9.2北京令残疾人感到更“宜居”.doc

Paralympics prompt some re-education in Beijing 北京令残疾人感到更“宜居” [1]It is two-and-a-half years since Dame Tanni Grey-Thompson told me that the Beijing Paralympics could be the most important opportunity to make social changes for disabled people that there has ever been in China. [1]两年半以前，英国最杰出的轮椅运动员坦尼·格雷-汤普森女士曾对我说，北京残奥会可能是为中国的残疾人带来社会变革的最重要的机会。I dont think theyve got any idea of what four and a half thousand disabled athletes hitting Beijing is going to do to them, Britains foremost wheelchair athlete added. Stuff will change. [2]她又说：我认为他们还不知道4500名残疾运动员来到北京，将给他们带来什么。很多事情将会改变。A little more than a week before the Games get under way on September 6, she is sitting in a pizzeria in the Chinese capital, professing herself a bit of a Beijing convert. [3]距离9月6日残奥会召开还有1周多的时间，她已经坐在中国首都的一家比萨饼店中。Her frame of mind is explained by a series of incidents in recent weeks suggesting that attitudes towards the disabled in the city actually compare rather favourably with those elsewhere. [4]这是因为，最近数周遇到的一些事情表明，北京人对残疾人的态度，实际上要比其它地方友善。 [5]It is usually tricky to nail down the benefits of the Olympics; to define just what the host city has got for its enormous investment. These days, there are no such problems with the Paralympics. They have become a powerful tool for making cities more liveable for their disabled inhabitants and visitors. [5]考虑到主办城市巨大的投入，要保障奥运会获利通常是相当棘手的问题。然而，就残奥会而言，却无须考虑这类问题。对于残疾的居民和到访者，残奥会已经成为使主办城市变得更宜居的最有力工具。A former senior Greek ministry official once told me that, prior to the upgrading of Athenss hotel stock ahead of the 2004 Games, there were only about 40 rooms with wheelchair access in the entire city. Now, even the Acropolis has become accessible to people with disabilities, he said. [6]一名前希腊高级军官曾告诉我，在为举办2004年奥运会而对雅典旅馆进行升级改造之前，整个雅典只有大约40个房间具备残疾人可用的设施。现在，他说：甚至卫城都变得适合残疾人光顾了。In Beijing, Dame Tannis experiences suggest that preparations have been typically thorough. Now retired from Paralympic competition, the multi-gold medallist has had time to explore the city with