I clicked the link (点击链接), sign un here. This wouldn’t be my first half marathon (马拉松赛跑); I had run a flat half when I was thirty-eight. But that was eleven years ago. Now, it was November 2022, and I’d had a shoulder injury before, and I was turning fifty. So, as awful as running 13.1 miles seemed, I was going to do it.
I signed up for a women’s training group, a group of strangers with whom I would spend a few months preparing for the race, and then I was directed to sign up for the actual race. I imagined a course somewhere beautiful in Florida. Or perhaps in sunny California, I was shocked when the race website opened, and I was greeted with the words, “Zion at night, half marathon in the darkness.” In Zion? At night? Oh, no.
I looked at the website. Was it to late to quit? Actually, I had just signed up for a coaching group that was meant to “encourage me through running”. Giving up before I even started seemed like a terribly shameful thing to do. I looked through the photos of the race.
I lost all my confidence. Runners wearing headlights and running shoes filled the computer screen. I couldn’t do this, I thought. I hadn’t run on paths in Delaware. I hadn’t run on paths or up hills. I clicked onto the next photo and looked at the happy runners advancing alongside a frightening cliff (峭壁). I was also afraid of heights.
A text came through my phone. It was Nicole, our training group’s brave leader, a woman who has run hundred-mile marathons. This is what happens when you run a race with someone who has strong willpower. “Sign up for the 4 am start time,” she wrote.
As I filled in my name and address, I tried to think about how likely I was to get injured during training. Realistically, that was my best way to get out of this race. I filled out the form and started worrying. About everything.
注意：1. 续写词数应为150左右；
2. 请按如下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。
But Nicole encouraged me, saying that she was with me in spirit on every run.
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On the day of the race, we drove to Zion at 4 am.
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1.你从事运动的相关经历；
2.你最喜爱的运动项目；
3.运动给你带来的好处。
注意：1.写作词数应为80左右；
2.请在答题卡的相应位置作答。
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From an early age, Patti Wilson was told that she was an epileptic (癫痫患者). However, she was a lively and enthusiastic girl, looking at her illness as simply “an inconvenience”. She never focused on what she had lost, but on what she had left. One day, Patti said to her father, who was a morning jogger, “Daddy, I’d really love to run with you every day, but I’m afraid I’ll have an epileptic fit.”
Her father told her, “Don’t worry, my girl. I know how to handle it! Let’s start running then!”
It was a wonderful experience for the father and daughter to run together every day. After a few weeks, the ambitious girl told her father, “Daddy, What I’d really love to do is to break the world’s long-distance running record for women.” The father checked the Guinness Book of World Records and found that the farthest any woman had run was 80miles.
That year, she completed her run to San Francisco, which is a distance of 400 miles. She was wearing a T-shirt, reading, “I Love Epileptics”. Her father ran every mile at her side, and her mom, a nurse, followed in a motor home behind them in case anything went wrong. But nothing happened at all while she was running.
As a senior high school student, Patti announced that she was determined to run from her hometown up to the White House, which is a distance of more than 3000 miles away. Her classmates got behind her. They built a giant poster that read, “Run, Patti, Run!” This has since become her motto and the title of a book she later has written.
注意：1.续写的词数应为150左右；
2.请按如下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。
On her second marathon in Portland, she had her foot injured.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Half a year later, Patti ran in Washington and finally shook the hand of the President.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________假设你是明启中学的学生李明。十月以来，为提升学生体质健康水平，你们学校组织全校学生在早锻炼后，男生做30个俯卧撑（push-ups），女生做3分钟平板支撑（planks）。但有同学反映运动强度过大，身体不适。现学校委托学生会向同学们征集意见，请你向学生会写封邮件。
要求：
1. 提出问题；
2. 提出改进的建议和理由。
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5 . Running is often tiring and a lot of hard work, but nothing beats the feeling you get after finishing a long workout around the track.
But while it’s long been believed that endorphins (内啡肽) —chemicals in the body that cause happiness—are behind the so-called “runner’s high”, a study suggested that there may be more to this phenomenon than we previously knew.
According to a recent study published by a group of scientists from several German universities, a group of chemicals called endocannabinoids (内源性大麻素) may actually be responsible for this familiar great feeling.
To test this theory, the scientists turned to mice. Both mice and humans release high levels of endorphins and endocannabinoids after exercise. After exercising on running wheels, the mice seemed happy and relaxed and displayed no signs of anxiety. But after being given a drug to block their endorphins, the mice’s behavior didn’t seem to change. However, when their endocannabinoids were blocked with a different drug, their runners’ high symptoms seemed to fade.
“The long-held notion of endorphins being responsible for the runner’s high is false. Endorphins are effective pain relievers, but only when it comes to the pain in your body and muscles you feel after working out,” Patrick Lucas Austin wrote on science blog Lifchacker.
Similar studies are yet to be carried out on humans, but it’s already known that exercise is a highly effective way to get rid of stress or anxiety. The UK’s National Health Service even prescribes (开药 方) exercise to patients who are suffering from depression. “Being depressed can leave you feeling low in energy, which might put you off being more active. Regular exercise can improve your mood if you have depression, and its especially useful for people with mild to moderate (中等的) depression,” it wrote on its website.
It seems like nothing can beat that feeling we get after a good workout, even if we don’t fully understand where it comes from. At least if we’re feeling down, we know that all we have to do is to put on our running shoes.
