近日，在苏州太湖马拉松比赛冲刺阶段发生的一个小插曲，引发网友热议。

在我国马拉松运动员何引丽与一非洲选手角逐冠军之时，先后两名志愿者进入赛道，准备递上国旗；其中一名没能追上运动员，另一名则成功给运动员送上了手中的国旗。

随后，“被打乱节奏”的何引丽带着国旗跑了一小段后，国旗便从她手中滑落在地。最终，她也以5秒之差，与冠军失之交臂。

To patriotically embrace the national flag, or win a marathon? That was the dilemma facing a Chinese runner during the final phase of the Suzhou Marathon in eastern China on Sunday.

dilemma

表示“进退两难的境地，困境”，英文解释为“a situation in which it is very difficult to decide what to do, because all the choices seem equally good or equally bad”，如：a moral dilemma 道德上进退两难的窘境

While running her final leg, athlete He Yinli was handed a Chinese national flag from a "volunteer" who rushed to her from the sideline.

leg

[熟词僻义]此处表示“（旅程或赛程的）一段，一程”，英文解释为“one part of a long journey or race”，如：the final leg of the Tour de France 环法自行车赛的最后一程

leg也可以指“（足球赛的）一场”，英文解释为“one of the series of games in a football competition played between two teams”，举个🌰：

Leeds will have to win the second leg if they are to go forward to the finals.

利兹队若要进入决赛，第二场比赛一定要赢。

He -- who was trying to overtake the front runner -- held on to the flag for a few seconds before dropping it to the ground. She ended up losing to an Ethiopian competitor and was placed second in the race.

overtake

表示“追上；超过（汽车或人）”，英文解释为“to go past a moving vehicle or person because you are going faster than them and want to get in front of them”，如：overtake the van 超过那辆小货车，或者是表示“（发展或增长）超越，超过”，to develop or increase more quickly than someone or something else and become more successful, more important, or more advanced than them，举个🌰：

Hingis has now overtaken her in the world tennis rankings.

现在辛吉斯的世界网球排名已经超过了她。

be placed first/second etc

表示在赛跑或竞赛中“ 取得名次，得第一/第二名等”，英文解释为“to be first, second etc in a race or competition”，举个🌰：

I had been placed 2nd a few times but had never won.

我得过几次第二名，但是从来没有得过第一。

The live stream of the marathon showed another "volunteer" had made a similar attempt moments earlier but the 30-year-old runner didn't take that flag.

The episode, caught live on television, has stirred a heated debate across the country.

episode

表示“事件，经历；（相关的）一连串事件；一段经历”，英文解释为“a single event or group of related events”，举个🌰：

This latest episode in the fraud scandal has shocked a lot of people.

诈骗丑闻最新爆出的这一事件让很多人瞠目结舌。

A commentator on state broadcaster CCTV, which aired the race, voiced his disapproval.

"Right now racing for the championship is the most important thing," he said. "At this moment, she is gritting her teeth and this off-track factor has affected her performance."

“此时对于何引丽来说，拼比赛的冠军是最重要的，场外因素的干扰对她来说是有影响的”

grit one's teeth

表示“咬紧牙关，下定决心”，英文解释为“to use all your determination to continue in spite of difficulties”，举个🌰：

Just grit your teeth and hang on – it’ll be over soon.

咬紧牙关坚持下去吧——事情很快会过去的。

When the Chinese athlete's Ethiopian rival steadily moved further away from her and crossed the finish line, the commentator lamented: "It's such a pity at the end."

lament

表示“感到悲痛; 感到遗憾; 感到失望”，英文解释为“If you lament something, you express your sadness, regret, or disappointment about it.”，举个🌰：

Ken began to lament the death of his only son.

肯为他独生子的去世开始感到悲痛。

也可以指“抱怨”，英文解释为“to express annoyance or disappointment about something you think is unsatisfactory or unfair”，举个🌰：

She lamented the fact that manufacturers did not produce small packs for single-person households.

