22 BEIJING AN OLYMPIC DREAM COMES TRUE

   The modern Olympic Games are the biggest events ever organized in peace time. They have a universal impact. The city which hosts the games welcomes the whole world and it's a huge and complex task, which needs more and more preparation time. In fact, these days seven years are required for the 1)host city to set up the Olympic event.

    It's a crucial task since the future of the games depends on how accurate this choice is. The host city holds the destiny of the Olympic movement and the 2)Evaluation 1 Commission is a vital element in that decision making. Because of this huge responsibility, the 3)bid cities are carefully chosen and must undergo a pre-selection round. And then comes the main test feared by the five candidates remaining in the competition. That's when the commission visits the cities to evaluate their candidateship.

  Now in order to select the best candidature the evaluation commission has been testing the venues 3 and the capacity and potential of the cities in particular. The members of the evaluation commission are representatives of the 4)IOC, the International Federations 4 and National Olympic Committees.

   The commission has former athletes as well as world specialists in different areas like the environment. A total of 16 people are working for the commission and they all know what it takes for a successful Olympic Games organization. The commissioners 5 carefully review the candidatures. Each of them has a 600-page file which answers the 149 questions asked by the commission. And the sports venues are also inspected. Because the evaluation is seven years away from the games themselves, the presentations of the cities are more or less virtual.

   Often the members of the commission have to imagine that the wild field in front of them is actually going to become a magnificent Olympic venue 2. The commission members can only rely on their experience and on their expertise 6. After their on-sight visits, the Evaluation Commission met at the IOC headquarters in 5)Lausanne in order to produce a report based on their conclusions about the candidatures.

   Now that report is highly anticipated. Since the 6)Salt Lake City scandal, IOC members are not allowed to go to the bid cities themselves. They'll have access to this report on May the 13th. It’ll be the only basis for them to decide whether or not each city is eligible 7.

   In Asia, the city of Osaka represents the candidature of Japan, which successfully set up for last winter games in Nagano. Japan also hosted the summer games in Tokyo in 1964.

   Competing with Asia is the Canadian city of Toronto. Canada and the United States have always been very much involved in the games and both have the capacities to set up the games once a decade. The last summer games in North America were in Atlanta in 1996.

   Two European cities are also in competition. The first is Istanbul. It's the third time in a row the Turkish capital has applied 8 for the games. Turkey, being at the crossroads of two continents, Europe and Asia, uses its successive candidatures as a way to improve its sports venues and provide the youth of the country with better sports infrastructures 9.

   Finally, Paris is the other European city competing for the games of 2008. The country of Baron 10 7)Pierre de Coubertin, the inspiration behind the modern games, hopes to host the summer games for the third time. The last summer games in the French capital were in 1924. In ‘86 Paris lost the bid against Barcelona. It offers a mixture of sport and culture.

Vice 11 Premier 12 Li Lanqing: Indeed, it is our delight to welcome all guests with open arms in Beijing in year 2008. I am sure you will have a great Games in Beijing.

Yanglan: I believe Beijing will prove to be a land of wonders to all of you.

He Zhenliang: In seven years from now, Beijing will make you proud of youdecision here today.

Sammaranch (the former IOC president): The games of the 29th Olympiad in 2008 are awarded to the city of Beijing.

     Beijing exploded in joy tonight.Thes of thousandserupting in cheers as China won the gold and achieved its dream of hosting the Summer Olympics.

Sammaranch (the former IOC President): The games of the 29th Olympiad in 2008 are awarded to the city of Beijing.

    China's  dream realized tonight and now the seven-year race to meet their Olympic goals begins. Ned Colt, NBC News, Beijing.

