It’s time for people to pick up their boom boxes and dust off their sneakers. Breaking, or competitive break dancing, is going for the gold.
On Dec 7, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) announced that breaking would be an Olympic sport at the 2024 Paris Summer Olympics. It will be the latest modern sport to be added to the Games. IOC President Thomas Bach said that the new addition of breaking could help the Olympics event be “more youthful”. “We had a clear priority, and this was to introduce sports particularly popular among the younger generation,” Bach said. “And also to take into consideration the urbanization of sport.”
Breaking was originally part of early hip-hop culture in New York in the 1970s. In the decades since, it has spread globally, enjoying huge popularity beyond the US and particularly across Europe and Asia. Though breaking is often categorized as a style of street dance, it more easily lends itself to the field of sports than other styles for the competitive nature.
“Back in the Bronx in New York, when it first started, it was always neighborhoods of kids just battling each other,” 26-year-old break-dancer Victor Montalvo told USA Today. “That’s how they did it back in the day.” “Breaking competitions typically consist of one-on-one battles in which one competitor challenges his or her rival with different moves and the other responds. It’s a sport/art just as physically demanding as high-intensity dancing and acrobatics”, Montalvo added.
But as an art, breaking also features coordination and creativity. Some combinations of moves can be practiced, but much of a round is improvised. Combining vitality and creativity, breaking is accepted by young dancers across the world who are motivated by the prospect of representing their countries at the world’s biggest sporting event.
1. What does the underlined words “the gold” in Paragraph 1 refer to?| A．golden color. | B．the gold medal. |
| C．big wealth. | D．great importance. |
| A．To show breaking is loved by neighborhoods’ kids. |
| B．To explain why breaking is more like a sport. |
| C．To prove breaking has a long history. |
| D．To show Bronx is the birthplace of breaking. |
| A．without any preparation. | B．physically challenging. |
| C．popular among the youth. | D．fierce and competitive. |
| A．To stress the importance of breaking. |
| B．To introduce a new Olympic event — breaking. |
| C．To throw light on the rules of breaking. |
| D．To make a brief historical review of breaking. |
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【推荐1】Many of us know about Russia’s Lake Baikal from our textbooks, or by listening to Chinese singer Li Jian’s hit song, Lakeside of Baikal. But over the years, the world’s deepest freshwater lake has been a focus for an extreme sport.
Each March, about 150 people from around the world sign up for the Baikal Ice Marathon. The 26-mile journey starts on the lake’s eastern shore. In March, the ice is a metre thick and iron-hard. Runners cross this frozen surface, finishing on the western side of the lake.
It’s believed that Lake Baikal’s beauty is incomparable. Particularly known as “the Blue Eye of Siberia”, Lake Baikal has extremely clear waters. This means that its ice is almost perfectly transparent (透明的).Seen from above, a runner on the ice looks as if he or she were jogging through space.
The scenery might be beautiful, but strong winds blow across the lake and frostbite (冻伤) can happen within half an hour. Runners say the cold climate is what attracts them and that running in such condition is a test of their limits.
“When you are in such an environment, you don’t have cars around you, and you don’t have the noise around. I think these extreme races push you to be alone,” Alicja Barahona, a 64-year-old runner from the US said.
The place offers some strange and unique features for this marathon. Tourists crowding the ice arc mostly addicted to taking pictures and just ignore the runners.
For runners, without people watching and cheering for them, the race becomes more challenging and lonely. They must fight with themselves. “You are alone on Baikal. It is your race. You are alone with yourself. All you need to do is defeat yourself,” Veronique Messina, a French runner, told The Telegraph.