她抱怨厂商没有生产供单人家庭使用的小包装。

经济学人此前一篇讲述网约车的文章中就有这么一句：

Licensed cabbies lament the extra competition. Drivers for the new services complain about inadequate benefits.

连续用了两个“抱怨”，一个是出租车司机抱怨额外竞争，另一则是网约车司机抱怨收入欠佳。注意，下文还出现了另一个表示“抱怨”的词：bemoan.

Lack of patriotism?

While most Chinese internet users have condemned the interference in He's race and bemoaned her missed opportunity for the championship, others have questioned her patriotism for dropping the flag.

bemoan

表示“抱怨；叹息；惋惜”，英文解释为“to complain or say that you are disappointed about something”，举个🌰：

He was bemoaning the fact that lawyers charge so much.

他抱怨律师收费太高。

"The video shows that He Yinli crumpled the flag and tossed it away -- is the race result more important than the national flag?" wrote Wei Jing, another Chinese marathon runner, on Weibo, the Chinese equivalence of Twitter.

“据跑友提供的CCTV5苏州太湖马拉松直播视频显示，正在赛道上与黑人女子选手角逐的何引丽将手中的国旗先揉成团，随后随手抛弃扔到地上绝尘而去……成绩比国旗更重要？”

crumple

表示“弄皱; 起皱”，英文解释为“If you crumple something such as paper or cloth, or if it crumples, it is squashed and becomes full of untidy creases and folds.”，举个🌰：

She crumpled the paper in her hand.

她把手中的纸揉成了一团。

toss

表示“扔”，英文解释为“If you toss something somewhere, you throw it there lightly, often in a careless way.”，举个🌰：

Just toss it in the rubbish.

把它扔进垃圾桶就可以了。

下段中则用throw作为toss的替换。

The athlete responded by posting on her Weibo page that she didn't throw the flag away on purpose and asked for understanding from the public.

"The national flag was drenched and my arm was stiff -- the flag just slipped away as I swung my arms," He said.

“...，国旗全部湿透，我的胳膊也僵了，摆臂的时候甩出去了，”

drench

表示“湿透，淋透，浇透”，英文解释为“to make something or someone extremely wet”，举个🌰：

In the early morning they had got drenched in the grass.

一大清早他们在草丛里弄得浑身湿透。

补充：drenching rain 滂沱大雨

Official turnaround

Despite the debate over He's treatment of the national flag, many people have directed their criticisms at the organizers.

"Flag-draping is a good thing and it awes the onlookers at the scene," said one unnamed organizer to the state-run Beijing Youth Daily newspaper. "But the cold and rainy weather, which caused the road to be slippery, contributed to the accident."

“披国旗(Flag-draping)是一件好事，现场的人是很震撼的。但当天由于雨天阴冷，路面湿滑，造成了这样的意外。事后我们一直试图联系选手何引丽，我们对此深表歉意。”工作人员说。

drape

1）表示“将…披挂于”，英文解释为“If you drape a piece of cloth somewhere, you place it there so that it hangs down in a casual and graceful way”，举个🌰：

He took off his coat and draped it over a chair.

他脱下外套搭在椅子上。

2）表示“（用布）披，盖，装饰，覆盖”，英文解释为“ If someone or something is draped in a piece of cloth, they are loosely covered by it.”举个🌰：

Jack emerged with a towel draped around him.

杰克披着一条毛巾走了出来。

"How does one express patriotism? It's certainly not holding it up high and walking around with it every day," the state broadcaster said in a commentary posted on its Weibo page. "It's a sense of identity from the bottom of one's heart. To athletes, winning is patriotism."

“我们应该如何表达自己的爱国之情？可以确信，绝不是整天高举着国旗到处行走，引人注目，而是发自内心的认同感。...对运动员来说，争取更好的成绩，就是爱国。 ”

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2015年2月8日

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