英语四级听力 材料2( 新东方)

Directions:Forthispart,youareallowed30minutestowriteashortessayentitledHowlongshouldthenationalholidaybe?Youshouldwriteatleast150wordsfollowingtheoutlinegivenbelow.1.有些人认为长假好，有些人认为短假好2.我认为......3.我建议有关部门……Howlongshouldthenationalholidaybe?PartIIReading(skimmingandscanning)(15minutes)Directions：Inthispart,youwillhave15minutestogooverthepassagequicklyandanswerthequestionsonAnswerSheet1.Forquestion1-7,choosethebestanswerfromthefourchoicesmarkedA）,B）,C）,andD）.Forquestions8-10,completethesentenceswiththeinformationgiveninthepassage.TheModernOlympicGamesTheModernOlympicGamesmighthaveremainedjustapartofhistorywithoutthedreamofoneFrenchman,PierredeCoubertin.Coubertinbelievedthatsportandexercisewereveryimportantforthehealthandhappinessofeverymanandalsoforthenation.Hethereforetried,in1892,tointerestotherFrenchmeninhisdreamofstartingamodernformoftheearlyGreekGames.Hisideaswerestronglycriticizedbymanypeople,whodidnotreallyunderstandwhathewastryingtodo.ItisperhapssadthatthegreatworkPierredeCoubertindidtobringbacktheGameswasneverproperlyrecognizedduringhislifetime.Gradually,however,peopleallovertheworldbecameinterestedinhisideasandatameetinginParisin1894,withrepresentativesfromtwelvedifferentcountries;plansweremadetoholdthefirstmodernGamesinAthensin1899.OrganizingthefirstmodernGames,however,wasnotwithoutproblems.TheGreekgovernmentwasunhappywiththedecisiontoholdtheGamesinAthens,astheyhadseriouseconomicproblemsatthetimeanddidnotfeeltheywereinapositiontospendthenecessarymoney.ItseemedthereforethattheGameswouldbefinishedbeforetheyhadevenbegun.PrinceConstantineofGreece,however,gavehissupporttoCoubertinandthenewly-formedOlympicCommitteeandotherrichGreekssoonfollowedhisexample.EnoughmoneywascollectedinGreeceandabroadtobuildanewstadiumandpayalltheothercosts.On5thApril,1896,acrowdofover60000peoplewatchedtheKingofGreeceopenthefirstmodernOlympicGames.Therewere,however,veryfewcompetitors－onlytwohundredandeighty-five.Australia,Austria,Britain,Bulgaria,Chile,Denmark,France,Germany,Hungary,Sweden,SwitzerlandandtheUSA,weretheonlycountriestosendathletestotheGamesandmostoftheathleteswhodidcomehadtopayfortheirowntravelandothercosts.Thereweretensportsinthefirstprogram－cycling,gymnastics,tennis,swimming,athletics,fencing,weight-lifting,rowing,wrestlingandshooting;therewerealsoothernon-sportingevents,suchasconcertsandballet,justastherehadbeenattheearlyGames.AtthefirstmodernOlympicsalmostallthegoldmedalswerewonbyAmericansportsmen,butthemostfamousofallthefirstmedalwinnerswasayoungGreeknamedSpyrosLouis,whocamefromasmallvillageinthemountainsnearAthens.Itwashewhowonthelonganddifficultrace,theMarathon,andgavetheGreeksthenationalwintheyhadhopedfor.TheGreekswouldhavebeenhappytokeeptheGamesinGreecebutCoubertinbelievedstronglythattheOlympicsshouldbetrulyinternationalandwouldnotallowthistohappen.ItwasthereforedecidedtoholdthenextGamesinParisin1900.Sadly,however,theParisGamesandthefollowingGames,heldinSt.Louis,America,in1904,werepoorexamplesofCoubertin'sdreamandCoubertinhimselfdidnoteventraveltotheSt.LouisGames.ForthesetwoGamesweremorelikecircusshowsthanseriousinternationalsportsmeetings.Onlyfifteennon-Americanswenttothe1904Games,mainlybecausethehightravelcostspreventedothersfromcompeting.Olympiceventsweremixedwithothersportsandevents,andtheGameswereorganizedtocontinueovermanymonths,sothatasmuchmoneyaspossiblecouldbemadebytheorganizersfromthesellingoftickets.Itwasnotuntil1908,whentheGameswereheldinLondon,thatinternationalrulesanddistanceswereintroduced；untilthentheeventshadbeenthedecisionoftheorganizingnationalone.TheLondonGameswerefarbetterorganizedthananyoftheothermodernGamesbutittookmanymoreyearsbeforeCoubertin'sdreamofatrulyinternationalmeetingofsportsmenbecameareality.ItwasnecessarytomakemanychangesbeforetheOlympicGamesbecameaswell-organizedandaspopularastheyaretoday.Since1896theGameshavebeenheldeveryfouryears,exceptforabreakduringtheyearsofthetwoWorldWars.GraduallythenumberofcompetitorswhotakepartineachGameshasgrownandsohasthenumberofcountries.In1896,onlythirteencountrieswererepresentedandonlytwohundredandeighty-fivecompetitorstookpart.Today,however,asmanyasonehundredandtwenty-twocountriessendathletestotheGamesandmorethanseventhousandmenandwomencometotheGamestotakepart.Inrecentyears,thenumberofeventshasgrowntotwenty-one,elevenofwhicharealsoopentowomen.ItisinterestingthatCoubertin,whoseideaswereborninthelatenineteenthcentury,probablyneverimaginedthatwomenwouldeverplayapartinthenewOlympics.WomenhadnevercompetedintheearlyGreekGames;indeed,formanyyearstheywerenotevenallowedtowatch.Inmoderntimes,theLondonGamesin1908werethefirstinwhichwomentookaseriouspart－36womencametotheGamestocompete.ThefirstwomantowinanOlympiceventwastheBritishTennisPlayer,CharlotteCooper,whowonatenniseventin1900.From1908,however,thenumberofeventsbegantogrowwiththeintroductionofladies’gymnastics.Athleticseventsforwomenwereintroducedin1928attheGamesheldinAmsterdam.Today,womenareashighly-trainedandasfitasmen.Althoughinalmosteverysportwomenandmencompeteseparately,inhorse-ridingeventsthe