阅读理解。
Few in the west seemed to notice when the International Olympic Committee(IOC) decided to award
the 2014 Winter Games to the Russian town of Sochi. Yet this choice if full of geopolitical meaning.
President Vladimir Putin flew to Guatemala to address IOC delegates before they voted, and surprised them by speaking in French and - for the first time ever in public - English. Later he declared that Sochi's
victory was "not only a recognition of Russia's achievements in sports but also an assessment of our
country".
Sochi, located between the Caucasus and the Black Sea, has poor roads, one old resort and
out-of-date facilities. In the next five years it will be transformed by a burst of constructions
unprecedented (前所未有的) in the history of Russia. Winning the Olympic bid has given Russian
politicians a focus, a $ 12 billion project they can use to showcase their power and that of their country.
Several have already announced bid investments in Sochi.
Olympic planners will have to assure that the Sochi project dose not collapse under the weight of
corruption(腐败), which Russian officials are famous for. With many eyes watching, they will also have
to green landscape around Sochi, where some of Europe's last wild bears roar in primitive mountain
forests, with more care for the environment than Russia has traditionally shown.
Sochi also sits on the edge of a region that has been boiling with ethnic (民族的) and political tensions
since the collapse of the Soviet Union. In past centuries it was ruled by both Georgia and Abkhazia, which is now a breakaway region of Georgia. Russia backs the rebel regime in Abkhazia, but as the Olympics
approach, it may feel it needs to be careful.
The president of Georgia, Mikhail Saakashvili, might have bitterly protested (反对) the Olympic
Committee's decision to award the Winter Games to a country that actively supports rebels within
Georgia. Instead he was wise enough to realize that this event could push Russia toward compromise
(妥协) solutions in Abkhazia and perhaps even in Ossetia, Nagorno Karabakh and Chechnya.
1. We can infer from the second paragraph that president Vladimir Putin often speaks in public in _____.
A. Russian
B. French
C. English
D. Spanish
2. Although Sochi has poor transportation and unsatisfying facilities, holding the 1014 Winter
Olympic Games there obviously gives it a chance _______.
A. to ask the IOC for more money
B. to break away from Georgia
C. to challenge the world
D. to develop
3. From the fourth paragraph we can infer that the writer is concerned about _______.
A. how to protect the environment from damage while large scale construction is going on
B. the capability of Russian government to hold the Olympic Games
C. the corruption of some Russian government officials
D. how to do away with the mountain forests around Sochi
4. From the last paragraph we know that _______.
A. the president of Georgia strongly protested the IOC`s decision
B. the Olympic Games might be a chance to ease regional tensions
C. the IOC backs the rebels in Georgia
D. Georgia wants to break away from Russia
