题目内容
（请给出正确答案）
Modern athletes' results cannot be compared with those of ancient runners because ______.
A．the Greeks had no means of recording the results
B．details such as the time were not recorded in the past
C．they are much better
D．they are much worse
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更多“Modern athletes' results canno…”相关的问题
The first modern Olympics attracted athletes from ten countries.
A．Y
B．N
C．NG
Modern athletes results cannot be compared with those of ancient runners because______.
IN ANCIENT GREECE ATHLETIC FESTIVALS WERE VERY IMPORTANT AND HAD STRONG RELIGIOUS ASSOCIATIONS. THE OLYMPIAN ATHLETIC FESTIVAL HELD EVERY FOUR YEARS IN HONOUR OF ZEUS, KING OF THE OLYMPIAN GODS, EVENTUALLY LOST ITS LOCAL CHARACTER, BECAME FIRST A NATIONAL EVENT AND THEN, AFTER THE RULES AGAINST FOREIGN COMPETITORS HAD BEEN ABOLISHED, INTERNATIONAL. NO ONE KNOWS EXACTLY HOW FAR BACK THE OLYMPIC GAMES GO, BUT SOME OFFICIAL RECORDS DATE FROM 776
B.
C. THE GAMES TOOK PLACE IN AUGUST ON THE PLAIN BY MOUNT OLYMPUS. MANY THOUSANDS OF SPECTATORS GATHERED FROM ALL PARTS OF GREECE, BUT NO MARRIED WOMAN WAS ADMITTED EVEN AS A SPECTATOR. SLAVES, WOMEN AND DISHONORED PERSONS WERE NOT ALLOWED TO COMPET
E. THE EXACT SEQUENCE OF EVENTS IS UNCERTAIN, BUT EVENTS INCLUDED BOY"S GYMNASTICS, BOXING, WRESTLING, HORSE RACING AND FIELD EVENTS, THOUGH THERE WERE FEWER SPORTS INVOLVED THAN IN THE MODERN OLYMPIC GAMES. ON THE LAST DAY OF THE GAMES, ALL THE WINNERS WERE HONORED BY HAVING A RING OF HOLY OLIVE LEAVES PLACED ON THEIR HEADS. SO GREAT WAS THE HONOUR THAT THE WINNER OF THE FOOT RACE GAVE HIS NAME TO THE YEAR OF HIS VICTORY. ALTHOUGH OLYMPIC WINNERS RECEIVED NO PRIZE MONEY, THEY WERE, IN FACT, RICHLY REWARDED BY THEIR STATE AUTHORITIES. HOW THEIR RESULTS COMPARED WITH MODERN STANDARDS, WE UNFORTUNATELY HAVE NO MEANS OF TELLIN
G. AFTER AN UNINTERRUPTED HISTORY OF ALMOST 1 200 YEARS, THE GAMES WERE SUSPENDED BY THE ROMANS IN 394 A.
D. THEY CONTINUED FOR SUCH A LONG TIME BECAUSE PEOPLE BELIEVED IN THE PHILOSOPHY BEHIND THE OLYMPICS: THE IDEA THAT A HEALTHY BODY PRODUCED A HEALTHY MIND, AND THAT THE SPIRIT OF COMPETITION IN SPORTS AND GAMES WAS PREFERABLE TO THE COMPETITION THAT CAUSED WARS. IT WAS OVER 1 500 YEARS BEFORE ANOTHER SUCH INTERNATIONAL ATHLETIC GATHERING TOOK PLACE IN ATHENS IN 1896. NOWADAYS, THE GAMES ARE HELD IN DIFFERENT COUNTRIES IN TUR
N. THE HOST COUNTRY PROVIDES VAST FACILITIES, INCLUDING A STADIUM, SWIMMING POOLS AND LIVING ACCOMMODATION, BUT COMPETING COUNTRIES PAY THEIR OWN ATHLETES" EXPENSES. THE OLYMPICS START WITH THE ARRIVAL IN THE STADIUM OF A TORCH, LIGHTED ON MOUNT OLYMPUS BY THE SUN"S RAYS. IT IS CARRIED BY A SUCCESSION OF RUNNERS TO THE STADIU
M. THE TORCH SYMBOLIZED THE CONTINUATION OF THE ANCIENT GREEK ATHLETIC IDEALS, AND IT BURNS THROUGHOUT THE GAMES UNTIL THE CLOSING CEREMONY. THE WELL-KNOWN OLYMPIC FLAG, HOWEVER, IS A MODERN CONCEPTION, THE FIVE INTERLOCKING RINGS SYMBOLIZE THE UNITING OF ALL FIVE CONTINENTS PARTICIPATING IN THE GAMES.
