Tokyo 2020 in doubt

As the novel coronavirus rapidly spreading to about 70 nations, many countries are canceling their major sporting and cultural events.
随着新冠病毒在约70个国家快速蔓延，多国都取消了大型体育文化活动。

Already, major domestic events in China, including the National People’s Congress and the World Athletics Indoor Championships, have already been postponed. Now the rest of the world seems to be following suit.
在我国国内，全国人民代表大会、世界田径室内锦标赛等大型活动都已延期。如今世界各国似乎也开始纷纷效法。

The world of soccer is also being affected. In Italy, several matches in February were played behind closed doors (without spectators). Meanwhile, entire soccer leagues in Japan, South Korea, and China’s Super League have all been placed on hold. There is also the possibility that Euro 2020 – an international soccer tournament for European teams – could be cancelled. When asked about the cancellations, FIFA president Gianni Infantino said, “The health of persons is much more important than any football game. If games have to be postponed, then we have to go through that.”
足坛也受到了影响。在意大利，二月的数场足球比赛都并未公开举行（现场没有观众）。与此同时，日本、韩国所有的足球联赛以及中国的中超联赛都已全部停赛。2020年欧洲杯足球赛 —— 一场欧洲球队的国际足球锦标赛 —— 也有可能被取消。国际足球联合会主席詹尼·因凡蒂诺在被问及球赛取消时如此表示：“人员健康比任何一场足球赛事都重要得多。如果比赛需要延期，那么我们就得接受。”

The outbreak is also impacting cultural events around the world. Facing Europe’s largest COVID-19 epidemic, with over 2,000 confirmed cases so far, Italy also cut short its iconic Venice carnival and Milan Fashion Week show. The latter was being live-streamed from an empty theater.
疫情也对世界各地的文化活动产生了影响。意大利是欧洲新冠肺炎疫情最严重的国家，目前确诊病例超过2000例，该国也中止了其标志性活动 —— 威尼斯狂欢节和米兰时装周。后者改为在一座空剧院内进行直播。

Now, the biggest event in doubt is the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games. Held every four years, the event attracts hundreds of thousands of people and has not been postponed since 1944 – due to World War II. Set to begin on July 24, Japanese officials remain optimistic. In a press conference, Toshiro Muto, Tokyo 2020 CEO said, both the Olympics and Paralympics will go ahead as planned. He added, “The situation of the coronavirus infection is difficult to predict, but we will take measures [so] that we’ll have a safe Olympic Games.”
如今，无法确定是否能如期举办的最大活动便是2020年东京奥运会。每四年举办一次的奥运会吸引了成千上万人观赛，上一次奥运会延期还是在1944年 —— 由于受到二战的影响。日本官员对于原计划7月24日开幕的本届奥运会持乐观态度。在一场新闻发布会上，东京奥组委首席执行官武藤敏郎表示，奥运会和残奥会将按计划进行筹备。他补充道：“新冠病毒的感染情况难以预测，但我们会采取措施，确保举办一届安全的奥运会。”

Speaking to the Washington Post about the Games, infectious disease researcher Yvonne Maldonado said, “You bring many people together, and then you ship them back all over the world: That’s the perfect way to transmit. If you want to disseminate a disease, that would be the way to do it.”
传染病研究学者伊芳·马尔多纳多就奥运会情况接受《华盛顿邮报》采访时表示：“将许多人聚集到一起，然后再让他们回到世界各地去：这是传播的完美途径。如果想要传播一场疾病，这就是传播的方法。”

On Feb 26, the World Health Organization said the virus was spreading faster outside China than inside for the first time, prompting many countries to follow China’s strict isolation measures.
2月26日，世界卫生组织表示，病毒在中国以外的蔓延速度首次超过了中国国内，敦促多国效仿中国采取严格的隔离措施。

以上文章内容选自《21世纪学生英文报高中版》，详情请见《21世纪学生英文报高中版》高一783期