1. What has kept Lake Baikal being a focus over the years?| A．A famous Chinese singer. | B．A popular song in Russia. |
| C．The coldness of Lake Baikal. | D．The Baikal Ice Marathon. |
| A．Its beautiful scenery. | B．The runners. |
| C．Its clear waters. | D．The strong winds. |
| A．They want to test their own limits. |
| B．They like the competition with others. |
| C．They intend to draw much attention. |
| D．They prefer to get close to nature. |
| A．To prove the power of the runners for the Baikal Ice Marathon. |
| B．To show that runners must fight against themselves in the Marathon. |
| C．To explain that independence is important for marathon runners. |
| D．To present the necessity of paying attention to marathon runners. |
【推荐2】Here’s a selection of the strangest races in the world.
Surf Dog Competition
Hundreds of participants from all over the US come to fight for the first prize. This annual event is an official dog surfing competition taking place in Imperial Beach in August and Huntington Beach in September. The attendance to the event is free of charge, however, donations are welcome.
Bring Your Own Big Wheel Race
If you think wheel toys are designed for kids only, you’re wrong. The race was initiated by John Brumit in 2000 when he rode down Lombard Street on his plastic wheel toy. That day, he was the only participant in the race. He continued his tradition every year, but few joined him. In 2006, someone posted a video of his race and as a result, the next year’s race featured hundreds of participants though there was no prize money. Since then, the annual race has been held on Easter Sunday in San Francisco.
World’s Ugliest Dog Contest
It’s an annual event held in June in Petaluma, California. But it’s not about making fun of the ugly dogs, but about encouraging them and showing the world that such dogs can also be happy and adorable. The competition has been held since the 1970s. The winner gets a check for $1,000.
Fur Rondy
Like the famous Spanish Bullfighting Festival, Alaska has its own tradition. It’s a bit transformed. Speedy reindeer (驯鹿) run after the participants in the race. This event is held every February in Anchorage, Alaska. Participants pay a small fee to attend it; some of them wear funny dresses, which children enjoy very much.
1. Of the following races, which is held in two places?| A．Fur Rondy. | B．Bring Your Own Big Wheel Race. |
| C．Surf Dog Competition. | D．World’s Ugliest Dog Contest. |
| A．The prize money of the race. | B．A video of Brumit in the race. |
| C．Brumit’s strange race device. | D．The joy brought by the race. |
| A．They are free of charge. | B．They have ancient traditions. |
| C．They are favored by children. | D．They are held annually. |
hotels in New York.
| BLUE SKY RESTAURANT Telephone：4444872 Address: 8090 White Road Open : Mon. to Fri. 7:30 am-2:30 pm and5:00pm-9:00 pm Sat. 7:30 am-11:30 am and 5:00 pm-9:30 pm Sun. 11:00 am-2:00 pm and 5:00 pm-9:30 pm |
| NEW YORK MUSEUM American’s largest museum specializing（专业化）in American history Telephone: 2751352 Address: Vanier Park, 1200 Chestnut St. New York Open: Mon. to Fri. 9:00 am-5:00pm(Monday free) Sat. 9:00 am-1:00 pm |
| TONGCHENG SHOPPING CENTER Telephone: 5674398 Address: Furong Road Open: Mon. Wed. and Fri. 9:30 am-5:30 pm Tues. Thurs. and sat. 9:30 am-9：00 pm Sun. 11:00am-9:00 pm |
| HUATIAN HOTEL Telephone: 7868432 Address: 5200 No.7 Road. The Dining Hall: Wed. to Sun. Lunch from 10:30 am Coffee Shop: Mon. to Fri. 6:00 am Sat. 6:30 am and Sun. 7:00 am Mon. to Wed. to 10:00pm Thurs. to Sun11:00 pm |
1. You do not have to pay on Mondays if you go to ________.
| A．Blue Sky Restaurant | B．New York Museum |
| C．Tongcheng Shopping Center | D．Huatian Hotel |
| A．4444872 | B．7868432 | C．2751352 | D．5674398 |
| A．Furong Road |
| B．8090 White Road |
| C．Coffee Shop on 5200 No.7 Road |
| D．Vanier park, 1200 Chestnut St. New York |
| A．Blue Sky Restaurant. |
| B．New York Museum. |
| C．Tongcheng Shopping Center. |
| D．Huatian Hotel. |
【推荐1】Once the choice of royal household, the watermelon has gained popularity rapidly over the years, and an online grocer reported that the fruit’s sales on the platform had increased sixfold from 2020 to 2022, resulting in increasingly high demand for watermelon quality testers.
