【正文】 d from al l over the worl d. Do you m ean the Grek worl d? O ur Greek ci ti es used to pete agai nst each other just for the honour of wi ning. N o other countri es coul d joi n in, nor coul d sl aves or women! L: Nowadays any country can take part if thei r athletes are god enough. There are over 250 sports and each one has its own standard. Women are not onl y al lowed, but pl ay a very im portant rol e in gym nasti cs, athleti cs, team sports and … P: Please wait a mi nute! Al those events, al those countries and even wom en taki ng part! Where are al l the athl etes housed? L: For each Ol ym pi cs, a speci al vil lage i s bui lt for them to li ve i n, a m ai n recepti on buil ding, several stadium s for petitions, and a gymnasi um as wel . P: That’s sounds very expansi ve. Does anyone want to host the Ol ym pi c Games? L: As a m atter of fact, every country wants the opportunity. 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 ympics as to wi n O lym pic medal s. The 20xx Ol ym pi cs wi l be hel d in Beijing. P: O h yes! You m ust be very proud. L: Certainly. And after that the 20xx Ol ympi cs wil l be hel d i n London. They have al ready started pl aning for i t. A new vil lage for the athletes and al l the stadium s wil l be buil t to the east of London. N ew m edals wi l be designed of course and … P: Di d you say m edals? So even the oli ve wreath has been repl aced! O h dear! Do you pete for pri ze money too? L: No, we don’t. It’s sti l al l about bei ng able to run faster, jum per 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. How i nteresti ng! Thank you so much for your tim e. The story of Atlanta Atl anta was a Greek princess. She was very beauti ful and coul d run faster than any m an i n Greece. But she was not al owed to run and wi n glory for hersel f in the O lym pic Gam es. She was so angry that she said to her farther that she would not m arry anyone who coul d not run faster than her. H er father sai d that she m ust marry, so Atlanta made a bargai n with him. She sai d to him, ― These are my rul es. When a man says he wants to m arry 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 wi l be pardoned. ‖ Many ki ngs and princes wanted to mary Atlanta, but when they heard of her rul es they knew i t was hopel ess. So m any of them sadl y went hom e, but others stayed to run the race. There was a m an cal ed Hi ppomenes who was am azed when he heard of Atl anta’s rul es, ― Why are these m en so foli sh?‖ hethought. ― Why wil l they let them sel ves be kil ed 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 ppom enes changed hi s m ind. ― I wi l m ary Atl anta—or di e !― he sai d. The race started and al though the man ran very fast, Atl anta ran faster. As Hi pom enes watched he thought, ― H ow can I run as fast as Atl anta?‖ He went to ask the Grek Goddess of Love for hel p. She promi sed to hel p him and gave him three gol den apl es. She sai d, ― Throw an appl e in front of Atl anta when she is runing past. When she stops to pi ck i t up, you wil l be able to run past her and wi n. ‖ H ippomenes took the appl 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 ippom enes sai d, ― I wil marry her – or di e!‖ So the race began. Three i nspiri ng stories about the Ol ym pi c Gam es 1. The ki nd N orwegi an There i s a crosscountry ski ng race whi ch is part of the Winter Ol ym pi cs. In 20xx a Canadi an ski er, Sara Rener, was taki ng part in the croscountry fi nal when her left pole broke. Thi s was a seri ous probl em as she neded the pol e to hel p her travel qui ckl y through the deep snow. Immediatel y Bjornar H akensmoen , the coach of the Norwegian team , gave her another pol e. So Rener was abl e to get a sil ver m edal. Hakensmoen said that he had onl y behaved as any good sportsm an shoul d, but Sara sai d that Hakensm oen had shown everybody the true m eani ng of sport. 2. The Special O lym pi c athl ete For athl ete Eric Wil iam s gol d medal s are nice, but god sportsmanshi p i s m ore im portant. Eri c has a l ow mental abil ity but this does not stop him from taki ng apart in the O lympics. In 20xx Eri c peted i n runni ng races and the l ong jum p. H e sai d, ― I’ve been peting in the Special O lym pi cs ever si nce I was at hi gh school . It’s real y a good experience. You get to m eet different athl etes and vol unters and make al l ki nds of fri ends. ― John Corbett, an ani zer of the Speci al Ol ym pi cs said, ― H e al ways does hi s best and has a wonderful tim e i n the progres. H e truly appreci ates al l the peopl e around him who are trying to hel p, and he m akes that appreci ation known. ― Let’s hope Eri c wins m ore medals i n the next Speci al Ol ym pi cs! 3. The stubborn Afri can In 1968 a Kenyan athl ete Kip Keino peted i n the 1500 m etres runni ng race. At that tim e he was very i l and i n great pai n. Although he had reached the standard for the final of the race he decided at fi rst not to take part. H owever, just before the race was going to start he changed hi s m ind. He ran from his room and arri ved at the race track a few m i nutes before the race was about to begin. Surpri si ngl y, he won the race, fi ni shing wel ahead of everyone el se and showi ng what true courage and perseverance can achi eve. It was no wonder that Ki p Kei no becam e the only Kenyan sportsm an ever to appear on the cover of the worl d fam ous sports magazi ne Sports il ustrated. Unit 3 WHO AM I? Over tim e I have changed quite a l began as a cal cul ating m achi ne i n France i n 1642. Al though I was young I could sim pli fy di ffi cult s