2012.8.13 单词 Sporting rivalry

来源：http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/language/wordsinthenews/2012/08/120810_witn_sporting_rivalry.shtml

Sporting rivalry

Report

The Australian team has had a disappointing time at the Games sofar, achieving far fewer gold medals than expected. Their team officials have conceded that they won't reach their aim of finishingamong the top 5 countries, a blow exacerbated by the fact that their sporting rivals(对手), Great Britain, are way ahead in the medalcount. 

The Australian sports minister, Kate Lundy, says her country isunlikely to catch up and that she will honour a bet made with theBritish sports minister to row a length of the Olympic rowingvenue(审判地) in a Great Britain shirt. Her British counterpart, Hugh Robertson, is relieved(解除) not to have to carry out his forfeit in central London. 

The fierce rivalry(竞争) between the two teams was spawned bycricket(板球), and the Ashes series between England and Australiathat's staged roughly every two years since the 1880s. They alsofight for supremacy in rugby. 

Australia's lacklustre Olympic performance has led to calls for thegovernment to increase funding for sports, but the Australian PrimeMinister, Julia Gillard, said today that the country should enjoy theGames now and examine the team's overall performance later.

Vocabulary

SHOW ALL | HIDE ALL

achieving

reaching or attaining

conceded

admitted defeat

exacerbated

made worse

honour

fulfil or keep

counterpart

person holding the same position

forfeit

penalty for losing

spawned

started or originated

staged

held

supremacy

domination

lacklustre

unimpressive