Tour by bike_奥运英语

　gabe always rode the bus to work. but a few days ago， he suddenly hopped on his dust-covered bike and decided to ride it to work. his colleague， jason， wanted to know why.

　jason： gabe， no offence， but what's wrong with you？

　gabe： what do you mean？

　jason： you're working awfully hard to ride a bike across beijing！ why not just keep taking the bus to work？

　gabe： i've been inspired by the energetic riders of the tour of qinghai lake. riders were dashing and sweating， making their best efforts to overtake others and win the yellow jersey.

　jason： a yellow jersey？ isn't that a cheap prize？

　gabe： haven't you ever seen the tour de france？ a yellow jersey is not the final prize， but an honour for a rider who tops the individual general classification at the end of each stage. jersey winners are granted extra points and special privileges.

　jason： was a chinese at the top of the overall standings？

　gabe： unfortunately not.

　jason： why not？ china is a country dubbed “the kingdom of bicycles”。 and almost everyone rides a bike.

　gabe： but our riders lack professional training and competitive experience.

　jason： anyway， i think it's a fantastic opportunity for all the riders. racing around the scenic qinghai lake is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

　gabe： it's also good preparation for the 2008 beijing olympics. i really hope the chinese can perform well in the olympic cycling events.

　no offence： 无意冒犯。常用在一句对方可能不太受用的话之前，避免对方生气。

　the tour of qinghai lake： 或“the tour de qinghai lake”，环青海湖国际公路自行车赛，简称环湖赛，每年7至8月在青海省举行，世界上海拔最高的国际性公路自行车赛。每年有来自五大洲的20支运动队的100多名运动员参加，比赛总距离为1，000多公里，平均海拔3，000多米。

　dash： 冲刺，也可以说“sprint”。

　overtake： 超车，搭配为“overtake sb.” （超过某人）或 “overtake from the left/right side” （从左边/右边超车）。

　the yellow jersey： 黄色领骑衫。环湖赛分为9个赛段，前段比赛中个人总成绩（individual general classification）领先的车手将在下一赛段中身穿黄色领骑衫参加比赛。国际自行车赛事中领骑衫还有别的颜色，代表不同的意思，如在世界著名的环法自行车赛上（the tour de france），每一赛段中总积分（points general classification）排名第一的车手获得绿色领骑衫，爬坡成绩最佳者（king of the mountains）穿红白斑点衫，25岁以下成绩最好的车手穿白色领骑衫。凡是获得领骑衫者都将获得加分。

　the overall standings： 总排名。“overall winner”即“总冠军”。

　dubbed “the kingdom of bicycles”： 誉为“自行车王国”。dub： 授予……的称号。

　once-in-a-lifetime opportunity： 一生难得的好机会。once-in-a-lifetime： 一辈子只有一次的，常被用来形容珍贵的难得的机会（opportunity/chance）。

　olympic cycling events： 奥运会自行车项目。主要包括三种赛制：山地自行车赛（mountain bike）、公路赛（road cycling）以及场地自行车赛（track cycling）。