英国《金融时报》社评
体育比赛的乐趣在于什么事都可能发生。但对一个威权国家来说，这意味着主办体育比赛带有风险。于是，中国政府试图控制北京奥运每一个能想到的元素，还往往为此借助引人生疑的手段。
The joy of sporting contests is that anything can happen. When you are a totalitarian state, however, this makes it risky to host them. The Chinese government has responded by trying to control every conceivable element of the Olympics, often by rather dubious means.
奥运开幕式上迈向“鸟巢”体育场的一连串巨大焰火“脚印”镜头，令人惊叹，受到广泛报道。结果，那些“脚印”却是电脑生成的图像。现在我们知道，为什么请一位电影导演来策划开幕
式。
The stunning, widely used footage of firework “footprints” leading to the Olympic stadium during the opening ceremony was, it transpires, computer-generated. We now know why a film director was asked to run the event.
在奥运开幕式，看似演唱《歌唱祖国》的小女孩林妙可，实际上是在对着另一名小女孩的歌声假唱。由一名政治局委员参加的一次会议决定，尽管杨沛宜的歌声最美，但她的外形不够漂亮，不适合参加奥运开幕式。应该让她来演唱，但不能让她上台露相。
Lin Miaoke, the little girl who apparently sang the Chinese anthem, was in fact lip-synching to the voice of another little girl. A meeting involving a politburo member decided that although Yang Peiyi was the best singer, she was not pretty enough to take part in the ceremony. She should be heard, but not seen.
话说回来，在奥运比赛场内欢呼的观众，也是由政府用巴士送到各场馆的，他们配备了制造声势的道具，还换上了鲜艳的服装，以求改善场内沉闷的气氛。在某些情况下，真正的体育迷买不到门票，而场内坐着的则是被组织来的看客。
Then again, cheering crowds are being bused into stadia by the government, armed with noise-makers and decked in colourful attire to improve the leaden atmosphere inside. In some cases the visitors are taking the places of real fans, who have found themselves unable to buy tickets.
现实是，官员们试图纠正的瑕疵，其实根本就不是什么瑕疵。假如中国主办方没有出动直升机跟踪拍摄徐徐延伸的焰火齐放，没有人会提出抱怨。被开幕式淘汰、不能登场的小女孩也许有几颗不完美的牙齿，但小女孩通常都是这样的。我们也都知道，不是所有奥运比赛项目的门票都会售罄。
The reality is that the faults officials were trying to correct are not faults at all. No one would have complained that China had not followed its creeping barrage of fireworks with a helicopter. The little girl rejected as the face of the opening ceremony may have had imperfect teeth – but little girls usually do. And, we all know that not all Olympic sports are sell-outs.
当然，官方的执着注定是要失败的。女子10米气步枪比赛安排在首场举行，以求让中国赢得首枚金牌。但捷克运动员卡特琳·埃蒙斯(Katerina Emmons)夺得首金，还刷新了世界纪录，而中国运动员杜丽表现不佳。
Official obsessiveness was, of course, doomed to fail. The 10m air rifle competition was scheduled first so that China would win the first gold medal. But Katerina Emmons, a Czech, set a new world record and won while the Chinese competitor, Du Li, did rather badly.
外国公司往往抱怨中国假冒，但奥运赛事无需作假就足够壮观了。本届奥运会与其说宣示中国作为一个现代化、充满活力的国家已经成年，不如说有可能加深这样一种印象：即中国政府是由一批控制欲很强的人组成的。
Foreign companies often complain of Chinese counterfeiting, but the games are spectacular enough without fakery. Rather than announcing China's arrival as a modern, dynamic country, they risk reinforcing the view that the Beijing government is comprised of control-freaks
也许，2012伦敦奥运的主办方会受到这种作假的诱惑。对任何来不及完工的体育馆而言，可装上电脑生成的屋顶来打发电视观众。而数字化的开幕式，甚至有望胜过北京数以千计的鼓手、舞者，以及穿戴儒服的男子——找几百名莫里斯舞者可不够。但是，伦敦奥组委应当避开电脑。伦敦不需要提供壮观的场面，只需要略微提醒人们，奥运会只是一场体育比赛。
The London 2012 organisers may be tempted by this trickery. Any unfinished stadium could be fitted with a computer-generated roof for television viewers. A digital opening ceremony could even beat Beijing’s display of thousands of drummers, dancers and men dressed up as Confucius – a few hundred morris dancers will not suffice. But they should steer clear of computers. London does not need to offer grander spectacle, more a gentle reminder that it is all just a game.
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