                      北京奥运梦想成真

   现代奥林匹克运动会是和平时期组织的最大型的赛事，它们有着巨大的影响力。主办城市会欢迎整个世界，这是一个艰巨且复杂的任务，需要越来越多的准备时间。事实上，如今主办城市需要7年时间来筹备奥运会。

   奥运会的未来取决于这个决定有多么准确，因此这是一个极为关键的任务。主办城市手握奥林匹亚运动的命运，评估团则是这个决定中十分关键的一部分。因为责任如此重大，主办城市都经过精心挑选且必须经过一轮预选。然后是在剩下的五个侯选城市中进行的正式测试。这时评估团会访问申办城市，对他们的合格程度进行评估。

   现在，为了选出最佳侯选者，评估团一直在评估（申办）城市的能力，特别是潜力。评估团的成员是国际奥委会、国际联合会及国家奥委会的代表。

奥委会中有前运动员及世界上各领域比如环境方面的专家。总共有16人在为评估团工作，他们都知道组织一次成功的奥运会需要哪些条件。评估团团员仔细地评估侯选城市。后者手头都有一份600页的文件，其中回答了评估团提出的149个问题。体育设施也在检查范围之内。因为评估离比赛尚有7年之遥，所以各城市的陈述也多少有些重要。

   通常评估团的成员们必须想象他们面前的荒地将会变成华丽的体育场馆。通常评估团的成员们只能依靠他们的经验和他们的专家队伍。在他们现场勘察后，评估团会在国际奥委会总部洛桑集合，旨在根据他们关于侯选资格的结论拟出一份报道。

   现在陈诉报道的含金量非常高。自从盐湖城丑闻后，国际奥委会成员们被禁止亲自考察申办城市。他们会在5月13日接收到陈述报道。那是他们能决定每个城市是否合格的唯一标准。在亚洲，大阪市代表日本，他们在长野成功地举行了上一次冬奥会。日本东京在1964年也举办过夏季奥运会。

   和亚洲竞争的有加拿大城市多伦多。加拿大和美国是奥运会的常客，且都有十年举行一次奥运会的能力。上一届在北美举行的奥运会是1996年的亚特兰大奥运会。

   两个欧洲城市也在竞争行列当中。第一个是伊斯坦布尔，这是土耳其首都连续第三次申办奥运会，作为亚、欧两大洲的交会点，土耳其想利用其成功的侯选城市身份来改善自己的体育设施并为国家下一代提供更好的体育基础设施。

   最后，巴黎是另一个申办2008年奥运会的欧洲城市。男爵皮埃尔·顾拜旦的国家，现代奥运会的精神来源，希望能第三次举办夏季奥运会。上一次在法国首都举行的夏季奥运会是在1924年。1986年，巴黎在申奥过程中输给了巴塞罗那。它现在（向世界）展示的是一种体育与文化的结合。李岚清副总理: 确实，我们期待着2008年在北京张开双臂欢迎各位的到来。我保证，北京的奥运会将是一届伟大的奥运会。

杨澜：我相信北京将向全世界证明这是一块神奇的土地。

何振梁：七年后的北京会让你为今天所作的决定而感到自豪。

萨马兰奇(前国际奥委会主席):2008年第29届奥运会主办城市为北京市。北京今晚成为了一片欢腾的海洋。当中国实现自己的梦想，赢得了2008年奥运会的举办权时，成千上万的（北京市民）欢呼雀跃。

萨马兰奇(前国际奥委会主席)∶2008年第29届奥运会主办城市为--北京。

   中国的梦想今晚实现了，现在，为达到奥林匹克目标的7年征程开始了。勒德·克尔特，NBC新闻，北京。

1)host city：主办城市

2)Evaluation Commission：评估委员会                         

3)bid city：申办城市

4)IOC：即International Olympic Committee, 国际奥委会

5)Lausanne：洛桑，瑞士首都   

6)Salt Lake City scandal: 盐湖城丑闻, 指盐湖城1995年在申办2002年冬奥会主办权的贿赂丑闻

7)Pierre de Coubertin: 皮埃尔·顾拜旦，法国人，现代奥林匹克创始人