Listen&Learn: The Ancient Olympic Games
Posted by: Jaksyn Peacock
Pre-listening vocabulary
- athletic: relating to sports
- honour: to show respect for someone or something
- ban: to declare that something is not allowed
- modern: new; in the present
- host: to provide the location for an event
Listening activity
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:20 — 1.2MB)
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Gapfill exercise
Comprehension questions
[wp_quiz id=”20485″]Discussion/essay questions
- Do you like to watch the Olympic Games? What are your favourite sports to watch?
- Why do you think so many people around the world are interested in watching the Olympics?
Transcript
The Olympic Games originated in ancient Greece in 776 B.C. Every four years, the city of Olympia would hold athletic competitions to honour Zeus, the king of the Greek gods. These competitions were open to any men who wanted to participate. The ancient Greeks held the competitions until 393 A.D., when they were banned by a Roman emperor named Theodosius I. Over 1500 years later, a man named Pierre de Coubertin decided to organize a modern version of the Olympic Games. The first event took place in Athens, Greece in 1896. After that, cities around the world began to take turns hosting the Olympics. Today, athletes from over 200 countries participate in the Olympics every two years.
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26 comments
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English Club Indonesia says:
I’m not really into the Olympic Games. However, I sometimes will watch the sports where my country is good at. The Olympic Games is one of the highest sporting events where athletes around the world will compete against each other to be the best.
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Miguel Montoya Ramirez says:
It’s a very interesting story
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Firman Hakim says:
Do you like to watch the Olympic Games? What are your favourite sports to watch?
Yes, i like to watch the Olympic Games since primary school.
My favourite sports that I like is cycling. I love watching cycling because cycling is my hobby.
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Nur alyaa says:
I like to watch the olympic games and my favourite sports i love to watch is a badminton.
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F.A says:
Yes I do like watching Olympic especially badminton, volley ball , archery and diving
People around the world enjoyed watching Olympic because they love their country and will support everything related to the country.
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Selena says:
Sport is important thing in my life so can not pretermit Olympic Games.
Almost games is interested and distinctive. -
yaya says:
yes i like watching olympic games but i don’t have any favourite sport. As long as they are Malaysian athlet i will support them. Because it’s a good competition to join and everyone can know each other and then become friends
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Hairil Nufail says:
Yes,I like to watch olympic games especially athletics and badminton
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AIDIL WAFIQ BIN AZIZUL says:
Yes,of course i like to watch olympic games because they have a perfect technique and they are my idol too.
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Fatin Hanani says:
Do you like to watch the Olympic Games? What are your favourite sports to watch?
Yes,I do.Most I like to watch Badminton game.
Why do you think so many people around the world are interested in watching the Olympics?
They can make their country proud of them
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MUHAMMAD AIDIL BIN YUSMADI says:
good
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Sriram says:
👏👌
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Abdirahman Hadliye says:
WHY WERE OLYMPIC GAMES ALWAYS WAS EVENTS IN PIG CITIES?
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wilmer says:
Very good, but the final frase has a mistake. said “evey two years” should say “every four years”, but this olimpic games were “every five years”.
[Summer Olympics every 2 years + Winter Olympics every 2 years = Olympics every 4 years – ADMIN]
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Aziz says:
I’m glad to days everybody could watch this cermany in Japan
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Alfonso says:
Do you like to watch the Olympic Games? What are your favourite sports to watch?
Yes, I do. I really like to watch cycling, running and football.
Why do you think so many people around the world are interested in watching the Olympics?
Because the Olimpics Games it’s the most important games around the world, many athletes training hardly by long times for many years to reach their participation and represent their country, it’s the highest proud win a medal.
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ainun says:
😄👍💕
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Darren says:
😄👍🏻
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Steparniee says:
👍👍
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Syuzi says:
If you pay attention in text, you will see, that Olympic Games held every four years until 393 A.D., but since 1896 the Olympic Games held every two years.
Thanks for attention -
Earl says:
Many of those commenting are incorrectly saying the Olympics are every four years; however, that is not correct. Currently the Olympics are held every two years. While the summer and winter games are held every four years, the summer and winter Olympics are separated by only two years. Therefore, the Olympics are held every two years.
Tokyo 2020 (2021 this year)(summer)
Beijing 2022
Paris 2024 (summer)
Milan-Cortina 2026
Los Angeles 2028 (summer)
Not yet announced 2030
Brisbane 2032 (summer) -
Rafael says:
Hello, and thank you for all these wonderful listening activities.
Quick question: How do you say:
The Olympic games are hold every four years. Or
The Olympic games are held every four years. Thank you. -
David Martín says:
Thanks for the info, but there’s a typo, the Olympics are hold every 4 years.
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Christine PENNEC says:
thank you to share this article
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The King Of Love From IRAN says:
Thank you for sharing it with us,
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chaim crown says:
The Olympics are every 4 (four) years.