In ancient Greece athletic festivals were very important and had strong religious associations. The Olympian athletic festival held every four years in honor of Zeus, king of the Olympian Gods, eventually lost its local character, became first a national event and then, international. The games took place in August on the plain by Mount Olympus. Many thousands of spectators gathered from all parts of Geece. Slaves, women and dishonored persons were not allowed to compete. The exact sequence of events is uncertain, but events included boy’s gymnastics, boxing, wrestling, horse racing and field events. On the last day of the Games, all the winners were honored by having a ring of holy olive leaves placed on their heads. So great was the honor that the winner of the foot race gave his name to the year of his victory. Although Olympic winners received no prize money, they were, in fact, richly rewarded by their state authorities. How their results compared with modern standards, we unfortunately have no means of telling. Nowadays, the Games are held in different countries in turn. The host country provides vast facilities, including a stadium, swimming pools and living accommodation, but competing countries pay their own athletes’ expenses. The Olympics start with the arrival in the stadium of a torch, lighted on Mount Olympus by the sun’s rays. It is carried by a succession of runners to the stadium. The torch symbolized the continuation of the ancient Greek athletic ideals, and it burns throughout the Games until the closing ceremony. The well-known Olympic flag, however, is a modern conception: the five interlocking rings symbolize the uniting of all five continents participating in the Games.

Nowadays, the athletes’ expenses are paid for______.

A．out of the prize money of the winners

B．out of the funds raised by the competing nations

C．by the athletes themselves

D．by contributions

Modern athletes’ results cannot be compared with those of ancient runners’ because______.

A．the Greeks had no means of recording the results

B．they are much better

C．details such as the time were not recorded in the past

D．they are much worse

The order of athletic events at the ancient Olympics______.

A．has not definitely been established

B．varied according to the number of foreign competitors

C．was decided by Zeus, in whose honor the Games were held

D．was considered unimportant

In the early days of ancient Olympic Games______.

A．only make Greek athletes were allowed to participate in the games

B．all Greeks, irrespective of sex or social status, were allowed to take part in

C．all Greeks, with the exception of women, were allowed to compete in the Games

D．all male Geeeks were qualified to compete in the Games

In ancient Greece, the Olympic Games______.

A．were merely national athletic festivals

B．were in the nature of a national event with a strong religious color

C．had rules which put foreign participants in a disadvantageous position

D．were primarily national events with few foreign participants