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原文
Eagle-eyed viewers watching the 2018 Winter Olympics have spotted that athletes are no longer being presented with flowers and medals after competing, but a little stuffed animal when they step onto the podium.
It’s left many asking what happened to the normal Olympic podium protocol, and why are athletes being given a small toy instead?
Firstly, the small toy is named Soohorang, a white tiger that represents the 2018 Olympic Games in Pyeongchang. The tiger is an important figure in Korean culture, long considered to be their guardian animal, and a regular tiger was used as the mascot of the 1988 Seoul Summer Olympics.
So why is this being given to athletes instead of flowers and medals?
At the 2016 Summer Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, the International Olympic Committee decided that giving athletes flowers on the podium was unsustainable, and decided to change the process to involve the awarding of a mascot or small trophy.
Successful athletes do still receive medals, just not at the initial ceremony after the event. Because the Winter Olympics involves far fewer categories than the Summer Olympics, the IOC is able to hold a ceremony at the end of each day to award all medals to athletes. This isn’t possible at the Summer Olympics as the ceremony would take too long to compete.
There’s also the chance for fans to receive their own Soohorang without having to compete for and win a gold medal, as the mascot is available to buy for £39.95 on Amazon.
笔记
Eagle eye· if sb has an eagle eye, they watch things carefully and are good at noticing things· 敏锐的眼光；锐利的目光：✩Nothing escaped our teacher's eagle eye. 任何事情都逃不过我们老师那锐利的目光。
Eagle-eyed adj.SYN hawk-eyed ：✩An eagle-eyed tourist found the suspicious package. 一位眼尖的游客发现了可疑的包裹。
Dove、Pigeon；Hawk、Eagle傻傻分不清楚【趣味知识】
dove和pigeon中文都是“鸽子”，但是在英文两者的象征意义不同，不能混用。dove羽毛雪白，是“和平”、“善良”的象征，所以“和平鸽”要说dove of peace。Pigeon则羽毛黑白灰参杂，一般用作信鸽，甚至供食用，在英语中它的象征意义是“傻瓜”、“阿木林”，或是上海话的“洋盘”，英语俚语pigeon是个容易受骗上当的人。在赌博中，老千骗子是rook（乌鸦），上当的傻瓜就是pigeon（鸽子）。英国作家萨克雷（William Makepeace Thackeray）就写过一本小说，名为《乌鸦上尉和鸽子先生》(Captain Rook and Mr. Pigeon)。因此，政治上的“鸽派”是the doves，不是the pigeons。“鹰派”是the hawks，不是the eagles，因为hawk象征着“好战”，而eagle所象征的主要是“勇敢”、“不死”。这两个名词，还派生出相应的形容词dovish和hawkish, 又再派生出抽象名词dovishness（鸽派倾向）和hawkishness（鹰派倾向）
Spot：to see or notice a person or thing, especially suddenly or when it is not easy to do so· 看见；看出；注意到；发现✩I finally spotted my friend in the crowd. 我终于在人群中看见了我的朋友。✩I've just spotted a mistake on the front cover. 我刚才在封面上发现了一处错误。✩Can you spot the difference between these ten pictures? 你能不能看出这两幅画有什么不同？✩Neighbors spotted smoke coming out of the house. 邻居们发现有烟从这所房子里冒出来。✩No six spotted that the gun was a fake. 没有人留意到那是一支假枪。
Stuffed animals(NAmE) are toys that are made of cloth filled with a soft material and which look like animals. 毛绒玩具=soft toy(BrE)、
【近义词辨析】
Podium 1. a small platform that a person stands on when giving a speech or conducting an orchestra , etc.· 讲台；讲坛；(乐队的)指挥台
Lectern a stand for holding a book, notes, etc. when you are reading in church, giving a talk, etc.· (教堂中的)诵经台；(演讲的)讲台
Pulpit：讲坛；布道坛；A pulpit is a small raised platform with a rail or barrier around it in a church, where a member of the clergy stands to speak
Platform：1.舞台；A platform is a flat, raised structure, usually made of wood, which people stand on when they make speeches or give a performance. 2.火车站的站台，月台；A platform in a railway station is the area beside the rails where you wait for or get off a train.
【趣味链接】还记得地铁如何报站吗？
1.列车即将到站，请小心列车与站台之间的空隙，本次列车去往……
The train is arriving.Please mind the gap between the train and the platform.
列车运行前方到站，右侧的车门将会打开。
The next station is……Doors will open on the right.
Mascot· an animal, a toy, etc. that people believe will bring them good luck, or that representsan organization, 吉祥物：✩The team's mascot is a giant swan. 这个队的吉祥物是只大天鹅。
Trophy竞赛、赛跑等的)奖品，奖杯；A trophy is a prize, for example a silver cup, that is given to the winner of a competition or race.
译文
Eagle-eyed viewers watching the 2018 Winter Olympics have spotted that athletes are no longer being presented with flowers and medals after competing, but a little stuffed animal when they step onto the podium.
眼尖的平昌冬奥会观众已经发现，赛后当获奖选手站在领奖台上，颁发给他们的不再是鲜花和奖牌，而是一个小毛绒玩具。
It’s left many asking what happened to the normal Olympic podium protocol, and why are athletes being given a small toy instead?很多人不禁心生疑问，难道是奥运会颁奖规则改了吗？为什么颁发给获奖选手的是一个小玩具？
Firstly, the small toy is named Soohorang, a white tiger that represents the 2018 Olympic Games in Pyeongchang. The tiger is an important figure in Korean culture, long considered to be their guardian animal, and a regular tiger was used as the mascot of the 1988 Seoul Summer Olympics.这个小毛绒玩具是一只名为Soohorang的白老虎，它是2018年平昌冬奥会的吉祥物。老虎在韩国文化中具有重要的象征意义，一直被视为人们的守护者。1988年汉城（现为首尔）奥运会的吉祥物也是一只老虎。
So why is this being given to athletes instead of flowers and medals?那么为什么要颁发给获奖选手一只吉祥物，而不是鲜花和奖牌呢？
At the 2016 Summer Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, the International Olympic Committee decided that giving athletes flowers on the podium was unsustainable, and decided to change the process to involve the awarding of a mascot or small trophy.2016年里约夏季奥运会上，国际奥委会认为给每位获奖选手配上鲜花并不环保，因此决定在颁发奖牌时送给获奖选手一个吉祥物或者一个小奖品。
Successful athletes do still receive medals, just not at the initial ceremony after the event. Because the Winter Olympics involves far fewer categories than the Summer Olympics, the IOC is able to hold a ceremony at the end of each day to award all medals to athletes. This isn’t possible at the Summer Olympics as the ceremony would take too long to compete.冬奥会的获奖选手仍会得到奖牌，但不是在赛后马上举行的仪式上。由于冬奥会的比赛类别比夏季奥运会少得多，国际奥委会可以在一天的比赛结束后统一举行一次颁奖仪式，给当天所有的获奖选手颁发奖牌。这在夏季奥运会行不通，因为仪式会耗时太久。
There’s also the chance for fans to receive their own Soohorang without having to compete for and win a gold medal, as the mascot is available to buy for £39.95 on Amazon.另外，冬奥会粉丝们无需得奖就能拥有自己的Soohorang吉祥物。吉祥物在亚马逊网站有售，单价39.95英镑（约合355元人民币）。
