阅读理解
The first modern Olympic Games was held in Athens(雅典)in 1896 and only twelve nations participated it．Besides the host nation，many participants(参赛者)were tourists who happened to bein Greece at the time．Though the whole affair was informal and the standard was not high, the old principle of the sport was kept up．
Since then, the games had been held every four years except during the interruption of the two World Wars．This was definitely a departure(背道而驰)from the old Olympic spirit that wars had to stop and make way for the games．
The games have grown in scale and physical performances have now reached unprecedented(空前的)heights．Unfortunately the same cannot be said about their moral standard．The modern games are now held in different cities all over the word．Politics and commercialism get involved for the honor to hold the games because of the profit．In the 11th games held in Berlin in 1936, Hitler who had newly come to power in Germany tried to use the occasion for his Nazi propaganda(宣传)．For the first time the Olympic flame was brought all the way from Olympia to the games site in relays, a marathon journey now often taking months to finish．The last relay runner lit the huge symbol torch high on a pedestal(火炬台)above the stadium on the opening day, and with great pomp and fanfare(壮丽多彩)the opening ceremony began．
The Games of the 24th Olympiad, Beijing 2008, will take place from 8th to 24th, August 2008．The Games will play host to the 28 summer sports．About 10,500 athletes are expected to take part in the Games with around 20,000 media bringing the Games to the world．
On 11th, November, 2005, the Organizing Committee for the Games of Beijing 2008 has launched the five official mascots(吉祥物)for the Beijing Games at a show, to mark the 1,000-day countdown(倒计时)to the Opening Ceremony of the Games．The five mascots are officially called the Five Friendlies．They are Beibei, the fish; Jingjing, the panda; Huanhuan, the Olympic flame; Yingying, the Tibetan antelope; and Nini, the swallow．The first syllables from their two-syllable names form a line that reads“Beijing Huanying Ni”, or in English - “Welcome to Beijing”．The mascot’s colours were chosen in line with the colours of the Olympic rings．
