2 . How does a person become an Olympic champion—someone capable of winning the gold? In reality, a combination of biological, environmental, and psychological factors, as well as training and practice, all go into making a super athlete.

Perhaps the most important factor involved in becoming an elite athlete is genetics. Most Olympic competitors are equipped with certain physical characteristics that differentiate them from the average person. Take an elite athlete’s muscles, for example. In most human skeletal muscles (the ones that make your body move), there are fast-twitch fibers and slow-twitch fibers. Fast-twitch fibers help us move quickly. Olympic weightlifters, for example, have a large number of fast-twitch fibers in their muscles—many more than the average person. These allow them to lift hundreds of kilos from the ground and over their heads in seconds. Surprisingly, a large, muscular body is not the main requirement to do well in this sport. It is more important to have a large number of fast-twitch fibers in the muscles.

The legs of an elite marathon runner, on the other hand, might contain up to 90 percent slow-twitch muscle fibers. These generate energy efficiently and enable an athlete to control fatigue and keep moving for a longer period of time. When we exercise long or hard, it’s common to experience tiredness, muscle pain, and difficulty breathing. These feelings are caused when the muscles produce high amounts of lactate(乳酸) and can’t remove it quickly enough. Athletes with many slow-twitch muscle fibers seem to be able to clear the lactate from their muscles faster as they move. Thus, the average runner might start to feel discomfort halfway into a race. A trained Olympic athlete, however, might not feel pain until much later in the competition.

For some Olympic competitors, size is important. Most male champion swimmers are 180cm or taller, allowing them to reach longer and swim faster. For both male and female gymnasts, though, a smaller size and body weight mean they can move with greater ease, and are less likely to suffer damage when landing on the floor from a height of up to 4.5 meters.

Some athletes’ abilities are naturally enhanced by their environment. Those raised at high altitudes in countries such as Kenya, Ethiopia, and Morocco have blood that is rich in hemoglobin(血红素). Large amounts of hemoglobin carry oxygen around the body faster, enabling these athletes to run better. Cultural factors also help some athletes do well at certain sports. Tegla Loroupe, a young woman from northern Kenya, has won several marathons. She attributes some of her success to her country’s altitude (she trains at about 2,400 meters) and some to her cultural background. As a child, she had to run ten kilometers to school every day. “I’d be punished if I was late,” she says.

Although genetics, environment, and even culture play a part in becoming an elite athlete, training and practice are needed to succeed. Marathon runners may be able to control fatigue and keep moving for long periods of time, but they must train to reach and maintain their goals. Weightlifters and gymnasts perfect their skills by repeating the same motions again and again until they are automatic. Greg Lougains, winner of four Olympic diving gold medals, says divers must train the same way to be successful: “You have less than three seconds from takeoff until you hit the water, so it has to be reflex. You have to repeat the divers hundreds, maybe thousands, of times.” Training this way requires an athlete to be not only physically fit but psychologically healthy as well. “They have to be,” says Sean McCann, a sports psychologist at the Olympic Training Center in the U.S. “otherwise, they couldn’t handle the training loads we put on them. Athletes have to be good at setting goals, generating energy when they need it, and managing anxiety.”

How do athletes adjust to such intense pressure? Lougains explains how he learned to control his anxiety during a competition: “Most divers think too much…,” he says. “They’re too much in their heads. What worked for me was humor. I remember thinking about what my mother would say if she saw me do a bad dive. She’d probably just compliment me on the beautiful splash.”

1. What is this article mainly about?

A．Factors that make someone a super athlete.

B．The different muscle types of super athlete.

C．The size of a super athlete.

D．How to qualify for the Olympics.

2. The underlined word more in paragraph 2 refers to ________.

A．Muscles	B．Average people
C．Olympic weightlifters	D．Fast-twitch fibers

3. What advantage do athletes from high-altitude countries have?

A．A strong sense of culture.

B．More muscles in their legs.

C．Hemoglobin-rich blood.

D．Lower amounts of lactate in their muscles.

