第六单元原文及参考译文

A Survey of the Olympic GamesThe Olympic Games are an international multi-sport event2 subdivided into summer and winter games. They are each held every four years. Until 1992，they were both held in the same year. Since then, they have been separated two years apart3.There are more than 20 Summer Olympics sports, including swimming, basketball, soccer, gymnastics, boxing, weight-lifting, yachting, cycling and equestrian events. Skiing, ice-skating and ice hockey are among the 7 Winter Game sports. A competitor must be the citizen of the country he or she represents. No more than three entries from any country are permitted in each event (4 in the winter games). Only one team per country is allowed in a team sport4.There are many myths surrounding the origin of the ancient Olympic Games. The most popular legend describes that Heracles5 was the creator of the Olympic Games and built the Olympic stadium and surrounding buildings as an honor to his father, Zeus after completing his 12 labors6. According to that legend, he walked in a straight line for 400 strides and called this distance a “ stadium" that later also became a distance calculation unit. This is also why a modern stadium is 400 meters in circumference length (1 stadium = 400 meters).From then on，the Olympic Games were quickly becoming more and more important throughout ancient Greece, reaching their zenith in the 6th and 5th centuries BC. The Olympics were of fundamental religious importance, contests alternating with sacrifices and ceremonies honoring both Zeus (whose colossal statue stood at Olympia)，and Pelops，divine hero and mythical king of Olympia famous for his legendary chariot7 race，in whose honor the games were held. The number of events increased to 20，and the celebration was spread over several days. Winners of the events were greatly admired and were immortalized in poems and statues8. The Games were held every four years, and the period between two celebrations became known as an “Olympiad"9. The Greeks used Olympiads as one of the ir methods to count years. The most famous Olympic athlete lived in these times: the 6th century BC wrestler, Milo Croton, is the only athlete in history to win a victory in six Olympics.The Games gradually declined in importance after the Romans gained power in Greece. After Emperor Theodosius I10 made Christianity the religion of the Empire11 and banned pagan rites, theOlympic Games were outlawed as a pagan festival in 393 AD.In 1894，a French noble man，Pierrde，called a meeting in Paris that led to the first modern Olympic Games, held in Athens in 1896. Thirteen nations sent a total of 285 men, and the Games were revived. Since then the Olympics have been held in different cities of the world once every four years, with the exception of war years 1916, 1940 and 1944. Women first competed in 1912. In 1924 the Winter Olympics were instituted at Chamonix, France.The Olympic Games should be a good occasion to promote world sports，understanding and friendship among different nations, but unfortunately the Games were frequently affected by politics resulting in the boycotts of the Games. The 1956 Melbourne Olympics were the first Olympics that were boycotted by the Netherlands, Spain, and Switzerland.In 1980 and 1984, the Cold War opponents12 boycotted each other's games. Sixty-five nations refused to compete at the Moscow Olympics13 in 1980 because of the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. The boycott reduced the number of nations participating to only 81，the lowest number of nations to compete since 1956. The Soviet Union and 14 of its Eastern Bloc14 partners (except Romania) countered by skipping the Los Angeles Olympics15 in 1984.»注释这是一篇介绍奥林匹克运动会历史的短文，选自《百科全书》。

该文语言简洁明晰’但却不失正式庄重。

在翻译时，我们应注意原文的语体风格，应该用与之对应的汉语去再现原文的语体风格，准确地传达原文的意义。

另外，虽然原文语言简洁，但它涉及到一些历史、地理、体育、宗教等知识，因此翻译此文并不容易，译者需要具有“杂学”，即有较宽的知识面。

multi-sport event:有多种体育运动比赛项目的赛事two years apart:相隔两年a team sport:团体体育比赛项目根据希腊和罗马神话，Heracles是主祌Zeus和Alcmene之子，力大无比，以完成12项英雄业绩闻名。

12 labors:指Heracles神完成的12项英雄业绩Chariot:古时用于战争或比赛的一种双轮马车在符合原文语体风格的前提下，要注意发挥汉语的优势。

如这儿可用四字结构翻译: “……塑像吟诗，使之名垂千古”。

Olympiad可音译为“奥林匹尔德”，也可不译，保留原文，因为这句原文就是对它的定义。

Emperor Theodosius I:东罗马帝国皇帝(379—395)和西罗马帝国皇帝(392—395), 在位时镇压人民起义，立基督教为罗马国教，迫害异教徒，毁坏异教神庙。

... made Christianity the religion of the Empire:使基督教成为罗马帝国的国教。

Cold War opponents:冷战的对手，指北约和华约两大对峙的军事同盟。

Moscow Olympics: 1980年在莫斯科举行的奥运会。

Eastern Bloc:东欧集团。