Nowadays, the athletes expenses are paid for______.
IN ANCIENT GREECE ATHLETIC FESTIVALS WERE VERY IMPORTANT AND HAD STRONG RELIGIOUS ASSOCIATIONS. THE OLYMPIAN ATHLETIC FESTIVAL HELD EVERY FOUR YEARS IN HONOUR OF ZEUS, KING OF THE OLYMPIAN GODS, EVENTUALLY LOST ITS LOCAL CHARACTER, BECAME FIRST A NATIONAL EVENT AND THEN, AFTER THE RULES AGAINST FOREIGN COMPETITORS HAD BEEN ABOLISHED, INTERNATIONAL. NO ONE KNOWS EXACTLY HOW FAR BACK THE OLYMPIC GAMES GO, BUT SOME OFFICIAL RECORDS DATE FROM 776
B.
C. THE GAMES TOOK PLACE IN AUGUST ON THE PLAIN BY MOUNT OLYMPUS. MANY THOUSANDS OF SPECTATORS GATHERED FROM ALL PARTS OF GREECE, BUT NO MARRIED WOMAN WAS ADMITTED EVEN AS A SPECTATOR. SLAVES, WOMEN AND DISHONORED PERSONS WERE NOT ALLOWED TO COMPET
E. THE EXACT SEQUENCE OF EVENTS IS UNCERTAIN, BUT EVENTS INCLUDED BOY"S GYMNASTICS, BOXING, WRESTLING, HORSE RACING AND FIELD EVENTS, THOUGH THERE WERE FEWER SPORTS INVOLVED THAN IN THE MODERN OLYMPIC GAMES. ON THE LAST DAY OF THE GAMES, ALL THE WINNERS WERE HONORED BY HAVING A RING OF HOLY OLIVE LEAVES PLACED ON THEIR HEADS. SO GREAT WAS THE HONOUR THAT THE WINNER OF THE FOOT RACE GAVE HIS NAME TO THE YEAR OF HIS VICTORY. ALTHOUGH OLYMPIC WINNERS RECEIVED NO PRIZE MONEY, THEY WERE, IN FACT, RICHLY REWARDED BY THEIR STATE AUTHORITIES. HOW THEIR RESULTS COMPARED WITH MODERN STANDARDS, WE UNFORTUNATELY HAVE NO MEANS OF TELLIN
G. AFTER AN UNINTERRUPTED HISTORY OF ALMOST 1 200 YEARS, THE GAMES WERE SUSPENDED BY THE ROMANS IN 394 A.
D. THEY CONTINUED FOR SUCH A LONG TIME BECAUSE PEOPLE BELIEVED IN THE PHILOSOPHY BEHIND THE OLYMPICS: THE IDEA THAT A HEALTHY BODY PRODUCED A HEALTHY MIND, AND THAT THE SPIRIT OF COMPETITION IN SPORTS AND GAMES WAS PREFERABLE TO THE COMPETITION THAT CAUSED WARS. IT WAS OVER 1 500 YEARS BEFORE ANOTHER SUCH INTERNATIONAL ATHLETIC GATHERING TOOK PLACE IN ATHENS IN 1896. NOWADAYS, THE GAMES ARE HELD IN DIFFERENT COUNTRIES IN TUR
N. THE HOST COUNTRY PROVIDES VAST FACILITIES, INCLUDING A STADIUM, SWIMMING POOLS AND LIVING ACCOMMODATION, BUT COMPETING COUNTRIES PAY THEIR OWN ATHLETES" EXPENSES. THE OLYMPICS START WITH THE ARRIVAL IN THE STADIUM OF A TORCH, LIGHTED ON MOUNT OLYMPUS BY THE SUN"S RAYS. IT IS CARRIED BY A SUCCESSION OF RUNNERS TO THE STADIU
M. THE TORCH SYMBOLIZED THE CONTINUATION OF THE ANCIENT GREEK ATHLETIC IDEALS, AND IT BURNS THROUGHOUT THE GAMES UNTIL THE CLOSING CEREMONY. THE WELL-KNOWN OLYMPIC FLAG, HOWEVER, IS A MODERN CONCEPTION, THE FIVE INTERLOCKING RINGS SYMBOLIZE THE UNITING OF ALL FIVE CONTINENTS PARTICIPATING IN THE GAMES.
