30、Extravaganza：华丽表演

       2004年8月29日晚，熊熊燃烧了17天的雅典奥运会圣火终于在欢乐的海洋中场渐渐熄灭。随着富有中国特色的京剧和民歌《茉莉花》旋律在现场的响起，奥运圣火又将重新出发，前往它新的目的地——北京。

       外电报道如下：

       Fireworks and spectacular lighting kicked off the closing ceremony Sunday night, a two-hour extravaganza of folk dancing and music in the Olympic tradition that summed up the glee and relief the games brought to Greece. Afterward, thousands of athletes marched into Olympic stadium, waving their arms and flags, snapping photos of each other, hugging, and basking in the cheers of 70,000 fans.

       Extravaganza在此表示“铺张华丽的表演，盛典，盛事”，此外还有“荒诞剧，滑稽剧，狂文，幻想曲”等意思，有时还会表示“豪华饰物”。

       
31、Bizarre：奇异的，古怪的

       
       男子马拉松比赛可谓是本届奥运会的收山之作，然而神话迭现的2004年雅典又在最后时刻让人们大跌眼镜——在离终点还有约7公里时，一个头戴绿色贝雷帽、身着红色短裙、腿裹一双绿色及膝长袜的男子突然冲出人群，将当时处于领先位置的巴西队员范德莱·利马连扭带拽推到了观众群中。虽然利马最终仍坚持完成了比赛，但心神大乱的他只获得了铜牌。

       外电报道如下：

       Everyone knew the marathon was going to be tough, but having to dodge a would-be tackler in a kilt, green beret and matching knee-high socks wasn't an expected obstacle. It was definitely a bizarre way to end the Olympics. Even the highly unusual fact that an American won a silver medal paled in comparison.

       Bizarre表示“奇异的，古怪的”，例如：bizarre clothing（奇装异服）；The story has a certain bizarre interest.（这个故事听起来别有风趣。）

       据悉，国际奥委会事后发表声明称：由于利马的坚忍不拔突出体现了奥林匹克公平竞赛的原则和精神，我们打算为他颁发一枚“皮埃尔·德·顾拜旦勋章”。

       
32、FIFA：国际足球联盟

       
       2004年9月1日，国际足联公布了9月份各国国家队的最新排名，中国队凭借在8月份亚洲杯上的出色表现，排名迅速蹿升了13位，达到了目前的第48位。但在亚洲，排在前四位的球队仍然是日本、伊朗、韩国、沙特，四强格局并未发生变化。约旦、伊拉克、巴林也都排在中国队之前。

       新华社报道如下：

       World soccer governing body, FIFA, has released its latest rankings Wednesday. China rose to 48th place with 572 points, 3 ranks up from August. Top 10 teams remain unchanged since few A-level international games were held in the past month, when the Athens Olympics took center stage.

       FIFA是Federation Internationale de Football Association（法语）的缩写，表示“国际足球联盟”。

       
33、Erratic：不稳定的

       
       2004年9月26日下午两点，F1中国大奖赛决赛在上海进行，20辆F1赛车的马达同时轰鸣，上演了风驰电掣般的速度大战。经过激烈的角逐，法拉利车队的巴里切罗最终以1小时29分12秒420的成绩夺得F1中国大奖赛的首位冠军。英美车队的巴顿依靠两次进站的战术成功获得了亚军，迈凯伦车队的雷克南排名第三。

       外电有这样的报道：

       2003 saw a drop in Rubens' performances and his finishing position in the Drivers' Championship, despite team orders not coming into play throughout the year. Although he clinched two victories, and six other podium finishes, his performances were erratic and the season yielded only 65 points, leaving him down in fourth place.

       However, it was all smiles at Ferrari when Rubens won the season-ending Japanese race and helped his teammate to secure the Drivers' title and Ferrari the Constructors'. Now the Brazilian reckons 2004 could finally be the year in which he not only out-races his teammate but wins his first World Championship.

