点击查看：2016年12月英语四级听力MP3在线练习汇总 

　　Ivory Coast Taekwondo Champions Head to Rio

　　象牙海岸跆拳道冠军前往里约热内卢

　　African countries may be best-known for their track and field success at the Olympics. But interest in Asian martial arts has grown on the continent.

　　African nations are sending 50 athletes to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil to compete in events such as taekwondo and judo.

　　Three of those athletes represent Ivory Coast.

　　A Korean Taekwondo expert introduced the exercise to Ivory Coast in the 1960s. It is now a popular after-school activity for children.

　　Ivorian Taekwondo competitor Ruth Gbagbi will be making her second Olympics appearance. She also competed in the 2012 London Games but lost both her matches. She is 22 and competes in the 67-kilogram division.

　　Mamina Koné and Cheick Cissé are the other two Ivorian taekwondo competitors at this year’s games. It will be their first Olympic experience.

　　Taekwondo became an Olympic sport in 2000. Only three Africans have won medals in the event.

　　Ivory Coast has one medal in its Olympic history. Ivorian runner Gabriel Tiacoh took home a silver medal in 1984 for his second place finish in the men’s 400-meter event.

　　All three of the taekwondo athletes from Ivory Coast won medals in recent African competitions. The director of the Ivory Coast team says the three athletes are on the same level as the best in the world.

　　The competitors say they are setting an example for the next generation of Ivorian athletes.

　　Moussa Berthé is 13. He has been doing taekwondo for five years.

　　He says he learned “discipline, respect, dignity and wisdom” from his teachers.

　　Berthé will be watching the national team compete in Rio.

　　"They are examples to follow because they are champions, and they come from Ivory Coast so it encourages us to continue taekwondo," he said.

　　The taekwondo competition begins in Rio on August 17.

　　I’m Dan Friedell.

　　Emilie Iob wrote this story for VOANews.com. Dan Friedell adapted it for Learning English. Caty Weaver was the editor.

　　How do you think the African athletes will do at the Olympics? We want to know. Write to us in the Comments Section or on our Facebook page.

　　_______________________________________________________________

　　Words in This Story

　　martial arts – n. any one of several forms of fighting and self-defense (such as karate and judo) that are widely practiced as sports

　　medal – n. a piece of metal often in the form of a coin with designs and words in honor of a special event, a person, or an achievement

　　wisdom – n. knowledge that is gained by having many experiences in life

　　discipline – n. a way of behaving that shows a willingness to obey rules or orders

　　dignity – n. a way of appearing or behaving that suggests seriousness and self-control

　　division – n. a group of teams or athletes in a section of a competition

　　match – n. a contest between two athletes or teams

关注"566四六级"微信，免费获取最新资讯、内部资料等信息！

英语四六级题库【手机题库下载】 | 微信搜索"566四六级"

　　相关推荐：

　　考试吧收藏：历年英语四级真题听力(含MP3)汇总

　　2016年12月大学英语四级大纲词汇汇总（带音标）

　　2016英语四六级词汇记忆：60组近义替换高级词

　　2016年大学英语四级考试重点词汇背诵及解析汇总

　　考试吧整理：2016年大学英语四级核心单词1000个

　　2016年大学英语四级考试词汇常见前后缀汇总

　　2016年英语四级词汇：常用成语词汇积累123句