Tropical nations have never won a medal at the Winter Olympics. But this has not stopped more and more countries from striving to break this fate. At the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing, some of these countries are “coming for gold”. Let’s check them out.
From Arabian Dunes to Ice Slopes
Fayik Abdi, 24, was Saudi Arabia’s only representative at the Winter Olympics and competed in alpine skiing. The Winter Olympics, which opened in the Chinese capital on February 4, was the first participation in Saudi Arabia’s history. In this part of Saudi Arabia, snow falling from the sky is a rarity, enough to make news all over the world.
So, how did Abdi get here? His Olympic dream had an unusual start. Abdi initially responded to an ad, like more than 100 other applicants. It was handed out by the newly established Saudi Arabian Winter Sports Federation, looking for potential candidates to join the Olympic team. Abdi learned to ski at the age of four, and when he was in college in the United States, he took to the slopes whenever he had time. And his journey, as a trend representative of more and more “snowless” countries participating in the Winter Olympics, is a perfect fit. When the first Winter Olympics were held in 1924, only 14 European countries and the United States and Canada participated. By the last Winter Olympics hosted by Pyeongchang, South Korea, in 2018, a record 92 countries had participated.
Jamaica Snow Team
When it comes to a “layout country participating in the Winter Olympics”, you often think of Jamaica, a Caribbean island country, mainly because Hollywood had a movie Cool Runnings in 1993. The film is based on the Jamaican four-person snow team at the 1988 Calgary Winter Olympics in Canada. The film not only entertained audiences all over the world, but also inspired other “snowless countries” to try it out.
Although Jamaica had participated in the two-person snowmobile event in several Winter Olympics since then, the Beijing Winter Olympics was the first time the country had participated in the men’s four-person snowmobile event since the Nagano Winter Olympics in 1998.
In Beijing, the Caribbean island nation also had a men’s duo sled team, while Jazmine Fenlator-Victoria competed in the women’s sled.
1. What does the underlined word “rarity” mean in Paragraph 2?| A．Something common. | B．Something rare. |
| C．Something expensive. | D．Something important. |
| A．Abdi learned to ski when he was six. |
| B．Only fourteen countries took part in the first Winter Olympics. |
| C．More and more countries participate in the Winter Olympics. |
| D．The movie Cool Runnings is based on the Jamaican four-person snow team at the 1998 Nagano Winter Olympics Winter Olympics. |
| A．A science fiction. | B．A novel. |
| C．A travel guide. | D．A sport magazine. |
| A．Snowless tropical nations want to fight for gold. |
| B．Jamaica Snow Team competed in Winter Olympics in Beijing. |
| C．Different Winter Olympics in history. |
| D．Beijing Winter Olympics. |
相似题推荐
【推荐1】Thomas Panek has completed 20 marathons, however, he made history on Sunday at the New York City Half Marathon.
While visually impaired（视觉障碍）runners usually use human guides, Mr Panek became the first person to complete the race supported by guide dogs. A trio of Labradors - Westley, Waffle and Gus - each accompanied (陪伴) him for a third of the race. The team finished in two hours and 21 minutes.
Mr Panek, who lost his sight in his early 20s, showed that while he appreciated the support of human volunteers, he missed the feeling of independence. In 2015, Mr Panek established the Running Guides programme which trains dogs to support runners.
When selecting his companions for the race, Mr Panek chose siblings Waffle and Westley to join Gus, who is his full-time guide dog. “The relationship is really important. You can’t just pick up the harness (挽带) and go for a run with these dogs,” Mr Panek said. “You’re training with a team no matter what kind of athlete you are, and you want to spend time together in that training camp.”
Each dogs sets its own pace — Westley runs an eight minute mile, while his sister Waffle can cover the same distance in six minutes—and helps Mr Panek avoid obstacles such as kerbs（路缘）and cones (锥体). Each dog wears a special harness and set of running boots, to protect their paws.
Gus was chosen to run the final leg of the race and cross the finish line with Mr Panek. He retired from his duties as a guide dog at the end of the race.
According to Mr Panek, guide dogs give visually impaired people the freedom to “do whatever it is a sighted person does, and sometimes, even run a little faster than them”.
