奥林匹克运动会The Olympics

After a hard-fought campaign, London has been awarded the rightto hostthe 2012 Olympic Games. The UK capitalsaw offcompetition from four rival cities: Paris, Madrid, Moscow and New York.

Londoners can now look forward to the transformation of their city in the same way as theircounterpartsin Beijing. Indeed, there are many similarities in the two cities’ approach to hosting the games. Both cities need to invest in developing theirinfrastructurein order to cope with the demands of the event.

However, this kind ofinvestmentis far from cheap - it is estimated that it will cost around $40 billion to prepare for the 2008 games, much of which will be spent on transport links.Nevertheless, the benefits of becoming an Olympic city can be enormous – Barcelona, which hosted the 1992 games, was completely regenerated and has since become one of the most popular tourist destinations in the world.

Residents of Stratford, in London’sdeprived East End, are hoping that their neighbourhood willundergo a similar transformationas it is one of the areas where many new sports facilities will be built. One of the East End’s most famous sons, David Beckham, has given the Olympics his blessing - “to have the Olympics inour manorwould be a special thing.”

David Beckham is not alone in supporting the successful bid; Manchester United and England defender, Rio Ferdinand, says, “This will be a greatboostfor the whole of the country. I’m looking forward to being at the 100m final in 2012.”

One thing that will change in the 2012 games is the number of sports. The International Olympic Committee has decidedto axebaseball and softball from the games. IOC president Jacques Rogge explained, "Needless to say, these sports are very, very disappointed, but it does not disqualify them forever as Olympic sports," he said.

However, one unlikely British sport is attempting togain Olympic status. “As the newest recognised sport,darts…would be proud to be considered as the host nation's 'invitation sport' in 2012.” says British Darts Organisation chief, Olly Croft.

GLOSSARY 词汇表 (收听发音, 请单击英语单词)

to host 主办 saw off 击败了(竞争对手)

counterparts 对等的，相当的，同行 infrastructure 结构，构造

investment 投资 nevertheless 虽然如此，但是六级英语考试时间

deprived East End

贫穷落后的东城区 undergo a similar transformation

重新改造，改头换面

our manor 我们的地区(俚语) boost援助，支持

to axe 取消，消减 gain Olympic status

取得举办奥林匹克运动会的资格

darts 飞镖，一种室内游戏