VOA标准英语2011-Multi-Millon-Dollar Iraqi Sports Complex

The Asian Cup football (soccer) tournament kicks off in Doha, Qatar, Friday, January 7, with defending champion Iraq to play North Korea, Iran and the United Arab Emiterates in Group-D play.

Iraqi football fans are also looking forward to 2013, when the new Basra Sports City will host the Gulf¹ Cup tournament. The first phase of construction of the multi-million sports complex is about half finished.

A  fine cloud of dust rises around the construction site as workers put cement pylons² and stadium seats in place. Heavy trucks rumble³ across the site and a crop of huge steel cranes lifts the pieces of the new 65,000 seat stadium that is the centerpiece of the sports complex in Basra.

Basra Sports City also will feature an adjoining 10,000 seat secondary stadium and practice facility designed to International Football Federation⁴ and Olympic athletics⁵ standards. The facility will also have four training areas, athlete housing, a fire station and a helipad.

The project is a joint⁶ venture between Iraq's Abdullah al-Jubouri construction company and two U.S. firms – 360 Architecture and Newport Global.

Aswan Shabib, a spokesman for the project, says "the overall cost of the project is 522 billion Iraqi dinars, which is the equivalent of $450 million."

 
AFP
The construction site of the Sports City in the southern Iraqi city of Basra, 02 Dec 2009
Shabib adds that it will take 32 months to complete the construction, "At this stage Abdullah Awis al Jubouri Company, which is the company implementing⁷ this project, has achieved more than 50 percent of the first phase of the project."

Nearly 40 companies from Britain, China, France, Kuwait, Russia, and Turkey bid for the right to build the Basra Sports City, which will sprawl⁸ over 236 hectares.

In addition to the sports stadiums, there will be training facilities for Iraqi athletes - including a full natatorium, a velodrome, and three smaller arenas⁹ for gymnastics, fencing and other indoor sports. A mosque¹⁰, an amusement park and additional parking facilities will be built in phase two of the project.

Michael Day is the project manager overseeing the construction of Basra Sports City for 360 Architecture. He told VOA that construction is going well and the complex should be ready in time for a crucial inspection¹¹ next year.

"They have made significant progress on the main structure of the stadium, which is from a schedule standpoint," says Day. "The critical path is for substantial completion in 2012 when FIFA [football's international governing body] will commission the facility for the 2013 Gulf Cup games."

The Basra sports complex will not be just sports fans. Last week the local Basra administration agreed to fund several service and urban projects including construction of three bridges in the city and the rebuilding of five intersections¹² to serve the sports facility.Roads from the airport and other routes leading to the facility will also be rehabilitated¹³.

When completed, Basra Sports City will be the largest complex of its kind Iraq has ever built

1 gulf   

n.海湾；深渊，鸿沟；分歧，隔阂

参考例句：

• The gulf between the two leaders cannot be bridged.两位领导人之间的鸿沟难以跨越。
• There is a gulf between the two cities.这两座城市间有个海湾。

2 pylons   

n.（架高压输电线的）电缆塔( pylon的名词复数 )；挂架

参考例句：

• A-form pylons are designed to withstand earthquake forces. A型框架式塔架设计中考虑塔架能够经受地震力的作用。 来自辞典例句
• Who designed the arch bridge with granite-faced pylons at either end? 谁设计在拱桥两端镶有花岗岩的塔门？ 来自互联网

3 rumble   

n.隆隆声；吵嚷；v.隆隆响；低沉地说

参考例句：

• I hear the rumble of thunder in the distance.我听到远处雷声隆隆。
• We could tell from the rumble of the thunder that rain was coming.我们根据雷的轰隆声可断定，天要下雨了。

4 federation   

n.同盟，联邦，联合，联盟，联合会

参考例句：

• It is a federation of 10 regional unions.它是由十个地方工会结合成的联合会。
• Mr.Putin was inaugurated as the President of the Russian Federation.普京正式就任俄罗斯联邦总统。

5 athletics   

n.运动，体育，田径运动

参考例句：

• When I was at school I was always hopeless at athletics.我上学的时候体育十分糟糕。
• Our team tied with theirs in athletics.在田径比赛中，我们队与他们队旗鼓相当。

6 joint   

adj.联合的，共同的；n.关节，接合处；v.连接，贴合

参考例句：

• I had a bad fall,which put my shoulder out of joint.我重重地摔了一跤，肩膀脫臼了。
• We wrote a letter in joint names.我们联名写了封信。

7 implementing   

v.实现( implement的现在分词 )；执行；贯彻；使生效

参考例句：

• -- Implementing a comprehensive drug control strategy. ――实行综合治理的禁毒战略。 来自汉英非文学 - 白皮书
• He was in no hurry about implementing his unshakable principle. 他并不急于实行他那不可动摇的原则。 来自辞典例句

8 sprawl   

vi.躺卧，扩张，蔓延；vt.使蔓延；n.躺卧，蔓延

参考例句：

• In our garden,bushes are allowed to sprawl as they will.在我们园子里，灌木丛爱怎么蔓延就怎么蔓延。
• He is lying in a sprawl on the bed.他伸开四肢躺在床上。

9 arenas   

表演场地( arena的名词复数 )； 竞技场； 活动或斗争的场所或场面； 圆形运动场

参考例句：

• Demolition derbies are large-scale automobile rodeos that take place in big arenas. 撞车比赛指的是在很大的竞技场上举行的大型汽车驾驶技术表演。
• Are there areas of privacy in the most public of arenas? 在绝大部分公开的场合中存在需要保护隐私的领域吗？

10 mosque   

n.清真寺

参考例句：

• The mosque is a activity site and culture center of Muslim religion.清真寺为穆斯林宗教活动场所和文化中心。
• Some years ago the clock in the tower of the mosque got out of order.几年前，清真寺钟楼里的大钟失灵了。

11 inspection   

n.检查，审查，检阅

参考例句：

• On random inspection the meat was found to be bad.经抽查，发现肉变质了。
• The soldiers lined up for their daily inspection by their officers.士兵们列队接受军官的日常检阅。

12 intersections   

n.横断( intersection的名词复数 )；交叉；交叉点；交集

参考例句：

• Traffic lights have been placed at all major intersections. 所有重要的交叉路口都安装了交通信号灯。
• Intersections are of the greatest importance in highway design. 在道路设计中，交叉口占有最重要的地位。 来自辞典例句

13 rehabilitated   

改造（罪犯等）( rehabilitate的过去式和过去分词 )； 使恢复正常生活； 使恢复原状； 修复

参考例句：

• He has been rehabilitated in public esteem. 公众已恢复对他的敬重。
• Young persons need to be, wherever possible, rehabilitated rather than punished. 未成年人需要受到尽可能的矫正而不是惩罚。