1. In which way did Thomas Panek make history?| A．He set a new record of time in running the half marathon. |
| B．He is the first blind person who take part in the marathon. |
| C．He finished the competition with help of human volunteers. |
| D．He is the first blind person finishing half marathon with guide dogs. |
| A．He stopped running after he lost sight. |
| B．He enjoyed running with human volunteers. |
| C．He is the founder of the Running Guides programme. |
| D．He got the gold medal at the New York City Half Marathon. |
| A．They didn’t get training before the race. |
| B．Westley runs faster than Waffle. |
| C．Gus is Panek’s full-time guide dog. |
| D．Westley retired after the race. |
| A．an essay | B．a news report | C．a biography | D．a review |
【推荐2】The 2022 Winter Olympic, also known as Beijing 2022, is scheduled to take place from February 4 to February 20, 2022, which is in the Chinese New Year period. Beijing, the first city to host both the summer and winter Olympics, is partnering with Zhangjiakou to host the winter games.
Dates
February 2–3: preliminary competitions for ice hockey, curling, and freestyle skiing
February 4: Opening Ceremony
February 4–20: events, competitions, and finals
February 20: Closing Ceremony
Events
A total of 109 events are set to take place in the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics. Seven new events have been added, including ski jumping mixed team, snowboard cross mixed team and short track speed skating team relay. For the first time, a female athletes percentage of over 45.44% to attend the winter games has been reached, making Beijing 2022 probably the most gender-balanced Winter Olympics to date.
Tickets
On Sep. 30, the International Olympic Committee announced that tickets will be sold exclusively to those living in China’s mainland. Ticket booking hasn’t yet started. According to the report sent to IOC, there would be three types of tickets, tickets for the opening ceremony, tickets for events competitions, and tickets for the closing ceremony, costing from 50 to 4,882 CNY per ticket. The highest ticket prices are for the opening and closing ceremonies, from 732 to 4,882 CNY. Tickets for popular events are about 149 to 1,464 CNY, and tickets for general events are around 50 to 490 CNY.
1. What is special about 2022 Winter Olympic?| A．It will last for over 20 days in two cities. | B．It will be held during the Spring Festival. |
| C．More female events have been added. | D．The number of female athletes has increased. |
| A．Tickets are not on sale yet. |
| B．Tickets will be more expensive. |
| C．Sport lovers everywhere can buy tickets. |
| D．Tickets for the opening ceremony are the most expensive. |
| A．A report. | B．An introduction. | C．A diary. | D．An announcement. |
【推荐3】Five seconds are left on the clock. The ball is passed from one player to another. The athletes move quickly past opponents (对手). In the final second, a player scores the winning goal. What sets this match apart? The players are in wheelchairs.
Wheelchair rugby is played in more than 25 countries around the world, with men and women competing equally. It is also a sport in the Summer Paralympics, the world’s second-largest sporting event after the Olympics.
The sport’s rules and equipment are different from traditional rugby, which has 15 players on an outdoor field and kicking methods that are similar to football in the United States. Wheelchair rugby is played indoors on a small hardwood court. Only four players from each 10-member team are on the court at the same time. In wheelchair rugby, the ball is smaller than a traditional rugby ball and round instead of oval (椭圆形). This makes it easier to carry on one’s knee. It’s also easier to catch, which is important because some players struggle with hand movements.
In wheelchair rugby, the aim is to carry the ball across the goal line. Instead of kicking other players along the way, the athletes crash with each other in order to kick the ball out.
In New Zealand, the All Blacks, the traditional rugby team, are widely known. But not everyone knows about the Wheel Blacks, who travel across the country and internationally to compete.
Members of this great team won the gold medal in the 2004 Paralympic Games and the third medal in the 2019 Asia-Oceania Championships.
The team captain encourages everyone to find a sport they love, no matter what limitations (限制) they may have. “In any sport that you’re wanting to try,” he said, “just go for it. Don’t be afraid to push the limit.”
1. What is special about the match introduced in the text?| A．It is very competitive. | B．There’s something wrong with the players’ body. |
| C．Men and women compete together. | D．It receives great attention. |
| A．The history of the game. | B．The traditional rugby. |
| C．Different rugby balls. | D．Differences between two kinds of sports. |
| A．Athletes run after each other. | B．Athletes break the rules a lot. |
| C．Athletes knock into each other. | D．Athletes kick other players wildly. |
| A．Try their best in the sport to win an honor. |
| B．Do more exercise to push their limit. |
| C．Take part in different sports if they have time. |
| D．Face limitations and do the sport they love. |
【推荐1】Rescuers in the Turkish city of Izmir have pulled a young girl out alive from the ruins of a collapsed housing complex four days after a strong earthquake hit Türkiye and Greece. The girl was taken to a hospital in an emergency vehicle. Sounds of cheering could be heard from rescue workers and people watching nearby.
