According to local media reports, the cost of grooming China's new Olympic swimming star, Sun Yang, amounted to 10 million yuan ($1.57 million) over the past two years. That's 5 million yuan per gold medal, for those keeping track at home.
grooming:修饰，喂马，推荐 amounted to：总计
Chinese Internet users are asking: has it all been worth it?
'No matter what, he showed us results!' wrote a Shanghai-based user on Sina Corp.'s popular Weibo microblogging service.
microblogging：发微博
Others seem more skeptical. 'It's time to reform China's sports system,' one said.
skeptical：怀疑的，怀疑论的，不可知论的
China Real Time attempted to confirm whether the local reports were accurate, but the Chinese Swimming Association referred calls to Mr. Sun and the swimming staff, who are in London for the games and couldn't be reached for comment.
comment：评论，意见，为...作为评语
If this argument sounds familiar, that's because it first took place on a much larger scale four years ago, when China spent an estimated $42 billion to dazzle the world. The question isn't really whether China can afford it the latest estimate of China's currency reserve hoard alone puts it at a staggering $3.2 trillion. Based on those funds and the market rates implied by the local media reports, the People's Republic theoretically has the financial firepower to easily underwrite 4.07 million more gold medals.
dazzle：耀眼的光，灿烂，使...目眩，眼花缭乱 hoard：贮藏 staggering：蹒跚的，令人惊愕的，犹豫的
underwrite：给..保险，承诺支付
Instead, the question hinges on whether China has better things to spend its money on. This week the state-run Xinhua news agency trumpeted the formation of a social security network, the beginning of the creation of a social safety net in a nation where many have little access to health care or retirement support. Meanwhile, its population is aging, and expenses for retirees already consume about 60% of China's health-care resources, according to the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security.
hinge on：依靠，取决于，以...为转移，靠..转动 hinge on：国营的，公办的 trumpet：喇叭，吹喇叭
Still, China is a fast-growing nation proud of its wins in the London Olympics, and the idea of spending found many supporters. 'The glory [of winning] is priceless!' said one.
priceless：无价的，极其贵重的，非卖品
Many critics focused on foreign participation in Chinese athletic training. 'Why is it [Sun Yang] has to train abroad to win gold?' asked another Weibo user. According to local reports, the most costly component of Sun Yang's training is Australian swim coach Denis Cotterell.
In an article published earlier this year, the New York Times quoted Mr. Cotterell saying, ''What they [the Chinese] offered me for a month, I could live on for a year.'
This could be one of the key components to China's swimming success in the London Olympics swimmers such as Sun Yang and Ye Shiwen emerged as gold-medalists after both training in Australia. Sun Yang was coached by Mr. Cotterell, who specializes in long-distance events, and Ye Shiwen by Ken Wood, a Brisbane-based swim coach whose resume include many Olympic medal winners.
priceless：摘要，履历，简历，继续，重新开始
The Chinese government launched an effort to top the medals chart after the 2000 Sydney Olympics, called Project 119, and boosted funding in swimming, gymnastics and weightlifting.
In comparison, the U.S. Olympic swim team, like the U.S. Olympic Committee, receives no government funding and relies on corporate sponsorships and private contributions.
corporate sponsorships：企业赞助