在每届奥运会闭幕式上,最令人期待的环节之一,便是由下一届奥运会东道主带来的表演节目,进行举办国的形象展示,体现其文化精髓,也就是人们常说的“8分钟表演”。
东京奥运会闭幕式结尾的“巴黎8分钟”,给了全世界观看节目的观众一次浪漫的暴击,尤其是到了宇航员托马斯·佩斯凯在国际空间站里吹奏萨克斯的画面,8分钟表演达到了高潮,有网友点评:“玩浪漫,还得看法兰西。”
来看《今日美国》在2020年东京奥运会闭幕式之前的一篇报道:


TOKYO – Beach volleyball at the Eiffel Tower. Skateboarding at the Place de la Concorde. Equestrian at the Château de Versailles.
In three years’ time, the Olympic Games will find themselves amid some of the most iconic Parisian landmarks. Tokyo organizers will pass the torch to Paris 2024 at the closing ceremony here on Sunday, and the French hosts offered a glimpse of what their Games could be.
东京消息——埃菲尔铁塔上的沙滩排球。在协和广场玩滑板。在凡尔赛宫骑马。
三年后,奥运会将在一些巴黎最具标志性的地标性建筑中召开。东京奥组委将在周日的闭幕式上把火炬传递给巴黎2024年奥运会,而法国的东道主也让我们一窥他们的奥运会会是什么样的。
而法国人也早已为这场久违的盛大体育赛事做好了充分的准备。
巴黎上一次举办奥运会刚好是1924年,因此在本次申奥时,巴黎奥申委特意强调了“百年奥运”的概念,时隔一百年再次举办奥运会,巴黎上上下下都非常激动。
巴黎市长伊达尔戈在2017年申奥成功后曾激动地说:“我们等待主办奥运会等了整整100年,现在它终于回家了!我非常兴奋!”
“We are already waiting 100 years to bring this Olympic flag back to Paris, so the excitement is very strong on our team and back home in France,” said Tony Estanguet, president of the organizing committee.
奥组委主席托尼·埃斯坦盖(Tony Estanguet)表示:“我们已经等了100年,才能把这面奥运旗帜带回巴黎,所以我们的团队和法国国内都非常兴奋。”
“With Paris 2024, our ambition is to open a new model to open the Games to more people,” he added. “Our plan is based on taking sport out of its traditional spaces and putting competitions at the heart of the city in front of the most famous Parisian landmarks.”
他补充说:“通过巴黎2024年奥运会,我们的目标是开启一种新的模式,让更多的人参与到奥运会中来。”“我们的计划是将体育活动从传统空间中剥离出来,并将比赛放在巴黎最著名的地标前的城市中心。”

按照巴黎奥运会组委会的设想,法国久负盛名的建筑遗产和地标将与传统体育赛事相结合,创造出全新的观赛体验,多方位展示巴黎这座城市的传统与现代之美。
在埃菲尔铁塔下看沙滩排球赛,在荣军院里观赏射箭比赛,在香榭丽舍大道上看自行车比赛,在大皇宫里观赏剑术和跆拳道比赛,在凡尔赛宫观赏马术比赛,在协和广场为霹雳舞赛呐喊助威……
2024年的巴黎奥运会不知将会带给我们怎样的惊喜!
而说到各国的地标性建筑,游玩归来后的网友们也是毁誉参半。今年年初,英国《镜报》上就曾有一篇Eiffel Tower branded 'waste of time' in hilarious TripAdvisor reviews of iconic landmarks的文章,《在猫途鹰对地标性建筑的滑稽评论中,埃菲尔铁塔被称为“浪费时间”》。

一起来看看网友都对哪些国家的地标性建筑,有出乎意料的评价:
Iconic landmarks such as Christ The Redeemer and the Colosseum in Rome are marked highly on the bucket list of intrepid travellers across the world.
救世主基督像和罗马圆形大剧场等标志性建筑在世界各地无畏旅行者的人生目标清单上占据了很高的位置。
It’s hard not to be left in awe of historical structures that have stood the test of time for hundreds, if not thousands, of years - but if anyone can find fault, you’ll find it on TripAdvisor.
历史建筑经受了数百年,甚至数千年的时间考验,很难不让人敬畏——但如果有人能挑出其缺点,你可以在猫途鹰上找到。
注:猫途鹰一般指TripAdvisor。TripAdvisor是全球领先的旅游网站,主要提供来自全球旅行者的点评和建议,全面覆盖全球的酒店、景点、餐厅、航空公司,以及旅行规划和酒店、景点、餐厅预订功能。TripAdvisor及旗下网站在全球49个市场设有分站,月均独立访问量达4.15亿。2000年2月,TripAdvisor创立于波士顿一个披萨店上面的小办公室。联合创始人兼现任CEO Stephen Kaufer曾经讲过TripAdvisor创立背后的故事。当时他与妻子计划去墨西哥旅行,不确定应该选择哪间酒店,而那时网上来自旅行者分享的可参考信息非常少,因此有了建立一个旅游网站的想法。TripAdvisor的logo是一只猫头鹰的形象。在美国,猫头鹰是智慧的象征。猫头鹰Logo的绿色和红色眼睛则分别代表了“推荐”与“不推荐”,旅行者通过参考其他游客的点评,包括好的和不好的旅行体验,可以更好地分辨某个地点是否真正值得前往。
The travel website allows anyone to leave a review of their experiences, from flights to restaurants, in the hope of helping others take in the best bits and sidestep the rest.
这个旅游网站允许任何人对自己的旅行经历(从航班到餐厅)进行评论,希望能帮助其他人获取最好的旅游体验,同时避开一些不必要的坑。
It means no location is exempt from criticism regardless of reputation, and not everyone who visits some of the most desirable tourist spots on the globe walk away completely happy.
这意味着,无论名声如何,没有一个地方能免于批评,也不是每个去了世界上一些最受欢迎的旅游景点的人都能完全开心地离开。

