西安建筑科技大学继续教育学院 Translation 8 The first written records of the ancient Olympic Games date to 776 BC. The ancient Olympics were held every four years between August 6 and September 19 during a religious festival honoring Zeus. The first modern Olympics were held in Athens, Greece, in 1896. The Olympics truly took off as an international sporting event after 1924, when the &th Olympic Games were held in Paris. Some 3,000 athletes from 44 nations competed that year, and for the first time the games featured a closing ceremony. Eighty years later, when the 2004 Summer Olympics returned to Athens for the first time in more than a century, nearly 11,000 athletes from 201 countries competed, breaking the then record of participating countries [参考译文] 古代奥林匹克运动会的最早文字记载可追溯至公元前776年。古奥运会每四 年举办一次,在8月6日与9月19日之间的一个纪念宙斯的宗教节日期间举行 第一届现代奥运会于1896年在希腊雅典举办。奧运会真正腾飞,成为一项国际 体育盛会是在1924年之后,即第八届奥运会在巴黎举办之后。这一年,来自44 个国家约3,000名运动员同场竞技,并且第一次在奧运会上增加了闭幕式这一仪 式。80年后,2004年夏季奥运会在相隔一个多世纪后再次在雅典举办,来自201 个国家的近11000名运动员展开竞技,创下参赛国数量之最。 5/5西安建筑科技大学继续教育学院 5 / 5 Translation 8 The first written records of the ancient Olympic Games date to 776 BC. The ancient Olympics were held every four years between August 6 and September 19 during a religious festival honoring Zeus. The first modern Olympics were held in Athens, Greece, in 1896. The Olympics truly took off as an international sporting event after 1924, when the 8th Olympic Games were held in Paris. Some 3,000 athletes from 44 nations competed that year, and for the first time the Games featured a closing ceremony. Eighty years later, when the 2004 Summer Olympics returned to Athens for the first time in more than a century, nearly 11,000 athletes from 201 countries competed, breaking the then record of participating countries. ［参考译文］ 古代奥林匹克运动会的最早文字记载可追溯至公元前 776 年。古奥运会每四 年举办一次，在 8 月 6 日与 9 月 19 日之间的一个纪念宙斯的宗教节日期间举行。 第一届现代奥运会于 1896 年在希腊雅典举办。奥运会真正腾飞，成为一项国际 体育盛会是在 1924 年之后，即第八届奥运会在巴黎举办之后。这一年，来自 44 个国家约 3,000 名运动员同场竞技，并且第一次在奥运会上增加了闭幕式这一仪 式。80 年后，2004 年夏季奥运会在相隔一个多世纪后再次在雅典举办，来自 201 个国家的近 11,000 名运动员展开竞技，创下参赛国数量之最