Grace and Ellen, both promising in their school’s dance competition, were fierce competitors. They both had great passion for dancing and dreamed for bigger stages. They were both friends and competitors. They had similar taste in music, and had similar dressing styles. They had both devoted themselves to preparing for the upcoming contest.
Grace’s journey to the competition was marked by countless hours of practice and determination. She would rise before the sun, and the studio lights were her only company. Every movement was perfected with unwavering mind. She knew that this competition wasn’t just about personal success; it was also about upholding her school’s honor. “Grace, you’re incredible!” Grace’s dance instructor, Mrs. Anderson, often praised her. “Your hard work will pay off.”
Ellen had been practicing hard for this competition as well. Her love for dance was her driving force. After school, she would head straight to the dance studio, tirelessly perfecting every step. Her dance shoes had become a part of her feet, and her heart burned with a strong desire for victory. “Ellen, you’re a natural,” her fellow dancers would often say. “You’ve got this!”
The day of the competition finally arrived, and there were five competitors fighting for the championship title. Ellen was scheduled to perform before Grace.
As Ellen stood backstage, the butterflies in her stomach seemed to have turned into a whirlwind. She practiced every move once again but suddenly broke her dress with a sharp movement. Panic set in as her mind raced for a solution.
“Ellen, you’re up next!” the stage manager announced.
In the dimly lit backstage area, Grace overheard Ellen’s whispers to her friend, Sarah.
“I broke my dancing dress, Sarah,” Ellen’s voice trembled. “What am I going to do?”
Grace’s heart sank as she overheard the conversation.
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。
Grace knew her dress would fit Ellen perfectly, but she hesitated.
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Tears of thanks welled up in Ellen’s eyes as she put on Grace’s dress.
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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.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________3 . 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. |
Dave had loved basketball for as long as he could remember and he had never had a day without playing it. At primary school and junior high school he joined basketball clubs, attended training programs and watched basketball games, from which he learned the moves of the star players, wishing to play in a professional team like them and shine on the court.
Now as a senior high school student, however, his dream of becoming a professional player was dimming (变暗) because he was only of average height. He had to give up the hope of joining the school team. The guys on the school team were all tall boys who played matches and won honors for the school. They were like heroes. Dave watched them play and cheered them but he knew he would never be one of them.
Dave felt it a pity not to be tall enough, but this didn’t stop him from pouring his passion into basketball. He just played for the love of the sport. He played in the school gym with other boys or by himself every day, even during holidays and weekends, when it was open for two hours in the morning. He enjoyed every minute on the court making every effort to play better.
It was one Saturday morning. Dave was playing in the gym by himself, as all the other boys were busy with other weekend affairs. Then he noticed a tall boy approaching. It was Lankas. Everybody knows him as captain of the school basketball team. “Hi, Lankas,” Dave greeted him. “My name is Dave.” “Hi, Dave,” Lankas replied as he got closer. “Nice to see you here. Do you need an opponent to play against?” Dave was shocked, frozen right there, unable to believe his ears but somehow, he answered, “Why not?”
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。
So, a game of two players began.
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The next Saturday, when Dave was playing in the gym, Lankas appeared shouting, “Dave, I have good news for you.”
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5 . A fourth-grade star athlete has made headlines for keeping up with high schoolers. However, it’s not for the honor. The selfless student is a guide runner for a blind autistic (患自闭症的) teen who needs a helping hand on the cross-country track.
Rebel Hays, 11, of Fayetteville, Arkansas, stepped up as a guide runner for a ninth-grader, Paul Scot, when West Fork High School put out a call for volunteers. Paul, their student, wanted to compete.
As they ran together, the pair became good friends. “Paul and Rebel’s story is so much more than running,” said Rebel’s mother, Lou Ann. “Paul doesn’t have many friends, so Rebel doesn’t just guide him a traces. They also spend time together,” she said, telling jokes. “Paul is grateful for his young guide’s direction.” “Rebel directs me whether there’s a ditch (沟)or there are hills, who encourages me to run faster.” Paul said.
