The Mascots of the Olympics

                                                    The Mascots of the Olympics
Reading comprehension
A. Answer these questions
1. The Grenoble Olympic Games of 1968, had a little man in skis, called Schuss, as their mascot.
Although Schuss was not official, that was the first mascot and from the next Olympic Games held in
Munich in 1972 onwards, there has officially been an Olympic mascot for each edition of the Games.
Thus the Olympic mascot came into being.
2. The mascots are called ambassadors in Olympic Games because they signify the Olympic spirit, show case the values highlighted at each edition of the Games and promote the culture and history of the host city, besides giving the event a festive aura and welcoming the athletes and visitors from the world over.
3. The beaver, called Amik, was the mascot of the Montreal Games in 1976. The beaver appears on
several Canadian stamps and on the reverse of the Canadian five cents coin, apart from on the coat of
arms of Montreal and Kingston which hosted the sailing competitions of the Games. Therefore, the
beaver was an ideal choice for Canada.
4. The Sydney Olympics had three mascots – Syd the duck billed platypus representing water, Olly the kookaburra representing the air and Millie the spiny anteater representing earth. These mascots were examples of Australian fauna and bore the colours of the Olympic Games. The former two mascots are the official emblems of the Australian state of New South Wales, whose capital is Sydney.
5. The 2004 Olympic Games in Athens had the sister brother duo Phevos and Athena, who represented the pleasure of sports and the values of the Olympic Games, as their mascots. Phevos, another name for Apollo, the God of light and music, wore a blue tunic, being a colour of the Olympic emblem. Athena, the Goddess of wisdom and the protector of Athens, wore orange to evoke the sun.
6. Wenlock, the mascot for the London Olympics was different from the others as he was made from the last drops of steel used to build the Olympic stadium in London. His eye was the lens of a camera that filmed everything he saw and the three points on his head represented the three places on the podium for the medalists. He was employed during the Olympics to guide tourists during the Games. There were 84 sculptures of Wenlock and Mandeville the Paralympic mascot, all along the streets, parks and tube station entrances for this purpose.

B. Answer these questions with reference to the context.

1. a. Misha was the cuddly bear, the mascot of the 1980 Moscow Olympic Games.
b. Misha bade farewell to the spectators at the end of the Olympic Games by disappearing into the
air. He was lifted up by balloons.
2. a. These five mascots were chosen because they corresponded to the five natural elements and four of them symbolized the animals found in China. Each of the mascots represented one colour of the
Olympic rings and also bore a wish.
b. Beibel, the blue fish, symbolized the water and bore the wish of prosperity. Jingiing , the black
giant panda represented the forest and his wish was happiness. Yingying, the yellow Tibetan
antelope represented earth and his wish was good health. Nini the green swallow represented the
sky and her wish was good luck. Huanhuan, was red and symbolized fire and the olympic spirit.
3. a. Cobi, the humanized Pyrenean mountain dog was the mascot of the 1990 Barcelona Olympic
Games.
b. He was represented as a cartoon “Cobi and his Troupe” to promote the Games.

C. Think and answer
1. The mascots are important because they are ambassadors in Olympic Games; they signify the Olympicspirit, show case the values highlighted at each edition of the Games and promote the culture and history of the host city, besides giving the event a festive aura and welcoming the athletes and visitors from the world over.
2. Although unofficial, Schuss, was the first mascot at the Olympic Games in 1968. Since then each
mascot has become more representative of the host country and is also getting more interactive with
the idea of helping the participants and spreading comradeship amongst them. Wenlock, the mascot
of the 2012 London Olympics Games could see with his eye which was the lens of a camera. Vinicius, the mascot for the upcoming 2016 Rio Games can imitate the sound of any animal and run faster and jump higher than any of them. Thus with the advance of science and technology, the mascots have also evolved to become more human like.