【正文】 mming, sailing and all the team sports. P: I see. Earlier you said that athletes are invited from all over the world. Do you mean the Greek world? Our Greek cities used to pete against each other just for the honour of winning. No other countries could join in, nor could slaves or women!L: Nowadays any country can take part if their athletes are good enough. There are over 250 sports and each on has its own standard. Women are not only allowed, but play a very important role in gymnastics, athletics, team sports and …P: Please wait a minute! All those events, all those countries and even women taking part! Where are all the athletes housed?L: For each Olympics, a special village is built for them to live in, a main reception building, several stadiums for petitions, and a gymnasium as well. P: That sounds very expensive. Does anyone want to host the Olympic Games?L: As a matter of fact, every country wants the opportunity. It’s a great responsibility but also a great honour to be chosen. There’s as much petition among countries to host the Olympics as to win Olympic medals. The 2008 Olympics will be held in Beijing, China. Did you know that?P: Oh yes! You must be very proud. L: Certainly. And after that the 2012 Olympics will be held in London. They have already started planning for it. A new village for the athletes and all the stadiums will be built to the east of London. New medals will be designed of course and …P: Did you say medals? So even the olive wreath has been replaced! Oh dear! Do you pete for prize money too?L: No, we don’t. it’s still all about being able to run faster, jump higher and throw further. That’s the motto of the Olympics, you know“Swifter, Higher and Stronger.”P: Well, that’s good news. How interesting! Thank you so much for your time. THE STORY OF ATLANTAAtlanta was a Greek princess. She was very beautiful and could run faster than any man in Greece. But she was not allowed to run and win glory for herself in the Olympic Games. She was so angry that she said to her father that she would not marry anyone who could not run faster than her. Her father said that she must marry, so Atlanta made a bargain with him. She said to him,These are my rules. When a man says he wants to marry me, I will run against him. If he cannot run as fast as me, he will be killed. No one will be pardoned.Many kings and princes wanted to marry Atlanta, but when they heard of rules they knew it was hopeless. So many of them sadly went home, but others stayed to run the race. There was a man called Hippomenes who was amazed when he heard of Atlanta39。必修2 unit1 IN SEARCH OF THE AMBER ROOMFrederick William Ⅰ，the King of Prussia , could never have imagined that his greatest gift to the Russian people would have such an amazing history . This gift was the Amber Room , which was given this name because several tons of amber were used to make it . The amber which was selected had a beautiful yellowbrown colour like honey . The design of the room was in the fancy style popular in those days . It was also a treasure decorated with gold and jewels , which took the country39。s best artists about ten years to make .In fact , the room was not made to be a gift . It was designed for the palace of Frederick Ⅰ. However, the next King of Prussia , Frederick William Ⅰ,to whom the amber room belonged, decided not to keep it. In 1716 he gave it to Peter the Great. In return , the Czar sent him a troop of his best soldiers. So the Amber Room because part of the Czar39。s rules,Why are these men so foolish? he thought. Why will they let themselves be killed because they cannot run as fast as this princess? However, when she saw Atlanta e out of her house to run, Hippomenes changed his mind