We were__ (2) __ that British athletes __ (3) __ to make their own shorts and train on the beach. We couldn’t even__ (4) __ to build the venues __ (5) __ our own. The Swiss __ (6) __ the gymnastic equipment. Finland__ (7) __ timber for the basketball court; and the Canadians gave two firs for the diving boards at the Empire Pool. Olympic village? You must __ (8) __. The world’s athletes were told to bring __ (9) __ own towels and sleep in improvised dorms in school classrooms. The British were eating less in 1948 than in 1945,and a pitying world sent food parcels to the Games. The Americans __ (10) __ on supplementing their own diet with daily flights from Los Angeles. The French were so appalled by the food in London that they sent a special refrigerated train from Paris, __ (11) __ was heavily loaded with steaks. And in spite of it all, the 1948 London Games were a fantastic triumph. If we __ (12) __ the Games, the gloomy pessimists who predicted failure would not have been routed.