02月 EF Olympic Games（EF奧運(yùn)英語）

Badminton Gold: Not How But How Many?

China has every right to feel confident of badminton success at the Beijing Games. The Chinese stars are aiming for gold in all five of the Olympic events. The world rankings are dominated by Chinese shuttlers， so most people believe the question is not whether China will win medals at Beijing， but rather how many? The only concern for the home fans is that badminton at the Olympics always dishes up a few surprises.

我們完全有理由對北京奧運(yùn)會上中國羽毛球隊(duì)的表現(xiàn)充滿信心。中國羽毛球明星們的目標(biāo)是包攬奧運(yùn)會羽毛球項(xiàng)目上的所有五枚金牌。世界排名前列的幾乎都是中國選手，所以許多人都認(rèn)為目前要討論的問題不是中國羽毛球隊(duì)能否在奧運(yùn)會上奪金，而是中國究竟能獲得幾塊金牌。中國球迷只是擔(dān)心奧運(yùn)會的羽毛球比賽經(jīng)常會發(fā)生一些冷門。

This will be the fifth time badminton has appeared at the Olympics as a competition. It debuted at Barcelona， 1992， and has been dominated by players from China， Indonesia and Korea ever since. Fans know that the Olympic badminton tournament is often strangely unpredictable. Other tournaments throughout the year are dominated by the top seeds， but the Olympics are somehow different. It is an elimination tournament which might explain some of the upsets in the past; any player can have an off-day after all. However， as in other Olympics， at Athens 2004 only the women's doubles went according to form. The top ranked team Yang Wei and Zhang Jiewen successfully claimed the gold for China， but in the other 4 categories， the top seeds were nowhere to be seen.

北京奧運(yùn)會上羽毛球項(xiàng)目將第五次作為奧運(yùn)的競技項(xiàng)目。自羽毛球項(xiàng)目在1992年巴塞羅那首次成為奧運(yùn)項(xiàng)目開始，這個項(xiàng)目就一直由中國、印尼和韓國的選手所統(tǒng)治。球迷都知道奧運(yùn)會羽毛球比賽非常特殊，有著不可預(yù)測性。其它杯賽上歷來都由頭號種子包攬冠軍，但是奧運(yùn)會不知何故卻與之不同。作為淘汰賽，有可能會爆出冷門，畢竟任何選手都有狀態(tài)不佳的時候。然而，就和其它幾屆奧運(yùn)會一樣，2004年雅典奧運(yùn)會只有女雙比賽的格局未變。世界排名第一的楊維和張潔雯成功地為中國奪得金牌，而在其它四項(xiàng)羽毛球比賽中，頭號種子都遭到了淘汰。

Badminton is similar to other racket sports in that players stand on different sides of the net aiming to make a ball， or in this case a shuttlecock， land on the opposing side of the court. The strange design of the shuttlecock is unique to badminton， and increases the feeling of unpredictability about the game. A typical match at the Olympics is decided by the best of three games. The men's singles and doubles are played to 15 points whilst the women need 11 points to win their games. Badminton players rely on a great variety of shots as they smash， drop， clear and push the shuttlecock to victory. Interestingly， players will also lose a point if they try to distract an opponent by shouting or making strange gestures!

羽毛球與其它用球拍的運(yùn)動相似，球員分別位于球網(wǎng)的兩側(cè)，設(shè)法將球（羽毛球）打到對方的場內(nèi)。羽毛球的設(shè)計(jì)獨(dú)特，也增加了比賽的不可預(yù)測性。奧運(yùn)會的羽毛球比賽采用三局兩勝的計(jì)分方式。男單和男雙的比賽每局15分制，女子比賽則為11分制。羽毛球選手通過不同的擊球方式，如扣球、吊網(wǎng)前球、吊高遠(yuǎn)球和推球來得分。有趣的是，選手如果試圖用各種假動作來分散對手注意的話，他也可能因?yàn)槭д`而失分。

Badminton was not always so competitive. A game of uncertain origins， the modern sport grew out of a number of different games that were played in countries as diverse as India， China， Greece and England. Ti Jian Zi， for example， has been played in China since the 5th Century BCE， where something resembling a shuttlecock is kept in the air using only the feet. Other games such as battledore or shuttlecock were played by peasants across Europe in the 16th century， and poona， a close relative of modern badminton， was played in India through the 1800s. The Duke of Beaufort eventually brought the game to England， and his country residence， Badminton House， gave the sport its English name. At this time badminton really began to develop， but it was always more of a social pastime than anything else. In all of these early games the aim was simply to keep a rally going for as long as possible. Now， of course， the world's top stars are happy when they win a rally with just one shot.

