Women and the Olympics 女性与奥运会

万婧遥

近年来，越來越多的女性运动员参与到奥运会中，并大放异彩。

1 Strength and determination make sportswomen champions in the field. The same qualities ensure that more of them get there. Banned from the first modern Olympics， in 1896， only 22 competed among almost 1，000 athletes at the next games in Paris. This year Britain， the US and China have all sent more women than men to Tokyo， and overall， the number of female competitors has almost reached parity with male competitors at last， at 48.8%.

2 The Games are a rare sporting field in which women come very close to equality. Most gold medallists will receive the same financial reward from their country， whether male or female. Over the years， female Olympians such as Nadia Comǎneci and Jackie Joyner⁃Kersee have enjoyed instant name recognition and drawn spectators， just as male athletes have. Womens events are valued in their own right.

3 Yet the Olympic movement remains overwhelmingly male—and it shows. Only a third of the International Olympic Committees executive board members are women. The IOC says it is committed to gender equality， and its decision to add more womens events has unquestionably boosted female participation. In other regards， the Olympic movement is falling short. The head of Tokyos organising committee was forced to apologize after complaining that women talked too much.

4 Athletes are directly affected by outdated attitudes. This year saw a row over whether breast⁃feeding infants could accompany their mothers， due to the COVID⁃19 concerns. Many women have had to overcome far poorer resources and support at national level.

5 The Olympic movement is not solely responsible for the challenges that female competitors face. Other sporting bodies have a lot to answer for. Broadcasters still get it wrong， and so do fans. For many women， the Olympics is especially joyful as one of the few areas of popular culture in which womens bodies are celebrated not for how they look but for what they can do， and for individual strength and achievement， not whether they please onlookers.

6 Female Olympians have caught up， despite their unfavourable start. Now the IOC and others must follow suit.

[Reading][Check]

Choose the best answers according to the text

[Language][Study]

Ⅰ. Analyze the difficult structure in the text

For many women， the Olympics is especially joyful as one of the few areas of popular culture in which womens bodies are celebrated not for how they look but for what they can do， and for individual strength and achievement， not whether they please onlookers. 对许多女性来说，奥运会是为数不多令人愉悦的流行文化领域之一，在此领域，女性的身体受到赞誉不是因为她们的外表，也不是因为她们能取悦观众，而是因为她们的能力、个人的力量和成就。

【点石成金】本句是一个主从复合句，句中的in which引导定语从句，修饰先行词one of the few areas of popular culture。

Ⅱ. Memorize some text⁃centered chunks

the number of ……的数量 whether...or... 是……还是……

be committed to 承担;致力于 in other regards 在其他方面

fall short 缺乏;不足 be responsible for 对……负责

answer for （对问题）负有很大责任 catch up 赶上