In May building work began on the massive Olympic Park in east London, the site of the 2012 Games.
As well as being the venue for many events during the games, the park will feature shops, restaurants and accommodation for over 17,000 athletes and officials.
The budget of the 2012 games is currently £9.35bn (127.2bn RMB), but this could still rise.
London's previous Olympic organisers had to make do with（ 将就，凑合） less time and fewer resources（ 资源）.
Rome was scheduled to host the 1908 Olympics, but the eruption of Vesuvius（ 维苏威火山爆发） in 1906 forced the Italian government to divert（ 转移） its resources towards the stricken（ 受灾的） city of Naples.
London rose to the challenge（ 接受挑战（应付某种复杂局面）） of putting on（ 举办） the games at short notice（ 临时（即刻））. The White City Stadium was built in ten months at a cost of £60,000 (820,000 RMB). The infield（ （体育场）内场） of the stadium featured a swimming pool and stages for wrestling and gymnastics.
London was next scheduled to host the 1944 Games but war postponed this event until 1948. Shortages of food, resources and capital meant this was always going to be a spartan（ 简朴的） Olympics. A temporary running track was laid at Wembley Stadium for the athletics. Britain was unable to build an Olympic village, but put the visiting athletes up（ 招待参赛运动员） in schools and army barracks（ 兵营）, while some British athletes simply lived at home.
These games have gone down in history（ 史上留名） as the ‘Ration Book（ （定量）配给票证簿） Olympics’. It was the era of food rationing in Britain, and some athletes brought food from their countries to share with their competitors（ 竞争对手）.
The Argentineans brought 100 tons of meat and Iceland offered frozen mutton. The US flew enriched white flour（强化面粉） daily from Los Angeles.
At a time when the public were being urged to be careful in their consumption（ 消费） of food, this magnanimity（ 大方） was not welcomed by everyone. Dr Magnus Pyke at the Ministry of Food described America as having a "disregard（ 忽视） for geography and expense".
Food security（（确保）粮食供给） is once again a matter of public concern but it is very unlikely that competitors will be asked for their ration books in the 2012 Olympic Park.
