【正文】 tal and pl ayed basketbal l as a young man. But he is also big i n a di fferent way — he fights hard to protect China’s past. His real name is Feng Jicai and he has written many novel s about life in China. Several years ago, however, he put down his pen for a whil e and began to protect the cl tural rel ics i n Ti anjin, where he l ives. Once som eon asked him why he no l onger wrote. H e repli ed that at the mom ent he fel t protecting cul tural rel ics was m ore im portant. Feng loves hi s hom etown. H e beli eves that ol d thi ngs m ust be gi ven a pl ave next to new thins, or people wi l son fet ther great past. H e does not m ake speches to get others to hel p him i n hi s projects. Instead he goes out and does what he can him esel f. If others fol low him, so m uch the beter. O ne of hi s bi ggest projects was to protect the ol dest stret in Ti anji n. Al ong that street some shops had done busi ness for seven hundred years. Al thought the ci ty governm ent rebuil t this street, they di d save its ol dest buil di ng. Another project was more successful: he persuaded the city government to buy some l and i n the centre of the city so i t coul d not be sol d for busi nesses. Thi s area is very im protant for the hi story of Ti anji n. It was here that the ci ty was fi rst buil t during the Song Dynasty. Later m any treasures were found here. To Feng, diggi ng 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 Tianji 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 old m an asked Feng to sign a book for him , 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 woul d you l i 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 Winter and the Summer O lympics, and both are hel d every four years on a regular basi s. The Wi nter Ol ym pi cs are usual ly held two years before the Summ er Games. Only athl etes who have reached the agreed standard for their event wil l be adm itted 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 citi es used to pete against each other just for the honour of winni ng. No other countri es coul d joi n i n, nor coul d sl aves or wom en! 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 i ts 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: Pl ease 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 ympic Gam es? 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 am ong 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 ym pi cs wil l be hel d in London. They have al ready started planni ng for it. A new vil lage 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 beauti ful and could run faster than any m an i n Greece. But she was not al owed to run and win 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 me, I wil run against him . If he canot run as fast as m e, he wil be kil led. N