牛津高中英语模块四-Page22-23-The-Olympic-Games

TheOlympicGamesGoodafternoon,studentsandteachers.AsamemberoftheInternationalOlympicCommittee,IamdelightedtohavebeeninvitedtoyourschooltotalktoyouaboutthehistoryandsignificanceoftheOlympicGames.I'llsharesomeinterestingfactsandstorieswithyou,andthenwe'llhavetimeforquestions.DoyouknowwhentheancientOlympicGamesbegan?Itwasintheyear776BC.TheywereheldatOlympiainGreeceeveryfouryears,foralmost12centuries,untilAD394.SomeofthesportsfromtheancientOlympicsarestillseentoday,suchasthelongjump,wrestlingandrunning.AttheancientOlympics,bytraditiontheathleteswereallmenandtheyhadtocompetewearingnoclothes.Singlewomenwereallowedtotakepartintheirowncompetition,ataseparatefestivalinhonourofHera,thewifeoftheGreekgodZeus.Today,bothandfemaleathletesfromaroundtheworldcantakepart,nomatterwhatnationtheycomefrom.ThecontemporaryOlympicswerefirstheldin1896,inAthens.ItwasaFrenchman,PierredeCoubertin,whobroughttheOlympicsbacktolife.HedreamtthattheOlympicswouldmakeitpossibleforpeopleofallcountriestolivesideinpeace.Nowpeopleallovertheworldarehelpingtorealizethisdream.Amongthemaremanywell-knownathletes.Didyouknowthatperhapsthemostfamousboxerofalltimefirstcametopublicattentionduringthe1960RomeOlympics?HewonthegoldmedalfortheUSA,underhisbirthnameCassiusClay.Afterwards,thisyoungmanwentontowintheWorldHeavyweightBoxingChampionshipin1964andlaterchangedhisnametotheoneweallknow,MuhammadAli.HereturnedtotheOlympicGamesinAtlantain1996tolighttheOlympicflameattheopeningceremony.AnothersportsstarIwouldliketomentionisMichaelJordan.EveryoneknowsofhissuccessintheNBA,butdoyouknowthathehelpedtheUSAbasketballteamwinthegoldmedalatthe1984LosAngelesOlympics?JordanalsoreturnedtotheOlympicsaftermanyyears,butunlikeMuhammadAli,hewasstillcompetingformedals.Atthe1992BarcelonaOlympics,JordanwonhissecondOlympicgoldmedalasamemberoftheso-called'DreamTeam'.ChineseathleteshavealsomadeimportantcontributionstotheOlympicGames.Atthe1984LosAngelesOlympics,thePeople'sRepublicofChinareturnedtotheOlympicsafter32years'absence.IamsurethewholeofChinamusthavefeltproudwhenXuHaifengwonthefirstgoldmedalforhiscountry.DengYaping,whowonfourOlympicgoldmedalsin1992and1996,isperhapsthegreatestfemaletabletennisplayertheworldhaseverseen.Atthe2004AthensOlympicGames,LiuXiangexcitedpeoplealloverAsiawhenhebecamethefirstAsiantowinthegoldmedalinthemen's110-metrehurdles.TheChineseledthewayatthe2008BeijingOlympics,winning51goldmedals.Forthefirsttimeinhistory,theChinesewomen'sgymnasticsteamwonthegoldmedal.However,theathletethatsomepeopleremembermostwasZhangNing,aformerbadmintonchampion.Attheageof33,shewasmucholderthantheotherplayers.Yet,shehungontowinthegoldmedalinfinalmatch.ThesearesomeoftheOlympicathleteswhohavebroughtjoytopeopleacrosstheworldwiththeirattemptstopushtheboundariesofhumanachievement.WearelookingforwardtoseeingmoreoftheminfutureOlympicGame.JoinmeinwishingtheOlympicMovementasuccessfulfuturetomatchitspastglory.ThankyouNow,arethereanyquestions?