       报道中提到，巴里切罗去年的表现虽然不错，但很不稳定。Erratic表示“不稳定的，无规律的，反复无常的”，例如：The singer gave an erratic performance.（这个歌手没唱出自己的水平。）Erratic用做名词时，还表示古怪的人, 乖僻的人，或漂泊无定的人。

       
34、Claim one's life：夺走某人的生命

       
       北京时间29日凌晨，2004年雅典残奥会落下帷幕。中国代表团异军突起，以63块金牌和141块奖牌的绝对优势高居榜首，英国和美国分列第二和第三。中国运动员的优异表现成为本届赛会最大的亮点，这也标志着残奥会长期由西方国家占据优势的局面被一举打破。

       然而，27日的一起重大交通事故为残奥会闭幕式蒙上了一丝阴影，一辆公车在载一批师生赴雅典观赛的途中与一辆运载玻璃的卡车相撞并起火，至少7名高中生当场死亡，12人受重伤。

       外电报道如下：

       The Paralympic Games have been overshadowed by a tragic road accident that claimed the lives of seven high school students who were travelling to Athens to attend the competitions. Yesterday's Closing Ceremony was therefore limited to protocol segments, such as the entry of athletes, the speech by the IPC President, Phil Craven, the handover of the Paralympic flag to the Beijing Organising Committee and the extinguishing of the flame.

       Claim one's life表示“夺走某人的生命”，因为claim有“索取，索赔，认领，申请”等多种含义。

       为了悼念这次车祸中遇难的学生，雅典奥组委宣布取消28日晚闭幕式的文艺演出，只保留运动员入场、国际残奥委主席克雷文致辞、雅典市向北京市交接残奥会会旗和圣火熄灭仪式。

       
35、IAAF：国际业余田联

       
       2004年10月3日，在新德里举行的世界半程马拉松锦标赛中，中国女子长跑名将孙英杰以近乎完美的表现夺得女子组冠军，最终以1小时8分40秒的成绩率先结束21.1公里长的赛程。在同日进行的男子组比赛中，肯尼亚选手基鲁伊夺得冠军，成绩是1小时2分15秒。

       外电对这两名冠军予以如下报道：

       More fancied racers were relegated to secondary positions as Paul Kirui of Kenya and Yingjie Sun of China won the men's and women's titles respectively in the IAAF World Half Marathon Championships here in Delhi today.

       IAAF是International Amateur Athletic Federation（国际业余田径联合会）的缩写。国际业余田径联合会1912年成立于瑞典成立，起初只有17个会员，经过70多年的不断发展，现已有186个会员协会，是当今世界上最大的国际单项体育组织。

       
36、Goalless draw：零比零平局

       
       2004年10月13日晚进行的2006年世界杯足球赛亚洲区预选赛小组赛中，中国国家足球队客场0比1负于东道主科威特队，为小组出线蒙上了一层阴影。中国队主教练阿里·哈恩赛后接受采访时面色沉重，他在评价这场比赛时说：“中国队在上半场本来有机会领先，但下半场却输掉了比赛。我们出现了错误，而科威特队就是在等我们犯错误。失球后比赛就变得非常艰难，我们再也没能打出上半场那样的节奏。我们的球队在比赛中有一些好的表现，但今天下半场的中国队不是我所熟悉的那支队伍。”

       新华社报道如下：

       Kuwait beat China 1-0 in a World Cup Asian zone Group 4 match on Wednesday. The two teams played to a goalless draw in the first half. The only goal came two minutes into the second half as the host team opened the scoring with their first attempt at the goal of the second half.

       Goalless draw表示“零比零平局”，因为goalless表示“没有进球”，而draw有“平局、和局”的意思。此外，World Cup Asian zone match表示“世界杯亚洲区预选赛”。

       
37、Do-or-die：生死关头的

       
       2004年11月17日，阿里汉率领的国足将和中国香港队展开最后的“生死决战”，国足只有以大比分优势战胜香港队，才能实现世界杯出线的愿望。中国队主教练阿里汉在媒体见面会上表示：“如果要想打出一场高比分的比赛，我们应该在上半场就得分，就像我们打印尼、黎巴嫩那样，率先进球我们才有机会，有信心去取得大比分的胜利。”

       新华社报道如下：

       China's Dutch-born head coach Arie Hann is ready to take whatever the consequence at the eve of the team's do-or-die World Cup qualifying battle against Hong Kong of China.

