【正文】 g down i n to the earth is li ke readi ng page after page of a bok. Each dynasty found in the earth is li ke an i nteresti ng story. N ot l ong ago he and other writers and artists took photos of the ol d parts of Ti anji n. The photos were put i nto a book whi ch was very popular. The money from the book hel ps his prjects. O nce, and ol d m an asked Feng to sign a book for hi m, saying he woul d gi ve i t to hi s grandson who was not yet born. Feng was gl ad to do i t he knows that he past i s not only for us to enjoy but also for the chi ldren of the future. Uni t 2 An intervi ew Pausani as, who was a Greek writer about 200 year ago, has e on a magi cal journey on March 18th , 20xx to fi nd out about the presentday Ol ym pi c Games. H e i s now i ntervi ewi ng Li Yan, a vol unteer for the 20xx O lym pics Gam es. P: My nam e is Pausani as. I li ved i n what you cal ― Anci ent Grece‖ and I used to wri te about the Ol ympic Gam es a long tim e ago. I’ ve e to your tim e to fi nd out about the presentday Ol ym pi c Games because I know that in 20xx they were hel d i n my hom el and. May I ask you som e questi ons about them odern Ol ym pi cs? L: God heavens! H ave real y e from so l ong ago? But of course you can ask any questi ons you l i ke. What would you li ke to know? P: H ow often do you hol d your Gam es? L: Every four years. There are two m ai n sets of Gam es—the Wi nter and the Summer O l ympics, and both are hel d every four years on a regular basi s. The Wi nter Ol ym pi cs are usual l y hel d two years before the Summ er Games. Onl y athl etes who have reached the agreed standard for thei r event wil l be admi ted as petitors. They m ay e from anywhere i n the world. P: Wi nter Gam es? How can the runers enjoy peti ng in wi nter? And what about the horses? L: O h no! There are no runni ng races or horse ri di ng events. Instead there are peti ti ons l ike ski ing and i ce skati ng whi ch need snow and ice. That’s why they’re cal led the Winter Ol ym pi cs. It’s i n the Summ er O lym pi cs that you have the runing races, together with swimmi ng, sail ing and al the team sports. P: I see. Earl i er you sai d that athl etes are i nvi ted from al l over the worl d. Do you m ean the Grek worl d? O ur Greek ci ti es used to pete against each other just for the honour of winni ng. No other countri es coul d joi n in, nor coul d sl aves or women! L: N owadays any country can take part i f thei r athl etes are good enough. There are over 250 sports and each one has its own standard. Wom en are not only al owed, but play a very im portant rol e i n gym nasti cs, athl eti cs, team sports and … P: Please wait a mi nute! Al those events, al those countri es and even wom en taki ng part! Where are al the athletes housed? L: For each O l ympics, a speci al vi l age i s buil t for them to l ive i n, a m ain recepti on buil di ng, several stadi um s for peti ti ons, and a gym nasium as wel. P: That’s sounds very expansive. Does anyone want to host the Ol ympi c Games? L: As a matter of fact, every country wants the opportuni ty. It’s a great responsi bi li ty but al so a great honour to be chosen. There’s as m uch peti ti ons among countri es to host the Ol ympi cs as to wi n O lympic medal s. The 20xx O lym pi cs wi l be hel d i n Beijing. P: O h yes! You m ust be very proud. L: Certainl y. And after that the 20xx Ol ym pi cs wi l be hel d in London. They have al ready started planni ng for it. A new vil l age for the athletes and al l the stadi ums wil l be buil t to the east of London. N ew m edal s wi l be desi gned of course and … P: Di d you say m edals? So even the ol ive wreath has been replaced! O h dear! Do you pete for pri ze m oney to? L: N o, we don’t. It’s stil l al l about bei ng abl e to run faster, jumper hi gher and throw further. That’s the motto of the Ol ym pi cs, you know—― Swi fter, Hi gher and Stronger.‖ P: Wel, that’s a good news. H ow i nteresti ng! Thank you so m uch for your tim e. The story of Atl anta Atl anta was a Greek pri nces. She was very beautiful and could run faster than any m an i n Greece. But she was not al owed to run and wi n gl ory for herself i n the Ol ym pi c Games. She was so angry that she sai d to her farther that she woul d not marry anyone who could not run faster than her. H er father sai d that she m ust m ary, so Atlanta made a bargai n with him. She sai d to him, ― These are m y rul es. When a m an says he wants to marry m e, I wil run against him . If he canot run as fast as m e, he wil l be kil led. N o one wil l be pardoned. ‖ Many kings and pri nces wanted to m arry Atl anta, but when they heard of her rul es they knew it was hopeless. So m any of them sadly went home, but others stayed to run the race. There was a m an cal ed Hi ppom enes who was amazed when he heard of Atl anta’s rules, ― Why are these m en so fool ish?‖ hethought. ― Why wi l they l et themsel ves be kil led because they cannot run as fast as thi s princes?‖ H owever, when he saw Atl anta e out of her house to run, Hi pom enes changed his mi nd. ― I wil m arry Atl anta—or die !― he sai d. The race started and although the man ran very fast, Atl anta ran faster. As H i pom enes watched he thought, ― H ow can I run as fast as Atl anta?‖ H e went to ask the Greek Goddes of Love for help. She promi sed to help him and gave him three gol den appl es. She said, ― Throw an aple i n front of Atlanta when she i s runni ng past. When she stops to pi ck i t up, you wi l be abl e to run past her and win.‖ Hi pom enes tok the appl es and went to the Ki ng. He sai d, ― I want to m arry Atl anta. ‖ The Ki ng was sad to see another m an di e, but Hi ppomenes sai d, ― I wi l mary her – or di e!‖ So the race began. Thre i nspiring stori es about the Olympic Games 1. The kind Norwegian There i s a croscountry ski ing race which is part of the Winter O lympi cs. In 20xx a Canadian ski er, Sara Renner,