Games' planners announce biggest relay [ 2007-06-27 14:48 ]
The organizers of the 2008 Olympic Games have announced
that they will recruit 21,880 torchbearers for the torch relay, making it the
biggest in the Games' history.
The recruitment drive for the bearers
kicked off this weekend.
People will have two ways to become
torchbearers, according to the recruitment plan for the Beijing 2008 Olympic
Games: by being recommended by an authorized organization or institution or
through an open selection process.
Among the organizations and
institutions tipped to recruit torchbearers are mainland local governments, the
Chinese Olympic Committee, the Beijing Torch Relay Presenting Partners, the
Olympic Family, cities located along the relay route and Beijing Organizing
Committee for the Games of the XXIX Olympiad (BOCOG).
"The selection of
the Beijing 2008 Olympic torchbearers will be open to common people," said Zhang
Ming, director of the Torch Relay Center. "Anyone who meets the selection
criteria could have a shot at
holding the Olympic flame."
Zhang said BOCOG had set no limits on the
gender, career, nationality or health of the participants, though they would
have to be older than 14.
Five percent of torchbearers on the Chinese
mainland can be foreigners. People with disabilities are also welcome to take
part.
In addition, 5,000 escort runners will be selected from colleges
and universities on the Chinese mainland.
Chinese Taipei can also kick
off its selection of 120 torchbearers for the Beijing Olympic torch relay if it
returns to the written agreement reached by Beijing organizing committee and
Chinese Taipei Olympic Committee, officials said.
"As far as BOCOG is
concerned, the passing of the Olympic flame through Taipei has been defined by
BOCOG and the Chinese Taipei Olympic Committee," said Jiang Xiaoyu, executive
vice-president of the Beijing organizing committee.
"We hope they will
not be influenced by artificial factors and return to the written agreement made
by both sides and validated by the International Olympic Committee."
The
deadline for submitting torchbearer applications is October 31. BOCOG will make
the final selections by the end of this year.
Soon after the recruitment
drive was announced, Lenovo nominated the first group of torchbearers. They
included Shen Xue and Zhao Hongbo, world figure
skating champions; Pu Cunxin, a famous actor and an ambassador
for many public service campaigns; and Wang Shunyou, a postman from a
mountainous part of Southwest China's Sichuan Province.
The Beijing
Olympic flame will be lit in March in Greece before kicking off its 130-day
journey, which will cover 137,000 km, including the world's highest peak, Mount
Everest.
(China Daily 06/25/2007 Page 3)
Vocabulary:
torchbearer:火炬手
have a shot at:试着去做
figure skating:花样滑冰
Questions:
1. What are the 2 ways to
become a torchbearer?
2. What is the only requirement the BOCOG put on torchbearers?
3. What
company nominated the first group of torchbearers?
Answers:
1. By being recommended by an authorized
organization or institution and through an open selection process.
2. They must be 14 years old.
3. Lenovo.
(英语点津 Linda 编辑)
About the broadcaster:
Suzann Riddle is a senior double majoring in Health Care
Management and Economics at Appalachian State University in Boone, NC. She finds
herself at China Daily Website after visiting many areas of China as a Holland
Fellow, Appalachian's international exchange program with Fudan University.
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