       China's hopes of advancing to the 2006 World Cup finals could disappear on Wednesday if they fail to win by a big margin.

       Beleaguered Hann apparently felt the pressure as all the Chinese sports media and soccer fans are closely watching the game.

       Do-or-die表示“不屈不挠的，孤注一掷的，生死关头的”，例如：The force faces do-or-die clash against the enemy.（这支部队面临着和敌人的生死决战。）

       不过，阿里汉补充说：“可能在这一刻会毁掉我们一些梦想，但是有一点请大家相信，这不是中国足球的末日。”

       
38、Suspension：禁赛

       
       2004年北京时间11月20日下午，NBA发生了一起罕见的赛场群殴事件。活塞队在主场以82：97输给步行者，在全场比赛胜负已无悬念之时，本·华莱士和阿泰斯特在攻防中发生冲突，愤怒的球迷将矿泉水瓶掷向阿泰斯特，引发了球员和球迷之间的混战。结果两支球队的多名球员遭到为期不等的禁赛处罚。

       外电报道如下：

       NBA Commissioner David Stern's statement accompanying the announcement of suspensions for Friday night's Pacers-Pistons brawl:

       "The penalties issued today deal only with one aspect of this incident - that of player misconduct. The actions of the players involved wildly exceeded the professionalism and self-control that should fairly be expected from NBA players. We must affirm that the NBA will strive to exemplify the best that can be offered by professional sports, and not allow our sport to be debased by what seem to be declining expectations for behavior of fans and athletes alike.

       "There are other issues that the NBA must urgently focus on at this time. First, we must redefine the bounds of acceptable conduct for fans attending our games and resolve to permanently exclude those who overstep those bounds. Participants in and around the court must be assured complete protection from unacceptable fan behavior. Second, we must re-examine the adequacy of our current security procedures in Detroit and our other 28 arenas. The actions at Friday's game, though unprecedented, must now be factored into all efforts to guarantee the well-being of our fans. Third, we must develop and implement new NBA rules to assure that the unavoidable confrontations likely to occur in the heat of competition are not allowed to escalate to the level we witnessed on Friday even prior to the egregious behavior by individuals in the stands."

       Suspension在这里表示“禁赛”，因为suspend除了“暂停，延缓”等意义，还有“停学，停职，禁赛”等含义。例如：The world anti-doping agency recommended suspension for 2 more women lifters for doping violation.（世界反兴奋剂机构建议对另外两名服用禁药的女子举重选手实施禁赛处罚。）

       
39、Laurel：桂冠

       
       从2004年11月11日起，第54届世界小姐大赛在海南岛火热登场，120个国家的佳丽们在风光旖旎的三亚掀起风情万种。据悉，本次赛事包括运动小姐、沙滩小姐、才艺小姐、时尚小姐等小组赛，最后的总决赛将于2月4日在三亚的“美丽之冠”举行。

       外电报道如下：

       The 2004 Miss World pageant got off to a sizzling start on Sunday with contestants from 120 countries.

       The event started with the Beach Beauty final in which Miss United States, Nancy Randall, took the coveted laurels, fast-tracking her to the finals.

       The girls paraded on the white sand in the Beach Beauty Final, which was held in Sanya, a picturesque tropical city in southern Chinese province of Hainan.

       Laurel表示“月桂树，桂冠，殊荣”，例如：gain/reap/win one's laurels（赢得声望，获得冠军）；look to one's laurels（小心保持桂冠，警惕竞争对手）；rest/retire/repose on one's laurels（安于小成，吃老本，满足既得的荣誉）。

       据悉，自1951年世界小姐组织机构成立以来，由其组织的"有目的的美丽"慈善活动已经为儿童慈善事业筹集了超过2.5亿美元。