Henry Ridgwell
February 16, 2014
SOCHI — People in Sochi faced huge disruptions in the years running up to the Winter Olympics, with the construction of brand new venues in the space of just seven years. So how do they feel about it now that the Games are underway?
The futuristic Olympic stadium and ice domes are a striking presence on the shoreline of Sochi.The billion price tag has delivered facilities generally praised by athletes and spectators.
But what about the people who live here? Early skepticism appears to have been largely replaced by pride.
Anastasia Vodoloyev, a young mother who lives in Sochi, admits that initally she had misgivings.
“I was very disappointed when we found out the Olympic Games would be in Sochi,” she says, “because it caused so many problems for local people." But now that everything is finished, she says they are happy and proud.
Strolling through the tree-lined park in the city center, Vladimir Malegin agrees. Sochi is much improved, he says. Pointing to a new park, he says that all there used to be was a road. Now he’s happy because he can walk his dog there.
Sochi residents point to new road and rail projects they say have rid the city of traffic gridlock.
But the spruce up and construction have had an environmental cost. Since 2007, local residents have endured Europe’s biggest construction site on their doorstep. Many complain of waste being dumped in the countryside. Among them is Vladimir Kimaev from the group Northern Caucasus Environmental Watch.
“It's a very distressing situation for the residents of local villages,” he says, “because they are situated close to the waste dumps." He says, "there is construction waste and municipal waste, the whole range of garbage produced in Sochi,” says Kimaev .
Villages in the mountains behind Sochi have been transformed for some of the events. A new train puts the coast within 40 minutes.
Edouard Baturin, who lives in a small house in Krasna Polyana, says things are very different now.
“Before, everyone had chickens and pigs.Many people had cows, and we lived a village life,” he says. “Now because of the Olympics, all of this is gone and it is very hard for us to adapt.”
But Baturin is being won over by Olympic spirit. He says because they are hosting the Olympics, he is filled with pride.
Russian organizers say the huge cost will be repaid by the millions of tourists they predict will come to Sochi after the Games.
But there are doubts over whether visitors will arrive in such big numbers.A report by the credit rating agency Moody’s warns that the high cost of the event and other negative publicity limit the potential benefit to post-Olympic Sochi.
For now, people in Sochi appear proud to have the eyes of the world on their once quiet seaside city. The coming years will reveal if it was worth the price.
Language Notes
disruption (n) 中斷;打擾
venue (n) 會場;館場
underway (a) 進行中的
冬季奧運嶄新的會場 (venue) 僅有七年的時間建造,在這幾年間,索契居民的生活備受打擾 (disruptions )。現在冬季奧運已正式開始 (underway),當地居民的反應又是如何呢?
充滿未來感的奧運館場與雪白的圓屋頂 (domes) 在索契的海岸線 (shoreline) 成為壯觀的景致 (a striking presence)。整體造價達510億的設施 (facility) ,普遍獲得運動員和觀眾 (spectator) 的正面評價。
skepticism (n) 懷疑;不信任XXXXX注意發音:
misgiving (n) 擔憂,不安XXXXX*如新聞中用法,本字常用複數;單數型出現時為不可數名詞,例:He looked with misgiving at the sky.