Let the Games Begin: Winter Olympics 2006 Start in Turin
The Winter Olympic Games open February tenth. An estimated two thousand five hundred athletes and two thousand five hundred officials from about eighty-five countries will take part in the games.
The athletes will compete to win medals in eighty-four events. They will test their skills in seven winter sports: biathlon(冬季两项，包括越野滑雪和步枪射击), bobsleigh(雪车), curling(冰壶), ice hockey(冰球), luge(无舵雪橇), skating and skiing. More than six hundred judges and other officials will supervise the games. About ten thousand reporters and media operators will report on the games. Thousands of people will attend, and millions more around the world will watch the Olympics on television.
History of Olympic Games
This will be the twentieth time the Olympic Winter Games have been held. The last Winter Games were held in Salt Lake City, Utah in the United States in 2002. The next Winter Olympic games will take place in Vancouver, Canada in 2010. The goal of the Olympic games is to bring people together in peace to honor universal moral ideas and the Olympic spirit. The modern Olympics are named after games held in ancient times. The games are said to have started in the ancient Greek city of Olympia, more than 2,700 years ago.
The first thirteen Olympic games were foot races during celebrations to honor the Greek god, Zeus. Winners were honored with a crown of olive leaves placed around their heads. Greece continued to hold the games every four years for the next 1,000 years. The ancient Romans banned them in the 4th century when they ruled Greece. The Romans also destroyed the Olympic centers and sports fields.
The first modern Olympics were held in Athens, Greece in 1896. Athletes from eight countries competed in ten sports. A French diplomat, Baron Pierre de Coubertin, had proposed a world celebration of sports like the ancient games in Greece.
The purpose was to help athletes develop strength and values through competition. And the international event would provide a way for athletes of all nations to become friends.
Today, the Olympics are the world's most famous sports event. The five rings of the Olympic sign represent this athletic friendship. They represent the linking, through sports, of five parts of the world: Europe, Asia, Africa, Australia and the Americas. The colors of the rings are blue, yellow, black, green and red. Under the rings is the Olympic saying in Latin: "Citius, Altius, Fortius." In English, the words mean: "Swifter, Higher, Stronger."
Sports of the Turin Winter Olympics
The Turin Winter Olympics will include 84 events in 7 sports. Some of the sports are well known, like skiing and skating. Others, like luge, are not. Luge is the French word for sled. Luge athletes race by lying on their backs on sleds with steel runners. The athletes control the sleds with their feet as they speed down a track covered with ice. They compete to see who is the fastest. The sleds can reach speeds of up to 130 kilometers an hour.
Curling is another sport that is not as well known. It began in Scotland. Each athlete on a four-member team slides a stone across the ice toward a circular target. The target is about two meters wide. The object is to slide the stone to the center of the target.
Biathlon was added to the Winter Olympic Games in 1960. This sport began as a method for survival. Northern Europeans skied to hunt for food. Later they skied with weapons to defend their countries. Today, biathlon is considered a combination of two sports: cross-country skiing and rifle shooting.
Snowboarding became an Olympic sport in 1998. In this sport, the athletes' feet are attached to a board as they move quickly on the snow. In one event, snowboarders slide up the sides of a huge hole built especially to perform. jumps. The athlet
A．Y
B．N
C．NG
The History of the Olympic Games
Introduction
Today, the Olympic Games are the world's largest exhibition of athletic skill and competitive spirit. They are also displays of nationalism, commerce and politics. Well-known throughout the world, the games have been used to promote understanding and friendship among nations. The Olympic Games started thousands of years ago and lasted over a millennium. The symbolic power of the Games lived on after their interruption, and came to life again as the modem Olympic Games being revived(恢复；复兴) in the last century. Both the modern and ancient Olympics have close similarities in their purpose and in their problems.
