VOA常速英语:Island Off Coast of Scotland Birthplace to Every Curling Stone in 2018 Winter

Just 16 km off the coast of Scotland is Ailsa Craig island.It’s home to some world famous highly polished stones you likely won’t find in a jewelry store.Kays curling is the sole manufacturer of curling stones for the 2018 Winter Olympic in Pyeongchang South Korea.The company has been around since the 1850s and Kays supplied the stone to the inaugural Winter Olympics in 1924.
艾尔萨克雷格岛距离苏格兰海岸只有16千米，它是世界高抛光石的摇篮，这里拥有你在任何珠宝商店都找不到的宝石。凯斯冰壶是2018韩国平昌冬奥会冰壶的唯一供应商。该公司于19世纪50年代创立，而凯斯为1924年首届冬奥会提供石材。

“The boulders have taken from Ailsa Craig, as we said that typical boulder weight is 3 to 5 tonnes, and we then saw the boulder into slabs. The slabs are as the same thickness as the ‘cheeses’ we want to produce.So the slabs are brought into the factory and then poured to make a cheese.”
正如我们前面提到的那样，从艾尔萨克雷格岛上取得的巨石每个重约3-5吨，然后我们会将这些巨石切割成厚厚的石板。石板的厚度与冰壶厚度一致，然后这些石板会被运回工厂加工成冰壶。

The cheese is actually a wheel of granite that can weight upward of twenty kilograms,but it starts by boring through those big granite rocks from Ailsa Craig Island.
上述冰壶实际上还是一个重达20公斤的圆形花岗岩石块，但它们都从艾尔萨克雷格岛的巨石上钻孔开始。

“The stone is so special because of this uniqueness. It’s Ailsa Craig granite, both parts of the stone is the hybrid stone as the body of being the Ailsa Craig common green and running surface between Ailse Craig Blue Hone. It have been proven to be the best combination to purchase the most consistent performance and the best results,on today’s high standards of international current.
由于这种独特性，这里的石头如此的特别。这是艾尔萨克雷格岛的花岗岩，冰壶的壶身是常见的绿色艾尔萨岩，与冰面接触的冰壶底部用的是蓝油石。在现如今的高标准国际潮流中，这种结合已经被证明是性能最稳定且结果最好的结构。

Those high standards reflect curling’s growth as a sport, 25 countries competed in the 98 Winter Olympics.In the 20 years that passed the number of countries competing with 268 include newcomers Afghanistan and Mexico.“The sport shows every sign of an increasing in popularity globally, which is good for business. It’s good for us, but also it’s good for the sport.”
这些高标准反映了冰壶运动的发展，25个国家参加了98届冬奥会。在过去的20年里，包括新加入的阿富汗和墨西哥与268个国家一起竞争。这项运动显示出在全球越来越受欢迎的迹象，这对业务有益，对我们和这项运动都有好处。

Granite cheese from a small island off the coast of Scotland now awaits sports immortality in Korea. The Pyeongchang Olympic curling competition starts with mixed doubles on February 8th and runs through February 25th .
来自苏格兰海岸附近小岛上的花岗岩，如今在韩国静待不朽的体育赛事。平昌冬奥会的冰壶比赛将以2月8日的混合双打开赛，并将持续到2月25日。

Arash Arabasadi VOA News
VOA 记者阿拉什播报。