霍金亮相伦敦残奥会开幕 科学之旅演绎启蒙运动

The Queen has declared the London 2012 Paralympics officially open, during a spectacular opening ceremony watched by some 80,000 spectators.

In one heart-stopping moment during the show, six Paralympians and former competitors - including Baroness Tanni Grey-Thompson - were flown into the stadium in gold wheelchairs.

Disabled ex-serviceman David Rawlins flew a twin-engined Tecnam P2006 light aircraft over the stadium to kick off the proceedings.

A sphere ignited the "big bang" - something which Prof Hawking, a world-renowned physicist who has motor neurone disease, has written about extensively - to start the show and fireworks lit up the stadium.

Professor Hawking and actor Sir Ian McKellen played prominent roles in the ceremony, which also featured a host of deaf and disabled artists, local children and performers newly-trained in circus skills.

Some 3,000 volunteers took part in the event, which organisers entitled Enlightenment and said was "profoundly about science and humanity".

Throughout the ceremony, Prof Hawking acted as a guide to Miranda - a character from William Shakespeare's play The Tempest, who was central to the show - while actor Sir Ian played Prospero, another character from the play.

Inspired by uncertain British weather, umbrellas were also a big theme in the ceremony, which was described as "both spectacular and deeply human" by organisers.

The Queen was welcomed by Sir Philip Craven, President of the International Paralympic Committee, before the union jack was carried in by representatives of the armed forces.

It is the first time the monarch has officiated at the openings of both the Olympic and Paralympic Games.

Teams from all 164 countries paraded into the stadium to music mixed and played by three London-based DJs.

The Paralympic torch began its journey in Stoke Mandeville, Buckinghamshire, the spiritual home of the Paralympic Games, on Tuesday night.

【新闻快讯】

北京时间8月30日7点10分，经过一场盛大的开幕式，第14届夏季残疾人奥运会在伦敦碗揭开大幕，伦敦奥运会结束17天后，伦敦正式进入残奥会时间。

开幕式文艺表演的主题为“启蒙运动”，神秘宇宙星体倒计时过后，一开场科学家史蒂芬-霍金便亮相，用充满探索精神的话语讲述宇宙起源，现场也用数不清的雨伞模拟了壮观的“宇宙大爆炸”的景象，莎士比亚戏剧《暴风雨》中的主人公米兰达登场引领观众探索未知世界。他用语音合成器发出的声音，“宇宙从何处来，又往何处去？”“时间有没有尽头？” 让全场屏息聆听，他的话音刚落，鼓掌、尖叫声淹没了“伦敦碗”。霍金被誉为继爱因斯坦后世界上最杰出的理论物理学家、英国剑桥大学应用数学及理论物理学系教授。

神奇的时空变幻之旅后，英国女王伊丽莎白二世亮相，随之英国国旗升起，运动员开始入场。中国代表团由轮椅竞速选手张立新担任旗手。中国体育代表团总人数为417人，将参加包括田径、游泳、足球等在内的15个大项的比赛。东道主英国代表团压轴入场。

所有运动员就位后，残奥会会旗入场，伦敦奥组委主席塞巴斯蒂安-科和国际残奥会主席克雷文分别发表讲话，表达了对运动员以及伦敦残奥会的美好祝愿，塞巴斯蒂安-科称本届残奥会将是一届非常励志、精彩和感人的运动会。英国女王伊丽莎白二世宣布伦敦残奥会开幕。

晚会继续引领观众在科学海洋中穿梭，当主角发现万有引力时，全场62000人一同咬苹果。接着一系列令人眼花缭乱的表演诠释了强子对撞、传承力量等环节，残疾特技演员的高难度表演令人惊叹。

经过现场最后几棒火炬传递，为英国夺得首枚残奥会金牌的耄耋老人点燃残奥会主火炬，主火炬由200片铜花瓣构成，其中164片刻着参赛国的名字，比赛结束之后可以各自带回国。

开幕式晚会进入尾声，英国乐坛常青树、素有“灵魂乐未来”之称的非裔女歌手贝弗莉-奈特唱响主题歌《I AM WHAT I AM(我行故我在)》，全场万人齐唱将气氛推向最后的高潮，这场难忘的残奥会开幕式表演就此落幕。