Original text
Winter Games light at end of pandemic tunnel
Source：China Daily
Since the mid-2010s, several major initiatives have been launched to promote these objectives, particularly the Ice and Snow Sports Development Program (2016-25) and associated infrastructure investment. It was supported by several programs to boost China's nascent winter sports industry, including the national fitness plan (2016-20), and the programs for ice and snow facilities (2016-22), and ice and snow tourism (2021-23).The targets for 2025 remain ambitious: to increase Chinese participants to 300 million in winter sports, while raising the value of the industry to some $155 billion.As in the 2008 Summer Olympics, the opening ceremony of the 2022 Winter Games will be held at the National Stadium, popularly known as the "Bird's Nest", in Beijing.At a time when the pandemic is still raging in some parts of the world and unwarranted attempts are being made to divide the world, China's Olympic motto, "Together for a Shared Future", should be taken seriously. As a young man, my father was a weight-lifter training for the 1940 Olympics until the world lost its way and he was forced to spend five years of his life on the war front. I was luckier. As a sprinter, one of the teenage highlights of my athletic career was swimming next to Mark Spitz who later won a record seven gold medals at the 1972 Munich Olympics.Many of my friends chose winter sports. While only a few made it to the Olympics, none of us has forgotten those experiences that made us stronger, healthier, and hopefully better as human beings. Taken in the right way, sports prepares youths for life, through competition and cooperation. Boycotts divide, friendships unite.From Feb 4 to 20, the world's eyes will be on Beijing, Yanqing and Zhangjiakou. The Olympic dream of competing to transcend one's own potential, yet with a spirit of friendship and solidarity, must be kept alive.adj. Nascent things or processes are just beginning, and are expected to become stronger or to grow bigger. 新生的; 初期的例：...Kenya's nascent democracy.例：...the still nascent science of psychology.1) n. Facilities are buildings, pieces of equipment, or services that are provided for a particular purpose. 设施例：What recreational facilities are now available?2) n. A facility is something such as an additional service provided by an organization or an extra feature on a machine which is useful but not essential. 附加服务; 附加功能例：One of the new models has the facility to reproduce speech as well as text.3) n. If you have a facility for something, for example learning a language, you find it easy to do. 天赋 例：He and Marcia shared a facility for languages.adj. If you describe something as unwarranted, you are critical of it because there is no need or reason for it. 不必要的; 无端的 [正式]例：Any attempt to discuss the issue of human rights was rejected as an unwarranted interference in the country's internal affairs.任何希望讨论人权问题的要求都被视为对该国内政的无端干涉而被拒绝了。run very fast, usually for a short distance例句：She blazed to a gold medal in the 200-metre sprint.n.短跑比赛；短距离速度竞赛；短距离快速奔跑(或游泳等)；冲刺1.be superior or better than some standard2.be greater in scope or size than some standard例句：The speed of rockets transcends that of airplanes. 记忆方法 tran 横过越过 + scend 爬 → 爬越〔障碍〕→ 超越a union of interests or purposes or sympathies among members of a group例句：Factory workers voiced solidarity with the striking students.Yes, humans can fly at new Winter Olympics venueThe only new outdoor sports venue in Beijing for snow sports for the upcoming 2022 Winter Olympics will help athletes come as close as they can to achieving the exhilaration of flight.Aptly called Big Air Shougang, the venue inside western Beijing's Shougang Industrial Park in Shijingshan district features a steep, twisting ramp that will remain in place after the Games.Next year, four gold medals－two for snowboarding and two for freestyle skiing－will be decided at the venue. After that, as an important legacy of the Winter Olympics and Paralympics, it will be integrated with the surrounding facilities and opened to the public as a sports and leisure park."Big Air will hold two Olympic snow sports next year－snowboarding and freestyle skiing, both of which will be warmly welcomed by young people," said Pan Xiaozhi, an official from the operations team of the Big Air project under Beijing Shougang Construction Investment Co.Pan said big air competitions, which involve high-risk aerial tricks performed on skis and snowboards, are usually staged in a temporary venue, such as a city square or a stadium. "The atmosphere of the competition is more like a big party, with music, beer and energetic young people," Pan said.The ramp at Big Air Shougang－with a length of about 160 meters and a height of 60 meters－will be one of the world's first permanent venues for big air competition, the operators of the park said.The venue was integrated with the old industrial environment, and the undulating modern ramp is in stark contrast to four cooling towers built in the past 50 years, and an old oxygen factory, which has been renovated for use as a service area. "Construction is in accordance with the sustainable concept of the Olympics, and we have kept many industrial elements in the design," Pan said.Inspired by the Mogao Grottoes fresco Flying Apsaras, the ramp has been designed to resemble a ribbon floating in the air. Zhang Li, chief architect of Big Air Shougang and dean of the School of Architecture at Tsinghua University, said that the theme of the transformation of the industrial park－once a steel factory－is culture, sports and leisure."Building a permanent Olympic venue in the park expresses this theme perfectly," he said in a recent interview with China Central Television. "The sport features speed, lightness and freedom, and we've embedded those into its design as ribbons."Liu Yuchuan, an official of the Big Air Shougang project, said: "During construction, we considered how to develop the venue after the Games. It can be used to host all sorts of events and provide training opportunities for young athletes."It can also be a modern space for commercial exhibitions and shows, he added.Construction was completed at the end of October 2019. The venue can be repurposedfor aerial competitions in freestyle skiing.e.g. The venue was packed with 3 000 clubbers.n. the feeling of lively and cheerful joye.g. He could hardly conceal his excitement when she agreed.同根词： exhilarate v. 使高兴，使振奋；使愉快e.g. Lily was coming down the ramp from the museum. e.g. When it comes to integratetheir transport systems, the French don't miss a trick.adj.明显的;赤裸裸的;严酷的;了无修饰的;荒凉的;粗陋的;真实而无法回避的;(指区别)鲜明的 e.g.I think white would be too stark for the bedroom. vt.重新调整用途;(为适合新用途)对…稍加修改，略微改动e.g.When customers do want to toss their pair, they can give them back to the store, which will repurpose and resell them.