Section 1 -Spot dictation

How did the Olympic Games start? In ancient Greece, athletic festivals were very important and have strong religious associations. Originally, the festival was held in honor of Zeus, the supreme God in Greek mythology. Eventually, the Olympian athletic festival had lost its local and national characters and became an international event. No one knows exactly how far back the Olympic Games go, but some scholars recorded date from 776 BC. According to some scholars, at first, the only Olympic event was 200-yard dash, called a stadium and that was the only event until 724BC. After that, other field events were added and 16 years later in 708BC, the pentathlon was added and wrestling became part of the Games. This Pentathlon was a five-event match, which consisted of running, wrestling, leaping, throwing the discus and hurling the javelin.

The Games were held every four years and after an uninterrupted history of 1170 years, the Games were abolished in AD394, the Christen era, because of the pagan origin. It was over 1500 years before there was another such international athletic gathering.

In 1896, the first of the modern summer games opened in Athens, Greece. Nowadays the Games are held in different countries in turn. The host country provides vast facilities, such as stadiums and living accommodation. Many more sports are represented, including the very celebrated event, the marathon races. The Olympics start with the arrival in the stadium of a torch , lighted on Mount Olympics by the sun's rays. The torch is carried by a succession of runners to the stadium. The Olympic flam symbolizes the continuation of the ancient Greek athletic ideals and it burns throughout the Games until the closing ceremony. The well-known Olympic flag, however, is a modern conception. The five interlocking rings symbolize the uniting of all five continents, participating in the Games.

评析

今年是令十三亿中国人骄傲自豪的奥运年，而与时俱进的中级口译考试当仁不让地将奥运作为了第一大题Spot-Dictation的主题,这无疑让广大新东方同学欢欣鼓舞,因为我们在课上反复强调过这个热点。考试刚刚结束，但奥运尚未开始，让我们再来回味一下吧！

本文介绍了奥林匹克的渊源，最初是为了祭祀希腊神话中的众神之王宙斯，然后慢慢失去了地方特色而演变为全球性的重大活动(lost its local and national characters, and became first a national event)。虽然没有人知道奥林匹克具体追溯到哪一年，但它从公元前776年开始有了记录。古代奥运会从第一届开始，直到公元前724年，都只有一个项目---200米短跑（200-metre dash）。公元前708年，Pentathlon出现了。即时考生不认识这个字，也可以根据它的前缀pent---"五"，以及后文对其的定义"5-event match, which consisted of running, wrestling, leaping, throwing the discus and hurling the javelin"猜出"五项运动"的意思。

古代奥运会从公元前776年到公元后394年，每4年举行一次，共延续了1170年。之后，历史中断了，直到1896年现代奥运会（the first of the modern summer games）的兴起，它才再次绽放辉煌。奥林匹克不再局限于希腊一个国家，而在世界各地轮流举行，由主办国负责提供运动场馆和运动员食宿（The host country provides vast facilities such as stadiums and living accommodation）。新的项目也被不断地添加进奥运会，比如马拉松。每届奥运会的前奏，就是从奥林匹亚山上采集的火种，经过无数火炬手的传递，点燃开幕式上硕大的主火炬塔。圣火象征着古希腊人奥林匹克运动理想的延续（The Olympic flame symbolizes the continuation of the ancient Greek athletic ideal），将一直燃烧到本次奥运会闭幕（and it burns throughout the games until the closing ceremony）。另外，奥运旗帜上的五环紧紧相扣（5 interlocking rings），代表着参加比赛的五个大洲。