Health Minister Fahrettin Koca identified the girl on Twitter as 3-year-old Ayda Gezgin. The child had been trapped inside the rubble (瓦砾) for 91 hours. She was the 107th person to have been rescued from collapsed buildings since Friday, the day the quake struck.
After her rescue, Ayda could be heard calling out for her mother in a video that played on television. But Ayda’s mother did not survive. Her body was found in the rubble hours later. Ayda’s brother and father were not inside the building at the time of the quake.
Rescuer Nusret Aksoy told reporters that he was searching through the wreckage of the building when he heard a child’s scream. He then called for silence. He later found the girl in a small space next to a dishwasher. The girl waved at him, told him her name and said that she was okay, Aksoy said. “I got goose bumps and my colleague Ahmet cried,” he told Haber Turk television.
Ibrahim Topal, of the Humanitarian Relief Foundation said, “My colleague and I looked at each other in surprise. We listened again. There was a very weak voice saying something . And then we shut everything down and started listening again. And there really was a voice.”
Health ministry officials said the girl was in good condition but would be kept under observation. She asked for a special meal of meatballs and a yogurt drink on her way to the hospital, the state-operated Anadolu Agency reported.
1. How did rescue workers and people watching feel when the girl was rescued?| A．Sorrowful. | B．Worried. | C．Pitiful. | D．Excited. |
| A．To talk to his colleague. | B．To make the little girl calm. |
| C．To locate where the voice came from. | D．To make himself heard by the girl. |
| A．She was anxious. | B．She was calm. |
| C．She was desperate. | D．She was frightened. |
| A．The damage caused by the earthquake in Turkiye. |
| B．The terrible earthquake that hit Turkish city of Izmir. |
| C．The present condition of the girl saved from the earthquake. |
| D．The rescue of a 3-year-old girl after being trapped for four days. |
【推荐2】China’s winter this year may be less cold and snowy, according to a weather report on Thursday that said temperatures across the country would be higher than the past winters.
According to the National Meteorological Center, the cold air will be generally mild over the next week, leading to temperatures 8°C to 12°C higher than the same period in the past years. Areas south of the Yangtze River that have already entered winter may even experience autumn temperatures under the abnormally warm weather pattern next week.
The report said that the maximum temperature in many cities in the south will be above 25°C. In Northeast China, the highest temperature is expected to be around 5°C in Changchun, Jilin province and Shenyang, Liaoning province. In Harbin, Heilongjiang province, the highest temperature will be 0°C. Meanwhile, temperatures in North China will reach as high as 10°C on Friday.
With global warming, the average temperature in winter has been getting higher, especially since the end of the 20th century.
1. What can we learn from Paragraph 2?| A．The cold air will be stronger over the next week. |
| B．The temperature will reach 8°C to 12°C this winter. |
| C．It may feel like autumn for the people in the south. |
| D．The temperatures of the same period were higher. |
| A．Harbin. | B．Changchun. | C．Shengyang. | D．Liaoling. |
| A．Global warming. | B．Cold air. | C．Weather pattern. | D．Worse winters. |
| A．Four Seasons This Year | B．China’s Winter |
| C．Warmer Winter This Year | D．Causes of Global Warming |
【推荐3】Every few years, snowshoe hare (白靴兔) numbers in the Canadian Yukon climb to a peak. As hare populations increase, so do those of their predators (捕食者): lynxes and coyotes. Then hare populations fall and their predators start to die off. The cycle is a famous phenomenon among ecologists and has been studied since the 1920s.
In recent years, though, researchers have found hare numbers fall from their peak not just because predators eat too many of them. Long-lasting stress from living surrounded by killers causes mother hares to eat less food and bear fewer babies. The trauma (创伤) of living through such threats causes lasting changes in brain chemistry, keeping the hares from reproducing at normal levels.
