1 . Usain Bolt burned about 10kcal of energy to win his gold during the 200 metre spring final at the Olympic Games, which could roughly power an old 60W light bulb for 11 minutes. If you could make use of all the power generated by all the athletes during the Games, you would still be nowhere close to reaching the 29.5 billion Watts consumed overall by the athletes, spectators and organizers over the event. We take sport for granted, but do we ever consider its cost to the planet?
From the water required to maintain the golf course during The Masters tournament to the hundreds of flights it takes to bring football fans to a World Cup, major sports events are not helping much in the fight against global heating. What’s more, there is a lack of recognition within sport of its responsibilities and little discussion about possible solutions.
This is strange, given that the effect works both ways: the climate crisis is not just affected by sports, but it is already having a negative impact on many sports. When ice-climber Will Gadd set out to conquer the world’s glaciers, he didn’t realize it would become a race against climate change. “I thought glaciers are there forever.” When he arrived at the summit, Gadd was shocked: “The ice…wasn’t there. The things I planned to climb were gone.”
Global heating is noticeable in other sports. Amy Steel played professional netball until she suffered from heatstroke after playing in 39℃ conditions and unfortunately, the damage was permanent. Not only that, but extreme weather events made more frequent as a result of global heating mean sporting events are more often delayed or canceled. This has cost sport billions in potential earnings.
Yet sport can be a powerful motivator: it can unite whole nations behind its teams. Could sport have a role to play in driving climate awareness? Will Gadd and Amy Steel are among many athletes who think so? One thing is certain. Sport must put climate change at the top of its agenda and decarbonize at a Usain Bolt-like pace to make a difference.
1. What is the main focus of the first paragraph?| A．Why do sports events consume energy? |
| B．How much power do athletes generate? |
| C．What is the energy impact of sports events? |
| D．How did Bolt contribute to the environment? |
| A．They initiated eco-friendly sports practices. |
| B．They sustained permanent injuries in sports. |
| C．They fell victim to climate-related incidents. |
| D．They achieved record-breaking performances. |
| A．Stricter facility restrictions. | B．Substantial financial losses. |
| C．Higher athlete training standards. | D．Prolonged outdoor sports seasons. |
| A．Sports in the Climate Crisis |
| B．Athletes against Global Heating |
| C．The Impact of Climate Change on Sport |
| D．The Environmental Cost of Outdoor Sports |
| A．Baseball. | B．Football. | C．Basketball. |
3 . International Letter-Writing Competition for Young People 2024
Since 1971, the Universal Postal Union (UPU) has inspired young writers aged 9-15 to write letters on a given theme to win exciting prizes. The competition is an excellent way of making young people aware of the important role postal services play in our societies. It develops their skills in writing and their ability to express thoughts clearly. A group of international judges invited by the International Bureau judge the letters and select the winners.
The UPU has launched its 53rd International letter-writing Competition for Young People this year.
Competition theme
In 2024, participants will be encouraged to reflect on the future of the world under the theme: “At 150 years old, the UPU has served people around the world for more than eight generations. The world has changed enormously since then. Write a letter to future generations about the world you hope they inherit (继承).” The theme encourages young people to voice their thoughts on current global challenges and propose innovative solutions. It also allows youths to draw upon the principles of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, providing a framework for their visions of a better world.
Competition rules
• Entries must be in the form of a letter and contain the necessary parts of a letter (heading, greeting, body, complimentary close, signature line and postscript).
• Letters must be strictly in agreement with the topic and contain no more than 800 words in the original language.
• At the national level, the competition is organized by UPU member countries. Entries must reach the UPU International Bureau no later than May 5th.
For more information, please contact us at communication@upu.int.
