VOA慢速英语:Winter Olympics Open in Sochi

Millions of sports lovers are thinking about just one thing right now -- the Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia. Close to 2,900 men and women are set to compete in the 2014 Winter Games. The opening ceremonies were held Friday night. The games continue through Sunday, February 23.
成千上万的体育爱好者现在都在想着一件事--俄罗斯索契冬季奥运会。近2900名运动员将角逐2014冬奥会，开幕式在周五晚上，运动会一直开到1月23日(周日)结束。

The Olympics are bringing a lot of attention to Sochi, a city on the Black Sea. Sochi is a popular area for vacation travelers. The area is known for its mild winters, with warm to hot weather in the summer.
奥运会给索契这座黑海城市带来了很多关注。索契是一个度假游客的热点地区。这里因冬暖夏凉而知名。

At least $50 billion are being spent on the 2014 Winter Games, making it the costliest Olympics in history. Seven billion dollars was spent on the 2010 Winter Games in Vancouver, Canada. Olympic officials chose Sochi to host the 2014 games almost seven years ago.
2014冬奥会至少花费500亿美元，是奥运历史上成本最高的一次。2010年加拿大温哥华冬奥会只花了70亿美元。奥运官员在将近7年前选择了索契举办2014年冬奥会。

At the time, Russian President Vladimir Putin said the games would cost about $13 billion. Yet the real cost is four times his estimate. So where did all the money go? Many Russians say people involved in the project have taken some of it. One research group found that 38 percent of Russians it spoke with said the Olympics increased the likelihood of corruption.
同时，俄罗斯总统普京说这次运动会将耗资130亿美元，而实际成本是这个数字的4倍。那么钱到哪里去了？许多俄罗斯人表示，项目参与者拿走了一些钱。一个研究小组发现，38%与他们交谈过的俄罗斯人表示，奥运会增加了腐败的可能性。

Other observers say the high cost is partly the result of security measures. Brian Jenkins is a terrorism expert from the RAND Corporation.
其他的观察员说高开支部分是因为安保费用，布莱恩•詹金斯是兰德公司的恐怖主义专家。

"There are anywhere between 70,000 and 100,000 policemen and military troops deployed around the city. In addition, we hear reports that Russian authorities are going door to door in Sochi looking for suspects."
“索契各处部署了大约7万到10万名警察和军人，另外，我们听说俄罗斯当局准备在索契挨家挨户寻找嫌疑人。”

The main threat comes from separatist and Islamist groups from the North Caucasus, especially from Chechnya and Dagestan. One group claimed responsibility for two suicide bombings in Volgograd last December. The attacks killed more than 30 people. The city is only about 600 kilometers away from Sochi.
这届冬奥会的主要的威胁来自北高加索的分离主义分子和伊斯兰组织，特别是车臣和达吉斯坦。一个组织声称对去年12月伏尔加格勒的两起自杀式爆炸负责，有30多人在袭击中丧生，该市距离索契大约600公里。

Bruce Hoffman is a terrorism expert from Georgetown University in Washington, DC. He says the increased security makes Sochi a difficult target for terrorists. He says they probably know they cannot get close to those attending the games.
Bruce Hoffman是来自华盛顿特区乔治城大学的一位反恐专家。他说，提高安保使得索契很难成为恐怖分子的目标。他说，恐怖分子可能知道他们无法接近冬奥会参赛者。

"....But they can, and I believe their intention is to, make life difficult for the Russians and to create some sort of incident that takes away from the enjoyment and the sporting spectacular that is the Winter Olympics."
“但是我想他们的目的是让俄罗斯人不那么好过，创造一些事端，减少冬奥会的乐趣和赛事的吸引力。”

The last time Olympians from around the world competed on Russian soil was in 1980. That was a year after Soviet troops invaded Afghanistan. Sixty countries boycotted the Moscow Summer Games. Thomas de Waal, a British journalist, says President Putin has a lot invested in the Sochi Olympics.
上次世界各地的奥运选手在俄罗斯境内比赛是在1980年，那是苏联军队入侵阿富汗一年之后。60个国家抵制了莫斯科夏季奥运会。英国记者Thomas de Waal说总统普京在索契奥运会上下了血本。

"He is a man who, as we know, has made his whole brand about being this man who has put Russia back on the map. He has made Russia strong again, respected again, a place of prestige."
“众所周知，他最大的成就是将俄罗斯重新回到地图上，使得俄罗斯再次强大，再次受人尊敬，成为享有声誉的国家。”

As the games began, protesters were criticizing Russia's treatment of homosexuals. Critics of a Russian law recently demonstrated in 20 cities around the world. They said the law bars nearly all public discussion of homosexuality. President Barack Obama is not sending any top officials to the Sochi Olympics. Instead, the US delegation includes tennis great Billie Jean King and two other openly gay athletes.
随着奥运会的开始，抗议者批评俄罗斯对同性恋的态度。俄罗斯一项法律的批评者最近在全世界20个城市举行示威，他们说该法几乎全面禁止公开讨论同性恋。总统奥巴马并未向索契奥运会派出任何高级官员，美国代表团成员包括网球健将比利简金和两外两名公开承认同性恋的运动员。