3 . In 2022, a father and his son set out to begin the first of three legs of the Ironman (铁人三项) competition. Jeff, 59, and son, Johnny, 28, weren’t the typical ________. Johnny is disabled and Jeff would ________ his arms and legs. To ________ the competition, athletes must complete a(n) ________ 140 miles of swimming, bicycling and running within 17 hours.

“I wanted to ________ his dreams,” Jeff said. “I started doing things I never would have dreamt possible.” Finishing the Ironman competition would be another dream come true.

The race began with a 2.4-mile swim in the Choptank River. The ________ completed the swim in 90 minutes, and completed the difficult bike part in eight hours, then set their sights on the ________ leg of the race — a 26.2-mile marathon with Jeff ________ Johnny in the racing chair. They’d been competing for 5 hours, leaving another 3 hours to make their time. But at mile 19, Jeff began to panic, convinced they were going too slow. Somehow he ________ the energy to pick up the pace.

With 15 minutes left and 200 feet to the finish line, Jeff stopped to help Johnny out of his racing chair. In the first decade of his life, Johnny could only walk 23 steps. ________, after years of painstaking work, he ________ his step number and was determined to finish his races on his own. Johnny saw the clock ticking down and ________ they wouldn’t complete it. “Not because I wouldn’t get my moment,” he says, “but because Dad had worked so hard.”

After 16 hours, 55 minutes and 35 seconds — with just four minutes and 25 seconds to ________— father and son crossed the finish line together.

As the crowd cheered on an excited Johnny, a(n) ________ Jeff kept a low profile (保持低调).

“He didn’t want his finish line moment,” says Johnny. “He wanted it to be ________.”

1.

A．competitors

B．coaches

C．leaders

D．experts

2.

A．make up

B．act as

C．work out

D．watch over

3.

A．regard

B．demand

C．start

D．finish

4.

A．familiar

B．easy

C．challenging

D．ordinary

5.

A．ruin

B．achieve

C．dream

D．abandon

6.

A．twins

B．pair

C．team

D．group

7.

A．first

B．final

C．second

D．middle

8.

A．lifting

B．pushing

C．beating

D．kicking

9.

A．sweated

B．carved

C．showed

D．gathered

10.

A．However

B．Instead

C．Therefore

D．Otherwise

11.

A．decreased

B．counted

C．increased

D．changed

12.

A．disappointed

B．delighted

C．worried

D．excited

13.

A．spare

B．save

C．spend

D．scream

14.

A．healthy

B．strong

C．energetic

D．tired

15.

A．his

B．theirs

C．mine

D．yours

4 . ACL 500 Word Story Competition

We are pleased to announce the launch of the ACL 500 Word Story Competition. This time the theme is “Awakening”. We’re looking for our community to pen a story that quickly catches our attention and tells a great tale. You can submit (提交) an entry as an individual achievement or as a team effort — we want to read both kinds! Our judges will include a range of our experienced instructors, staff and local Essex Author Sarah Armstrong.

Sarah Armstrong is the author of three novels, most recently The Wolves of Leninsky Prospekt and The Starlings of Bucharest, the first and second in the Moscow Wolves series. She is also the author of A Summer of Spying, a book mainly about her own experience. Sarah teaches undergraduate and postgraduate creative writing with The Open University, and lives in Essex with her husband and four children.

Rules:
◆ Your story can be a poem, an essay or any other kinds of writing.
◆ Entries will need to be in a Word format. PDF files are unacceptable.
◆ Please ensure your story is suitable for all to read.
◆ Use the given submission form to submit your details and story. The deadline for submissions is 12th April.
Benefits:
◆ Prizes include a book voucher (代金券), a short creative writing course, and your work published.
◆ Discover new and exciting skills at writing while exploring your creative writing and sharing inspirational moments with others. We have a fantastic range of Creative Writing courses for you to choose from.
1. What do we know about the competition?

A．It’s organized in honor of Sarah Armstrong.

B．It looks for both individual and group works.

C．It aims to awaken an interest in writing.

D．It’s targeted at undergraduates and postgraduates.

2. Which is a requirement for the entries?

A．They should be submitted as a Word file.	B．They must be poems or essays.
C．They must be based on personal experience.	D．They should be about life in Essex.

3. What can participants get?

A．A voucher for a course.	B．An expert training class by Sarah.
C．A vast range of courses.	D．An improvement to writing skills.

6 . The Martin County High School boys’ basketball team was in the final quarter of a nail-biter of a game at a regional tournament in Pikeville, Ky., when live music ______ started playing for them.

They knew it wasn’t their school’s ______ 23-member band —which was unable to ______ the game because of a bus driver shortage. The music was coming from the nearly 100-member band of a rival (对手的) school, Pike County Central High School. The score was ______ in the tough game when the music filled the air.

Jason Johnson, Pike Central Band director, said some audience members and cheerleaders started encouraging his band to ______ the playing field and perform for Martin County Cardinals. “I was ______, well, what should I do?” Johnson recalled. The score was 64-64.

The band members, though, seemed ______ to replace Martin County’s band. “It was the students who really stepped up and ______, “said Johnson, who ultimately ______ his concerns and decided, “Let’s just do it.”

As they started their first song, the Cardinals’ ______ skyrocketed (飞涨，猛涨). “We just wanted to ______ them in a time when they needed encouragement most.” said one band member.

______ the Cardinals secured a ______ in overtime. Players said the ______ from the band helped them come out on top. Now, the team is ______ for the state tournament, marking the school’s first time competing at that level in 40 years.

1.

A．suddenly

B．again

C．still

D．secretly

2.

A．top

B．strange

C．small

D．original

3.

A．attend

B．play

C．organize

D．win

4.

A．made

B．tied

C．recorded

D．improved

5.

