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.

評析

今年是令十三億中國人驕傲自豪的奧運年，而與時俱進的中級口譯考試當仁不讓地將奧運作為了第一大題Spot-Dictation的主題,這無疑讓廣大新東方同學歡欣鼓舞,因為我們在課上反復強調過這個熱點。考試剛剛結束，但奧運尚未開始，讓我們再來回味一下吧！

本文介紹了奧林匹克的淵源，最初是為了祭祀希臘神話中的眾神之王宙斯，然后慢慢失去了地方特色而演變?yōu)槿蛐缘闹卮蠡顒?lost its local and national characters, and became first a national event)。雖然沒有人知道奧林匹克具體追溯到哪一年，但它從公元前776年開始有了記錄。古代奧運會從第一屆開始，直到公元前724年，都只有一個項目---200米短跑（200-metre dash）。公元前708年，Pentathlon出現了。即時考生不認識這個字，也可以根據它的前綴pent---"五"，以及后文對其的定義"5-event match, which consisted of running, wrestling, leaping, throwing the discus and hurling the javelin"猜出"五項運動"的意思。

古代奧運會從公元前776年到公元后394年，每4年舉行一次，共延續(xù)了1170年。之后，歷史中斷了，直到1896年現代奧運會（the first of the modern summer games）的興起，它才再次綻放輝煌。奧林匹克不再局限于希臘一個國家，而在世界各地輪流舉行，由主辦國負責提供運動場館和運動員食宿（The host country provides vast facilities such as stadiums and living accommodation）。新的項目也被不斷地添加進奧運會，比如馬拉松。每屆奧運會的前奏，就是從奧林匹亞山上采集的火種，經過無數火炬手的傳遞，點燃開幕式上碩大的主火炬塔。圣火象征著古希臘人奧林匹克運動理想的延續(xù)（The Olympic flame symbolizes the continuation of the ancient Greek athletic ideal），將一直燃燒到本次奧運會閉幕（and it burns throughout the games until the closing ceremony）。另外，奧運旗幟上的五環(huán)緊緊相扣（5 interlocking rings），代表著參加比賽的五個大洲。