Lee, 32, is extremely busy in the summer months. Just by holding the watermelon near his ear and knocking on the surface with his fingers, Lee says, he can tell by the sound if the fruit is ripe enough to be eaten or not. He works for a rural cooperative set up by a group of watermelon farmers, and puts thousands of watermelons through the “knock test” daily, before they are shipped to downtown warehouses where the platform sources its supplies.
The practice of knocking on watermelons to determine their ripeness can be found across cultures. In China, it is considered a national habit. Smart buyers tap on the fruit before purchase to ensure their money is well-spent. Some buyers knock on the fruit despite not knowing what the hollow sound means just to negotiate a better deal from the seller.
As fruit sales have moved to online platforms in a big way, those who make a living by checking the quality of the fruits with their fingers are much in demand. Lee is one among the growing group. Their task is to conduct knock tests on behalf of e-buyers and ensure that the fruits selected to be sold online are uniform in size and quality.
Lee, who was once an award-winning soccer player, now describes himself as a “goalkeeper for watermelons”. He quit soccer about four years ago and learned about melon-knocking as an emerging profession and decided to become an apprentice(学徒) to an experienced farmer.
After a year’s trial and error, Lee worked independently as a quality checker. “It is a highly demanding task. During the apprenticeship, I often cracked open melons to confirm my judgment. There are just no shortcuts, ” he said.
1. What is the main purpose of the text?| A．To introduce an emerging profession. |
| B．To describe Lee’s career transformation. |
| C．To discuss the importance of fruit quality testers. |
| D．To explain the cultural role of watermelon-knocking. |
| A．The popularity of watermelons. | B．The big harvest of watermelons. |
| C．An increase in watermelon prices. | D．A rapid rise in online watermelon sales. |
| A．He was once an award-winning soccer player. |
| B．He dreams of being a professional melon-knocker. |
| C．He was taught by an experienced watermelon farmer. |
| D．He ensures that customers enjoy watermelons of quality. |
| A．Seeing is believing. | B．Every man has his value. |
| C．Great efforts and practice matter. | D．Excellence can be found in any profession. |
【推荐2】On July 11th Virgin Galactic (维珍银河)finally realized the promise that it would take passengers on life-changing trips in its spaceships. For 4 minutes, its 6 temporarily weightless passengers, including the firm’s co-founder, Sir Richard Branson, saw the planet’s curvature (曲度)against the blackness of outer space. He may have been pleased to beat Jeff Bezos, Amazon’s retired boss, who would go slightly higher for slightly less time in a vehicle built by his own company, Blue Origin, on July 20th.
The two are among a growing group of fans who believe space travel’s time has come. Suborbital (亚轨道的) tourism is part of a broader space economy that has boomed over the past decade thanks to technological advances. Those at Morgan Stanley expect the entire space economy to bring in $1 trillion by 2040, from $350 billion today. UBS expects the entire space economy to produce $800 billion by the end of this decade. Space travel, it thinks, will make “a big contribution” to that total.
But that is highly unlikely. For example, space travel is not even Blue Origin’s main goal. The company is focusing on developing a large new rocket for launching satellites, on selling advanced rocket engines to other companies and on winning NASA contracts such as that for a system to land humans on the Moon. In the long run, Mr. Bezos doesn’t see Blue Origin as a provider of services to thrill-seekers.
The business can be promising once regular flights begin to offset (抵消)the rockets’ development costs. But how fast and by how much is uncertain. Without tourist-friendly places to visit, space travel, with its far higher ticket prices, will not be a huger earner.