4. What statement would diver Greg Lougains probably agree with?

A．A professional athlete should never feel anxiety.

B．Athletes cannot perform well unless they are under pressure.

C．It’s key to practice and train hard, but try not to take things too seriously.

D．It’s important to joke around with your teammates before you perform any sport.

3 . In Fairfax, Virginia, the couple team Christopher Pei and Zhang Guifeng are training their students while observing their emotions before their USA Wushu Kungfu Federation National Team Trials (选拔赛).

“They are so nervous because they are experiencing competition anxiety, ” says Peigy, co-founder of US Wushu Academy. “The anxiety allows me only an hour of sleep every night during the competition.”

Wushu is a sport that combines elements of performance and martial arts. The US AWKF National Team Trials happen every two years. Coaches and students get up at 7 a.m. each day to practice for the trials.

Pei, moved to the United States from China with his family in 1972. “ When we moved to Vestal, New York, I did not know any English and started learning English from alphabets,” Pei says. “ So I figured it might be a better idea to start learning Wushu in case I got into a fight and could protect myself.” But he later realized Wushu is composed of two Chinese characters, “zhi” (止) and “ge” (戈) which means to stop fighting.

The couple opened their first academy in Virginia in 1988. Students start as kindergartners and many continue all the way to college.

Chinese culture emphasizes mastering both literacy and martial arts in order to become a complete person. Zhang believes Wushu helps youth develop concentration because its two main principles include focus and respect. “Many parents who grew up in the U. S. as second - or third-generation Chinese need their children to not only learn traditional Chinese culture but also the correct way to become a better person,” Peigy says.

1. How does Peigy feel during the US AWKF National Team Trials?

A．Excited.

B．Stressed.

C．Relaxed.

D．Inspired.

2. What is the true meaning of Wushu?

A．Winning fights.	B．Defending ourselves.
C．Loving peace.	D．Showing power.

3. What is the main idea of Paragraph 6?

A．Many young people lack literacy skill.

B．It is important to become a better person.

C．Wushu is a way to cherish Chinese culture.

D．More and more people are interested in Wushu.

4. Where are you likely to read the passage?

A．On a newspaper.	B．On a guidebook.
C．On a training handout.	D．On a travel brochure.

4 . With innovative (创新的) ideas, 10 teams of student groups competed at UR’s Hult Prize competition on Nov. 3 to skip the selection process for the regional competition. “If you ever had a crazy idea, now it is time to explore it.” senior and Hult Prize competitor Sharfuz Shifat said. The Hult Prize is an international competition where undergraduate and graduate students alike compete to win a $ 1 million prize to start a company based on their ideas.

For many competitors, this competition is an outlet for innovative ideas that can speed up change in the world. “I believe in social entrepreneurship and the power of business to create social change,” said senior Shelly Chen from Team Boodana.

In addition to wanting to make a lasting social effect, some competitors have personal connections to their ideas and a strong motivation to bring them to reality. “We’re enthusiastic about this because it comes from our life,” sophomore Cherine Ghazouani and Team Forty-Two member said. “We’re trying to make our family’s, our country’s and our people’s lives better.”

After the event, the award ceremony announced the winner: the first and second runner-ups as Team BestBeing, Team Forty-Two and Team Boodana, respectively. Although the ruling ideas of the winners were mainly meant to provide jobs for unemployed youth, many of the proposed solutions also handled other problems in today’s society. Team Forty-Two worked on re-inventing the impractical tutoring system in Mediterranean countries;Team BestBeing aimed to provide a solution for the lack of availability of mental health services all over the world.

“Usually some of the most simple and practical solutions are the ones that are the most beautiful and effective,” judge Anna Schreyer said. “The challenge is being able to look at things in a completely new way that’s very simple. Try to step out of the box of how we do things and how we think about things.”

1. What is the purpose of the UR’s Hult Prize competition?

A．Not to let go of innovative ideas.

B．To award the most hardworking students.

C．Not to be crazy about changing the reality.

D．To stress the importance of regional competition.

