The Olympic Games as we know them taday have a long history which goes back to ancient times. Everything started in the Peloponnese, in Greece, some 3000 years ago.
Sports competitions were organised at Olympia and were named after their location, hence their name of Olympic Games. Nobody knows exactly when they began, but the first written mention of the competitions is dated to 776 BC.
Theses Games were held at the same place every four years. This four-year period acquired the name Olympiad, and was used as a date system: time was counted in Olympiads, rather than years.
重點(diǎn)詞匯
Peloponnese n. （希臘南部）伯羅奔尼撒半島
Olympia n. 奧林匹亞，（希臘）伯羅奔尼撒半島西部的平原
Olympiad n. (四年一次的)奧林匹克世界運(yùn)動大會, 四年周期