【正文】 Ol ym pi c Gam es a l ong tim e ago. I’ve e to your tim e to fi nd out about the presentday Ol ym pic Gam es because I know that i n 2020 they were hel d i n my hom el and. May I ask you som e questions about them odern Ol ym pi cs? L: Good 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 woul d 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 Sum mer O lym pi cs, and both are hel d every four years on a regul ar basi s. The Wi nter O lym pi cs are usual ly hel d two years before the Sum mer Gam es. O nl y athl etes who have reached the agreed standard for thei r event wil be adm i tted as peti tors. They m ay e from anywhere i n the worl d. P: Wi nter Gam es? H ow can the runners enjoy peti ng i n 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 li ke ski ng and i ce skati ng whi ch need snow and ice. That’s why they’re cal l ed the Wi nter Ol ympi cs. It’s i n the Summ er Ol ym pi cs that you have the runni ng races, together wi th swi mm ing, sai li ng and al l 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 mean the Greek worl d? O ur Greek citi es used to pete agai nst each other just for the honour of wi nni ng. N o other countri es coul d joi n i n, nor coul d sl aves or wom en! L: Nowadays any country can take part i f thei r athl etes are good enough. There are over 250 sports and each one has i ts own standard. Wom en are not onl y al owed, but pl ay a very i mportant rol e i n gym nasti cs, athl eti cs, team sports and … P: Pl ease wai t a mi nute! Al l those events, al those countri es and even wom en taki ng part! Where are al the athl etes housed? L: For each O l ym pi cs, a speci al vi l age i s buil t for them to l i ve i n, a m ai n recepti on bui l di ng, several stadi um s for peti tions, and a gym nasi um as wel l. P: That’s sounds very expansi ve. Does anyone want to host the Ol ym pi c Gam es? L: As a matter of fact, every country wants the oportuni ty. It’s a great responsi bil i ty but also a great honour to be chosen. There’s as m uch petiti ons am ong countri es to host the Ol ym pi cs as to wi n Ol ym pic m edal s. The 2020 Ol ym pics wi l be hel d in Bei ji ng. P: O h yes! You m ust be very proud. L: Certai nly. And after that the 2020 O l ym pi cs wi l be hel d i n London. They have al ready started planning for i t. A new vil age for the athl etes and al l the stadi ums wil be buil t to the east of London. N ew medal s wil l be desi gned of course and … P: Di d you say m edal s? So even the oli ve wreath has been repl aced! O h dear! Do you pete for pri ze m oney too? L: N o, we don’t. It’s stil l al about bei ng abl e to run faster, jum per hi gher and throw further. That’s the m otto of the Ol ympi cs, you know—― Swi fter, H i 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 Atlanta was a Greek pri ncess. She was very beauti ful and coul d run faster than any man i n Greece. But she was not al owed to run and wi n glory for herself i n the O l ym pi c Gam es. She was so angry that she sai d to her farther that she woul d not m ary anyone who coul d not run faster than her. H er father sai d that she m ust m ary, so Atl anta m ade a bargai n wi th him . She sai d to him , ― These are m y rules. When a m an says he wants to marry m e, I wil l run agai nst him. If he cannot run as fast as m e, he wi l be ki l ed. N o one wil l be pardoned. ‖ Many ki ngs and pri nces wanted to m ary Atl anta, but when they heard of her rul es they knew it was hopel ess. So many of them sadl y went hom e, but others stayed to run the race. There was a m an cal ed Hi ppom enes who was am azed when he heard of Atl anta’s rul es, ― Why are these m en so fooli sh?‖ hethought. ― Why wil they l et themsel ves be kil led because they cannot run as fast as thi s pri nces?‖ H owever, when he saw Atl anta e out of her house to run, H i ppom enes changed hi s mi nd. ― I wi l m arry Atl anta—or die !― he sai d. The race started and al though the m an ran very fast, Atlanta ran faster. As H i pom enes watched he thought, ― How can I run as fast as Atl anta?‖ H e went to ask the Greek Goddess of Love for hel p. She promi sed to hel p him and gave hi m three gol den appl es. She sai d, ― Throw an appl e i n front of Atl anta when she i s running past. When she stops to pi ck i t up, you wil l be abl e to run past her and win.‖ H i pom enes took the apl es and went to the Ki ng. H e sai d, ― I want to m ary Atl anta. ‖ The Ki ng was sad to see another m an di e, but H ippomenes sai d, ― I wil l marry her – or di e!‖ So the race began. Three i nspi ri ng stori es about the Ol ym pi c Games 1. The ki nd Norwegian There is a croscountry ski ng race which i s part of the Wi nter O l ym pi cs. In 2020 a Canadi an ski er, Sara Renner, was taki ng part i n the crosscountry fi nal when her l eft pol e broke. Thi s was a seri ous problem as she needed the pol e to hel p her travel qui ckl y through the deep snow. Im m edi atel y Bjornar H akensm oen , the coach of the N orwegi an team , gave her another pol e. So Renner was abl e to get a si l ver m edal . Hakensm oen sai d that he had onl y behaved as any good sportsm an shoul d, but Sara sai d that H akensm oen had shown everybody the true m eaning of sport. 2. The Speci al O lym pi c athlete For athl ete Eri c Wil li am s gol d m edal s are ni ce, but good sportsm anshi p i s m ore im portant. Eri c has a l ow m ental abi li ty but thi s does not stop him from taki ng apart i n the O lym pi cs. In 2020 Eri c peted i n runni ng races and the l ong jum p. H e sai d, ― I’ ve been peti ng i n the Speci al