The Winter Olympic Games, or the Winter Olympics, is the world's biggest tournament for winter sports or "sports practised on snow or ice" as defined in the Olympic Charter. Since 1924, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) has staged the event every four years except for 1940 and 1944 (during the Second World War). The Summer and Winter Olympics used to be held in the same year, but now they're held two years apart.

冬奥会或冬奥会是世界上最大的冬季运动比赛或“奥林匹克宪章”规定的“冰雪运动”。 自1924年以来，除了1940年和1944年（第二次世界大战期间）以外，国际奥委会（IOC）每四年举办一次这样的活动。 夏季和冬季奥运会曾在同一年举行，但现在它们相隔两年。

The first Winter Olympics was held in 1924 in Chamonix, France. It featured 258 athletes from 16 countries competing in skiing, skating, bobsleigh, curling and ice hockey events, but the only event in which women could compete was figure skating. In 1948 the IOC added three skiing events for women, and they've added many more events for women since then. The only event that's still limited to men is a skiing event called Nordic Combined.

The Winter Olympics now attracts around 3,000 athletes from around 90 countries. They compete for gold, silver and bronze medals in nearly 100 events in a wide range of winter sports.

第一届冬季奥运会于1924年在法国夏蒙尼举行。 它有来自16个国家的258名运动员参加滑雪，滑冰，雪橇，冰壶和冰球比赛，但女子参加比赛的唯一活动是花样滑冰。 1948年，国际奥委会为女性增加了三个滑雪活动，从那时起，她们为女性增加了更多的活动。 唯一一个仅限于男性的活动是名为Nordic Combined的滑雪比赛。

冬奥会现在吸引了来自约90个国家的约3,000名运动员。 他们在各种冬季运动的近100场比赛中争夺金牌，银牌和铜牌。

charter [´tʃɑ:tə]   n.许可证 vt.特许   (初中英语单词)

international [,intə´næʃənəl]   a.国际的，世界的   (初中英语单词)

compete [kəm´pi:t]   v.比赛，竞争，对抗   (初中英语单词)

tournament [´tuənəmənt]   n.比赛，锦标赛   (高中英语单词)

limited [´limitid]   a.有限(制)的   (高中英语单词)

bronze [brɔnz]   n.青铜(器)   (高中英语单词)