N:At the Beijing Olympics, all four table tennis events were all-Chinese finals. A clean sweep again!
北京奥运会上,乒乓球所有四个单项比赛的冠亚军都是中国选手,中国队又来了一次包揽!
L:Yes. All international ping-pong tournaments have become a demonstration of Chinese supremacy in the sport.
是的,任何一项国际乒乓球比赛项目都是中国队展现实力的舞台.
N:Do you know any secrets to China's success?
你看中国队成功的秘诀在哪儿呢?
L:In the first place, I think the whole nation is just fond of the game. It is well grounded with the mass. With huge numbers of people playing ping-pong, we can always spot a handful of potential world champions.
我想,这首先是因为全国上下都热爱这项运动,在老百姓当中有着雄厚的基础.只要有大量的人在打乒乓球,我们总是能发掘一批潜在的世界冠军的。
N:So, the national ping-pong team must be a highly competitive membership.
国家乒乓球队一定是个竞争非常激烈的地方吧.
L:Sure. There is a careful mechanism for selecting players from provincial teams, and those lucky dogs have to observe strict rules.
那当然.从省队选拔运动员到国家队时,我们有着一套极为严密的机制。而且即使有幸被吸收进了围家队,运动员们也必须遵守一些非常严格的纪律。
N:For example?
比如说?
L:They are subject to hard training. And you know what, for a player on the national team, personal affairs are supposed to take a back seat to training and competitions. They are not even allowed to talk relationships with each other.
他们必须接受高强度训练。而且,你知道吗,对于一名国家队的队员,个人私事必须让位于训练和比赛,他们之间甚至不允许谈恋爱.
N:Oh, dear! It's an encroachment on individual rights!
天哪!这可是侵犯个人权利啊。
L:Well, ping-pong is our national sport, and we just have to keep winning one honor after another. That's why many people think such rules acccptable. Afler all, they are funded out of taxpayers'money.
嗯,可以这么说,不过,乒乓球是我们的国球,我们不得不不停地夺取荣誉,所以对这些规定,许多人还是觉得理所应当.毕竟,国家队是用纳税人的钱养着的.