The Nobel Prize for Literature is an famous international prize
2 . Two-Man Ironman
On Sept.17, 2022, Jeff and his son, Johnny, set out to begin the first of three legs of the Ironman competition,where competitors must complete a 140 miles of swimming, bicycling and running in under 17 hours. Not that long ago, Johnny could barely walk a few steps because he was born with cerebral palsy (脑瘫). But his dream of being a runner never stopped.
From the day Johnny was born, Jeff refused to let his son’s disability hold him back. Determined to show Johnny that he could pursue his dream of being an athlete, Jeff helped him engage in running. They began waking up at 4 a.m. so Jeff could run while pushing his son in a special wheelchair called a racing chair. Every morning, they drove themselves to run increasingly longer distances. Soon, they were entering 5K races, then on to Ironman competition. Jeff would act as Johnny’s arms and legs, carrying the weight of his son throughout the race.
The race began with a 2.4-mile swim. Settling Johnny into a kayak, Jeff eased himself into the water. Swimming while dragging another person was very tough. But worst of all, Jeff had to struggle with jellyfish. “I occupied my mind by counting the number of times I got stung (蛰),” he says.
After the two men completed the tough bike section in roughly nine hours, they set their sights on the final leg of the race — a 26.2-mile marathon. They’d been competing for 10.5 hours, leaving another 6.5 hours to make their time.But at Mile 19, Johnny saw the clock ticking down and worried they wouldn’t make the cutoff. Despite the tiredness, Jeff was convinced they were going all right and then picked up the pace.
With minutes left and 200 feet to the finish line, Jeff stopped to help Johnny out of his racing chair and handed him his rolling walker. After years of painstaking work, Johnny was determined to finish his races on his own. After 16 hours, 55 minutes and 35seconds,the father and son crossed the finish line together.
As the crowd cheered on an overwhelmed Johnny, a weary Jeff kept a low profle. “My father didn’t want his finish line moment,” says Johnny, tears in eyes. “He wanted it to be mine.”
1. Why did Jeff lead Johnny to running?A.To get closer to Johnny. | B.To fulfill Johnny’s dream. |
C.To discover Johnny’s interest. | D.To speed up Johnny’s recovery. |
A.Lack of energy. | B.Pain from injuries. |
C.Mental tiredness. | D.Body weight change. |
A.Strong-willed and grateful. | B.Warm-hearted and sensitive. |
C.Patient and generous. | D.Tough and humorous. |
A.Actions speak louder than words. | B.Fathers are not born; they are made. |
C.The value of a loving father has no price. | D.Success comes from failures along the journey. |
3 . As this year draws to a close, I still remember the fear I felt on a bright Saturday morning in late September, at a five-kilometer race in Clarkston, Georgia, as I waited for my 11-year-old son at the finish line.
I knew he could run a 5k in about 30 minutes. When I didn't see him at the 35-minute mark, I began to wonder what had gone wrong. Had he gotten lost? Was he hit by a car? About an hour earlier, when we drove into town, my son noticed an insect on my car. It was bright green, no longer than a fingernail. And it was friendly. This little green thing hopped onto my son's finger, where it stayed for a long, long time. It stayed so long that we eventually gave it a name: Little Friend.
A few minutes before the race, Little Friend jumped off my son’s hand and landed on the sidewalk. But pedestrian traffic was heavy and unpredictable. Little Friend was in danger. So my son knelt and reached out his hand. Little Friend came back.
The race was about to start, and the tiny green insect was in for a wild ride. My son would run fast, and the race would be long, and his arms would swing, and Little Friend would eventually be shaken off.
“You will lose Little Friend,” I told him.
My son nodded, treating the moment with appropriate seriousness.
The race began, and I lost sight of him.
The excitement at the finish line gave way to anxiety when my son did not show up.
I kept asking people if they'd seen him. No one had. And beyond the 40-minute mark, I was in a panic.
But there he was, thank goodness, just ahead of the 45-minute mark.
And there was Little Friend, riding on the upper crook of his right thumb like a very small captain on a very tall ship.
My predictions had been wrong. My son had not run fast, and he had not lost Little Friend. And these two facts seemed somehow related. He blamed a cold he was getting over. I suspected it was more than that, but I didn’t question him too much about it.
We walked back to the car, smiling, and found some bushes in the parking lot that seemed like a good place for my son to drop off Little Friend.
“Be free,” my son said, and gently put it in the bushes.
My son knew the truth. Sometimes life gives you something beautiful, a fragile, short-lived treasure in your hand. There is no need to rush ahead. Treat it gently. Enjoy each moment. Hold on while you can.
One day my son will leave too, running off on his own adventure.
1. How did the writer probably feel when he finally saw his son appear in sight?A.Relieved. | B.Depressed. | C.Satisfied. | D.Disappointed. |
A.he was lost | B.he was recovering from a cold |
C.he was afraid to lose the tiny insect | D.he was slowed down by the heavy traffic |
A.indifferent | B.anxious | C.appreciative | D.doubtful |
A.Treasure every moment he has with his son. |
B.Encourage his son to take more adventures. |
C.Tell his son to take races seriously. |
D.Get more insects for his son. |
4 . 阅读下列短文,根据短文内容填空,在未给提示词的空白处仅填写1个适当的单词,在给出提示词的空白处用括号内所给词的正确形式填空。
The Special Olympics Unified Sports was a natural development of the Special Olympics — a program that shows what
5 . Discover the Huge Health Benefits of Strength Training
One of the best ways to stay fit and healthy as you age is to do strength and power training exercises. It is known that when you are in your thirties, you will begin to lose muscle mass. This loss actually contributes to achy joints, the increased risk of injury, and the “middle-age spread” we all fear. What’s more, the older you get, the faster muscle mass loses. It means that eventually, simple tasks like getting out of a chair and climbing stairs can become more difficult.
