Beach volleyball only for women?

蓝天、碧海、阳光、沙滩，一项独具魅力、风靡世界的运动项目一沙滩排球以其很强的竞技性和独特的艺术性、观赏性和趣味性，被誉为 “２１世纪最杰出的运动”。运动员和观众们头顶蓝天，面临碧海，耳听涛声，脚踩柔沙，这诗情画意般的境界，很自然地将人们与大自然融为一体。人们投身于大自然的怀抱中，陶冶身心，娱乐健身，锻炼体魄，这是人类与自然的完美结合。

Beach volleyball only for women?

Gabe: Have you decided which events you want to see?

Tony: I think I’ll check out the women’s beach volleyball matches.

Gabe: What’s wrong with the men’s matches?

Tony: I don’t know… I’ve always thought of it as a girly sport. I’m not a big fan of watching a guy run around with almost no clothes on.

Gabe: On the other hand, you’re not opposed to be watching women run around in bikinis.

Tony: You caught me. But this isn’t just my opinion: women’s beach volleyball matches have double or triple the audience of men’s beach volleyball.

Gabe: Well, I think there’s nothing “girly” about beach volleyball. Actually, I’m also thinking about buying a beach volleyball match ticket. But something else attracts me to the sport.

Tony: What’s that?

Gabe: The sand used at Olympic beach volleyball matches is very precious. Originally, only sand from three European countries qualified for use. But through great effort, China finally found qualified sand on Hainan. Doing so reduced the cost of the sand from 30 million to 10 million yuan.

Tony: Wow, I never thought sand could be so valuable. When the match is over, I’m going to try to grab a handful of it for a souvenir. May be I can sell it online.

rNew Roman'">       check out: 留意，确认。

r       I’m not a big fan of…: 我对……不是很感兴趣，我不是一个很喜欢……的人。这种说法在年轻人中很长见。

My little sister is a big fan of sweet food. Without candy, she couldn’t survive a single day.

r       You caught me: 你说对了；被你看穿了。

r       Three European countries: 国际排球联合会对沙滩排球场地的沙子有严格要求，颗粒不能过粗，不能含有可能伤害人体的杂质，颜色不能过白，以免影响电视直播效果。能够符合国际排联要求的沙子大多分布在芬兰、瑞典、丹麦等北欧三国。

r       a handful of: 一把……， 少量的。

r       souvenir: 纪念品。