Phelps not to compete in USA vs European All-Star duel

 　　WASHINGTON, Nov. 3 (Xinhua) -- U.S. phenom Michael Phelps will not compete in the duel¹ between the United States and a European All-Star squad² next month at the venue³ used for the 1996 Atlanta Olympics.

　　Phelps, who won an unprecedented⁴ eight gold medals at the 2008 Beijing Olympics after taking six golds at the 2004 Athens Games, has decided⁵ to skip the event to focus on his preparations for the 2012 London Olympics.

　　Despite the absence of Phelps, Olympic champions Ryan Lochte, Natalie Coughlin, Brendan Hansen, Dana Vollmer, Rebecca Soni and Amanda Beard were among 36 competitors named by USA Swimming for the December 16-17 event.

　　Lochte won five titles at this year's world championships in Shanghai, including head-to-head triumphs over Phelps.

　　Missy Franklin and Elizabeth Beisel, who each won a world title in China, also were named to the squad.

　　The European all-star lineup will include swimmers from Britain, Denmark, Poland, Belarus, Austria, Lithuania and the Netherlands.

　　This will be the fifth edition of the biennial⁶ short-course event, with American squads⁷ 4-0, taking victories over Australia in 2003, 2005 and 2007 and a European all-star team in 2009.

1 duel   

n./v.决斗；(双方的)斗争

参考例句：

• The two teams are locked in a duel for first place.两个队为争夺第一名打得难解难分。
• Duroy was forced to challenge his disparager to duel.杜洛瓦不得不向诋毁他的人提出决斗。

2 squad   

n.班，小队，小团体；vt.把…编成班或小组

参考例句：

• The squad leader ordered the men to mark time.班长命令战士们原地踏步。
• A squad is the smallest unit in an army.班是军队的最小构成单位。

3 venue   

n.犯罪地点，审判地，管辖地，发生地点，集合地点

参考例句：

• The hall provided a venue for weddings and other functions.大厅给婚礼和其他社会活动提供了场所。
• The chosen venue caused great controversy among the people.人们就审判地点的问题产生了极大的争议。

4 unprecedented   

adj.无前例的，新奇的

参考例句：

• The air crash caused an unprecedented number of deaths.这次空难的死亡人数是空前的。
• A flood of this sort is really unprecedented.这样大的洪水真是十年九不遇。

5 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

6 biennial   

adj.两年一次的

参考例句：

• The workers were strongly against the biennial election.工人们强烈反对两年一次的选举。
• His is a biennial,and one of the most useful pasture plants we have.这是两年生植物，也是我们最有用的牧草之一。

7 squads   

n.（军队中的）班( squad的名词复数 )；（暗杀）小组；体育运动的运动（代表）队；（对付某类犯罪活动的）警察队伍

参考例句：

• Anti-riot squads were called out to deal with the situation. 防暴队奉命出动以对付这一局势。 来自辞典例句
• Three squads constitute a platoon. 三个班组成一个排。 来自辞典例句