And it’s not just snowshoe hares, as behavioral ecologists Liana Zanette and Michael Clinchy, who study what they call the ecology of fear, have shown. They’ve found that fear of predators can cause other wild mammals (哺乳动物) and songbirds to bear and raise fewer young. The offspring of frightened voles and song sparrows are less likely to succeed in reproducing. These findings add to a growing body of evidence showing that fearful experiences can have long-lasting effects on wildlife and suggesting that post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is not only unique to humans, but shared among other creatures.
Rudy Boonstra, a population ecologist at the University of Toronto, sees the response of snowshoe hares as an adaptation that allows the animals to make the best of a bad situation. Animals stressed by many predators spend more time hiding and less time feeding, so they produce fewer young but that may allow more adult hares to survive to rebuild the population when the cycle starts again.
Despite the evidence that a wide range of animals experience the long-term impacts of extreme stress, some psychologists still hold their human-centric(以人为本的) view of PTSD. “It is defined in terms of human responses,” says neurobiologist David Diamond. “There is no biological measure - you can’t get a blood test that says someone has PTSD. This is a psychological disease, and that’s why I call it a human disorder. Because a rat can’t tell you how it feels.”
1. What did researchers find about snowshoe hares lately?| A．Their predators are in danger of dying out. |
| B．Their numbers decline partly because of stress. |
| C．Their safety is threatened by lynxes and coyotes. |
| D．Their populations rise and fall every few years. |
| A．PTSD exists among wild animals. |
| B．It is hard for animals to remember trauma. |
| C．Snowshoe hares suffer more than other mammals. |
| D．Birds attract fewer predators than land animals do. |
| A．PTSD is a uniquely human problem. | B．Blood tests help identify animals’ PTSI. |
| C．PTSD is a normal adaptive response. | D．More animals are suffering from PTSD |
| A．The Population of Snowshoe Hares Is Increasing Sharply |
| B．Post-traumatic Stress Disorder Protects Snowshoe Hares |
| C．Post-traumatic Stress Disorder May Not Be Unique to Humans |
| D．The Protection of Snowshoe Hares Is Urgent |
【推荐1】Beijing, with co-host Zhangjiakou in Hebei Province, will hold the 2022 Winter Olympics. That will benefit the capital as well as its residents, so the following are something to be expected from the Winter Olympic Games.
BEIJING 2022
Blue Skies
It is highly expected that hosting the Winter Olympic Games will push Beijing to reduce pollution and improve the air quality more effectively.
Beijing began carrying out a five-year plan from 2013 that costs 130 billion dollars to upgrade heating systems, cut car emissions and close heavy-polluting plants. Such efforts will not only be made in Beijing but in neighbouring Hebei and Tianjin as well.
Transportation
Although Beijing is the host city of the 2022 Winter Olympic Games, Chongli District of Zhangjiakou in Hebei will host some of the snow events.
The capital region is likely to benefit from investments in infrastructure (基础设施), including the Beijing-Zhangjiakou intercity (城市间的) railways, expansion of Beijing subway systems, upgraded highway networks and another regional airport.
Winter Sports
Beijing’s vision is to develop a winter sports market for more than 300 million people in northern China.
China plans to reuse 11 of 12 venues ( 场馆) built for the 2008 Olympics and only needs to build a new rink for speed skating, effectively easing possible problems of facilities left idle after the Games.
Transformation
On the back of the Winter Olympics, the Beijing government is looking on hopeful sports-related industry as a new growth driver to power its economy.
The goal is to integrate (结合) the Winter Olympic Games with sustainable (可持续的) development plans for the wider region, focusing on clean energy, green technology, and improvement in ecology and air quality.
Tourism
The country’s plans to develop a winter sports industry will improve Zhangjiakou’s reputation as a tourist destination by upgrading its transportation system and facilities, such as hotels and restaurants.
1. What can be a suitable title for the text?| A．How Important the 2022 Winter Olympics Are |
| B．What Have Been Done for the 2022 Winter Olympics |
| C．When and Where to Hold the 2022 Winter Olympics |
| D．What to Be Expected from the 2022 Winter Olympics |
| A．Lazy. |
| B．Not in use. |
| C．Not serious. |
| D．Not working hard. |
| A．Air quality will be improved. |
| B．Transportation will be more convenient. |
| C．Winter sports will be popular across China. |
| D．The winter sports industry will help attract tourists. |
| A．Transportation |
| B．Winter Sports |
| C．Transformation |
| D．Tourism |
【推荐2】Beijing set a target to hold “high-tech Winter Games” after it won the bid to host the 2022 Winter Olympics. Soon after, China’s Ministry of Science and Technology was made the leading party to provide technical support for the Games. In collaboration with relevant parties, it drew up the “Action Plan for Science and Technology at the Winter Olympics, “ the results of which were applied in this year’s test events.