Another challenge—also the biggest uncertainty—relates to safety. History has shown that a disaster can set progress back by years. Even with no accidents, problems may come up. Strict top-down rules could mean that industry will no longer have the freedom to pursue new approaches to improving safety.
Space travel may remain a hobby for a few super-rich with a desire to take risks and lots of time to spare. Not exactly a mass market, then, for the time being.
1. Why is the event of Sir Richard Branson and Jeff Bezos mentioned?| A．To describe a debate between them. |
| B．To introduce the topic of space travel. |
| C．To prove Virgin Galactic’s development. |
| D．To draw our attention to the two super-rich. |
| A．increased | B．recovered | C．slowed | D．weakened |
| A．Flying the super-rich to space. |
| B．Improving the safety of space travel. |
| C．Selling facilities to other companies. |
| D．Developing the most advanced satellites. |
| A．Super-rich people are unwilling to pay for it. |
| B．There are too many travel places to choose from. |
| C．Problems of safety and costs remain to be solved. |
| D．Only the super-rich are allowed by the strict rules. |
【推荐3】With 48 impressionism works exhibited in his solo show in Yangon recently, Bhone Myat San, a 13-year-old boy, has stepped into a professional career in Myanmar.
More than 30 paintings, or about 70 percent of the works on display at the solo show at the Artist Gallery Cafe in Yangon, were collected from a show held in July at the gallery on the occasion of his 13th birthday.
When his mother was transferred to Dawei in 2020, he accompanied her and later joined a portrait painting class taught by senior artists at the campus of Dawei University. Bhone Myat San says he has been studying painting through online courses while staying at home during the pandemic. He also joined a five-month online class about oil painting conducted by an artist in Myanmar last year.
“I envy impressionists like Monet,” says Bhone Myat San, a seventh grader, while putting finishing touches on an oil painting titled Bagan’s Tharabar Gate. When his works were checked for exhibition, Khey Mar Shin, the owner of the Artist Gallery Cafe who’s an artist herself, noticed that he is talented. “He is the youngest artist to have hosted a solo show in my gallery. The event was successful,” the 42-year-old artist says, adding that she also saw that the 13-year-old boy’s passion for arts was higher than his peers and even stronger than some senior artists. Ma Pale, 38, says she brought her two children to the art show so that her children can get inspiration from him. Aung Hein Tun, 25, an art enthusiast who visited the event, says the young artist’s paintings are lively, and his painting skill as a 13-year-old is admirable. “I had no intention to collect paintings, but I bought one after enjoying his arts,” Aung Hein Tun says. Bhone Myat San says the money he got from the sales had been donated to the COVID- 19 infected people who need supplemental oxygen. “Consistency (一致性) is the key to success,” the young artist says.
1. Why did Bhone Myat San move to Dawei?| A．To celebrate his 13th birthday. |
| B．To keep his mother company. |
| C．To visit artistic works by Monet. |
| D．To achieve his dream of painting. |
| A．Bhone Myat San takes great pride in his paintings. |
| B．Many artists get inspiration from Bhone Myat San. |
| C．Bhone Myat San has got much praise for his paintings. |
| D．Some senior artists set a good example for Bhone Myat San. |
| A．Proud and sensitive. | B．Cautious and modest. |
| C．Smart and adventurous. | D．Gifted and caring. |
【推荐1】For the rapidly decreasing number of Americans who’ve never heard of pickleball, the unknown game is one of America’s fastest-growing sports.
Invented in 1965 by three middle aged fathers in Washington State, pickleball is an unusual cross among tennis, pingpong and badminton, played with paddle (球拍) and a perforated (穿孔的) plastic ball. The founders are said to have named the game after a family dog called Pickles.
Most of pickleball’s main players—those who play more than eight times per year are over age 65, but the game is getting younger, with the strongest growth among players under 55. But with so many new players, the US is struggling to keep up with the demands for courts. The country has only about 10, 000 places to play, but that continues to grow by several dozen every month.
