The torch was lit on November nineteenth in Olympia. It first traveled to Atlanta6, Georgia7, where the last Olympic Games in the United States were held. Then it began a twenty-two-thousand kilometer trip across forty-six states to Salt Lake City.

Many kinds of vehicles are carrying the Olympic torch. They include cars, airplanes, trains, ships, dogsleds8, sleighs9, and even a snow mobile10. Runners in many cities across the country are also carrying the torch.

The flame lights a torch each morning to start the run that day. Each runner then lights the next runner's torch. Officials say the flame travels about three-hundred-thirty kilometers each day.

The Salt Lake City Olympic Committee chose the runners who are carrying the torch. People in their towns and cities nominated11 the runners for the honor. Some of the runners are famous. Others are not. Last week in Los Angeles12, for example, one-hundred people carried the torch. They included Olympic figure skater13 Michelle Kwan, actor Arnold Schwarzenegger and a teenaged girl who helps young students.

Olympic officials say more than eleven-thousand runners will have carried the flame by the time it reaches Salt Lake City on February eighth14. The name of the last person to carry the flame is kept a secret15. He or she will enter the sports center to light the torch that will officially start the Winter Olympic Games.

　　　　　奥运圣火　试听

奥运圣火连接着古代和现代的奥运会。在古代的奥林匹亚，举办奥运会比赛时要为宙斯神燃烧火炬。现在，举行每届新的奥运会时，人们都跑步把火炬从希腊的奥林匹亚传递到举办地。
即将举行的冬奥会的火炬是去年11月19日在奥林匹亚点燃的。它先被传到上一届在美国举行奥运会的城市－佐治亚州的亚特兰大。然后它将经过2200公里的旅程，途经46个州，抵达盐湖城。
很多种交通工具参与了奥运圣火的传递。有小轿车，飞机，火车，轮船，狗拉的雪撬，雪橇，甚至雪上汽车。全国各地也有很多人跑步参加传递火炬。
每天早晨，圣火引燃火炬，开始跑步传递的一天。然后每个跑步传递者都点燃下一个跑步者手里的火炬。官员们说，圣火每天大约传递330公里。
盐湖城奥运会组委会挑选了跑步传递火炬的人。各个城镇的人们都推荐跑步传递者，作为给传递者的一项荣誉。有些传递者声名赫赫，有些只是普通人。比如上周在洛杉矶，一百人参加传递了火炬，其中有奥运花样滑冰选手米歇尔·宽、演员阿诺德·斯瓦辛格和一个为少年学生们学习提供帮助的少女。
奥运会官员们说，圣火在二月八日到达盐湖城时，将会有1万1千人曾参与了跑步传递。最后一个传递火炬的人的名字暂时是个秘密。他或者她将进入体育中心，点燃宣告冬奥会正式开幕的火炬。