The Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia-英语听力

[00:00.00]From VOA Learning English, this is In The News. [00:08.98]Millions of sports lovers [00:11.81]are thinking about just one thing right now -- [00:14.76]the Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia. [00:18.44]Close to 2,900 men and women [00:21.93]are set to compete in the 2014 Winter Games. [00:26.65]The opening ceremonies were held Friday night. [00:30.79]The games continue through Sunday, February 23. [00:35.59]The Olympics are bringing a lot of attention to Sochi, [00:40.44]a city on the Black Sea. [00:42.47]Sochi is a popular area for vacation travelers. [00:47.52]The area is known for its mild winters, [00:51.24]with warm to hot weather in the summer. [00:54.59]At least $50 billion is being spent on the 2014 Winter Games, [01:01.63]making it the costliest Olympics in history. [01:05.69]Seven billion dollars was spent on [01:09.35]the 2010 Winter Games in Vancouver, Canada. [01:12.94]Olympic officials chose Sochi to host the 2014 games [01:18.84]almost seven years ago. [01:20.87]At the time, Russian President Vladimir Putin said [01:25.67]the games would cost about $13 billion. [01:30.02]Yet the real cost is four times his estimate. [01:35.53]So where did all the money go? [01:38.45]Many Russians say people involved in the project [01:43.01]have taken some of it. [01:44.87]One research group found that 38 percent of Russians [01:50.04]it spoke with said the Olympics [01:52.82]increased the likelihood of corruption. [01:55.95]Other observers say the high cost [01:59.94]is partly the result of security measures. [02:03.68]Brian Jenkins is a terrorism expert from the RAND Corporation. [02:09.80]"There are anywhere between [02:12.53]70,000 and 100,000 policemen and military troops [02:20.01]deployed around the city. [02:21.89]In addition, we hear reports that Russian authorities [02:25.74]are going door to door in Sochi looking for suspects." [02:31.10]The main threat comes from separatist and Islamist groups [02:36.32]from the North Caucasus, especially from Chechnya and Dagestan. [02:41.43]One group claimed responsibility [02:44.77]for two suicide bombings in Volgograd last December. [02:49.47]The attacks killed more than 30 people. [02:53.34]The city is only about 600 kilometers away from Sochi. [02:58.66]Bruce Hoffman is a terrorism expert [03:02.60]from Georgetown University in Washington, DC. [03:06.24]He says the increased security [03:09.77]makes Sochi a difficult target for terrorists. [03:14.08]He says they probably know [03:17.10]they cannot get close to those attending the games. [03:20.77]"....But they can, and I believe their intention is to, [03:23.82]make life difficult for the Russians [03:25.54]and to create some sort of incident [03:27.44]that takes away from the enjoyment [03:29.01]and the sporting spectacular that is the Winter Olympics." [03:32.30]The last time Olympians from around the world [03:35.30]competed on Russian soil was in 1980. [03:39.36]That was a year after Soviet troops invaded Afghanistan. [03:44.32]Sixty countries boycotted the Moscow Summer Games. [03:49.54]Thomas de Waal, a British journalist, [03:53.12]says President Putin has a lot invested in the Sochi Olympics. [03:58.63]"He is a man who, as we know, [04:01.26]has made his whole brand about being this man [04:03.75]who has put Russia back on the map. [04:05.46]He has made Russia strong again, respected again, a place of prestige." [04:09.17]As the games began, [04:10.95]protesters were criticizing Russia's treatment of *******uals. [04:15.51]Critics of a Russian law recently demonstrated in 20 cities around the world. [04:22.40]They said the law bars nearly all public discussion of *******uality. [04:29.04]President Barack Obama is not sending any top officials to the Sochi Olympics. [04:35.85]Instead, the US delegation includes tennis great Billie Jean King [04:43.40]and two other openly gay athletes. [04:47.72]And that's In the News, from VOA Learning English. [04:52.70]I'm Steve Ember.