It is hard, it hurts —and yet more than two million of us in the UK run at least once a week.
Of course, some people run to lose weight, or to get fit, and these are great reasons. Running is also easy to do, it's cheap, and you can do it when you want. All these factors certainly contribute to the fact that running is one of the most popular sports in the UK.
But for many of those two million runners, the real reason we head out to beat the roads until our legs hurt is more intangible (无形的) than weight loss or fitness.
Many runners become interested in times. They try to break the 40-minute barrier for the 10K, or run under four hours for the marathon. Yet, really, these times are almost meaningless. And as soon as they are achieved, another target is thrown out almost immediately.
The times are only the carrots we put in front of ourselves. But why do we put them there in the first place? Nobody ever gives a wise answer Deep down, we all know the answer.
Running brings us joy. Watch small children when they are excited, at play, and mostly they can't stop running. There's a great moment in The Catcher in the Rye when Holden Caulfield, caught in the uneasy space between childhood and adulthood, is walking across his school grounds one evening and he suddenly starts to run. “I don't ever know what I was running for---I guess I just felt like it,” he says.
This will to run is born. In fact, humans may well have evolved (进化) the way we did because of our ability to run. As children, and even adolescents, we can respond to this natural call to run whenever the feeling takes us.As we run, we begin to sense that childish joy, which is born to live a wilder existence. As we run, the layers of responsibility and identity we have gathered in our lives, father, mother, lawyer, teacher, all fall away, leaving us with the raw human being.
If we push on, running harder, deeper into the loneliness, further away from the world and the structure of our lives, we begin to feel strangely excited, separated yet a the same time connected, to ourselves. With nothing but our own two legs moving us, we begin 1o get a sense of who, or what, we really are. After a long run, everything seems right in the world. Everything is at peace. To experiencethisis a powerful feeling, strong enough to have us coming back, again and again, for more.
8. Why does the author think setting time goals is almost meaningless?
A.Because those time goals can' be achieved. |
B.Because those time goals can be achieved easily |
C.Because people will be very proud once the time goals are achieved. |
D.Because there will always be a new time goal once the former one is achieved. |
9. Which of the following words can best describe the author's attitude towards running?
A.Uncertain. | B.Doubtful. | C.Supportive. | D.Puzzled. |
10. What does the underlined word "this “in the last paragraph probably mean?
A.breaking the 40 -minute barrier for the 10K. |
B.running under four hours for the Marathon. |
C.feeling separated from the world after running |
D.feeling everything is right after a long run. |
11. What may be the best title of this passage?
A.Running to Keep Fit | B.Running to Break Records |
C.Running to Be the Real You | D.Running to Become an Adult |