Olympic Flame nears end of its 70 day journey round the Isles

 LONDON, July 26 (Xinhua) -- It landed at Lands End on the extreme south-west coast of England 69 days ago and after making its way around the British Isles¹, the Olympic Torch finally reaches the Olympic stadium on Friday.

When it reaches the end of its travels, the torch, which is made of gold colored aluminum² alloy³, will have been carried by 8,000 'inspirational' people, some of them famous, some of them not so famous, but all of them proud of carrying the flame and the work they did to earn the honor.

It will have been carried along streets lined with cheering people: it will have climbed mountains, sailed down rapids, been lowered from a helicopter, suspended in a cable car, carried on a mountain bike, flown to the Channel Islands and travelled beneath the streets on the London Underground.

In a route which has taken it as close as possible to as many people in Britain, the torch has made a journey through the ages: from the ancient ruins of Stonehenge to the high-tech⁴ buildings of London.

The Flame passed through esteemed⁵ centers of learning and tradition, such as Oxford⁶ and Cambridge Universities, it visited the home of William Shakespeare and Sherwood Forest - the abode⁷ of the legendary⁸ Robin⁹ Hood¹⁰ as well as passing by the emblematic¹¹ sculpture 'The Angel of the North.'

It has withstood the British weather, being carried through the wettest month of June in over 150 years, battered¹² by strong winds and surrounded by mist, before enjoying the sunshine of the past few days. But still the British have cheered its progress.

By the time the torch had completed half of its circuit of Britain, it had been seen by 4 million people, while an estimated 500,000 went to see it pass by on the first day it passed through the capital.

It is a journey that has been at times fast, normally slow and not without mishaps¹³ (taking it to the White Water center was not a good idea as the water momentarily extinguished the flame, which had to be relit by the 'mother flame,' which is also making the journey). But the voyage has served to highlight the imminent¹⁴ arrival of the Olympic Games, while also promoting the beauty and spectacle of the British Isles.

And now that journey nears its end when on Friday evening, after 70 days the Torch finally enters the Olympic Stadium and is used to light the Olympic Cauldron to symbolize¹⁵ the start of the 2012 Olympics. It has been a long road, but the end is now clearly in sight.

1 isles   

岛( isle的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• the geology of the British Isles 不列颠群岛的地质
• The boat left for the isles. 小船驶向那些小岛。

2 aluminum   

n.(aluminium)铝

参考例句：

• The aluminum sheets cannot be too much thicker than 0.04 inches.铝板厚度不能超过0.04英寸。
• During the launch phase,it would ride in a protective aluminum shell.在发射阶段，它盛在一只保护的铝壳里。

3 alloy   

n.合金，(金属的)成色

参考例句：

• The company produces titanium alloy.该公司生产钛合金。
• Bronze is an alloy of copper and tin.青铜是铜和锡的合金。

4 high-tech   

adj.高科技的

参考例句：

• The economy is in the upswing which makes high-tech services in more demand too.经济在蓬勃发展，这就使对高科技服务的需求量也在加大。
• The quest of a cure for disease with high-tech has never ceased. 人们希望运用高科技治疗疾病的追求从未停止过。

5 esteemed   

adj.受人尊敬的v.尊敬( esteem的过去式和过去分词 )；敬重；认为；以为

参考例句：

• The art of conversation is highly esteemed in France. 在法国十分尊重谈话技巧。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He esteemed that he understood what I had said. 他认为已经听懂我说的意思了。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 Oxford   

n.牛津（英国城市）

参考例句：

• At present he has become a Professor of Chemistry at Oxford.他现在已是牛津大学的化学教授了。
• This is where the road to Oxford joins the road to London.这是去牛津的路与去伦敦的路的汇合处。

7 abode   

n.住处，住所

参考例句：

• It was ten months before my father discovered his abode.父亲花了十个月的功夫，才好不容易打听到他的住处。
• Welcome to our humble abode!欢迎光临寒舍！

8 legendary   

adj.传奇（中）的，闻名遐迩的；n.传奇（文学）

参考例句：

• Legendary stories are passed down from parents to children.传奇故事是由父母传给孩子们的。
• Odysseus was a legendary Greek hero.奥狄修斯是传说中的希腊英雄。

9 robin   

n.知更鸟，红襟鸟

参考例句：

• The robin is the messenger of spring.知更鸟是报春的使者。
• We knew spring was coming as we had seen a robin.我们看见了一只知更鸟，知道春天要到了。

10 hood   

n.头巾，兜帽，覆盖；v.罩上，以头巾覆盖

参考例句：

• She is wearing a red cloak with a hood.她穿着一件红色带兜帽的披风。
• The car hood was dented in.汽车的发动机罩已凹了进去。

11 emblematic   

adj.象征的，可当标志的；象征性

参考例句：

• The violence is emblematic of what is happening in our inner cities. 这种暴力行为正标示了我们市中心贫民区的状况。
• Whiteness is emblematic of purity. 白色是纯洁的象征。 来自辞典例句

12 battered   

adj.磨损的；v.连续猛击；磨损

参考例句：

• He drove up in a battered old car.他开着一辆又老又破的旧车。
• The world was brutally battered but it survived.这个世界遭受了惨重的创伤,但它还是生存下来了。

13 mishaps   

n.轻微的事故，小的意外( mishap的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• a series of mishaps 一连串的倒霉事
• In spite of one or two minor mishaps everything was going swimmingly. 尽管遇到了一两件小小的不幸，一切都进行得很顺利。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

14 imminent   

adj.即将发生的，临近的，逼近的

参考例句：

• The black clounds show that a storm is imminent.乌云预示暴风雨即将来临。
• The country is in imminent danger.国难当头。

15 symbolize   

vt.作为...的象征，用符号代表

参考例句：

• Easter eggs symbolize the renewal of life.复活蛋象征新生。
• Dolphins symbolize the breath of life.海豚象征着生命的气息。