The Professional Pickleball Association (PPA) Tour was formed in 2018 and the professional players are drawing more and more attention. Traditional broadcasters’ interest in the sport is growing. So far, pickleball fans can watch amateur (业余的) and professional matches on sports or social channels, mostly online.
“The ability for a sport to find an audience quickly via social media is unmatched,” said Ben Shields, who lectures at Mit’s Sloan School of Management and studies the sports industry. “I think if pickleball can continue to grow its participation and find ways to make the sport a fascinating product, it could be a big competitor in the global sports industry soon.”
1. What can we know about the pickleball game from the text?| A．It is named after a family dog. | B．It’s not well-received by teenagers. |
| C．It’s popular sport in the world. | D．It is invented by tree ordinary women. |
| A．The number of pickleball courts. | B．The need for pickleball courts. |
| C．The growth in main pickleball players. | D．The chance of people playing pickleball. |
| A．Pickleball plays a big part in the sports industry. |
| B．It’s easy for pickleball to find wider audiences. |
| C．Social media is helpful in attracting audiences. |
| D．It’s necessary to advertise the sports product. |
| A．Tips for Becoming Professional Pickleball Players |
| B．Pickleball: an America’s Fastest-growing Sport |
| C．Ways to Make Pickleball a Big Competitor |
| D．Social Media: a Tool to Promote Pickleball |
【推荐2】
To get started, sit down with a map and make a plan. Ask yourself what you want to get out of walking aside from health benefits.
If making friends and socializing is your goal, call up your friends and schedule walks with them. Go online and look up your local mall (购物中心), which has groups that come daily to “walk the mall” and are always happy to include one more walker. Similarly, at your local park, you might find open groups of dog walkers who conduct diverse group hikes.
If lone walks are what you’re after, ask the local tourist authority about local hikes that get you out of town and into the wilderness or countryside. Thanks to the Rails to Trails program, railways across America are being transformed into scenic walking paths.
Headed to a new city? Then tie on your walking shoes and prepare to get to know it from the ground up! Many historic cities offer detailed and well-planned walking tours.
| A．Humans were made for walking: |
| B．Do you want to meet other people? |
| C．Some tourist offices even provide free maps. |
| D．They’re a perfect way to explore new territory. |
| E．Do you expect to get fit and stay in great shape? |
| F．But remember to stay on the lookout for charity walks. |
| G．Science uincovered a link between sociability and wellness. |
【推荐3】All over the world people enjoy sports. Sports help to keep people healthy and happy, and to live longer.
Many people like to watch others play games. They buy tickets or turn on their TVs to watch the games. Often they get very excited when “their” player or team wins.
Some sports are so interesting that people everywhere go in for them. Football, for example, has spread around the world. Swimming is popular in all countries near the sea or in those with many rivers. What fun it is to jump into a pool or lake, whether in China, Egypt or Italy! And think of people in cold countries. Think how many people love to skate or ski in Norway or Canada.
Some sports or games go back thousands of years, like running or jumping. Chinese wushu, for example, has a very long history. But basketball and volleyball are rather new. Neither one is a hundred years old yet. People are inventing new sports or games all the time. Waterskiing is one of the newest in the family of sports.
People from different countries may not be able to understand each other. But after a game together they may become good friends. Sports help to train a person’s character. One learns to fight fair, to win without pride and to lose with grace (风度).
1. Why do people all over the world enjoy sports?| A．Because they keep people healthy. | B．Because they keep people happy. |
| C．Because sports help to keep them to live longer. | D．All of the above. |
| A．Because their favorite team wins. | B．Because they win the game. |
| C．Because they get the good news. | D．Because they can’t help themselves. |
| A．people | B．all countries | C．some sports | D．fans |
| A．Waterskiing. | B．Basketball. | C．Sailing. | D．Jumping. |
| A．People like catching fish |
| B．People are interested in jumping |
| C．People enjoy themselves swimming in the water |
| D．People feel happy when washing in the water |