1. What can competitors learn from the competition?| A．The history of the UPU | B．The skills of communication. |
| C．The importance of postal services. | D．The meaning of expressing thoughts. |
| A．The enormous change in the world. | B．The world for the future generations. |
| C．Global challenges and innovative solutions. | D．Sustainable development for a better world. |
| A．Write the letters in right format. | B．Hand in their entries on May 6th. |
| C．Write a letter of at least 800 words | D．Send their entries to the official email. |
| A．At 6:00 p.m.. | B．At 7:00 p.m.. | C．At 10:00 p.m.. |
| A．Lisa. | B．Anna. | C．Jenny. |
| A．Skating. | B．Football. | C．Gymnastics. |
7 . Marathoning has come a long way since 1896. With no hopes of winning a gold medal or getting one's name carved in sport history books, some may wonder why people run marathons at all. After all, the training requires a major commitment of time energy and sweat, and the races can be extremely tiring. So, why are the races so popular?
The most obvious reasons are the positive health and mental happiness effects. On one hand, while the benefits for weight loss and cardiovascular（心血管的）health are well known, research is continually revealing new upsides, such as cutting years off your "artery（动脉）age". On the other hand, for the psychological motivations, each runner will give you different answers. Eller with communication barriers challenges her life by running marathons to show people that even disabled people can achieve great things. And Kailey Bennet runs with the belief that one of the best way to experience a new city culture is on their marathon day.
However, while every runner has different personal reasons, there are some general trends that attract people to race over long distances. Carys Egan-Wyger at Sweden's Lund University found that aspects of daily life are huge and measurably mirrored in marathon running, such as the tracking of progress, along with the necessity of productivity and efficiency. In her surveys, runners tended to mention three important motivators: freedom, achievement and competition. But less obviously. Egan-Wyger also suggests marathoning can also be a way of gaining social status. Showing you have the ability of a long-distance race means qualities of health, productivity and efficiency to others.
Although marathoning brings many benefits, few people are willing to repeat the challenge than 58-year-old runner Andy Glen who has completed 176 marathons in 42 different countries. "I am often asked whether running a marathon after all this time becomes easier," he says. "The simple answer is no. The last six miles are just as challenging as they were when I ran my first."
1. Why does the author mention "Eller" and "Kailey Bennet" in paragraph 2?| A．To explain a rule. | B．To present a fact. |
| C．To clarify an opinion. | D．To make a prediction. |
| A．Progress is less obvious in Marathoning. |
| B．Marathoning can be measured by a big mirror. |
| C．Marathoning is a reflection of many sides of life. |
| D．Qualities of health is not relevant to their social position. |
| A．Marathoning is always a tough sport. |
| B．Only the last six miles are hard for him. |
| C．It takes a lot of patience to run a marathon. |
| D．Marathoing requires great strength at the start. |
8 . Running isn’t exactly fun. It demands determination and a lot of energy before you get to enjoy it.
Determine your “why”.
Don’t take it too seriously. There’s nothing wrong with taking things lightly when it comes to running.
Make a playlist. The proper music is very powerful in helping you through a running practice. Create a playlist that you can run to. Your running playlist will become a marker for your running.
| A．You should also find out the best foods to eat before and after a run. |
| B．This is identifying the reasons why you’re even running in the first place. |
| C．Most people drop out of their running habits before they get to enjoy them. |
| D．If you take it too seriously, you’d end up putting a lot of pressure on yourself. |
| E．Before you know it, you’ve hit your goal without being disappointed in yourself. |
| F．For instance, you’ll feel good when you finish your run before the end of a specific song. |
Ball games are a big source of modern amusement. But they're nothing new. For instance, consider a 4,500-year-old ball
So far, researchers
＂We are quite sure they were used in some sort of bat-and-ball game."Patrick Wertmann is an expert at the University of Zurich
As for how this ancient ball-and-stick game
Since we don't have any textural evidence and we don't have any sticks from the same period, we don't really know
内容包括:
1、活动目的；
2、时间、地点等。
注意:
1、词数80左右；
2、可适当增加细节，以使行文连贯。
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