Abstract：

The Olympic Games is considered to be the world’s foremost sports competition. It occurs every four years. China had been making efforts to apply holding it for nearly 100 years, and the dream came true in 2008. International Olympic committee president Jacques Rogge described Beijing Olympic Games as exceptional Games. Although the London Olympic Organizing Committee once announced that there was no necessary to make comparison between two different Olympic Games, there had been lots of arguments recently since London Olympic Games had just been held last summer.
As we all know, specifically, much of the “weight” of the Olympic Games involves holding a successful opening ceremony. It has held more and more significant position in the world since the first Olympic Games and has gained considerable attention globally. Moreover, the audiences can experience the distinguishing feature of the culture shared by the hosts to a large extent through watching the opening ceremony.    
This thesis attempts to make analysis on the comparison between the opening ceremony of these two Olympic Games from several angles, so as to find out some certain cultural differences as well as similarities between Chinese and western countries. On the one hand, it is helpful for people to get an overall understanding of the Olympic spirit and the importance of harmony. On the other hand, it is beneficial for English learners to avoid some misunderstandings during study on the basis of acquiring some knowledge of western culture. And then finally, this thesis aims to promote the development of cross-cultural communication.

Key words：Beijing Olympic Games；London Olympic Games；opening ceremony；cultural differences

摘  要：

奥运会是世界上最重要的体育赛事，每四年举办一次。为了能举办奥运会，中国人民已经努力了近百年。2008年，百年奥运之梦终圆。国际奥林匹克委员会主席罗格形容北京奥运会为一届无与伦比的奥运会。尽管伦敦奥组委委员曾宣称，比较两届奥运会是无意义的事情，但由于伦敦奥运会在这个夏天刚刚落幕，人们在近两届奥运会的对比上还是存在较多的争议。
正如大家知道的那样，一场成功的开幕式是奥运会的重头戏。从第一届奥运会开始，开幕式就占据了越来越重要的地位，获得了广泛的关注。通过观赏奥运会开幕式，观众可以在很大程度上一睹主办国的文化特色。
本篇论文将对北京奥运会及伦敦奥运会的开幕式做个对比，意在指出开幕式所体现的中西方文化差异以及相同点。一方面帮助人们了解奥林匹克精神，了解世界和睦的重要性；另一方面让英语学习者在掌握一定西方文化的基础上学习英语，避免一些学习过程中可能产生的误区。最后，本篇论文旨在促进跨文化交流的发展。

关键词：北京奥运会；伦敦奥运会；开幕式；文化差异