最新15篇文章贯通英语四级词汇MP3 Unit15-Part3

[00:00.00]The first number of Olympic games

[00:03.28]had only one event,

[00:05.14]called the stade. By

[00:06.78]the late 8th century BC,

[00:09.52]events included,running,wrestling,

[00:13.02]boxing, pancratiu(a mixture

[00:17.29]of boxing and wrestling),

[00:18.93]chariot racing 1, a footrace

[00:21.45]with heavy armour 2, and

[00:23.09]the pentathlo. The only official

[00:26.15]prize earned by the champion,

[00:28.56]was a crown of wild

[00:30.20]olive branches.Unofficially,

[00:32.93]some athletes received valuable prizes,

[00:36.00]including large sums of

[00:38.29]money from their home

[00:39.83]citystates. As in modern times,

[00:43.11]ancient athletes, even though

[00:46.61]they made pledges of fairness

[00:48.25]in competition, sought out

[00:50.55]every advantage, legal or illegal,

[00:52.74]in order to win. Even then,

[00:56.57]the concept of amateurism,

[00:58.75]for which there were no rules

[01:00.51]in ancient times, and the zeal 3

[01:03.13]for the competitive spirit

[01:04.88]were often sacrificed for

[01:06.74]the more selfish materialistic 4 considerations.

[01:11.01]By the 6th century BC,

[01:14.72]athletes began to specialize

[01:17.02]in particular sports, and even

[01:19.21]began to hire coaches.

[01:21.29]Special diets and new

[01:24.46]innovated kinds of physical

[01:26.65]conditioning became popular.

[01:29.28]Protein, from meat and beans

[01:32.01]in particular, became the popular

[01:34.53]nutritional need of Olympic athletes.

[01:37.16]The rules for events became more

[01:40.11]numerous and more strictly 5 enforced.

[01:43.06]For example, a false start

[01:46.34]of a running event might

[01:48.20]have been followed by

[01:49.73]a whipping of the violator.

[01:51.48]Penalties usually included fines

[01:54.55]for most violations 6. It was said

[01:58.16]that the elegant, elaborate bronze

[02:00.56]statues of Zeus that lined

[02:02.53]the route to the Olympic Stadium

[02:04.73]in the fourth century BC,

[02:06.26]were financed by revenue created

[02:08.55]by fines imposed on athletes.

[02:11.40]Some athletes even became

[02:15.67]free agents, negotiating and hiring

[02:19.38]themselves out to

[02:20.80]the highest bidder 7, to win races

[02:22.89]and money for their sponsors.

[02:24.63]One rather peculiar 8 practice

[02:28.14]that surrounded the chariot race

[02:30.10]event was that the owners,

[02:32.18]rather than the drivers

[02:33.93]of the chariots, received

[02:35.36]the honours and prizes.

[02:37.11]Some owners entered numerous chariots

[02:41.05]in the same event to increase

[02:43.23]their chances of winning.

[02:44.43]To the amusement of

[02:47.28]Olympic historians, Emperor Nero

[02:49.80](famous for burning Rome)

[02:52.10]apparently entered a chariot race

[02:54.29]in which he fell from

[02:55.81]his chariot and did not

[02:57.56]finish, but still received

[02:59.32]the champion’s crown of

[03:01.29]olive branches. Who could

[03:03.58]argue with the Emperor?

[03:06.87]By the 4th century BC,

[03:08.94]the Greekonly restriction 9 on

[03:10.48]participation was eased

[03:12.77]as the Olympic organizers accepted

[03:15.29]athletes from overseas, from such

[03:18.13]territories as Egypt and

[03:19.77]Libya on the African continent.

[03:22.07]Many city states even provided

[03:24.80]financial support and facilities

[03:26.99]for athletes so that

[03:29.19]they could concentrate full time

[03:30.82]on training, sometimes for more

[03:33.23]than a year before the games.

[03:34.98]The ancient Olympics were

[03:38.26]a strange mix of a religious

[03:40.13]pilgrimage and a forum 10 for intense

[03:43.95]athletic competition. As mentioned above,

[03:46.47]Emperor Theodosius tried to permanently 11

[03:50.08]put an end to the games

[03:52.27]as pagan exercises, but they

[03:55.00]emerged again in 1896 after

[03:58.29]an interval 12 of more

[04:00.04]than 1600 years. The Olympics

[04:03.10]maintained a religious theme

[04:05.29]from the beginning, varying

[04:06.93]in degree over time. The events

[04:09.33]were originally dedicated 13 to

[04:11.63]the worship of gods and heroes,

[04:14.04]especially deceased heroes. They were,

[04:18.19]at times, called funeral games

[04:20.60](as mentioned in Homer’s Iliad),

[04:24.43]and sometimes fertility festivals.

[04:27.28]The games gradually culminated 14

[04:29.69]in the worship of the prominent

[04:31.76]cult of Zeus, the chief god.

[04:34.17]Today, the Olympics Games

[04:37.23]are secular events