VOA常速英语2014--Winter Olympics Turn into Spring Skiing 冬季奥运会变成春季滑雪

 

Winter Olympics Turn into Spring Skiing 冬季奥运会变成春季滑雪

ROSA KHUTOR, RUSSIA — “Hot. Cool. Yours.” That's the slogan of the Winter Olympics in Sochi. Now, it may be too hot.

罗莎库塔, 俄罗斯 – “火热, 凉爽. 属于你” 这是索契冬奥会的标语. 现在, 它可能太热了.

Halfway¹ up the main ski mountain for the Winter Olympics, it is starting to look like the Spring Olympics. Snow is starting to melt. At lunchtime, skiers peel off parkas — and sometimes shirts.

爬到冬季奥运会滑雪的主赛场山的一半时, 那看起来像春季奥运会. 雪开始融化. 中午时分, 滑雪的人脱掉大衣, 有些甚至穿着短袖.

But sports doctor Sergei Litkov, a native of the region, says not to worry.

但是, 这个地区的本土运动医生塞奇-利特科夫, 说不用担心.

“It will all be OK,” said the trauma² surgeon who pulled off his shirt at lunch.

在午饭时间脱去衬衫的外科医生说到,“一切都很好”.

“At the top, there is a 1.5 meter — 2 meter base,” he said of the snow pack.

他说: “在山顶, 积雪的厚度有1.5到2米的高度.”

But one man’s tanning salon³ is another woman’s skiing nightmare.

但是一个男人的日光浴沙龙是一个正在滑雪女人的噩梦.

Italian Alessia Dipol skis downhill slalom for the team of Togo.

一位名叫阿莱西娅-狄博的意大利人为多哥队准备高山滑雪沙龙的装备.

“Today, I had training, but the snow was really, really soft, and I don’t really like so much this type of snow,” she said, standing⁴ in wet snow. “It is slower, and the volunteers put salt, so it is like shampoo, skiing on shampoo. I don’t like it.”

站在融化的雪里的她说到: “我今天参加了训练, 但是雪真软. 我真的非常不喜欢这种类型的雪. 这种雪会让我变慢, 而志愿者向雪里撒盐, 以至于雪像香波一样. 我不喜欢在香波上滑雪.

Skiers complain that softening⁵ snow is deciding race results. As a result, Olympic organizers are moving races to earlier in the morning.

滑雪者抱怨到变软的雪影响到比赛成绩. 结果奥组委把比赛时间转移到清早.

At the peak of Rosa Khutor mountain, nighttime temperatures still fall below freezing.

在罗莎库塔山的顶端, 夜间的温度跌倒了0度以下.

But at mid-mountain, temperatures at lunchtime rise to a balmy 13 Celsius⁶.

但是在山的中部, 中午的温度升至令人舒适的13度.

“The top is pretty amazing," says Yvonne Batal, a volunteer from Utah, a major American skiing state, after an outdoor lunch in the sun. "The conditions are terrific. But as you get to the bottom, it’s like mashed⁷ potatoes — completely, awesome⁸ spring skiing.”

“顶端的情况非常让人吃惊, 雪的状况极好. 但是当你到达低端时,就会像土豆泥一样 – 特别糟糕的春季滑雪.” 在阳光明媚的户外吃完午饭,来自犹他州的志愿者依冯-巴塔勒说.犹他州是美国主要的滑雪州.

An international army of volunteers is working to get the Olympics through this warm spell — forecast to last until Wednesday.

一只国际志愿者队伍正在帮助奥组委解决这段温暖时间的问题 – 预报融雪情况直到周三.

American volunteer John Lychak, a Pennsylvania lawyer, recalls working on the Men’s Downhill course.

美国志愿者来自宾夕法尼亚的律师约翰-李察科, 回忆起在男子高山滑雪项目工作的情况.

“Our shift was from 12 midnight until approximately 8 a.m., [a] crew of maybe 30 or 40 of us with high pressure hoses and pouring literally⁹ thousands and thousands of gallons onto the slope," he said. "They would churn it up and it would freeze overnight and they would create the surface they were looking for.”

