Despite the spotlight that is shone on the sprints, the longer races, from the 800

metres to the marathon, can make a more rewarding spectacle.

尽管奥运会中的短跑项目备受瞩目，但从800米到马拉松的长跑比赛的观感更强。

shine a spotlight on sth表示使人们注意到。其中，spotlight是个四六级和考研词汇：聚光灯，衍生义为媒体和公众的注意。这个短语的主语可以是媒体/报告/事件等。

再比如：The report shines a spotlight on how best to tackle environmental issues.

报告聚焦于如何最好地解决环境问题。

原文中spotlight前面加了定冠词the，而不是a。这是因为，that is shone on the sprints是定语从句，修饰名词spotlight，特指对短跑项目的关注。对于很多这类动词+名词+介词构成的动词短语，我们可以以名词为中心词，动作成分后置，变成后置定语。

比如：The educational arms race is partly the result of the excessive emphasis (that) Chinese parents place on exam results.

教育内卷的部分原因是中国父母对考试成绩的过度重视。【place emphasis on sth重视某事】

还有一个类似的短语：be under/in the spotlight受到公众的关注。

As a news report has emerged of the insanitary transportation of cooking oil, food

safety is once again under the spotlight.

随着一起食用油运输不卫生的新闻报道出现，食品安全再次成为人们关注的焦点。

①despite表示尽管；即使，是个介词，而非连词，后面要接名词成分或者动名词，不能直接接一句话。

despite the spotlight that is shone on the sprints相当于although the mass media shine a spotlight on the sprints.

再比如：For rural students who make it to university despite the odds, this education investment is likely to yield substantial benefits.对于那些尽管面临困难，但是成功进入大学的农村学生来说，这项教育投资可能会带来巨大的回报。 如果后面要接一句话，用despite the fact that+句=although+句

②make在这句话中是个系动词，表示成为；适合做。be动词以外的词作为系动词的特点就是，改为be动词，结构上仍然是行得通的：The longer races can be a more rewarding(给人带来满足的) spectacle(精彩的场面).

再举个例子：

For the elderly or those living alone, the dog can make a good companion.

对于老年人或者独居的人来说，狗可以成为很好的伴侣。