1. What did scientists from German universities recently discover?| A．Working out is a highly effective way to treat depression. |
| B．The runner’s high could be caused by endocannabinoids. |
| C．Endorphins may contribute to one’s high spirits after running. |
| D．The level of endorphins and endocannabinoids could affect one’s mood. |
| A．To find what reduces the runner’s high symptoms. |
| B．To see the specific symptoms of the runner’s high. |
| C．To identify what is responsible for the runner’s high. |
| D．To test what influences the level of endocannabinoids released. |
| A．Effect. | B．Goal. | C．Opinion. | D．Question |
| A．They can help ease depression symptoms. |
| B．They are the best way to treat depression. |
| C．They only work for those with serious depression. |
| D．They can help people completely recover from depression. |
Chasing a Dream
I will never forget that November day. It was hotter than normal — too hot. My throat felt like a field of cotton, cracked with the summer heat, as I waited for the gun to fire. This was the day we had waited so long for. I looked out at the crowd; dozens of familiar faces flashed across my view. They had come for me. They were counting on me. I saw my dad set his watch, with worry and excitement on his face. Adrenaline (肾上腺素) pumped through my body, and the race began.
For the first two and a half miles, I felt great. I had never before been so ready for something. The weeks leading up to the race were filled with strictly controlled practices and a strict diet. My friends hadn’t seen me in weeks, but they understood the sacrifice required to make my dream a reality.
My dad and I had been working towards this race for three years. It was everything to me, and it was everything to my dad. He was a runner and was excited by my success in running. He made it to every race, even flying home early from business trips to see me run. I always listened for his voice — telling me to relax my arms, calling out my time. He pushed me. He cheered for me. He believed in me. We spent countless hours on the sandy canals. Breathing in the dust of the desert, the blossoms (花簇) of the orange trees, we made our way across the city. We pounded miles and miles into our running shoes, marking with every step the path to greatness.
But without warning, when I was 200 yards away from the finish line, my legs stopped working. My lungs fought to take in enough air, and my feet transformed into cement (水泥) bricks. I still don’t know what happened in those last few moments. Nothing I could do would make them hold my weight. They were as weak as jelly.
注意：1. 续写词数应为150左右；2. 请按如下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。
Even though I knew my dreams of victory were destroyed, I had to finish the race.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________“I’m so sorry I disappointed you,” I whispered to Dad.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________When I was four, my seven-year-old brother received a baseball glove for his birthday. Every night. as we went to sleep. I’d listen to him throwing a ball into the glove over and over to soften the leather. I wanted a glove so much that I almost cried. But, back then, girls didn’t play sports; they played with dolls (洋娃娃).
Fast-forward twenty-six years. Now a thirty-year-old mother of two boys and a girl, I happened to sec a notice in my local paper: “Women’s Baseball League opens soon. Anyone interested, sign up at the community service center.” I cut it out and set it on the kitchen table, Could I? After all these years?
I looked at that notice on my table every day. l thought of a thousand reasons I couldn’t play. But the idea of playing baseball stuck in my head and wouldn’t go away. Finally, 1 gathered up my courage and signed up. Since I wasn’t a member of any team, they told me I’d be assigned (分配) to one. Two weeks passed before they gave me the name of the team to look for. Since my husband worked Monday nights, I arranged for a babysitter. It was a luxury (奢侈) but, at that moment in my life, a necessity.
On Monday, heart pounding, I walked through the park filled with women of all ages practicing. It took me a while to find my team. They were all high-school girls, seventeen and eighteen years old! I waited a couple of minutes before approaching the coach. He had put together top athletes for his team, and he didn’t want some old lady messing things up. He looked me over. His girls had fine gloves and metal cleats (棒球钉鞋). They looked like players. I had no glove and wore an old T-shirt and gym shoes. I didn’t care. I wanted to play. That first day, he had me run bases (跑垒). I never got a chance to bat or play the field. I just ran bases all night. The next morning, I could hardly stand.
注意：
1.续写词数应为150左右；
2.请按如下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。
When I showed up the next Monday, the coach was clearly surprised.
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“Impressive catch!” my teammates cheered for my performance after the training.
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1. What does the woman say about Kingswell Sports Club?
| A．It is a tennis club. | B．It owns a keep-fit studio. | C．It has a football team. |
| A．In a salad bar. | B．In a restaurant. | C．At a swimming pool. |
| A．Football teammates. |
| B．Manager and club member. |
| C．Receptionist and customer. |
1. Who is the speaker talking to?
| A．Art school students. | B．Web designers. | C．Magazine managers. |
| A．The cover of a magazine. | B．A poster. | C．A T-shirt. |
| A．The deadline is May 27th. |
| B．The design must include a picture. |
| C．Some words should be put in a certain place in the design. |
| A．A drawing book and pens. | B．Books on design. | C．A computer. |
I had always dreamed of winning the school marathon. Ever since I joined the running team in freshman year, I had trained hard to improve my speed. I knew it wouldn’t be easy. There were many strong runners in my grade, and some of them had more experience and skills than me.
The day of the race finally came. I was nervous but excited. I put on my running shoes and headed to the starting line. I saw my competitors, some of them looking confident, some of them looking worried. I tried to relax myself and pay attention to my own running. The coach gave us some last-minute advice and encouragement. He told us to do our best and not give up.
The whistle (哨子) blew and we were off. I rushed ahead, trying to get a good position. I felt the wind in my face. I heard the cheers of the crowd (人群) and the footsteps of the other runners. I kept running, pushing myself to do my best.
After running for a while, I realized that I was in the lead. I couldn’t believe it. I had never been in this situation before. But then I also felt a sense of fear. What if I couldn’t keep it up? What if someone caught up with me? What if I fell?
I tried to shake off these negative thoughts and pay attention to the finish line. But it was getting harder and harder. My legs were burning and my heart was pounding. I thought that I had lost the race. I thought that I had let myself down and everyone who supported me. I felt like giving up.
注意：1. 续写词数应为70左右；
2. 请按如下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。
But then the reason for running in the first place came to mind.
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