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John Millen

Beijing in bloom
There is nothing like a display of flowers to add colour to an event and Beijing in August will have beautiful blooms.
The city will be decorated with more than 40  million colourful flowers during the Olympics. About half the blooms planned for the Olympics are native to China, and horticulturalists have been experimenting with seeds, pollination, grafting and pruning to make sure that Beijing hosts the most colourful games in Olympic history. This has involved a little tampering with nature to ensure that the best flowers are in bloom just when the city's gardeners want them to be.
Chrysanthemums, for example, are not usually at their best in August, but careful plant technology and a lot of  tender loving care will make sure that Beijing puts on a display of flowers that will dazzle the world.
Question
1 What does the verb 'to tamper with' mean?
a) to interfere with
b) to agree with
Olympic spirit in music
Movie composer Giorgio Moroder has a string of award-winning film scores behind him as well as two successful Olympic theme songs.
Who better then to compose an anthem for the Beijing Olympics? More than a year  ago, Moroder got together a dream team to help him create the perfect chart-topper for Beijing.
Musician Kong Xiangdong and German lyricist Michael Kunze worked with Moroder to compose Forever Friends, which went through several rewrites before its first public performance at the one-year Olympic countdown celebrations last August.
After the song's first performance, singers Coco Lee from Hong Kong and Sun Nan from  China joined the team and a final recording of the song was made. Moroder and his international collaborators have certainly caught the spirit of the Olympics in Forever Friends and everyone involved in the song's production are hoping for a world-wide hit as the Beijing Games move into full swing this coming August.
Question
2 What does the phrase 'a string of' mean?
a) a lot, one coming after the other
b) not  many
The torch is lit -  March 24, 2008
The 2008 Beijing Olympics officially began on  March 24 when the Olympic torch was lit at the Temple of the Goddess Hera at Olympia in Greece. A priestess lit the Olympic flame using the sun's rays and a shining, silver mirror.
The priestess then handed the torch to the first runner of the Beijing 2008 torch relay. The president of Greece, the president of the International Olympic Committee and the president of the Beijing Organising Committee watched proudly as the runner carried the torch past the tomb where the heart of Pierre de Coubertin is buried.
The Olympic torch has now begun its journey through five continents before it arrives in China where it will stop in  100 places before it is carried into the Olympic Stadium on  August 8.  As you watch the torch light the Olympic cauldron, remember that the flame started with the rays of the sun in the place where the ancient Olympics were held all those centuries ago.
Question
3 How many years are there in a century?
a) a thousand
b) a hundred
Olympic Fact File
Match up the two parts of these statements about the Olympics and copy them into your Olympic Fact File.
1. Giorgio Moroder has written
2. The 2008 Olympic flame was lit
3. Horticulturalists are working hard
4. The Olympic flame will pass
5. Forty million flowers
6. Pierre de Coubertin's heart
a) through five continents and  21 major cities.
b) a special song for the Beijing Olympic Games.
c) is buried at Olympia, in Greece.
d) to ensure that Beijing is decorated with flowers during the Olympics.
e) will be used to decorate Beijing.
f) on  March 24, 2008.
Answers
1. a, 2. a, 3. b
Olympic Fact File: 1. b, 2. f, 3. d, 4. a, 5. e, 6. c



A song, some flowers and a flame