求高二新世纪英语课文第四课~

The Olympics are the most important international compitition in terms of scale,skills,and number of athletes。
The games are divided into two parts—the Summer Games and the Winter Games。The two parts are held in such a way that there are two years in between but four years before one is repeated。
The Olympics were first celebrated in 776 BC in Olympia,Greece,and were held every four years until 393AD。Then were brought to an end by the Roman emperor。It was not until the 1890s that the world saw the modern summer games。In 1896 the first modern Summer Olympic were held in Greece because that was where the tradition started。After that the Olympics would move to a different city every four years。In 1924,the Winter Olympics were add to the schedule。The Games were to take place in a separate,colder palce。The event was cancelled durning World War Ⅰ and World War Ⅱfor reasons known to all。
Examples of modern Summer Olympic events are track and field events,ball games,diving,gymnastic,swimming。Typical Winter Olympic events are skating and skiing。
The Olympic records are the world ones。An Olympic gold medal carries as much weight as,or even more than,any other gold medal won at other international competitions。The skills and determination demonstrated at the Olympic have come to stand for the peak of human physical strength and will power。
It was not until the late twentieth century that Chinese athletes began to amaze the world with their excellent performance at the Olympics。Coming out number one many times in the Olympic events,Chinese athletes have brought home one gold medal after another in swimming,driving,gymnastics,weight lifting,and a number of ball games。At the turn of the twenty-first century,the world witnessed Beijing being selected by the International Olympic Committee(IOC)as the host city for the 2008 Olympics。This has added a brilliant touch to the picture of modern Chinese sport history。
Though once marked as “the Weaklings of East Aisa”,the Chinese have always been looking forward to achieving the dream of becoming a sports giant。After continuous efforts for years the dream is gradually coming true,and it is understandable why the Chinese let our cities of joy the night Beijing’s bid to host the 2008 Olympics was approved!