In honor of their partnership, West Fork High School wrote a post on Facebook. Posting on Oct.6, 2021, after a 5K race at Chile Pepper where the boys achieved a personal record of 21 minutes, school representatives explained, “Rebel Hays has been helping Paul all season long. He is a promising runner, but more importantly, he has a huge heart! Thank you, Rebel! Thank you a lot!”
According to Mile Split Arkansas, Paul said that his goal this year was to break 21 minutes; however, they missed it at Chile Pepper but achieved it at Yan Buren Pointer Classic, finishing with a time of 20:59:44. With the help and direction from Rebel, Paul finished 59th out of 135 runners in the 3A boys race at the state Meet in Hot Springs in early November. Paul still has one more year of eligibility (资格) for cross-country and has now set a new goal of under 20 minutes.
1. What did Rebel do as a guide runner to help Paul?| A．He competed with Paul to break records. |
| B．He inspired Paul to make many headlines. |
| C．He directed Paul at different races. |
| D．He volunteered to tell jokes to Paul. |
| A．Creative. | B．Confident. | C．Ambitious. | D．Enthusiastic. |
| A．To claim Rebel to be promising. |
| B．To express appreciation to Rebel. |
| C．To draw public attention to Rebel. |
| D．To introduce Rebel’s achievements. |
| A．Taking part in a 5K race at Chile Pepper. |
| B．Directing others to finish the 3A boys race. |
| C．Breaking the record of twenty minutes. |
| D．Getting the qualification for cross-country. |
6 . People refer to never forgetting how to ride a bike or throw a baseball as examples of “muscle memory”, the result of a motor learning.
Previous research has shown that the changes actually persist in the muscles themselves. In one study of mice, the results suggest that after nuclei in muscle cells multiply in response to an overload of training, those extra nuclei aren’t lost during subsequent periods of inactivity. They are retained (保留), essentially waiting to be reactivated. If you fell off the fitness wagon (马车) during the pandemic, don’t be frustrated. Once you have got additional nuclei, you are banking the capacity.
Ultimately, muscle memory is a payoff for all the past work you put into learning a sport.
| A．The best way to tap into it is to “get back on the horse”. |
| B．Physiologists, on the other hand, define it in a different way. |
| C．This convinces the researchers that muscle memory may not be long lasting. |
| D．That is to say, we can do the sports automatically without conscious thought. |
| E．It is generally safe to increase these elements by 5 percent every week or two. |
| F．It is evident that the more you exercise, the more muscle memory savings you will have. |
| G．All this news about muscle memory is encouraging for those who fell off the fitness scheme. |
The Race
After watching my son Todd run in a race, I made my usual comment (评论), “Todd, I could walk faster than those women run.” Todd laughed as he knew I wasn’t a runner. “Listen, Mom, how about running with me next year at this race?” Without thinking, I agreed to this challenge. I felt it’s a piece of cake!
Never did I imagine what the next year would bring. When it was almost time for this race to occur, Todd died in a car accident. A few of his friends knew this “challenge” I had agreed to with Todd. They started to encourage me to run the race. Honestly speaking, I had almost forgotten what I said.
Thinking deeply, I decided I should keep my promise to Todd. The first thing I did was buy some running clothes. I might look good, even though I hadn’t trained.
The day of the race came. I felt pretty sad, but I started off. It wasn’t long before a man started to run next to me. The man was very talkative. He kept saying how tired he was. The chatter went on and on. The race was over, and this man’s wife won! I was just happy to finish and keep my promise to Todd.
I came home, and my neighbor asked about the race. I told him what had happened. My neighbor laughed, “Kay, don’t you know what this guy was doing? He thought you were the competition by the way you were dressed. He wanted his wife to win. ” “Oh really!?”
The following year I did train. I even bought some tapes called “Win At Sports” and listened to them daily. If this man thought I was the competition, you could bet I was going to be the competition. His attitude in that race built a fire in me! The race was on!
