As a journalist, I have had the chance to meet some remarkable people in different fields, but no one has impressed me more than Austin Riley.
Austin Riley is a race car driver. He has been attracting crowds to the race track for years. But his claim to fame isn’t just being fast on the speedway. He is overcoming difficulties on the track for those with disabilities. Riley has autism (自闭症). Simple tasks like tying his shoes are extremely complicated for him, but when put in a race car—a complex, delicate piece of machine —he will take you by surprise.
I first met Riley and his father Jason in 2014, in Uxbridge, Ontario, at the local go-cart track. I still remember how excited Riley was to have me and my cameraman there filming his every move. He was a go-cart racer then. He could barely talk to me, let alone look at me. No matter how quiet and shy he was, I knew this kid was going to be something big.
The go-cart track is where Riley’s racing career began. His dad, Jason, just wanted to give him something to focus his energy on. Riley has always loved cars. He has been crazy about them since he was a very young child. He also loves speed. The minute he hit the gas, his mind began to move fast and everything felt in sync(同步).
Riley’s journey on the track soon took him from fast go-carts to really fast cars. He became the first person with autism in Canada to get his race car licence. It opened up the track for Riley to drive in the big leagues — the Radical Motorsports circuit. Riley is now racing across North America, putting him on the podium(领奖台) almost every time.
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However, behind every success for Riley and his family is a story of hardship.
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Jasmine lived on a small farm with her parents and her sister Grace. They were poor and made a living selling animals, but they treated the creatures very kindly. Jasmine was quite a help to her parents. She loved riding horses and caring for them. Of all the horses, Madeline was her favorite. She was a white horse with beautiful locks of golden hair. She was the swiftest horse in the stable. Jasmine always dreamt of riding Madeline in a race and winning it.
Life was harder for the poor family recently because losses had occurred in the business. All they could do to support their daily life was to sell a horse. Jasmine was not at all happy with this idea. She thought about what to do for a long time, to see if she could come up with an alternative solution.
One day, she saw an advertisement in the local newspaper for a horse race. The winner of the race would get $1,000! She thought that she and Madeline could enter the race. She told Grace about her idea and Grace was also happy with it. They went to the race organizer and added Madeline’s name to the list of horses running in the race. He told them that the race was in eleven days’ time.
The next day, during a routine check, the two girls found Madeline seemed to have lost the color from her face. “She looks pale and unwell,” Grace said, with a worried look. She began stroking her mane (鬃毛). “You’re right, Grace. Go and call mother while I get Madeline some water,” said Jasmine. Grace ran off to inform their mother. Meanwhile, Madeline was getting paler. Grace returned shortly with their mother, who phoned a vet immediately. The vet came quickly and after checking Madeline over, said that she was ill. The whole family was very worried as Madeline’s health continued to get worse. She would hardly eat anything. Madeline’s situation broke Jasmine’s heart. Her only wish was that Madeline would soon get better.
注意：
1. 续写词数应为150左右；
2. 请按如下格式在答题卡上的相应位置作答。
Whenever Jasmine had time, she went to check on Madeline and take care of her.
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On the day of the race, Jasmine headed to the race course with Madeline.
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High school sports. It’s about the biggest thing in our town of Verden, population six hundred. And sports are important in our family. Both of our sons were high-school athletes. So I shouldn’t have been surprised when Lauren announced she was going out for the girls’ basketball team. But I was because she has Down syndrome (唐氏综合症). My wife Jennifer and I never told Lauren that she was different, treating her like our other children. We didn’t want her to feel that way.
“I’m gonna play basketball, Daddy.” Lauren flew into my arms when I came in from work. “That’s nice, honey,” I replied without a second thought, figuring she meant outside—on the driveway. But Jennifer’s worried face showed I’d missed something. Jennifer spoke slowly, her tone steady. “She meant she’s joining the girls’ high-school basketball team, the Lady Tigers.”
