Vocabulary Preparation:

 

racket n. a specially shaped piece of woodor metal that you use for hitting the ball 球拍

dampen  v. to lessen in force or effect 抑制

let up to stop or to become less intense 停止；减弱

bottle  v. to bottle a drink or other liquid means to put it into bottles after ithas been made 使装瓶

anticipation n. a feeling of excitementabout something good that is going to happen 期盼；期望

peek/ pi:k / n.glance 一瞥；看一眼

spectacle  n. a grand andimpressive event or performance 精彩的表演；奇特的现象

lush adj.having a lot of very healthy grassor plants 茂盛的

pastoral  adj. typical of the simple peaceful life in the country 村野的；田园的

pay tribute to topraise and admire publicly 歌颂

obesity  n. the state of beingvery fat and unhealthy 肥胖；过度肥胖

gymnast  n. someone who is goodat gymnastics and competes against other people in gymnastic competitions 体操运动员

gymnastics  n. a sport involvingphysical exercises and movements that need skill, strength, and control, andthat are often performed in competitions 体操

in awe of  having or showing a feeling of mixedreverence and respect and wonder and dread 对…充满敬畏；对…望而生畏

acrobatics n. skilful movements of your body, for example jumping through theair or balancing on a rope 杂技

rivalry  n. a situation in whichtwo or more people, teams, or companies are competing for the same thing,especially over a long period of time 竞争；较量

runner-up  n. the person or team thatcomes second in a race or competition 亚军；第二名

sliver n. a thin fragment or slice (especially of wood)that has been shaved from something  小块，薄片

cock-sure adj.too confident of your abilities or knowledge, in a way that is annoying toother people 自以为是的

Floridian n. the demonym for a person from theU.S. state of Florida 弗罗里达人

tooth-and-claw  adj. ferocious; with a lot ofeffort or determination to do something 猛烈的；竭尽全力的

diddy  adj. very small 很小的；袖珍的

camaraderie n. a feeling of friendship that a group of people have, especiallywhen they work together 友情；同事情谊

broker  n. a businessman who buys or sells for anotherin exchange for a commission 经纪人

split up to separate into parts or portions分离

snafu n. a situation in which a plan doesnot happen in the way it should 一团糟；混乱局面

 

Notes:

 

DannyBoyle (1956—) is an English film director, producer, screenwriter and theaterdirector, best known for his work on films such as Shallow Grave, 28 Days Later, 127 Hours and Trainspottingand the Oscar-winning SlumdogMillionaire. 丹尼·博伊尔（英国知名导演与制作人，因执导《贫民窟的百万富翁》获奥斯卡最佳导演奖）

JamesBond, code name 007, is a fictional character created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him intwelve novels and two short-story collections.詹姆斯·邦德（代号007）

PeterPan is a charactercreated by Scottish novelist and playwright J.M. Barrie. A mischievous boy who can fly and who never ages, Peter Pan spends hisnever-ending childhood adventuring on the small island of Neverland as the leader of his gang, the Lost Boys.彼得·潘（苏格兰小说家詹姆斯·马修·巴利笔下一个不愿长大也永远不会长大的可爱小男孩）

HarryPotter is a series ofseven fantasy novels written by the British author J. K. Rowling. The books chronicle theadventures of a wizard, Harry Potter, and his friends Ronald Weasley and HermioneGranger, all of whom are students at HogwartsSchool of Witchcraft and Wizardry.哈利·波特（英国女作家J.K.罗琳所创作的系列魔幻现实主义小说及同名电影中的男主人公）

MichaelFred Phelps II (1985—) is a retiredAmerican swimmer and the most decorated Olympian of all time,with a total of 22 medals (18 gold medals). 迈克·菲尔普斯（美国游泳奇才，18项奥运冠军得主）

RyanSteven Lochte (1984—) is an Americancompetitive swimmer and an 11-time Olympic medalist (5 gold, 3 silver, 3 bronze).His 7 individual Olympic medals with 4 swimming world records rank as second all-time in men's swimming. 瑞安·洛赫特（美国著名游泳运动员，7项奥运冠军得主）

Aquaman is a superhero who starsin comic book titles by DCComics. The Americans like using this to nicknamethe talented swimmer Michael Phelps. 水超人；水行侠（具超能力的漫画人物）

Carly Rae Jepsen (1985—) is a Canadian recording artist and singer-songwriter.卡莉·蕾·吉普森（加拿大女歌手）

"CallMe Maybe" is a song recorded by Canadian singer-songwriter Carly Rae Jepsen for her EP Curiosity (2012) and appearing on her internationaldebut album, Kiss. 《也许电我》（加拿大女歌手卡莉·蕾·吉普森的首支冠军单曲）

 

 

Exercise1: Listen to the news report and get the main idea.