Strength training can help you build muscles, make you strong, increase your staying power and make everyday activities easier. By combining strength and power training exercises, you’ll not only get stronger, but also improve your reaction speed. As you grow older, that’s critical because it can help prevent falls. Here is a book, Strength and Power Training for All Ages, for your reference.
Common sense about fitness in the book:·The key muscles to work for an injury-free body
·How to tell how much weight is suitable for you
·How to strengthen the bones most likely to break
·How to take pressure off your knees when walking or running
·Why you’ll want to apply heat to sore joints before you exercise
Four total body workouts in the book:·Build bones
·Fight diseases
·Improve balance
·Strengthen muscles &Increase muscle power
Get a copy, start training, and then you’ll discover a whole new self.
1. What will happen as people age according to paragraph 1?A.They will need less exercise. |
B.They will improve reaction speed. |
C.They will experience muscle loss. |
D.They will have better staying power. |
A.Train their brains. | B.Build a sound body. |
C.Treat bone diseases. | D.Cut down their weight. |
A.A notice. | B.An oral folktale. |
C.A scientific paper. | D.An advertisement. |
6 . Endless studies show the physical, mental and longevity-based benefits of working out, while plenty suggest that avoiding activity is bad. But headlines about someone collapsing after a row always stick in the mind. So, how risky is training too hard?
The NHS recommends that healthy adults aim for at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity activity — but doesn’t suggest where to stop. This is because the ability to handle excess exertion (过度努力) depends on many varied factors.
The exact cause of “overtraining”, in the sense of doing too much over an extended period, is still being debated.
The best advice is to pay attention when you lack energy or feel unwell and back off a bit. If you are a runner, this can also help with the common complaint of shin splints (胫骨骨膜炎), or more serious stress fractures, which are tiny cracks in the bone itself. The latter, which can be due to a sudden increase in training intensity, won’t heal until you ease off.
“The obvious risk factors are linked to impact and exertion,” says Steve Hoyles, a personal trainer and gym owner. “Running is a high-impact activity and analysis shows that inexperienced runners suffer an average of 17.8 injuries per 1,000 hours, whereas in gym users the average is 5.3 injuries per 1,000 hours.
A.The story is similar for men and women at risk of stroke. |
B.So do your best to avoid them by not pushing too hard, or too fast. |
C.Some experts theorise that it’s all about the central nervous system. |
D.Swimming and cycling are low-impact but offer limited strength benefits. |
E.And is there a way to make sure you never cross that red line into dangerous territory? |
F.If you don’t have existing problems, the chances of something going wrong are very low. |
G.Exercise will improve your quality of life and almost certainly your chances of living longer. |
MedalMad was created
On September 28, 2023, Tigst Assefa of Ethiopia
pack; athlete; survive; ruins; recommend; concentrate on; stay positive; in advance; effort |
With the number of kids who play sports increasing rapidly, teaching good sportsmanship is more important than ever. And understanding how to be a good
10 . About a dozen women have gathered as their instructor guides them through the moves. “Backstroke!” Jean Bailey directs from her chair, raising her arms high, as the women of Elk Ridge quickly begin arm rotations. Everyone puts in top effort.
Bailey, who is 102, has been teaching them four times a week in the hallway of the second floor for about three years. “When I get old, I’ll quit,” said Bailey. Some of her regulars have arthritis (关节炎) that limits their movements, but they can do the stretching exercises comfortably and benefit from them, said Bailey, who herself often uses a walker.
“After attending the class, we’ve gotten pretty close up there on our floor. One of us would do something for anybody. We really keep track of each other,” Phyllis Black, 87, said. She lives down the hall from Bailey; if she skips them, she feels stiff. “She’s a very nice neighbor, and she’s a good friend also. She’s very talented.”
When her children were young, Bailey became a florist (花匠) — a practice she still enjoys as a hobby. She buys artificial flowers and makes bouquets (花束) for the clubhouse and some residents. Laura Stuart calls her the “queen bee”. “She brings her expertise in floral arrangements and is always doing beautiful arrangements,” Stuart said. “She brings that to us, and it’s just a blessing that she’s still here with us to even do such a complex type of floral arrangement.”
At Elk Ridge, residents can participate in fitness activities like a walking club, tai chi and working out in a fitness room. But Bailey’s ladies seem to prefer her class because of her warm and fun personality, and the gentleness of the stretches for people who have mobility challenges, says Sean Tran, operations director at Elk Ridge. “More than anything, her general outlook on life…is just remarkable,” he said about Bailey. “She’s the nicest, most thoughtful, caring person that I probably ever met. Nothing is going to stop her,” Tran said. “She’s going to keep going, no matter what. And others look at her and think: ‘If she can do this at 102, I can do this at my age, whatever it is.’”
1. What scene does the first paragraph describe?A.A game practice. | B.A dancing session. |
C.A swimming training. | D.A fitness class. |
A.They have deepened the women’s friendship. |
B.Some women often skip the exercise classes. |
C.Old women are gifted in exercise. |
D.Some attendees feel stiff after the classes. |
A.She has a hobby of growing flowers. |
B.She is expert at arranging flowers. |
C.She is a good florist. |
D.She sells man-made flowers to others. |
A.Bailey organizes various activities, |
B.Bailey makes her attendees stretch gently. |
C.Bailey inspires other people to exercise. |
D.Bailey remarks on the life of others. |