Ancient Olympics
The ancient Olympics had some differences from the modern Games. There were fewer events, and only free men who spoke Greek could compete, instead of athletes from any country. Women were not allowed to even watch the games, let alone play in them. Also, the games were always held at Olympia in Greece instead of being moved around to different sites every time. But also they had some similarities to our modem Olympics, winning athletes were heroes who put their hometowns on the map, and became financially sound for life.
The conflict between the Olympic ideals of sportsmanship and unity and the commercialism and political acts which accompany the Games were also present in ancient times. Potades at the ninety-ninth Festival was victorious in the long race and proclaimed a Cretan, as in fact he was. But at the next Festival he made himself an Ephesian, being bribed to do so by the Ephesian people. For this act he was banished(驱逐) by the Cretans. The first Olympic Games at Olympia were held in 776 B.C. According to Hippias of Elis, who edited a list of Olympic winners in 400 B.C., the only event held at the first Olympics was the stadium footrace.
Every four years the games were started on the first full moon after the summer solstice(夏至), lasting for five days. For over 1100 years, from 776 B.C. to 393 A.D., the games were played, thousands of people ceased all warfare and flocked to a small sanctuary(圣殿) in northwestern Greece for five days in the late summer for a single reason, to witness the Olympic Games. During that time, competitors from all over the Greek world competed in a number of athletic events and worshiped the gods at the sanctuary of Olympia. The athletes competed not for money or material goods, although they received them, but only for the honor of being an Olympic victor. An Olympian that had the honor of winning an event was held in high esteem the rest of his lives.
The Olympic Games were held every 4 years, and were never interrupted. The games were even held in 480 B.C. during the Persian Wars. In 146 B.C., the Romans gained control of Greece and, therefore, of the Olympic Games. In 85 B.C., the Roman general Sulla conquered the sanctuary to finance his campaign against Mithridates. Sulla also moved the 175th Olympiad to Rome. The games were held every four years from 776 B.C. to 393 A.D. With the spread of Christianity, the games declined in popularity. They were finally abolished by the Christian Byzantine Emperor Theodosius I in 393 A.D. The ancient Olympic Games lasted for 1170 years.
Modern Olympics
The revival of the modem Olympics was on account of a French educator named Baron Pierre de Coubertin. He started this dream in 1894 when he founded the International Olympic Committee with the intention of restoring the Ancient Olympic Games which had been held between 776 B.C. and 393 A.D. He believed that international competitions between amateur athletes would help promote friendly relationships between people from different countries. Despite strong opposition Baron assembled 79 delegates from 12 countries to attend the international congress for the re-establishment of the Olympic Games. It was decided to hold the first modern Olympic
A．Y
B．N
C．NG
Going Back to Its Birthplace
No sporting event takes hold of the world's attention and imagination like the Olympic Games. The football World Cup fascinates fans in Europe and South America;baseball's World Series is required viewing in North America; and the World Table Tennis Championships attracts the most interest in Asia.
But the Olympics belong to the whole world. Now, after travelling to 17 countries over 108 years, the summer Games are returning to Athens, the place where the first modern Olympics was held.
Participation in the Games is looked on not only as an achievement, but also as an honour. The 16 days between August 13 and 29 will see a record 202 countries compete,up from Sydney's 199. Afghanistan is back, having been banned from Sydney because the Taliban government didn't let women do sports. There is also a place for newcomers East Timor and Kiribati.
A total of 10,500 athletes will compete in 28 sports, watched by 5.3 million ticket-paying viewers as well as a television audience of 4 billion.
Athens is to use its rich history and culture to make the Olympics as special as possible. The Games will open with cycling events which start in front of the Parthenon and Acropolis monuments. The final event will be a historic men's marathon following the original route run by Phidippides in 490 BC to bring news of victory over the Persians.
The ancient stadium at Olympia, first used for the Games nearly three centuries ago, will stage the shot put competitions. And the Panathenian Stadium, where the first modern Olympics was held, is to host the archery （射箭） events.
If the well-known ancient sites deliver a great sense of history to the Games, the 39 new venues add a modern touch to the city of Athens. The main Olympic stadium, with a giant glass and steel roof, is the landmark （标志） building of the Olympics.
"We believe that we will organize a 'magical' Games," said Athens 2004 President Gianna Angelopoulos-Daskalaki. "Our history with the Olympic Games goes back nearly 3,000 years, and Athens 2004 could be the best ever."
第 16 题 The World Table Tennis Championships attracts the most interest in Asian countries.