The next afternoon, I parked in front of the school gym. Inside, Coach Durant greeted us, “We’re glad Lauren came out for the team. She matters to us!” Lauren stood alone at the other end of the court, shooting free throws. No other girl on the court smiled widely as Lauren did. After every shot, Lauren yelled excitedly, “Woo hoo!”, not caring whether she made the basket.
Mid-November, the season’s first game arrived. I settled into a seat with the rest of my family. Moments later, a train of girls went out of the locker room. Last in line was Lauren, grabbing a practice ball. But before Lauren took her warm-up shot, she searched the stands (看台). Spotting us, she tucked (抱) the ball under her arm and waved broadly.
The game got off to a good start, but soon Verden was behind. Even though Lauren wasn’t playing, she was following the movement on the court attentively. She hit her knees each time the opposing team scored; she waved her arms each time Verden shot. Just less than two minutes were left, and Verden was behind by 17 points. Coach called a time-out (暂停). Then the announcer’s voice came. “Number thirty-three, Lauren Wray, in for the Lady Tigers.”
注意：
1. 续写词数应为150左右；
2. 请按如下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。
Lauren was in the game.
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The moment the game ended, Lauren rushed to meet us in the stands. ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Different sports filled my days in my youth. I dreamed or a big win some day, with a big trophy (奖杯). I was skillful and fast, or so I thought. However, I soon learned my skills seemed quite weak because the bigger, stronger boys seemed to occupy every corner of the playground. Once I was in the 100-yard hurdles, the only recognition I received for my performance was two bloody knees.
In college, I took a swim competition, dreaming of the glory! It turned out I achieved nothing. As an older adult, I still maintained an active lifestyle. In 2010 I signed up for a stair-climbing challenge to raise money for fighting against lung cancer. My father had died of the same disease, so this was a meaningful cause for me. Then, in 2019,the organization offered an even more challenging climb option: the vertical (垂直的) mile. So I would have three hours to climb up and down twenty-eight floors fifteen times, plus three more.
I trained hard. When the challenge started. I felt confident. But soon my legs started feeling heavy. What was worse, I began experiencing leg cramps (抽筋). My progress slowed dramatically and I quickly fell behind. When came down after finishing lap 14, it was past the time limit, so my big win had escaped once again.
Soon after the climb, I struggled to experience the sense of self-satisfaction. And I had, after all, set a goal for myself to prove what I was made of, what I had inside me. And what I had inside me was, “Nice try, but you didn’t make it.” So, a year later, at age 62 and after numerous workouts, I was back. Like last year, I was well ahead after an hour and I again started feeling some discomfort in my legs. I heard myself cry out loud, “Oh, no not again!” I finally stopped and sat down on the stairs, feeling quite depressed and wondering if my dream was over. A few climbers stopped to offer help. I was touched, but embarrassed to accept. Except for one climber. An angel climber, really.
Jessica, who I happened to know, was a salesman’s friend when I bought new running shoes at his store. And without that connection, she might have climbed past me as I sat on those steps, my legs shaking. But all those things did happen, and Jessica stopped to help.
注意：
1.续写词数应为150左右。
2.请按如下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。
When she saw I was cramping, she offered me some sports drinks containing electrolytes (电解质).
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The cramps in my legs finally started to go away.
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It was the day of the big cross-country run. Students from seven different primary schools in and around the small town were warming up and walking the route through thick evergreen forest.
I looked around and finally spotted David, who was standing by himself off to the side by a fence. He was small for ten years old. His usual big toothy smile was absent today. I walked over and asked him why he wasn’t with the other children. He hesitated and then said he had decided not to run.
What was wrong? He had worked so hard for this event!
I quickly searched the crowd for the school’s coach and asked him what had happened.
“I was afraid that kids from other schools would laugh at him,” he explained uncomfortably. “I gave him the choice to run or not, and let him decide.”
I bit back my frustration (懊恼). I knew the coach meant well — he thought he was doing the right thing. After making sure that David could run if he wanted, I turned to find him coming towards me, his small body rocking from side to side as he swung his feet forward.