“During the test events in February and April this year, we tested and applied 133 types of techs in a number of key areas. Since October, another 228 pieces of technologies have been tested and applied in test events, athlete training schedules and prep work for the winter games, ” said Wu Yuanbin, director of the ministry’s Social Scientific Development Department, during a press conference.
For the Games next year, high-tech will be applied for four proposes: support COVID-19 measures, reduce carbon emissions, ensure the safety of the events and create a better viewing experience for the viewers. To achieve these results, a number of new and experimental techs will be used, including 5G and hydrogen vehicles.
“The much-anticipated 5G signals will cover all venues, including the roads that connect them. This will provide network connectivity for applications such as ultra-high-definition video and smart services. Eighty hydrogen vehicles were tested in Zhangjiakou. And during the Winter Games, more than 700 hydro- gen buses will be stationed in Yanqing and Zhangjiakou to provide transportation, “ said Yu Hong, director of the Technical Department of Beijing 2022 Organizing Committee.
The target of hosting high-tech Olympics isn’t just for the convenience of thousands of participants during this event. The organizing committee once said they wish to use the Games as an experimental model that could help the world build future smart cities that would benefit residents, industries and the environment.
1. Which department is chiefly responsible to provide technical support?| A．Beijing 2022 Organizing Committee. |
| B．The Social Scientific Development Department. |
| C．The Ministry of Science and Technology of China. |
| D．The Technical Department of Beijing 2022 Organizing Committee. |
| A．95. | B．228. | C．456. | D．361. |
| A．The athletes take hydrogen buses to and from the Olympic sites. |
| B．Accurate COVID-19 Testing is made with the support of high-tech. |
| C．The carbon emissions rise greatly as a result of the application of high-tech. |
| D．The audience enjoy a better view of games with ultra-high-definition videos. |
| A．5G signals will cover all venues at the 2022 Winter Olympics. |
| B．Beijing 2022 organizers promise high-tech, green, safe event. |
| C．Beijing will hold the best Winter Games. |
| D．The world will build more smart cities with the help of Beijing 2022. |
The flame of the Beijing Winter Olympics has just been extinguished, marking the end of the l7 -day Games, which were streamlined, safe and splendid.
Every time an athlete breaks a record, it represents a new success in pushing the human limits. Fighting hard is not just about winning the game, it is more about winning out over one’s self and pursuing excellence.
Athletes focused on competition on the field of play, and outside, they made friends and shared their real, firsthand experience of the Games. A pair of curling players posted the gifts they received from Chinese athletes. One aerial skier hugged her Chinese competitor who had won gold and told her how proud she was of her. A woman snowboarder was moved to tears by the hospitality and kindness she received in China and found it so hard to part with her friends.
On this most viewed Winter Olympics, sportsmanship was also found in the audience. People want to see their home country win, but they also cheer for outstanding performances of other athletes and feel sorry for those who fall, no matter which country they represent. To take a broader view, the legacy of the Beijing Winter Olympics is not just about sport. It is about people.
The Beijing Games are the first in history to be carbon neutral, and renewable energy was used in all venues (场馆), marking China’s latest effort for green development. Artificial intelligence, 5G, high-speed rail, cloud broadcasting and virtual reality technology have not only created transformative experiences at the Games, but also will improve people’s daily lives.
Elements of Chinese culture were embedded in everything from sport venues to mascots Bing Dwen Dwen and Shuey Rhon Rhon, winning a thumbs-up from guests all over the world. They are the symbols of mutual learning between cultures, and they stand for our pursuit of making the world a community with a shared future.
The Olympic spirit has offered us many things to learn. Let’s draw inspiration from it and go together for a shared future.
1. According to this passage, what’s the meaning of fighting hard in the Olympic Games?2. What contribution did the Beijing Winter Olympics make to green development?
3. Please decide which part is false in the following statement, then underline it and explain why.
➢ In the Beijing Winter Olympics, sportsmanship can be found among the athletes as well as in technology.
4. What can you do to promote the Olympic spirit in your daily life? (In about 40 words)
