This is IN THE NEWS in VOA Special English.
这里是美国之音慢速英语新闻报道。
Two of the world's favorite activities -- soccer and wordplay -- are in the news this week.
全球最喜欢的两大活动--足球和双关语进入本周新闻榜。
On Sunday, the United States plays Japan for the women's World Cup championship. The game is in Frankfurt, Germany. This is the Americans' first time in the final in twelve years. They won against China in nineteen ninety-nine and against Norway in nineteen ninety-one. That was the first year of the women's World Cup in football, or what Americans call soccer.
周日，美国队将和日本队争夺女足世界杯冠军。这场比赛将在德国法兰克福进行。这是12年来美国队首次闯入决赛。她们曾在1999年打败中国队，1991年打败挪威获得冠军。1991年那次是女足世界杯的第一届。
On Wednesday the United States defeated France to reach the final. Striker Abby Wambach gave her team a two to one lead with a header off Lauren Cheney's corner kick in the seventy-ninth minute. Cheney had given the United States an early lead, but she told ESPN television that she credits Wambach for her efforts.
美国队周三击败法国队挺进决赛。第79分钟，美国队前锋阿比·瓦姆巴赫（Abby Wambach）接队友劳伦·切尼（Lauren Cheney）开出的角球头球破门，为本队取得2：1领先。切尼为美国队首开记录，但她对ESPN电视台表示，她将胜利归功于瓦姆巴赫的努力。
LAUREN CHENEY: "Not only is she at the right place at the right time, but she has more heart than anybody that I've ever played with. And I know that in the last minute, she's going to get it done."
切尼：“不仅是因为她总是能适时出现，她还比任何我曾经合作过的球员更有勇气。我知道到最后时刻，她也不会放弃。”
Alex Morgan added another goal in the eighty-second minute. At twenty-two, she is the youngest player on the American team.
第82分钟，亚历克斯·摩根（Alex Morgan）再入一球。22岁的她是美国队最年轻的球员。
Japan defeated Sweden in the other semifinal game. Host nation Germany, the two-time defending champion, lost to Japan in the quarterfinals.
另一场半决赛中，日本队击败了瑞典队。两届卫冕冠军东道主德国队在1/4决赛中输给了日本队。
So that was news from the playing field. Now to the wordplay.
以上就是来自体育赛场的新闻。以下是双关语的新闻。
Commentators and bloggers often use the word "gate" when a politician is accused of trying to hide the truth. A recent example: "Weinergate." Congressman Anthony Weiner of New York denied, then later admitted, that he sent sexually suggestive messages and pictures to women. He resigned in June.
当政治家被指控试图隐瞒真相时，评论家和博主经常使用“门”这个词。最近的一个例子是“韦纳门。”纽约国会议员安东尼·韦纳（Anthony Weiner）先是否认，继而承认自己向一名女性发送性暗示信息和图片。他已于六月辞职。
Next June will be forty years since the very first "gate." Watergate is the name of a group of buildings in Washington. In June of nineteen seventy-two, police arrested five men who broke into Democratic Party offices there.
明年6月将是第一个“门”发生四十周年。水门是华盛顿一组建筑群的名称。1972年6月，警方拘捕了5名闯入水门大厦民主党办公室的男子。
Two Washington Post reporters, Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein, linked the break-in to the committee to re-elect Republican President Richard Nixon. He resigned because of Watergate.
华盛顿邮报两名记者，鲍勃·伍德沃德（Bob Woodward）和卡尔·伯恩斯坦（Carl Bernstein）将这次闯入事件与共和党总统尼克松(Richard Nixon)的竞选委员会联系起来。尼克松因为水门事件辞职。
Another place name is "Armageddon." The Christian Bible says there will be a final battle there between the forces of good and evil at the end of time.
另一个地名是“Armageddon。”基督教圣经称，最后，善恶势力将在Armageddon进行最终对决。
President Obama even used the term on Friday to describe proposals to avoid a crisis over raising the government's borrowing limit.
周五，奥巴马在谈到提高政府债务上限以避免危机的提案时甚至用到了这个词。
BARACK OBAMA: "It is constructive to say that if Washington operates as usual and can't get anything done, let's at least avert Armageddon."
奥巴马：“我需要负责任地说，（在提高债务上限一事上，）如果华盛顿和平常一样运作，最终无法取得任何进展。让我们至少避免最终对决。”
These days, people joke about events like "Snowmageddon," the huge snowstorms that hit the Washington area a year ago.
这些天来，人们开玩笑地把这件事比作Snowmageddon，即一年前袭击华盛顿地区的那场巨大暴风雪。
注：Snowmageddon，雪魔,由“snow”与“armageddon”构成的组合词,指在2009年及2010年肆虐北美洲并造成巨大灾难的暴风雪。
Right now, officials in Los Angeles are warning drivers to avoid "Carmageddon." Road work will close a major north-south link this weekend. The work is part of a project to widen Interstate 405, also called the San Diego Freeway. The 405 will close for sixteen kilometers between the city's Westside and the San Fernando Valley.
眼下，洛杉矶官员提醒司机们避免Carmageddon（疯狂飚车）。本周末，道路施工将导致一条南北干线封闭。这次施工是405号州际公路扩宽工程的一部分。405号州际公路也称圣地亚哥高速公路。405号公路将封闭韦斯特赛德和圣费尔南多谷之间一段16公里长的道路。
The closure is planned for fifty-three hours, until Monday morning at five. California transportation official Mike Miles told TV station KABC that people normally try to avoid the 405 anyway because of heavy traffic.
这次道路封闭预计持续53个小时，一直封闭到周一早上5点。加州运输官员迈克·迈尔斯（Mike Miles）对KABC电视台表示，反正人们一般都会由于交通拥堵避开405号公路。
MIKE MILES: "The biggest thing that's going to help is if the public stays away and stays home on this weekend. Most of the people go through their lives trying to avoid the 405. This is the one weekend we want to tell you, you really need to avoid the 405."
迈尔斯：“最有帮助的当然是公众这个周末远离405号公路呆在家里。大部分平常生活的人们都会尽量避开405公路。我想告诉大家，这个周末一定要避开405公路。”
But Carmageddon or not, local businesses are offering special deals to keep people from staying home and not spending money. That would be the biggest disaster of all.
但无论是否疯狂飚车，当地企业都将提供特价以避免人们呆在家里不消费。这才是最大的灾难。