歷史上的羽毛球賽并不是那么充滿競爭。這項(xiàng)運(yùn)動的起源并不確定，現(xiàn)代羽毛球運(yùn)動從許多不同的運(yùn)動中發(fā)展而來，在印度、中國、希臘和英國等不同國家進(jìn)行。比如在公元前五世紀(jì)的中國就已經(jīng)有了踢毽子，踢毽子要求用腳來接觸球，使之不掉到地上。在16世紀(jì)的歐洲，農(nóng)民也玩起了原始的羽毛球（battledore或shuttlecock），而與現(xiàn)代羽毛球十分接近的浦那也在19世紀(jì)的印度發(fā)源。波特海國公爵最終把羽毛球帶到英國，而他的居所，巴德明頓也被用來作為羽毛球的英語名。從那時起，羽毛球運(yùn)動才真正得到發(fā)展，但它更多是人們用來消遣的一種活動。在早期的羽毛球比賽中，人們的目標(biāo)是來回打球，爭取讓球在空中盡可能長的時間。當(dāng)然現(xiàn)在世界頂級球星則會為自己一擊得分就能贏得這個回合而高興。

Badminton has the reputation of being the world's fastest racket sport， and will be one of the most competitive events at the Olympics Games. Matches are played at an extremely fast pace， where the shuttlecock can reach speeds of 260 kilometers per hour and players run up to 6 kilometers for each hour of a professional match. Such statistics should silence anyone who claims that badminton is a soft alternative to tennis or squash.

羽毛球有著世界上最快的用球拍的運(yùn)動之稱。也是奧運(yùn)會上競爭最激烈的項(xiàng)目之一。比賽的節(jié)奏極快，一場職業(yè)比賽中羽毛球時速可達(dá)260公里，選手每小時要跑6公里。這些數(shù)字足以讓那些聲稱羽毛球是輕柔版的網(wǎng)球或壁球的人無話可說。

The Chinese team is aware of the dangers of Olympic competition， yet they remain confident of success in Beijing. In the singles， it would take a brave man to back anyone but China for the gold medal in both categories. In the men's category， Lin Dan will have learnt from the disappointment of losing early in Athens， and he is expected to claim his first Olympic gold on home soil. Malaysian shuttler Lee Chong Wei is hoping to spoil the party， but with Bao Chunlai and Chen Jin also in terrific form， the hosts are hoping for an all Chinese final. In the women's singles， Olympic champion Zhang Ning is chasing gold once more， but she will face strong opposition from world champion Zhu Lin and world No. 1 Xie Xingfang. The Chinese women look incredibly strong， and few would bet against them. The only concern was the recent victory of Wong Mew Choo in the China Open， where she defeated all three of China's top-stars in the same competition. However， true champions are able to learn from such defeats; China has a host of potential winners and it will likely come down to how they handle the pressure on the day.

中國羽毛球隊(duì)已經(jīng)意識到奧運(yùn)會比賽中可能受到的威脅，不過他們?nèi)匀粫行判脑诒本W運(yùn)會上取得成功。在單打中，無論是男單還是女單，誰要想從中國那里奪走金牌都需要足夠的勇氣。男單方面，林丹將吸取雅典奧運(yùn)會上早早出局的教訓(xùn)，他也期待在自己的國土上奪得他的第一枚奧運(yùn)金牌。馬來西亞選手李崇偉可能會攪局，但是中國還有兩名選手鮑春來和陳金同樣具有不俗的實(shí)力，中國選手有望在決賽中會師。女單方面，奧運(yùn)會冠軍張寧期待衛(wèi)冕，但是她將遭到世界冠軍朱琳和目前排名世界第一的謝杏芳的強(qiáng)勁挑戰(zhàn)。中國女隊(duì)的實(shí)力強(qiáng)大得令人難以置信，幾乎沒有人可以抵抗她們，唯一需要考慮的對手是最近在中國公開賽上奪冠的黃妙珠，她擊敗了中國的全部三位頂級球星而獲得冠軍。然而，真正的冠軍會從失敗中吸取教訓(xùn)，中國有許多選手都具備奪冠的實(shí)力，問題只是他們?nèi)绾卧诒荣愔许斪毫Α?/p>

Any success for China in the singles is likely to be improved on with more medals in the doubles events. In the men's category the world No. 2 team of Fu Haifeng and Cai Yun are hoping to improve on their performance in Athens when they were eliminated in the second round. They still have the same speed， strength and intelligence that they showed in 2004， but now they have experience， too. The Chinese women mainly face competition from their own team-mates， where the top three pairs in the world are Chinese. Zhang Yawen and Wei Yili are the favorites， but it could go to any of the Chinese stars. The mixed doubles， with Zheng Bo and Gao Ling at the top of the rankings once more， present further hope for China.