他说: “我们这一班从午夜12点到差不多早上8点, 大概30到40个人一组利用高压软管并且严格地浇筑千万加仑的雪在斜坡上. 在晚上他们要搅拌雪,凝固雪, 这样他们就能创造出他们想要的表面.

Climate change makes technology increasingly key for the Winter Olympics.

对冬季奥运会, 气候变化促使技术增长的关键.

A new historical study shows that average February temperatures for Sochi and other Winter Olympic host cities increased by seven degrees Celsius since the first Winter Olympics was held in 1924.

一项新的历史研究表明索契二月份的平均温度和其他冬奥会主板国的温度比第一届冬奥会提高了7度.

In the mountains above Sochi, people hope there will be enough snow this year for the Olympics’ scheduled concluding event — the Men’s 50 kilometer Cross Country on February 23.

人们希望今年在索契的山脉上有足够的雪来支撑奥运计划中的最后一个比赛项目 – 在2月23日的男子50公里越野赛.

“At the peak it’s a bit colder than here, but at the base we have a lot of events,” said Lychak. “With the lower elevations¹⁰ it is going to make a big difference.”

“在山顶比这里冷一些, 但我们实际上有很多比赛项目. 在低海拔地区, 环境又有很大的不同.”李察科说到.

His colleague believes there will be enough snow to go around.

他的同事相信将会有足够的降雪.

“There will be a snow miracle,” said Batal.

“会发生雪的奇迹” 巴塔勒说.

 

For now, people are praying for the "Cool" in the Olympic slogan.

现在, 人们请求将’凉爽’加入奥运会的口号中.

1 halfway   

adj.中途的，不彻底的，部分的；adv.半路地，在中途，在半途

参考例句：

• We had got only halfway when it began to get dark.走到半路，天就黑了。
• In study the worst danger is give up halfway.在学习上，最忌讳的是有始无终。

2 trauma   

n.外伤，精神创伤

参考例句：

• Counselling is helping him work through this trauma.心理辅导正帮助他面对痛苦。
• The phobia may have its root in a childhood trauma.恐惧症可能源于童年时期的创伤。

3 salon   

n.[法]沙龙；客厅；营业性的高级服务室

参考例句：

• Do you go to the hairdresser or beauty salon more than twice a week?你每周去美容院或美容沙龙多过两次吗？
• You can hear a lot of dirt at a salon.你在沙龙上会听到很多流言蜚语。

4 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

5 softening   

变软，软化

参考例句：

• Her eyes, softening, caressed his face. 她的眼光变得很温柔了。它们不住地爱抚他的脸。 来自汉英文学 - 家（1-26） - 家（1-26）
• He might think my brain was softening or something of the kind. 他也许会觉得我婆婆妈妈的，已经成了个软心肠的人了。

6 Celsius   

adj.摄氏温度计的，摄氏的

参考例句：

• The temperature tonight will fall to seven degrees Celsius.今晚气温将下降到七摄氏度。
• The maximum temperature in July may be 36 degrees Celsius.七月份最高温度可能达到36摄氏度。

7 mashed   

a.捣烂的

参考例句：

• two scoops of mashed potato 两勺土豆泥
• Just one scoop of mashed potato for me, please. 请给我盛一勺土豆泥。

8 awesome   

adj.令人惊叹的，难得吓人的，很好的

参考例句：

• The church in Ireland has always exercised an awesome power.爱尔兰的教堂一直掌握着令人敬畏的权力。
• That new white convertible is totally awesome.那辆新的白色折篷汽车简直棒极了.

9 literally   

adv.照字面意义，逐字地；确实

参考例句：

• He translated the passage literally.他逐字逐句地翻译这段文字。
• Sometimes she would not sit down till she was literally faint.有时候，她不走到真正要昏厥了，决不肯坐下来。

10 elevations   

（水平或数量）提高( elevation的名词复数 )； 高地； 海拔； 提升

参考例句：

• Weight of the crust changes as elevations are eroded and materials are deposited elsewhere. 当高地受到侵蚀，物质沉积到别的地方时，地壳的重量就改变。
• All deck elevations are on the top of structural beams. 所有甲板标高线均指结构梁顶线。