2. What will the winner be awarded in the competition?

A．A graduate degree.	B．A job in a company.
C．A position in UR’s Hult Prize.	D．A starting fund of a company.

3. What do the winners mainly focus on?

A．The impractical tutoring system.	B．A solution to mental health.
C．Youth unemployment.	D．The way of innovative thinking.

4. What kind of idea can be viewed as the best one according to judge Anna Schreyer?

A．Effective and old.	B．Simple and practical.
C．Long-lasting and simple.	D．Changeable and practical.

5 . Most of the teenagers today have realized the importance of physical activity. There are dozens of far-reaching benefits that sports can bring into their lives. Aside from providing an excellent form of exercise, organized sports can teach a young person some essential life-long lessons.

With lots of junk food at their fingertips, teenagers today often battle with eating. Playing a sport can act as great motivation for them to eat nutritious (有营养的) food. In order to participate fully in sports, teenagers have to have a balanced diet. Learning to eat properly and sleep correctly are important lessons that carry on to their adult lives.

Most teenagers have to deal with the stresses of popularity, appearance and fitting in. Participating in sports, however, can help them develop a positive self-image. If one struggles to feel like they belong, joining a team is a great way to give him or her social interaction that will eventually lead to a group of friends.

Team sports aren’t just about developing skills for their games. Those who participate in team sports will learn the benefits of working hard, setting goals and following rules. When teens have a coach they respect, they can also learn to listen to authority and work hard toward a common goal. Additionally, learning to deal with losses is as important as winning with dignity. A teen who learns that losses are a part of life will be able to face any difficult challenges waiting for them later in life.

Thousands of studies all agree that students feel more connected with their school and are motivated to work harder in class if they participate in sports. Sports give teens the opportunity to be around competitive people and gain an appreciation for hard work. Of course, participating in sports may also teach teenagers how to balance between two equally important things-like schoolwork and sports.

1. Why do teenagers today tend to fight with eating junk food?

A．Because they don’t have a balanced diet.

B．Because junk food is delicious and attractive.

C．Because they have easy access to junk food.

D．Because they are motivated to eat healthy food.

2. What does the underlined word “interaction” mean in the third paragraph?

A．participation	B．communication
C．competition	D．appreciation

3. Which of the following is NOT the benefits of participating in the organized sports?

A．Developing a positive self-image.

B．Learning how to balance work against play.

C．Learning to eat properly and sleep correctly.

D．Getting opportunities to win in competitive society.

4. What is the main idea of the article?

A．Sports can have a continuing influence on adolescents.

B．Sports can encourage students to have a nutritious diet.

C．More and more teenagers are participating in organized sports.

D．Sports is of vital importance to the academic performance of teens.

6 . What does the man like to do before an exam?

A．Do sports.

B．Read books.

C．Relax at home.

7 . 假定英语课上老师要求同桌之间交换修改作文，请你修改你同桌的以下作文。文中共有10处语言错误，每句中最多有两处。错误涉及一个单词的增加、删除或修改。
增加：在缺词处加一个漏字符号（/\），并在其下面写出该加的词。
删除：把多余的词用斜线（\）划掉。
修改：在错的词下划一横线，并在其下面写出修改后的词。
注意：1. 每处错误及其修改均仅限一词；
2. 只允许修改10处，多者（从第11处起）不计分。

Hi, I’m John Smith. Now I want tell you something about my after-work activity. I guess they’re not quite different from your. I’m interested in sports. I run about miles on everyday for good health. When I’m running, I always thought about all sorts of things. And at the end of a run, I’m sometimes surprising to find that I have managed to solve the problem what was on my mind. Next year, I’m going to ran a Marathon. It is a hardly and long race and I want to do it very much.

8 . 听下面一段较长对话，回答以下小题。
1. What’s the man doing?

A．Studying for an exam.

B．Watching a match.

C．Playing computer games.

2. What problem does the woman think she has?

A．She has no confidence in herself.

B．She is late for the fitness training.

C．She’s too fat for the dancing club.