中國在單打方面的成功也將促進(jìn)中國在雙打方面取得更多獎牌。在男單方面，世界排名第二的付海峰和蔡云組合希望在北京取得突破，在雅典奧運(yùn)會上他們第二輪即被淘汰。他們依然有著在雅典時表現(xiàn)出的速度、力量和智慧，如今他們更有經(jīng)驗(yàn)了。中國女隊(duì)主要面對的是來自自己隊(duì)友的挑戰(zhàn)，因?yàn)槭澜缗琶叭坏慕M合都是中國選手。張亞雯和魏軼力是奪標(biāo)熱門，但是冠軍也有可能被其他中國選手獲得?；祀p方面，隨著鄭波/高陵再次回到世界排名第一的寶座，中國在奧運(yùn)會上的奪冠前景令人看好。

As the badminton team continues their preparations， Lin Dan sums up the efforts of the Chinese shuttlers: \"All the hard work now only has one purpose: to win Olympic gold next year.\" Despite the history of the Olympics， it seems likely that Chinese players will have their share of the gold medals in Beijing. We will all just have to wait and see how many the Chinese stars can win!

中國羽毛球隊(duì)正在繼續(xù)為奧運(yùn)會進(jìn)行準(zhǔn)備，林丹在總結(jié)中國隊(duì)付出努力的時候提到：“現(xiàn)在所有努力的目標(biāo)只有一個：就是在明年奪得奧運(yùn)金牌。”盡管上屆奧運(yùn)會上戰(zhàn)績不佳，但是中國選手仍然很有可能在北京奧運(yùn)會上瓜分金牌，中國究竟能獲得幾塊羽毛球金牌，讓我們拭目以待。

Questions:

1. How many times has badminton appeared at the Olympic Games as a full medal sport?

羽毛球作為奧運(yùn)競技項(xiàng)目已經(jīng)有多少屆了？

2. Who won the women's doubles title in Athens?

誰獲得了雅典奧運(yùn)會的女雙冠軍？

3. What is special about the Olympic badminton competition? (It is unpredictable. The top seeds rarely do well).

奧運(yùn)會的羽毛球比賽有什么特點(diǎn)？

4. Name three games that led to the modern sport of badminton.

列舉促成現(xiàn)代羽毛球誕生的三種運(yùn)動的名字？

5. Where did badminton get its English name?

羽毛球的英文名字是如何得來的？

6. How many points does it take to win a game of badminton in the women's doubles?

羽毛球女雙比賽中每局為多少分制？

7. Was Lin Dan satisfied with his performance in Athens?

林丹對他自己在雅典的表現(xiàn)滿意嗎？

8. Which Chinese team is most likely to succeed in the men's doubles?

哪對中國選手最有可能在男雙比賽上奪冠？

Vocabulary

back (v.)支持 通過威信、影響或給予幫助和金錢來支持某人或某事

clear (n./v.) 吊高遠(yuǎn)球 大力把球擊向?qū)Ψ胶蟀雸?/p>

dish up 提供 奉上，不一定用于食物

drop (n./v.) 吊網(wǎng)前球，輕輕地將球擊向?qū)Ψ桨雸隹拷W(wǎng)前的位置

off-day (n.) 狀態(tài)低迷期，運(yùn)動員發(fā)揮失常的時候。

gesture (n.) 姿勢 手、胳膊、身體、頭或臉部的動作，用來表達(dá)意思，觀點(diǎn)和情緒。

shuttlecock (n.) 羽毛球，羽毛球比賽中的用球，由一個包好的軟木塞和由塑料或鵝毛制作的冠狀東西組成。

shuttler (n.) 羽毛球手，一種對于羽毛球選手非正式的稱呼

push (n./v.) 推球，一種不太猛烈的擊球，手腕不怎么發(fā)力，通常把球從網(wǎng)前或場地的中間打到對方的場地中間。

注：請登錄本刊官方網(wǎng)站http://www.bbtime.com.cn參看參考答案。