A．Right
B．Wrong
C．Not mentioned
In ancient Greece, the Olympic Games______.
IN ANCIENT GREECE ATHLETIC FESTIVALS WERE VERY IMPORTANT AND HAD STRONG RELIGIOUS ASSOCIATIONS. THE OLYMPIAN ATHLETIC FESTIVAL HELD EVERY FOUR YEARS IN HONOUR OF ZEUS, KING OF THE OLYMPIAN GODS, EVENTUALLY LOST ITS LOCAL CHARACTER, BECAME FIRST A NATIONAL EVENT AND THEN, AFTER THE RULES AGAINST FOREIGN COMPETITORS HAD BEEN ABOLISHED, INTERNATIONAL. NO ONE KNOWS EXACTLY HOW FAR BACK THE OLYMPIC GAMES GO, BUT SOME OFFICIAL RECORDS DATE FROM 776
B.
C. THE GAMES TOOK PLACE IN AUGUST ON THE PLAIN BY MOUNT OLYMPUS. MANY THOUSANDS OF SPECTATORS GATHERED FROM ALL PARTS OF GREECE, BUT NO MARRIED WOMAN WAS ADMITTED EVEN AS A SPECTATOR. SLAVES, WOMEN AND DISHONORED PERSONS WERE NOT ALLOWED TO COMPET
E. THE EXACT SEQUENCE OF EVENTS IS UNCERTAIN, BUT EVENTS INCLUDED BOY"S GYMNASTICS, BOXING, WRESTLING, HORSE RACING AND FIELD EVENTS, THOUGH THERE WERE FEWER SPORTS INVOLVED THAN IN THE MODERN OLYMPIC GAMES. ON THE LAST DAY OF THE GAMES, ALL THE WINNERS WERE HONORED BY HAVING A RING OF HOLY OLIVE LEAVES PLACED ON THEIR HEADS. SO GREAT WAS THE HONOUR THAT THE WINNER OF THE FOOT RACE GAVE HIS NAME TO THE YEAR OF HIS VICTORY. ALTHOUGH OLYMPIC WINNERS RECEIVED NO PRIZE MONEY, THEY WERE, IN FACT, RICHLY REWARDED BY THEIR STATE AUTHORITIES. HOW THEIR RESULTS COMPARED WITH MODERN STANDARDS, WE UNFORTUNATELY HAVE NO MEANS OF TELLIN
G. AFTER AN UNINTERRUPTED HISTORY OF ALMOST 1 200 YEARS, THE GAMES WERE SUSPENDED BY THE ROMANS IN 394 A.
D. THEY CONTINUED FOR SUCH A LONG TIME BECAUSE PEOPLE BELIEVED IN THE PHILOSOPHY BEHIND THE OLYMPICS: THE IDEA THAT A HEALTHY BODY PRODUCED A HEALTHY MIND, AND THAT THE SPIRIT OF COMPETITION IN SPORTS AND GAMES WAS PREFERABLE TO THE COMPETITION THAT CAUSED WARS. IT WAS OVER 1 500 YEARS BEFORE ANOTHER SUCH INTERNATIONAL ATHLETIC GATHERING TOOK PLACE IN ATHENS IN 1896. NOWADAYS, THE GAMES ARE HELD IN DIFFERENT COUNTRIES IN TUR
N. THE HOST COUNTRY PROVIDES VAST FACILITIES, INCLUDING A STADIUM, SWIMMING POOLS AND LIVING ACCOMMODATION, BUT COMPETING COUNTRIES PAY THEIR OWN ATHLETES" EXPENSES. THE OLYMPICS START WITH THE ARRIVAL IN THE STADIUM OF A TORCH, LIGHTED ON MOUNT OLYMPUS BY THE SUN"S RAYS. IT IS CARRIED BY A SUCCESSION OF RUNNERS TO THE STADIU
M. THE TORCH SYMBOLIZED THE CONTINUATION OF THE ANCIENT GREEK ATHLETIC IDEALS, AND IT BURNS THROUGHOUT THE GAMES UNTIL THE CLOSING CEREMONY. THE WELL-KNOWN OLYMPIC FLAG, HOWEVER, IS A MODERN CONCEPTION, THE FIVE INTERLOCKING RINGS SYMBOLIZE THE UNITING OF ALL FIVE CONTINENTS PARTICIPATING IN THE GAMES.