當地居民的感受如何呢?早些時候的懷疑和不信任感 (skepticism ) 似乎已被驕傲所取代。當地一位年輕媽媽受訪時承認,她當初的確有疑慮與不安 (misgivings)。她說:「當我們知道奧運要在索契舉辦時,我真的很失望,因為這會對我們當地的居民製造很多麻煩。」但她接著說,眼見現在 (now that) 都完成了,居民們只有感到高興與驕傲。
gridlock (n) 交通阻塞, 僵局
spruce up (v phr) 打扮,整裝
municipal (a) 市政的;市立的
索契居民現在能指望新的道路與鐵路建設,讓他們擺脫當地的交通堵塞問題 (traffic gridlock),但這些城市的整修 (spruce up) 和建設工程是以犧牲環境為代價 (an environmental cost )。自2007年開始,當地居民就必須忍受在家門口 (on their doorstep) 就有歐洲最大的建築工地 (construction site)。興建期間的很多廢棄物被傾倒 (being dumped) 在鄉間,引起很大民怨。(編按:spruce up 本是動詞片語,但在這新聞裡,記者加上一個定冠詞 "the",就直接轉成名詞使用了。)
北高加索環境觀察組織 (Environmental Watch on the North Caucasus)的一位成員說:「廢棄物讓當地村莊居民陷入非常痛苦的 (distressing) 處境,因為他們所處之地就緊鄰著(…are situated close to . . .) 廢棄物堆 (waste dumps )。建設工程廢棄物、城市的 (municipal)廢棄物,索契的各種垃圾都運到了這裡。」
(編按:英文中常用的幾個「垃圾」都是不可數的,如 trash、garbage、litter、rubbish;waste 用來指營造業和工廠製造產生的廢棄物,或是較大規模的廢棄物與垃圾,如新聞中的 construction waste、municipal waste,另外還有常見的是: household waste (家庭廢棄物)、industrial waste、chemical waste。)
adapt (v) 適應
win somebody over (v phr) 說服某人,改變某人的立場
當地一位居民說:「以前我們過的是鄉村生活。我們養雞,養豬,養牛。但這樣的生活卻因為奧運消失了,我們很難適應 (adapt)。」但現在他的看法因奧運精神改變了(. . .is being won over by . . .),他為國家舉辦的奧運賽事充滿了驕傲。
俄羅斯的主辦單位 (organizer ) 認為這一切代價都會值得。他們預期賽事結束後的幾年間,索契會有百萬名的觀光客到來。但對於是否真如預期會有如此大量的觀光客仍有不少疑慮。信用評等機構 (credit rating agency) 穆迪 (Moody's) 就提出警告,其昂貴的造價和負面形象新聞 (negative publicity) 都可能會限縮索契在奧運後可能的獲利。
以目前來看,索契居民感到非常驕傲。索契從原本一個靜謐的海邊城市成了世界注目的焦點 (have the eyes of the world ),但還要再幾年時間才能看出這一切代價是否真的值得 (worth the price)。
Language Tips
方括弧 (square brackets,) 是編輯的常用工具。
眼尖的讀者有發現,文章中有一個 的標示。在我們要引用別人的著作或發言時,如果發現原文有誤,但為了忠於原作者必須保留原文的寫法,但又怕誤導讀者時,作為引用者就可以在引述的原文中所發現的錯誤後擺上 標示,用來警告讀者,表示「這裡原作者有錯誤,請注意!」
我們來看看原新聞裡的句子:「He says, "there is construction waste and municipal waste, the whole range of garbage produced in Sochi,” says Kimaev .」原文中的 “He says ”跟 ”says Kimaev” 都是用來引述同一段話,所以第二個”says Kimaev”明顯是新聞記者疏忽,多寫了一次。電子報編輯發現了原新聞中的這個錯誤,但為了忠於原新聞作者,提供完整的引用文,所以使用 [sic] 這個標識來警告讀者這裡有誤。關於更仔細的說明,可看這個網頁:http://data.grammarbook.com/blog/definitions/sic/
新聞中還有另兩個方括弧,那則是用來保留編輯修改了原文的痕跡。新聞原句是: "Sochi residents point to new road and rail projects they say have rid the city of traffic gridlock." 原句中 "have rid the city of traffic gridlock"少了一個關係代名詞來引導。記者本來應該是要寫 “Sochi residents point to new road and rail projects which have rid the city of traffic gridlock" ,然後插入一個 “they say” 在中間,表示 "當地人說",但卻把 "which" 當成 "they say" 的受詞而省略了,造成後面的形容詞子句沒有關係代名詞當主詞來引導。在引用新聞為本電子報內容時,編輯在此句中增加了 which 一字,用來表示清楚的文法結構。但同樣的忠於原作者的原則,增添的字放在方括弧內作為標識,表示這是編輯(引用者)加上去的。新聞中編輯在另一處也加了一個 ,這裡的文法解釋和方括弧的用意都跟前個例子一樣。
Check your vocabulary!
Fill in the blanks with a word or phrase from the list above. Make necessary changes. After you finish, select the text below to reveal the hidden answers.
1. Opponents of nuclear energy have deep misgivings about its safety.
2. Plans are underway to build a new stadium in the city.
3. The average commuter spends the equivalent of 3.5 days in gridlock every year.
4. He tried hard to adapt himself to the new conditions.
5. The concert's still on Saturday but the venue has been changed.
Source:http://www.voanews.com/content/sochi-locals-proud-to-host-olympics-but-legacy-uncertain/1852613.html
編譯:簡嘉呈