David had a brain disease which prevented him from walking or running like other children, but at school his classmates thought of him as a regular kid. He always participated to the best of his ability in whatever they were doing. That was why none of the children thought it unusual that David had decided to join the cross-country team. It just took him longer — that’s all. David had not missed a single practice, and although he always finished his run long after the other children, he did always finish. As a special education teacher, I was familiar with the challenges David faced and was proud of his strong determination.
We sat down next to each other, but David wouldn’t look at me. I said gently and quietly, “No one can change your mind, except yourself. If you desire to challenge yourself, there is nothing to do with others’ thoughts.” He sat still with a deep breath. “You have a full preparation before this event, which is the most important reason why you show up here”. I added with a sincere tone. Hearing my words, David turned to me tremlingly with tears spilling out of his eyes and expressed he had made a firm determination to finish the cross-country run. His coach heard what David said and gave me a look — the kind that was more determined than anyone else’s.
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I watched as David moved up to the starting line with the other runners.
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The Price of a Dream
I grew up in a poor family with six brothers, three sisters - a group of foster kids, my father and my wonderful mother. My parents worked day and night to keep a roof over our heads and food on our table. It's true that we had little money and few goods, but we got plenty of love and attention. I was very happy and energetic. I understood that no matter how poor a person was, he could still afford a dream.
My dream was athletics. I fell in love with baseball at an early age, a love so deep that I almost gave it my all. I practiced hard every day and that made me a little closer to my dream. By the time I was sixteen, I had made great progress: I could throw a ninety-mile-per-hour fast ball and hit anything that moved on the field. I was also lucky: my high school coach was Ollie Jarvis, who not only believed in me, but also taught me how to believe in myself. One particular incident (事件) with my coach Ollie Jarvis changed my life forever.
It was the summer holiday in Senior 2 and one of my friends recommended me for a summer job. This meant a chance for money in my pocket - certainly, money for a new bike and new clothes, and I could also begin to save money for a house for my mother, which was what I had always dreamed of. The prospect (前景) of this summer job was attractive and I wanted to jump at this chance. Then it hit me that I would have to give up summer baseball training to deal with the work schedule. I was afraid of telling my coach, who would certainly be against my plan. I hesitated for several days. At last, I spurred (给.....打气) myself with the advice my mother often gave us, "If you make your bed, you have to lie in it." I made up my mind.
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Paragraph 1:
When I told my coach Ollie Jarvis, he was as angry as I expected him to be.
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Paragraph 2:
"Well," he asked, "is $3.5 an hour from the summer job the price of a dream?"
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I was working and living in Switzerland for a few years. My big hobby then was windsurfing on the big lakes nearby. Unfortunately, to get wind in the mountains, you often needed to wait for a storm to pass by.
Late one afternoon. I was out windsurfing with about ten other friends on just such a day when it started getting really windy, too much to handle. I thought about heading in, as I was about a mile offshore on this big lake. But then the sirens（警报器）on the shore started sounding and flashing that a major storm was headed our way. About half the guys made it to the beach while those remaining. including me, hung onto our boards in the water trying to swim to shore. It started getting dark quickly and the wind blew even harder. This storm was going to be a big one.
A rescue boat was sent out from a nearby harbor ad luckily managed to drag everyone except me back to shore. I was a little further out than the others and all my waving and screaming was now lost in the roaring wind. I was beginning to panic while I helplessly looked on and watched the rescue boat getting stuck by breaking waves while looking for me. My friends onshore knew I was out there and were doing everything they could to help find me.
It was now dark and I was being blown further offshore than ever. I eventually saw the search lights go out on the rescue boat and head back in to the harbor as it was too dangerous to continue. They had given up the search for me. I was now all alone, The storm was getting stronger and the board started flipping（迅速翻动）across the white water by itself as I desperately tried to hold to it.
Then it happened. A wave of relief came over me. as I realized there was no one left to help me. I could only rely on myself. I had to be the rescuer, not the victim.
注意：1. 续写词数应为150左右；
2. 请按如下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。
My thoughts immediately turned to what needed to be done.
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Hours later, tired and cold. I made it to the other side and saw the light of a farm house.
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