The order of athletic events at the ancient Olympics______.
IN ANCIENT GREECE ATHLETIC FESTIVALS WERE VERY IMPORTANT AND HAD STRONG RELIGIOUS ASSOCIATIONS. THE OLYMPIAN ATHLETIC FESTIVAL HELD EVERY FOUR YEARS IN HONOUR OF ZEUS, KING OF THE OLYMPIAN GODS, EVENTUALLY LOST ITS LOCAL CHARACTER, BECAME FIRST A NATIONAL EVENT AND THEN, AFTER THE RULES AGAINST FOREIGN COMPETITORS HAD BEEN ABOLISHED, INTERNATIONAL. NO ONE KNOWS EXACTLY HOW FAR BACK THE OLYMPIC GAMES GO, BUT SOME OFFICIAL RECORDS DATE FROM 776
B.
C. THE GAMES TOOK PLACE IN AUGUST ON THE PLAIN BY MOUNT OLYMPUS. MANY THOUSANDS OF SPECTATORS GATHERED FROM ALL PARTS OF GREECE, BUT NO MARRIED WOMAN WAS ADMITTED EVEN AS A SPECTATOR. SLAVES, WOMEN AND DISHONORED PERSONS WERE NOT ALLOWED TO COMPET
E. THE EXACT SEQUENCE OF EVENTS IS UNCERTAIN, BUT EVENTS INCLUDED BOY"S GYMNASTICS, BOXING, WRESTLING, HORSE RACING AND FIELD EVENTS, THOUGH THERE WERE FEWER SPORTS INVOLVED THAN IN THE MODERN OLYMPIC GAMES. ON THE LAST DAY OF THE GAMES, ALL THE WINNERS WERE HONORED BY HAVING A RING OF HOLY OLIVE LEAVES PLACED ON THEIR HEADS. SO GREAT WAS THE HONOUR THAT THE WINNER OF THE FOOT RACE GAVE HIS NAME TO THE YEAR OF HIS VICTORY. ALTHOUGH OLYMPIC WINNERS RECEIVED NO PRIZE MONEY, THEY WERE, IN FACT, RICHLY REWARDED BY THEIR STATE AUTHORITIES. HOW THEIR RESULTS COMPARED WITH MODERN STANDARDS, WE UNFORTUNATELY HAVE NO MEANS OF TELLIN
G. AFTER AN UNINTERRUPTED HISTORY OF ALMOST 1 200 YEARS, THE GAMES WERE SUSPENDED BY THE ROMANS IN 394 A.
D. THEY CONTINUED FOR SUCH A LONG TIME BECAUSE PEOPLE BELIEVED IN THE PHILOSOPHY BEHIND THE OLYMPICS: THE IDEA THAT A HEALTHY BODY PRODUCED A HEALTHY MIND, AND THAT THE SPIRIT OF COMPETITION IN SPORTS AND GAMES WAS PREFERABLE TO THE COMPETITION THAT CAUSED WARS. IT WAS OVER 1 500 YEARS BEFORE ANOTHER SUCH INTERNATIONAL ATHLETIC GATHERING TOOK PLACE IN ATHENS IN 1896. NOWADAYS, THE GAMES ARE HELD IN DIFFERENT COUNTRIES IN TUR
N. THE HOST COUNTRY PROVIDES VAST FACILITIES, INCLUDING A STADIUM, SWIMMING POOLS AND LIVING ACCOMMODATION, BUT COMPETING COUNTRIES PAY THEIR OWN ATHLETES" EXPENSES. THE OLYMPICS START WITH THE ARRIVAL IN THE STADIUM OF A TORCH, LIGHTED ON MOUNT OLYMPUS BY THE SUN"S RAYS. IT IS CARRIED BY A SUCCESSION OF RUNNERS TO THE STADIU
M. THE TORCH SYMBOLIZED THE CONTINUATION OF THE ANCIENT GREEK ATHLETIC IDEALS, AND IT BURNS THROUGHOUT THE GAMES UNTIL THE CLOSING CEREMONY. THE WELL-KNOWN OLYMPIC FLAG, HOWEVER, IS A MODERN CONCEPTION, THE FIVE INTERLOCKING RINGS SYMBOLIZE THE UNITING OF ALL FIVE CONTINENTS PARTICIPATING IN THE GAMES.
