星火英语-15篇文章贯通四级词汇(文本)15the_Ancient_Olympics.docVIP

古代奥运会the Ancient Olympics With great anticipation, China is busily preparing for the 2008Summer Olympic Games. Beijing will be added to a long list of the great cities that have invited the world to honor the world’s greatest athletes in the modern ear of the Olympic Games. China will also become part of an important, rich heritage that goes back more than 2000 years. 中国正满怀期望，积极为2008年夏季奥运会做准备。北京将成为有幸举办奥运会的伟大城市之一，届时她将邀请全世界来嘉奖世界上最伟大的运动员。中国也将成为这个有2000多年历史，重要而丰富的传统的一部分。 The origins of the ancient Olympic Games tend to be submerged in sea of Greek myths. One popular myth suggests that Pelops, a prince from Lydia, in Asia Minor (nowadays Turkey), won the hand of a princess by unfairly defeating a competing suitor in a chariot race. The loser was to be condemned to beheading. The prince rigged his opponent’s chariot to crash during the race. Later, the chariot did crash, killing the driver. The princess became Pelop’s bride, and he instituted the Olympic Games to celebrate his victory. However, others claimed that the first Olympic event was a funeral festival to honor his dead competitor. 古代奥运会的起源很容易就被淹没在浩瀚的希腊神话中。一个广为流传的神话说，珀罗普斯，小亚细亚(现在的土耳其)的吕底亚的一个王子，在一次战车比赛中用欺骗手段击败了求婚对手，赢得了一位公主的婚约。当时失败者会被判斩首，而对手的战车被王子做了手脚使其在比赛中被撞毁。后来，车毁人亡。那位公主成了珀罗普斯的新娘，他创立了奥林匹克运动会庆祝他的胜利。不过，另外一些人则声称第一次奥运会是为纪念他死去的对手而举行的葬礼。 Another myth involved Hercules, the mythical strong man. Hercules was the son of Zeus, the Greek god, and one of the god’s mistresses. Hera, Zeus’ wife, and also his sister, was very upset. She attempted in many ways, to kill Hercules as a baby. Hercules survived. Later, after he had married, Hera successfully put a spell on him, demanding that he kill his wife. Because he was the son of the god, Zeus, Hercules was destined to become a god himself. In order to accomplish this, Hercules had to be cleansed of his wife’s murder. To do this, he was directed to perform twelve difficult labors. If he successfully completed these, he would become an immortal god, like his father. 另一