【视频讲解】

IT SEEMS hardly an auspicious time to release a book on Britain’s Olympic success. Numerous scandals—accusations of bullying, sexism and failure to keep proper records of drugs—are engulfing British Cycling, a symbol of national glory.
要出一本书讲述英国在奥林匹克上的成就，现在似乎不是个好时候。许多丑闻——关于霸凌、性别歧视和未能妥善记录药品的指控——正在吞噬着自行车运动这个英国国家荣耀的象征。
auspicious adj.好的，有前途的 (favorable )
- an auspicious beginning
- His first novel was an auspicious debut.
numerous adj.许多的 (many)
- She decided to leave for numerous reasons.
scandal n.丑闻
accusation n.指控
- accuse v.指控
bullying n.欺凌
- bully v.欺负
sexism n.性别歧视
proper adj.良好的
engulf v.吞噬
- gulf n.海湾

Yet the transformation of Britain’s performance in the Olympics remains a remarkable tale. In 1996, Britain’s “team of shame” came 36th in the medal table, below Algeria, Ireland and North Korea. At the London games of 2012, Team GB (as the United Kingdom’s squad is officially known) won 65 medals, up from 15 in 1996. Britain performed even better in Rio last year, winning 27 golds and 67 medals in all, finishing second, above China, in the overall medal table, defying the trend of host nations’ sliding down the tables in the following games.
不过，英国在奥运会上表现的转变依然是一个传奇故事。1996年，英国的“耻辱之队”在奖牌榜上排名第36，排在阿尔及利亚、爱尔兰和朝鲜之后。在2012年伦敦奥运会上，大不列颠队（英国国家队的官方名称）赢得了65枚奖牌，而1996年时只有15枚。英国在去年的里约奥运会上表现更进一步，赢得了27枚金牌和67枚奖牌，在总奖牌榜上超越中国位居第二，打破了东道国在后续奥运会中成绩下滑的惯有趋势。
remarkable adj.了不起的
tale n.故事
table n.表格，榜单
squad n.团队
defy v.反抗 (refuse to obey)
-She defied her parents and dropped out of school.
slide v.滑动，下跌
- The firefighter slid down the pole.

These hauls have been a triumph for detailed and ambitious planning, as Owen Slot, a sports writer for the Times, explains in an engaging book. Huge spikes in cash have helped. Across Olympic and Paralympic sports, UK Sport, Britain’s funding body, spent £69m ($89m) on Sydney 2000 but almost £350m on Rio 2016. Yet cash alone cannot explain all of Team GB’s success: for the 2012 games, South Korea and Japan spent over three times more than Britain and had worse returns.
这些收获是详尽而宏伟的规划的胜利，《泰晤士报》的体育作家欧文•斯洛特（Owen Slot）在一本引人入胜的书中这样解释道。猛增的现金投入收到了效果。在奥运会和残奥会上，英国的筹资机构英国体育（UK Sport）在2000年悉尼奥运会上花费了6900万英镑（合8900万美元），而在2016年里约奥运会上则花费了将近3.5亿英镑。然而，单从资金来看并不能解释英国队的全部成功：在2012年奥运会上，韩国和日本的花销是英国的三倍多，回报却较差。
haul n.大批，成果收获
triumph n.胜利
detailed adj.详尽的
ambitious adj.有野心的
engaging adj.引人入胜的
- engage v.参与...中
spike n.尖物，突增(abrupt sharp increase)
- spike v. 突增
-The sales spiked before holidays.
Paralympic n.残奥会
- paralyze v.使残疾

【写作素材总结】

-auspicious可代替good, favorable等一般词汇
-Numerous可代替many, a lot等一般词汇
-It seems hardly an auspicious time to do...
干某事似乎不是个好时候