In the early days of ancient Olympic Games______.
IN ANCIENT GREECE ATHLETIC FESTIVALS WERE VERY IMPORTANT AND HAD STRONG RELIGIOUS ASSOCIATIONS. THE OLYMPIAN ATHLETIC FESTIVAL HELD EVERY FOUR YEARS IN HONOUR OF ZEUS, KING OF THE OLYMPIAN GODS, EVENTUALLY LOST ITS LOCAL CHARACTER, BECAME FIRST A NATIONAL EVENT AND THEN, AFTER THE RULES AGAINST FOREIGN COMPETITORS HAD BEEN ABOLISHED, INTERNATIONAL. NO ONE KNOWS EXACTLY HOW FAR BACK THE OLYMPIC GAMES GO, BUT SOME OFFICIAL RECORDS DATE FROM 776
B.
C. THE GAMES TOOK PLACE IN AUGUST ON THE PLAIN BY MOUNT OLYMPUS. MANY THOUSANDS OF SPECTATORS GATHERED FROM ALL PARTS OF GREECE, BUT NO MARRIED WOMAN WAS ADMITTED EVEN AS A SPECTATOR. SLAVES, WOMEN AND DISHONORED PERSONS WERE NOT ALLOWED TO COMPET
E. THE EXACT SEQUENCE OF EVENTS IS UNCERTAIN, BUT EVENTS INCLUDED BOY"S GYMNASTICS, BOXING, WRESTLING, HORSE RACING AND FIELD EVENTS, THOUGH THERE WERE FEWER SPORTS INVOLVED THAN IN THE MODERN OLYMPIC GAMES. ON THE LAST DAY OF THE GAMES, ALL THE WINNERS WERE HONORED BY HAVING A RING OF HOLY OLIVE LEAVES PLACED ON THEIR HEADS. SO GREAT WAS THE HONOUR THAT THE WINNER OF THE FOOT RACE GAVE HIS NAME TO THE YEAR OF HIS VICTORY. ALTHOUGH OLYMPIC WINNERS RECEIVED NO PRIZE MONEY, THEY WERE, IN FACT, RICHLY REWARDED BY THEIR STATE AUTHORITIES. HOW THEIR RESULTS COMPARED WITH MODERN STANDARDS, WE UNFORTUNATELY HAVE NO MEANS OF TELLIN
G. AFTER AN UNINTERRUPTED HISTORY OF ALMOST 1 200 YEARS, THE GAMES WERE SUSPENDED BY THE ROMANS IN 394 A.
D. THEY CONTINUED FOR SUCH A LONG TIME BECAUSE PEOPLE BELIEVED IN THE PHILOSOPHY BEHIND THE OLYMPICS: THE IDEA THAT A HEALTHY BODY PRODUCED A HEALTHY MIND, AND THAT THE SPIRIT OF COMPETITION IN SPORTS AND GAMES WAS PREFERABLE TO THE COMPETITION THAT CAUSED WARS. IT WAS OVER 1 500 YEARS BEFORE ANOTHER SUCH INTERNATIONAL ATHLETIC GATHERING TOOK PLACE IN ATHENS IN 1896. NOWADAYS, THE GAMES ARE HELD IN DIFFERENT COUNTRIES IN TUR
N. THE HOST COUNTRY PROVIDES VAST FACILITIES, INCLUDING A STADIUM, SWIMMING POOLS AND LIVING ACCOMMODATION, BUT COMPETING COUNTRIES PAY THEIR OWN ATHLETES" EXPENSES. THE OLYMPICS START WITH THE ARRIVAL IN THE STADIUM OF A TORCH, LIGHTED ON MOUNT OLYMPUS BY THE SUN"S RAYS. IT IS CARRIED BY A SUCCESSION OF RUNNERS TO THE STADIU
M. THE TORCH SYMBOLIZED THE CONTINUATION OF THE ANCIENT GREEK ATHLETIC IDEALS, AND IT BURNS THROUGHOUT THE GAMES UNTIL THE CLOSING CEREMONY. THE WELL-KNOWN OLYMPIC FLAG, HOWEVER, IS A MODERN CONCEPTION, THE FIVE INTERLOCKING RINGS SYMBOLIZE THE UNITING OF ALL FIVE CONTINENTS PARTICIPATING IN THE GAMES.