      

Whatis the main point of the report?

A.     There have been some general admission ticketingissues at the opening ceremony.

B.      There will be an intense competition between Michael Phelps and hislong-time runner-up Ryan Lochte.

C.     It rained when the opening ceremonies began.

D.     The 2012 LondonOlympic Games has officially begun.

 

Exercise2: Listen to the news report again and fill in the blanks with the exact wordsor phrases.

 

Josh Elliott: The official start of the Olympic Games. Themagic of the moment dampened, literally, by some good old-fashioned Britishweather: just as the opening   1   began, the heavens parted and the torrentspoured. ABC News has a   2   seat at the London Olympic Games. Bill Weir isthere as the world says, “Game’s on!” and good evening to you, Bill.

Bill Weir: Goodevening, Josh. Yes, “game’s on” indeed, but I’ve got to correct you. This isEngland. Rain was written into the script tonight. It would be disappointing ifit didn't fall. It did let up in time. And boy, if you could bottle all theenergy and   3   inthat stadium, you could power the planet tonight. Without giving anything away,here now a first peek at London 2012's $40 million spectacle.

BillWeir: For theone-time empire, this was a moment to prove British brilliance,   4    Olympic Stadium from a lush island ofpastoral villages into an industrial monster where rivers of molten steel formone glowing ring, then two, then five. To the   5   of the royals, Danny Boyle used music, light,dance, and stagecraft to pay tribute to everything from James Bond and theQueen to Peter Pan ,Harry Potter and Britain’s national health care system. An   6   moment of relief for the creative directorDanny Boyle. He won an Oscar for SlumdogMillionaire, but this was a challenge unlike any other.

DannyBoyle : It'slive and it’s a one-time only, so I'll never do one again, but um… it is extraordinary to be involved in one.

BillWeir:  7   the White House tonight, first lady MichelleObama, who started the day with a trans-Atlantic version of her “Let’s Move”campaign to fight childhood obesity. While she hopes team USA inspires our kidsto get fitter, she also indulged in some Olympic daydreaming of her own.

BillWeir :What would yourOlympic event be, if you were an athlete? Yeah, if you could... have yourfantasy, what would you play?

MicheleObama: Youknow, all right, complete fantasy, I would be a   8  .But come on, 5'11", with legs.... No. I tried, when I was younger. But Ilove gymnastics. I was in awe of what those women could do, and men as well,the strength, you know, combined everything, dance and strength and acrobatics,but that's really a fantasy. If we get to something that’s a little morerealistic, maybe it would be track.

Bill Weir :Okay.

Michele Obama: You know, I'd like to think I was fast.

BillWeir: And with thegames now officially underway, focus turns to one of the great   9   of 2012, not between nations, but teammates.American aquaman Michael Phelps and his long-time runner-up Ryan Lochte. By thetiniest of slivers, he lost to Phelps again and again until the recent U.S.Trials. And now the fun-loving, cock-sure Floridian with his epic strong-mantraining regimen is the favorite to own the pool. But proof that it's not alltooth-and-claw competition, Team USA has followed the lead of the Harvardbaseball team and others by putting out their   10   of Carly Rae Jepson’s catchy summer diddy,"Call Me Maybe." It is going viral, if they sweep up the medals, thiswill be a sign of their loose camaraderie. If they don't, well, let thequestions begin, Josh.

JoshElliott: Andonly now can the weekend begin, Bill. But quickly, the hottest of tickets tonight,but there have been some ticketing issues. I understand a general admissionticket isn't what we maybe think it might be.

BillWeir: No. I'm hearingcomplaints from so many Americans. There was one IOC-licensed ticket brokerthat deals to America, Canada, Australia. Uh,six-hour lines, we’re hearing complaints of, family members split up on different sides ofarenas, people can’t get into the park even though they have tickets there. Sowe’ll see how that snafu plays out in coming days, but still, a lot ofexcitement in London tonight.