When I was a kid, my parents were busy working so they enrolled (登记) me in the Spartak Tennis Club in Moscow. Every day after school my parents would take me to Spartak and I would be there until maybe nine o'clock. All we did was play tennis, eat, do homework, have fun and hang out. It was basically my second family.
In that second family was a woman who was like a mother to me, my first coach, Larissa. I still refer to her as my second mother. She taught me everything I know about how to play tennis, but she’s also a wonderful person. She’s kind and patient, which is not what you expect from one of the top tennis coaches in Russia.
Her program when I was little was based on tricking us into doing our exercises. She would put a candy under the cones (锥形物), and we would try to hit the targets with balls, you got to have an ice cream.
Of course we worked hard and I didn’t let her down.
My second-ever tournament was the Moscow Championships, and I won. Afterwards Larissa came up to me and said, “Congratulations, Enjoy today because tomorrow it’s back to work.” She was always telling us to celebrate and have fun with any particular achievement but to always remember there is something more you can do, something more you can achieve.
Now every time I go back to Russia I go to Spartak to see Larissa. We look at all the pictures from all the birthday parties and tournament and celebrations. It is really cool to have someone like her in my life. Larissa is still coaching, but we don’t talk much about tennis any more. We just talk.
1. Why did the author go to Spartak every day? (no more than 15 words)2. What does the author think of his coach? (no more than 10 words)
3. What’s Paragraph 3 mainly about? (no more than 10 words)
4. What does the underlined phrase “let her down” in Paragraph 4 mean? (no more than 5 words)
5. What can you learn from Larissa? (no more than 25 words)
1. On which days is the sports centre closed?
A.Mondays. | B.Saturdays. | C.Sundays. |
A.From one to three. | B.From three to five. | C.From four to six. |
A.Tennis. | B.Football. | C.Basketball. |