VOA慢速英语:US, Japan Meet in Women's World Cup; in Los Angeles, 'Carmageddon'

Two of the world's favorite activities -- soccer and wordplay -- are in the news this week.
世界上最受喜爱的两大活动，足球和双关语成为本周新闻。

On Sunday, the United States plays Japan for the women's World Cup championship. The game is in Frankfurt, Germany. This is the Americans' first time in the final in twelve years. They won against China in nineteen ninety-nine and against Norway in nineteen ninety-one. That was the first year of the women's World Cup in football, or what Americans call soccer.
周日，美国队将和日本队争夺女足世界杯冠军。比赛在德国的法兰克福举行。这是十二年来美国队首次进入决赛。1999年，他们战胜了中国队，1991年，他们战胜了挪威队。当时是第一届女子世界杯足球比赛，美国人称之为英式足球。

On Wednesday the United States defeated France to reach the final. Striker Abby Wambach gave her team a two to one lead with a header off Lauren Cheney's corner kick in the seventy-ninth minute. Cheney had given the United States an early lead, but she told ESPN television that she credits Wambach for her efforts.
美国队周三击败法国队挺进决赛。在第79分钟，前锋Abby Wambach在Lauren Cheney一个角球的基础上进一个头球，使美国队以2:1领先。Cheney首先为美国队踢进一球，使美国队暂时领先。但是她告诉ESPN电视台，主要是由于Wambach的努力。

LAUREN CHENEY: "Not only is she at the right place at the right time, but she has more heart than anybody that I've ever played with. And I know that in the last minute, she's going to get it done."
Lauren Cheney：“不仅是因为她总是能适时出现，她还比任何我曾经合作过的球员更有勇气。我知道到最后时刻，她也不会放弃。”

Alex Morgan added another goal in the eighty-second minute. At twenty-two, she is the youngest player on the American team.
在第82分钟，Alex Morgan又踢进一球。22岁的她是美国队最年轻的队员。

Japan defeated Sweden in the other semifinal game. Host nation Germany, the two-time defending champion, lost to Japan in the quarterfinals.
在另外一场半决赛中，日本队击败了瑞典队。东道主德国队，两次的卫冕冠军在四分之一决赛中输给日本队。

So that was news from the playing field. Now to the wordplay.
以上就是来自体育赛场的新闻。现在来看一下双关语。

Commentators and bloggers often use the word "gate" when a politician is accused of trying to hide the truth. A recent example: "Weinergate." Congressman Anthony Weiner of New York denied, then later admitted, that he sent sexually suggestive messages and pictures to women. He resigned in June.
当政治家被指控试图隐瞒真相时，评论家和博主经常使用“门”这个词。最近的一个例子：“香肠门”事件(Weinergate)。纽约国会议员Anthony Weiner最初否认，后来又承认自己向女性发送性暗示图片。他已经在6月份辞职。

Next June will be forty years since the very first "gate." Watergate is the name of a group of buildings in Washington. In June of nineteen seventy-two, police arrested five men who broke into Democratic Party offices there.
明年6月份将是第一个真正的“门”四十周年纪念日。水门是华盛顿一组建筑的名字。1972年，警方逮捕了试图从那里进入民主党办公室的五名男子。

Two Washington Post reporters, Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein, linked the break-in to the committee to re-elect Republican President Richard Nixon. He resigned because of Watergate.
华盛顿邮报两名记者 Bob Woodward和Carl Bernstein认为这次擅闯事件与重新选举民主党总统尼克松的委员会有关。尼克松因水门事件辞职。

Another place name is "Armageddon." The Christian Bible says there will be a final battle there between the forces of good and evil at the end of time.
另外一个地名叫做Armageddon。基督教圣经称，最终，善恶两股力量之间将会进行大决战。

President Obama even used the term on Friday to describe proposals to avoid a crisis over raising the government's borrowing limit.
周五，奥巴马在谈到提高政府债务上限以避免危机的提案时甚至用到了这个词。

BARACK OBAMA: "It is constructive to say that if Washington operates as usual and can’t get anything done, let’s at least avert Armageddon."
奥巴马：“我用创造性的一个词来说，如果华盛顿像以往一样运作，不采取任何措施，但是我们至少要避免最终的善恶大决战。”

These days, people joke about events like "Snowmageddon," the huge snowstorms that hit the Washington area a year ago.
这些日子，人们开玩笑地把这件事比作Snowmageddon，即一年前袭击华盛顿地区的那场巨大暴风雪。

Right now, officials in Los Angeles are warning drivers to avoid "Carmageddon." Road work will close a major north-south link this weekend. The work is part of a project to widen Interstate 405, also called the San Diego Freeway. The 405 will close for sixteen kilometers between the city's Westside and the San Fernando Valley.
现在，洛杉矶官员提醒司机们避免“终结狂飙(Carmageddon)”。道路管理部门本周末将关闭一条重要的南北干线。这项工作是加宽州际公路405号道路的工程的一部分，也叫做圣地亚哥高速路。405号州际公路将封闭韦斯特赛德和圣费尔南多谷之间16千米的范围。

The closure is planned for fifty-three hours, until Monday morning at five. California transportation official Mike Miles told TV station KABC that people normally try to avoid the 405 anyway because of heavy traffic.
封闭时长将为53小时，直到周一早上五点钟。加州交通官员Mike Miles告诉KABC电视台，由于交通拥堵，人们通常试图避免405号公路。

MIKE MILES: "The biggest thing that's going to help is if the public stays away and stays home on this weekend. Most of the people go through their lives trying to avoid the 405. This is the one weekend we want to tell you, you really need to avoid the 405."
Mike Miles：“最有帮助的当然是人们周末期间不要外出，尽量待在家中。大部分人一生之中都试图避免走405号公路。我要告诉大家，本周末，你一定要避开405。”

But Carmageddon or not, local businesses are offering special deals to keep people from staying home and not spending money. That would be the biggest disaster of all.
但无论是否疯狂飚车，当地企业都将提供特价以避免人们呆在家里不消费。这才是最大的灾难。