考研英语阅读来源报刊theeconomist4-7刊每日一篇

Podium values奖台金牌All that glisters发光的不都是金子How much is an Olympic gold medal worth?伦敦奥运会金牌值多少钱？Winners takingsValue ofan Olympic gold mwlaL 5Go®$加郭Ml CapperAt todayrs bulEion prices0 2BC SOO 7601,000 L25O2012 11912When awarded, adjusted for inflatiOEi0250500750 LOOO 1,2502012ISource?: Internal3rtj OlynpirCinT.-c*?;Olj-np: Je齐 H ugf-jffl： D-a Eta- or.-rrirApr 7th 2012 | from the print editionTHE gold medals that will be awarded in London this year will be the biggest and heaviest handed out at any summer Olympics. At 400 grams (14 ounces), the equivalent of having a large tin of baked beans hanging round your neck, they will be more than twice as heavy as the average of the previous five games, and almost 17 times heavier than at the 1912 Olympics in Stockholm.据悉，今年夏天的伦敦奥运会金牌将首创历史最重。它的重量为400 克(14 盎司)，比前五届奥运会金牌平均重量的两倍还多， 是 1912年斯德哥尔摩奥运会金牌重量的 17 倍。挂在脖 子上的感觉就跟挂了一罐头大份番茄酱烘豆一样。On the other hand, the 1912 games were the last one where gold medals were made entirely of gold. Now they consist mainly of silver with a thin coat of gold. Winners in London are advised not to bite too hard on their medals, as they will have a gold content of only about 1.5%. Host cities o'rganising committees decide the exact design and composition of medals but the International Olympic Committee sets certain rules: gold medals must have a 92.5% minimum silver content and contain at least six grams of gold. In London, copper will make up the rest.不过，至少在1912年以前的奥运会金牌都还是纯金的。现在呢，金牌主要成分是银，外面 镀一层纯金。伦敦奥组委建议运动员 最好不要使劲用牙咬金牌， 因为镀金的成分只 约占总重 量的 1.5%。按照国际奥委会的要求，金牌应至少含92.5%的纯银，金子的重量不得少于6克。除此之外，主办城市组委会可以自行设计奖牌外观。 伦敦奥运会金牌的成分在金银之外， 还有铜。Taking the current price of gold and silver, a London gold medal will be worth $706. Calculations by The Economist find that this is much more than the “ podiumvalue ”of any previous gold medal (based on rough estimates of the composition of medals and bullion prices at the time of each games, adjusted for general inflation). This is partly because gold and silver prices are now historically high and partly because this year's medal is so much heavier, even though the extraweight is silver rather than gold.按照现在国际市场上的金银价格， 一枚伦敦奥运会金牌的价值为 706 美元。根据本杂志计算， 此枚金牌的价值将超过以前任何一届的金牌价值(按照颁发时的构成、金银价值估算，并考虑到通货膨胀因素 )。理由是，现在的金、银价都是历史上最高的，即使多出来的重量是白 银而不是更贵的黄金。Indeed, for the first time ever, the silver in this year's “gold ” medal is actually worth moregold content. (This echoes the past in one way: at the first modern Olympics in 1896, winners gotonly a silver medal.) Moreover, if the metal content of earlier medals is valued at today's bullioprices, the London gold is worth only just over half of those handed out in 1912 (see chart).实际上，这也是奥运历史上，金牌中的白银价值首次超过了黄金价值。 (历史仿佛重演： 1896 年第一届现代奥运会上，运动员获得的 “金牌”是纯银奖牌)但是，如果把以前 29 届奥运会 中的每一届金牌都按照当前的国际金属价格算一算， 人们就会发现，伦敦奥运会金牌的价值 只比 1912 年奥运会金牌的一半多一点。Medals are, of course, worth far more than their weight in gold. On March 29th Wladimir Klitschko, a Ukrainian world heavyweight-boxing champion, raised $1m for charity by auctioning off his 1996 gold medal.当然，奖牌的真正价值不是靠黄金多少就能衡量的。 3 月 29 日，乌克兰籍世界重量级拳王 弗拉基米尔 克里琴科为筹集善款，拍卖了他在1996年亚特兰大奥运会上赢得的金牌，结果拍出了 100 万美元的天价。from the print edition | Finance and economics