● Ice-skating as a sport, originated in Holland.

● From there, it spread to the rest of northern Europe and North America.

● The world's first ice-skating club was formed in Edinburgh, Scotland,

sometime around the end of the seventeenth century

不过滑冰作为一项运动则起源于荷兰。它从那儿传到北欧的其它地区和北美洲。大约在17世纪末，全世界第一家滑冰俱乐部在苏格兰爱丁堡成立。

● Skating is divided into figure skating and ice dancing.

● In figure skating, a couple performs a program of movements in harmony.

● They add a number of combined spins and spectacular lifts.

花样滑冰中，一对选手表演一套协调的动作。他们加入若干旋转动作组合和精彩的抬举动作。

● Ice dancers, in contrast, are not allowed to perform the athletic moves of figure skaters.

● Instead, they perform dances such as tangos and waltzes,

and they must interpret the rhythm of the music.

冰上舞蹈选手是决不允许表演双人滑冰选手那敏捷动作的，而且冰上舞蹈选手彼此也很少分开。作为替代，他们表演探戈和华尔兹这类舞蹈，同时还必须表达出乐曲的韵律。

● Figure skating was one of the events at the first Winter Olympics in 1924.

● Before that, figure skaters had competed at the Summer Games as early as 1908.

● Ice dancing is a relatively new addition to the Games,

making its debut at the 1976 Winter Olympics in Innsbruck, Austria.

花样滑冰是1924年首届冬季奥运会的比赛项目之一。在那之前，早在1908年的夏季奥运会，花样滑冰选手们就曾较量过。冰上舞蹈则是奥运会中一个比较新的比赛项目， 于1976年在奥地利因斯布鲁克冬季奥运会中首次登场。

● Though ice-skating is a highly technical activity, it is easy to appreciate.

● Millions of people around the world enjoy watching the harmonious movements of a skating couple

even if they don't know the names of the particular spins or jumps being used.

● They are simply attracted by the graceful beauty of this highly entertaining sport.

虽然滑冰是一项技术性很高的运动，欣赏起来却很容易。即使不知道运动员采用的那些特殊旋转或跳跃动作的名称，全世界数百万的人也乐于欣赏一对滑冰选手表演的和谐动作。他们仅仅是被这项高娱乐性的运动所展现的奇妙美感所吸引。

运动之花样滑冰演讲稿（大学英语课前演讲展示）