每日英语：China Contemplative After Tumultuous Olympics

As the 2012 London Olympics came to a close, China managed to produce one last eyebrow-raising number.
Contemplative：沉思的，冥想的，默想的　　　　Tumultuous：吵闹的，骚乱的，狂暴的，喧嚣的，纷乱的
In an infographic published a few hours after the Olympic flame was extinguished, Chinese Internet company Sina Corp. revealed that users of its Weibo microblogging service had sent nearly 393 million Games-related messages by 9am Monday morning more than twice the 150 million Olympics-themed messages posted to Twitter.
infographic：信息图表，咨询图表　　　　extinguish：熄灭，压制，偿清，消灭　　　　
Going purely by medal count, it might come as a surprise that Chinese Internet users would be so interested in these Games. China’s haul in London 38 gold, 27 silver and 22 bronze wasn’t nearly as rich as it was in Beijing four years ago, when the host country took home 51 golds.

But in some respects, London 2012 gave Chinese people more to discuss than Beijing 2008.

One clue as to why was provided by the state-run Global Times, a typically nationalistic tabloid that on Monday published an editorial questioning the country’s controversial state-funded sports system (in both Chinese and English)
nationalistic：民族主义的，国家的　　　　tabloid：小报，文摘，轰动性的，扼要的　　　　editorial：编辑的，社论的
“It is difficult to tell whether it’s an advantage of the country or a flaw,” the editorial said of the system, which cherry picks athletes at young ages, grooming them for gold medals at sports centers often far away from their families.
flaw：瑕疵，缺点，使破裂　　　　
Doubts about the system arose following a string of controversial developments: a Chinese badminton team was disqualified for attempting to throw a match, a weightlifter apologized to his country for winning a silver, and Liu Xiang, one of China’s most prominent athletes, stumbled within the first two seconds of his first (and only) race.
a string of：一系列，一连串的　　　　prominent：突出的，显著的，卓越的　　　　stumble：绊倒，犯错误，蹒跚，使...困惑
“The strong criticism of the sports system is partly aimed at the entire Chinese system,” the Global times editorial said, noting that this criticism has emerged from a local media that had become “more dynamic and diversified” since the Beijing Olympics four years ago. “This is a sign of progress,” said the Global Times report.

While Chinese media may be more diverse than in years past, they were united in rallying to the defense phenom swimmer Ye Shiwen, accused by many in the Western media of doping after she won a surprise gold in the 400 individual medley, beating her previous personal best by five seconds and swimming faster than several top men in the final 50-meter freestyle leg.
phenom：杰出人才　　　　medley：混合，混杂，拼凑的
“The West is always there with inherent pride and prejudice,” the Communist Party mouthpiece People’s Daily said, reflecting a sentiment widely expressed inside China.
mouthpiece：发言人　　　　sentiment：感情，情绪，情操，观点
Perhaps adding to the indignation was the way in which the controversies overshadowed the achievement for China in this year’s games. Despite finishing second to the U.S. in the gold medal count, Chinese athletes broke six world records this time around three times as many as they broke four years ago pushing new heroes, such as swimmer Sun Yang, onto the global stage.
indignation：愤慨，愤怒　　　　overshadow：遮蔽，黯然失色，使...蒙上阴影　　
“China has proven itself in ping pong, diving, gymnastics and badminton…and now with Sun Yang and Ye Shiwen, China’s swimming is on fire,” wrote Sina Weibo user.
At least according to the Global Times, the mix of the victorious and the vexing for China in these Olympics might have been a good thing in the end.
vexing：令人烦恼的，苦恼的
“This Olympic Games has reflected a China with confusing values. But there are also positive debates, which will lead the country forward,” the paper said.