Yours,

Li Hua

3 . In 1991, Davenport played in her first professional tennis match when she was 15. She was ranked (排名) the Number 1 woman _________ player in the world eight different times.

I had the chance to _________ Davenport at the 2012 US Open. _________ that night, she answered some questions from our group and I asked her, “Ms Davenport, _________ can teach people a lot of lessons. What lessons did you _________ during your time as a professional tennis player that you didn’t learn as an amateur (业余运动员)?” To be honest, I had a personal _________ for asking this question. I played baseball in college, but not _________. So I wanted to know what I missed.

Davenport’s first _________ was to talk about how she had to grow up _________. She mentioned the power of the media and learning to live her life in front of a(n) __________. But then she changed the __________ and talked about improving her skill and the lessons of competition, hard work, and perseverance. Those things, she said, were learned long before she __________ a professional. In other words, to learn about what it’s like to __________ as a professional athlete, you need to be a professional athlete. But to learn the lessons of playing sports, you just need to __________ your sport.

Take note: you don’t need to be the best in order to be __________ or satisfied, but all that matters is that you play the game.

4 . The highlights of every World Cup are the impossible goals, especially the arc (弧线) ball goals. It’s breathtaking to watch. Every spin (旋转) of the ball moves air across the surface, pushing it into a bend.

When a soccer ball flies, the air forms a layer around the surface of the ball. As the balls pins, it changes the direction of the air to one side, says John Bush, an applied mathematician at MIT. This air pushes the ball in the opposite direction. The player starts with a strike on the outside of his right foot, which hits the left side of the ball, starting a clockwise spin. It throws the air off to the left, and the force created by the air leaving the ball pushes it to the right, explains Bush. Thus, a ball spinning to the right (that’s clockwise) will also are towards the right. This force is called the Magnus Effect.

It helps the goalkeepers, because they see uniform curvature (曲度) when players are taking bending shots at them. If they can pick up the spin right, it’s going to be the same amount of curvature, and they know where to put their hands. This is partly why players are much more likely to take bending shots during free kicks when goalkeepers can’t see their kicks quite as well because of the wall of defenders. If a ball isn’t spinning, it does something called knuckling, where the air turns the ball to one side in random directions, causing it to bounce in the air unpredictably. “It’s usually achieved when a player manages a sharp, fast touch of the ball, typically right on the air valve where the ball is most firm.” says Bush. Its lack of spin kept the goalkeeper from being able to predict where it was going until it was too late. All the goalkeepers tremble before the kicker that can shoot this kind of soccer ball.

Sports Day was getting close in the school. All the children were very excited and were practicing for the big race. John, one of the fast runners of the school, was confident that he would win for he was not doing anything at all. “You have to work hard to come first in the race John. You are not practicing at all,” said John’s mother.

“Mom, you know how fast I am! Why should I waste my time running? Only I will win; no one else will win!”said John. “John, you may be right but talent (天赋) without hard work is not good at all. This laziness of yours will cost you greatly,” his mother warned him. John just laughed. He was so confident that he would win the trophy (奖杯) as no one else in his class was as fast as he was!.

Tim, a classmate of John, was also participating (参加) in the running race. He was not a fast runner. However, he practiced till late at night and had developed great endurance (持久力) to run the race.

There were a few days left for the Sports Day but John did not practice at all. On the other hand, Tim practiced day and night.

The Sports Day was almost around the corner but John was confident that no one could beat him and had not practiced at all. But Tim with his hard work had become a very great runner.

At last, the Sports Day arrived. All the students showed up on the ground to cheer their favorites. The coach blew the whistle (口哨) and everyone began to run toward the finishing line. It was so exciting. John and Tim left all the racers far behind. Both of them were neck to neck.

Suddenly, John went ahead of Tim.

John’s mother came up to Tim and praised him for his hard work.

Great Moments in the Sports Meeting