really love their Chinese divers⁴. But the great part is they respect the divers from other countries. And when they do hard dives or when they do really good dives, they will cheer you on as well. So it is definitely a good atmosphere," she said.

But in that atmosphere, Wilkinson says there is a field that will try to keep the Chinese from collecting another diving gold. "They will probably have a lot of pressure. I am sure some of them might crack a little bit under it. But you are going to see a lot of them hold up to it as well. So it will be interesting to watch what happens. But I think that is also a good opportunity for us to go in there and try to put pressure on them and dive really well and kind of see where they fall," she said.

Five disciplines - shooting, fencing, swimming, riding and running - make up the grueling but entertaining men's Modern Pentathlon. Every athlete, including American Dennis Bowsher, has his favorite and least favorite event.

"For me the easiest I think would be shooting. It is something that I have done well at and was able to just pick up pretty easily. And then the most difficult is fencing because it is a combat⁵ sport. You are going against somebody. I have fenced for five years. But if I am going against somebody who has fenced for 15 years, they are going to have a little bit more experience so a little bit more of an advantage," he said.

Marquee events in the women's 200-meter and men's 400-meter finals highlight track and field action. The men also go for medals in the triple⁶ jump and 110-meter hurdles⁷, while the women contest javelin⁸ throw and 20-kilometer walk.

Taekwondo champions will emerge⁹ in the women's under-57 and men's under-66 kilogram weight classes.

 

1 misty   

adj.雾蒙蒙的，有雾的

参考例句：

• He crossed over to the window to see if it was still misty.他走到窗户那儿，看看是不是还有雾霭。
• The misty scene had a dreamy quality about it.雾景给人以梦幻般的感觉。

2 venue   

n.犯罪地点，审判地，管辖地，发生地点，集合地点

参考例句：

• The hall provided a venue for weddings and other functions.大厅给婚礼和其他社会活动提供了场所。
• The chosen venue caused great controversy among the people.人们就审判地点的问题产生了极大的争议。

3 tornado   

n.飓风，龙卷风

参考例句：

• A tornado whirled into the town last week.龙卷风上周袭击了这座城市。
• The approaching tornado struck awe in our hearts.正在逼近的龙卷风使我们惊恐万分。

4 divers   

adj.不同的；种种的

参考例句：

• He chose divers of them,who were asked to accompany him.他选择他们当中的几个人，要他们和他作伴。
• Two divers work together while a standby diver remains on the surface.两名潜水员协同工作，同时有一名候补潜水员留在水面上。

5 combat   

n.战斗，斗争，格斗；vt.与...斗争，与...战斗

参考例句：

• The police are now using computers to help combat crime.警方现在使用电脑打击犯罪活动。
• A reporter interviewed the combat hero.记者访问了这位战斗英雄。

6 triple   

n.三倍之数，三个一组；adj.三倍的

参考例句：

• Twelve is the triple of four.十二是四的三倍数。
• He received triple wages for all his extra work.由于额外的工作他领取了三倍的工资。

7 hurdles   

n.障碍( hurdle的名词复数 )；跳栏；（供人或马跳跃的）栏架；跨栏赛

参考例句：

• In starting a new company, many hurdles must be crossed. 刚开办一个公司时，必须克服许多障碍。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• There are several hurdles to be got over in this project. 在这项工程中有一些困难要克服。 来自辞典例句

8 javelin   

n.标枪，投枪

参考例句：

• She achieved a throw of sixty metres in the javelin event.在掷标枪项目中，她掷了60米远。
• The coach taught us how to launch a javelin.教练教我们投标枪。

9 emerge   

vi.（从水中等）出来，出现，浮现，形成

参考例句：

• The baby's head was starting to emerge from the womb.婴儿的头开始从母亲的子宮中露出来。
• It's still hard to tell who will emerge victorious.鹿死谁手尚难逆料。