VOA慢速英语听力：火炬将照亮2024年奥运会 Torch Will Bring its Light to the 2024 Olympics.
Olympic Games organizers in France presented the 2024 Olympic torch that will light the Summer Games in the country a year from now. In the Olympic torch tradition, many people carry the torch in turn from Greece to the current location of the Games. After it has traveled thousands of kilometers, the torch will light the Olympic cauldron at the Opening Ceremony of the next Olympic Games.
French designer Mathieu Lehanneur created the torch, which is 70 centimeters long and made of lightweight steel. Lehanneur said its shape is inspired by the famous Seine river, which flows through Paris. He said the torch is equal from top to bottom and all around the middle, which stands for equality between athletes. The twisting shape of the torch represents peace.
The torch was made with lightweight steel. Its lower half copies the movement of the Seine, along which the opening ceremony will take place for over 500,000 viewers.
Lehanneur said he wants the torch to represent the kind of event that Paris 2024 hopes to be. “I wanted to move away from the torch appearing as an object of conquest,” Lehanneur said.
He also told reporters that designing the torch was much more technical than he thought it would be. “The magic is not the torch itself, but the flame,” Lehanneur said.
The torch will begin burning in Olympia, Greece, where the first Olympics were held, on April 16. The Games will begin in Paris on July 26, 2024.
On May 8, the torch will arrive in the Mediterranean city of Marseille. It will then pass through several important places, which include Strasbourg, the Pantheon in Paris, the Mont Saint-Michel and multiple French territories.
Tony Estanguet, the Paris 2024 chief, said the torch is “very, very beautiful.” He also said it is “…very pure. It’s perfectly balanced in the hand.”
I’m Dominic Varela. And I’m Jill Robbins.
参考译文：
法国奥运会组织者展示了2024年奥运圣火，将在明年举行的夏季奥运会上点燃。按照奥运圣火的传统，许多人依次从希腊将圣火传递到奥运会的当前地点。经过数千公里的传递后，圣火将在下届奥运会的开幕式上点燃奥运火炬台。
法国设计师Mathieu Lehanneur创作了这款长70厘米、由轻质钢制成的火炬。Lehanneur表示，火炬的形状灵感来自著名的塞纳河，这条河流贯穿巴黎。他说火炬从顶部到底部，以及周围都是平等的，象征着运动员之间的平等。火炬的扭曲形状代表着和平。
火炬是用轻质钢制成的。火炬的下半部分复制了塞纳河的流动路径，开幕式将在沿途吸引超过50万观众的地方进行。
Lehanneur表示，他希望火炬能代表巴黎2024希望呈现的那种事件。“我想让火炬不再成为一种征服的对象，”Lehanneur说。
他还告诉记者，设计火炬比他想象的要更加技术化。“魔力不在火炬本身，而在火焰中，”Lehanneur说。
火炬将于2024年4月16日在希腊的奥林匹亚点燃，这里是第一届奥运会举办地。奥运会将于2024年7月26日在巴黎开幕。
5月8日，火炬将抵达地中海城市马赛。然后，它将经过几个重要的地点，包括斯特拉斯堡、巴黎的先贤祠、圣米歇尔山和多个法国海外领土。
巴黎2024主席Tony Estanguet表示，火炬“非常美丽”。他还说，它“……非常纯粹，在手中完美平衡。”
我是多米尼克·瓦雷拉。我是吉尔·罗宾斯。
Words in This Story
torch – n. a long stick with burning material at one end, used to provide light or to set things on fire
cauldron – n. a large pot
athlete – n. a person who does a sport, especially athletics, or track and field events.
conquest – n. the act of conquering a country or group of people
flame – n. a hot bright stream of burning gas that comes from something that is burning