图片描述:The Colosseum has survived hundreds of years - but it’s not enough for some ( 罗马圆形大剧场已经存在了数百年,但对一些人来说,它还不够)
The Colosseum in Italy’s capital was built 1,951 years ago in 70 AD as an imposing venue to play host to fights, dramas and executions. But one review suggests it ’s not worth the visit, simply stating: “Not much of it left to be honest. But that’s my opinion”, while another warned: “The guide was confusing, mainly because I don’t know how to speak Italian.”
意大利首都罗马圆形大剧场建于1951年前的公元70年,是一个举办格斗、戏剧和处决的壮观场所。但有一篇评论表示,不值得去参观,只是简单地说:“说实话,这里已经所剩无几了。”另一个人则警告说:“导游把我搞糊涂了,主要是因为我不会说意大利语。”
The Eiffel Tower in Paris, constructed between 1887 to 1889, has become one of the most recognisable structures in the world, but was written off as a “big hunk of steel that acts as reference for navigation, nothing special, too commercial.”
巴黎的埃菲尔铁塔建于1887年至1889年之间,已成为世界上最知名的建筑之一,但它被贬为“用作导航参考的一大块钢铁,没什么特别的,太商业化了”。
It continued: “Too many street vendors and people wondering why they came there in the first place.”
该评论还接着说:“太多的街头小贩和不知道他们当初为什么来这里的人。”
A second review gave a “terrible” one-star rating last September, expressing: “ Waste of time. Looks better in the magazines.”
去年9月,另一条评论给出了“糟糕的”一星评级,表示:“浪费时间。在杂志上看起来更好看。”

图片描述:One visitor recommended swerving the pyramids as there’s “too much sand” (一位游客建议绕过金字塔,因为“沙子太多了”)
Over in Mexico, you’ll find the ruins of Chichen Itza, built in the 6th century by the Maya people and has now become a designated UNESCO World Heritage site, helping to protect it and ensure it remains untouched.
在墨西哥,你会发现奇琴伊察遗址,玛雅人于公元6世纪建造,现已成为联合国教科文组织指定的世界遗产,帮助保护它,并确保它屹立不变。
But it was the lack updates to the design that left one visitor unimpressed, who complained: “Visited the place again after seven years. Surprised to find that there is zero development on the site. Nothing new at all.”
但正是设计上的缺乏更新让一位游客不为所动,他抱怨道:“时隔7年,我又来了一次。惊讶地发现现场没有任何开发。没有什么新鲜的。”
Another negative review just reads: “The most overrated archaeological site in Mexico!!!!!!”
另一条负面评论写道:“墨西哥最被高估的考古遗址!!!!!!”
Then there’s Christ the Redeemer, with the statue found towering over the city of Rio De Janeiro in Brazil, and branded “Christ the Invisible by one reviewer who raged: ‘ Due to fog, we were not able to see any of the statue, even when standing beneath it.’”
还有救世主基督像,这座雕像矗立在巴西里约热内卢的上空,一位评论家愤怒地写道:“由于大雾,我们无法看到雕像的任何东西,即使站在它下面。”
The pyramids of Giza in Egypt are considered an architectural triumph, leaving historians scratching their heads as to exactly how they were constructed around 4,500 years ago.
埃及吉萨金字塔被认为是建筑上的胜利,并让历史学家们困惑不解,它们到底是如何在4500年前被建造完成的。
But they did not impress ‘Mr Worldwide’ who wrote last July: “Far too hot and sand everywhere. Not great.”
但它们并没有给“环球先生”留下深刻印象,他在去年7月写道:“太热了,到处都是沙子。不是很好。”
Even our own treasured landmarks aren’t safe, after Stonehenge in Wiltshire was cast aside in a brutal assessment reading: “I was surprised to see it is literally a few rocks in a circle.
在威尔特郡(Wiltshire)的巨石阵(Stonehenge)在一份残酷的评估报告(它是被如下描述的:“我很惊讶地看到,它实际上是一个圈里的几块石头。”)中被抛在一边后,即使是我们(英国人)自己珍视的地标也不“安全”了。
“Covered in moss, 20 odd feet high, rocks in a circle. I looked at my pal and said ‘surely this is a wind-up’.”
“苔藓覆盖,20英尺高,岩石围成一圈。我看着我的朋友说:‘这肯定是闹着玩的。’”
Across the Atlantic, a tourist wasn’t happy with the choice of colour on the Statue of Liberty on Liberty Island in New York Harbor, questioning: “Why is she green?”
在大西洋对岸,纽约港自由岛上的自由女神像,一位游客对它的颜色选择不满意,问道:“她为什么是绿色的?”
TripAdvisor said it did not wish to comment on the bad reviews.
猫途鹰表示,不希望对这些差评发表评论。
看完这些评论,只能说光环之下必有瑕疵。而且人们对旅行的定义和期许本就可能千差万别,不是吗?
本文英文来自外刊,其中《 在猫途鹰对地标性建筑的滑稽评论中,埃菲尔铁塔被称为“浪费时间” 》双语部分经改编已选入《快捷英语 活页英语时文阅读理解 高一年级21》,转载需注明出处。