A．lead

B．enter

C．level

D．clean

6.

A．conducting

B．asking

C．thinking

D．performing

7.

A．grateful

B．eager

C．hesitant

D．curious

8.

A．cried out

B．walked away

C．got along

D．banded together

9.

A．ignored

B．voiced

C．refused

D．felt

10.

A．pressure

B．imagination

C．energy

D．control

11.

A．suggest

B．teach

C．replace

D．uplift

12.

A．For the worse

B．In the end

C．By the way

D．On the contrary

13.

A．favor

B．victory

C．balance

D．bonus

14.

A．honor

B．technique

C．duty

D．spirit

15.

A．heading

B．cheering

C．traveling

D．looking

7 . Donna Urquhart is an experienced runner. She ran 1,402 kilometers over the course of 28 days in Antarctica (南极洲), _______ the record for the longest-ever run in a polar region.

Urquhart spent 10 months training for the _______, turning to some unusual training methods. A company allowed her to run in a _______ storage unit where she ran in temperatures below zero. Besides, she ran along the beaches with uneven (凹凸不平的) surfaces that are like the _______ grounds in Antarctica. All those proved useful _______.

The difficulties that Urquhart faced in Antarctica were _______: taking in about 5,000 calories each day, _______ in a tent. Combined with the sound of _______ winds and the continent’s 24 hours of sunlight in the summer months, these were _______ favorable to a good night’s sleep. Urquhart would usually wear four layers of coats and keep ________ her own body temperature while running.

Urquhart launched the Run Antarctica aiming to encourage more women to ________ sport. Though still unsure about what her next running challenge will have, she has set a ________ of raising $1.5 million for charity.

“Confidence is a real issue for females,” says Urquhart. “And a sporting environment provides them with a great opportunity to ________ themselves.” This served as a huge ________ for her to take on a challenge that no other woman had attempted before. “It was actually showing that we can push our ________, and explore what seems impossible,” says Urquhart.

1.

A．closing

B．keeping

C．missing

D．setting

2.

A．puzzle

B．outcome

C．challenge

D．examination

3.

A．painted

B．refrigerated

C．heated

D．crowded

4.

A．varied

B．soft

C．smooth

D．high

5.

A．purposes

B．messages

C．preparations

D．suggestions

6.

A．new

B．tough

C．interesting

D．exciting

7.

A．accommodating

B．recovering

C．harvesting

D．complaining

8.

A．gentle

B．slight

C．warm

D．wild

9.

A．likely

B．significantly

C．hardly

D．really

10.

A．noticing

B．taking

C．decreasing

D．forgetting

11.

A．refer to

B．apply for

C．carry on

D．take up

12.

A．price

B．record

C．target

D．rule

13.

A．support

B．trust

C．prevent

D．wait

14.

A．inspiration

B．impression

C．symbol

D．adventure

15.

A．processes

B．positions

C．schedules

D．limits

8 . 校园冲突时有发生。为了引导同学们有效地应对冲突，共建和谐校园，你校将举办一场关于“How to deal with conflicts on campus”的演讲比赛。请你根据以下要点写一篇发言稿。
1. 常见的校园冲突及原因；
2. 如何化解校园冲突；
3. 你的呼吁。
注意：字数100词左右
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

9 . “Have you ever considered giving up during a race?” a runner asked me during the Geneva Marathon. We’d _________ and keeping going felt like walking through a marsh (沼泽). Even the appealing scenery along the way wasn’t enough to _________ our spirits.

“I can’t think of a single race when I haven’t!” I answered _________. The runner beside me looked a little relived. Encouraged, I went on to _________ a few of the weak moments I’d overcome to persuade her to _________. My biggest _________ came during the first half of the 56-mile Marathon in South Africa, I told her. Running it was a _________ dream, but when I found myself on a steep hill with painful blisters (水疱) between my toes after a(n) _________ decision to wear no socks.

“If I give up now, I’ll _________ myself six hours of pain,” I continued. In that moment, 1,000 km of __________ training and the thousands of pounds I’d spent on flights and accommodation didn’t __________ at all.

__________, someone at my running club had laughed at the idea of a slow runner like me entering the marathon like this, and recalling this inspired me to keep moving.

“I may not finish this race before the 12-hour __________, but I’m not going to give that man the chance to say, “I told you so”, I said. Soon afterwards, I buddied up with another __________, a six-hour chat __________ and we got each other to the finish with 17 minutes to spare.

1.

A．gone away

B．fallen behind

C．taken off

D．come back

2.

A．lift

B．break

C．lower

D．feel

3.

A．confidently

B．proudly

C．honestly

D．rudely

4.

A．seize

B．relate

C．make

D．copy

5.

A．stop

B．rise

C．continue

D．quit

6.

A．opportunity

B．mistake

C．practice

D．test

7.

A．lifelong

B．forgotten

C．distant

D．disappointing

8.

A．thoughtful

B．unwise

C．careful

D．difficult

9.

A．leave

B．get

C．spare

D．offer

10.

A．simple

B．relaxing

C．enjoyable

D．tiring

11.

A．work

B．matter

C．appear

D．exist

12.

A．Fortunately

B．Surprisingly

C．Regrettably

D．Undoubtedly

13.

A．headline

B．limit

C．journey

D．work

14.

A．runner

B．judge

C．worker

D．student

15.

A．concluded

B．interrupted

C．failed

D．followed

10 . 为了增强学生体质，培养运动精神，你校最近举办了运动会。假定你是校报记者，请你写一篇新闻稿，报道本次运动会的盛况，内容包括：
（1）运动会概况（时间、项目等）；
（2）意义和反响。
注意：
（1）写作词数应为80个左右；
（2）请按如下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。

Stronger Body, Better Future

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________