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 it was time for the race, I was all dressed and ready.
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I stayed behind this man’s wife almost the whole race.
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Mary waited anxiously for her turn in the empty dressing room. Never had she been so nervous before. This competition was of vital importance to her comeback. “If I can win today,” she said to herself, “I can dance on the national stage next month.” Three months ago, her left arm was seriously injured in a car accident. After the medical treatment, she began to recover slowly. She practiced over and over again in order to regain her dancing skills.
“Hi, Mary,” in rushed her friend Jessica “How is your arm? Is it going to influence your performance?”
“I guess it can be tolerated for I am to win the match.” said Mary with a determined look.
“Admirable! But I hear that a girl called Linda is really gifted and strong. She can be your real well-matched competitor. Come on!”
After Jessica left, Mary decided to practice her most difficult spin. “If I don’t try harder, I won’t grasp this chance.” She thought. But her arm began to hurt, making her worried. “Mary, what makes you think you have a chance tonight?” she said to herself. After the pain was gone, she continued to warm up.
A slim girl hurried in and put down an equipment bag on the chair. Then, she took out her dance dress quickly and put it on skillfully. Seeing Mary, she smiled politely and said “Hi, I’m Linda. I am the next one!” Mary nodded in reply but felt uncomfortable. “This is just my competitor. Because of her, I may lose tonight.” Her mind was wandering when Linda let out a scream, “Oh, God, I can’t find my music tape!” Linda searched her bag but in vain. “It may be missing on the way.” With these words, she then rushed out.
注意：1．续写词数应为150词左右；2．续写部分分为两段，请在答题卡的相应位置作答。
Suddenly, Mary caught sight of a black box under the chair where Linda put her bag.
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Linda finished her dancing successfully and then came Mary’s turn.
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9 . Online training is one of the fastest growing parts of the fitness industry. If you’re considering joining the online fitness community, consider these benefits and drawbacks.
One of the most popular reasons for working out following an online video is that it offers ultimate convenience. No need to roll out of bed at 5 a. m. to attend that 6 a. m. boot camp class, which may end up being full when you arrive.
Online training also has broad offerings. When you head online, you have instructors from around the globe, all ready and willing to help you master your favorite moves.
All these are undoubtedly positive-online training provides fitness resources to general consumers wherever they are, without requiring access to a gym or fitness studio.
Very few online fitness programs enable the instructor to see you, check your form, and offer corrections based on your performance.
| A．Another is the price. |
| B．But it’s not without problems. |
| C．The same goes for different types of exercise. |
| D．However, online personal training isn’t for everyone. |
| E．Instead, you can turn it on at home at your convenience. |
| F．That being said, online workouts aren’t perfect when it comes to safety. |
| G．This means you could perform exercises wrongly, or even unsafely, without knowing it. |
10 . Some people prefer to have a bite to eat before hitting the gym, known as a fed workout. Others would like to wait until after exercising to refuel their bodies, called a fasted workout.
If you want energy and strength for an ideal workout, you need fuel. A fed workout will provide your body with power. Eating before exercise may help you sustain longer sessions and lift heavier weights.
Many fitness enthusiasts are not on board with this idea. They report feeling sick and inactive while trying to exercise after eating. With a fasted workout, you may not get the usual indigestion. Experts for fasted workouts further claim that eating afterwards makes your body use its fat reserves for energy, meaning you will burn more fat.
Deciding when to eat for an ideal workout is a personal choice. Both fasted workouts and fed activities have their benefits and shortcomings.
| A．However, a fasted workout might not work for you. |
| B．How your body will respond is based on your workout intensity. |
| C．These benefits can result in burning more fat and shaping a slimmer body. |
| D．To eat or not to eat, that is the question on many fitness enthusiasts’ minds. |
| E．Think thoroughly and discuss with your fitness instructor before taking a choice. |
| F．Knowing what to eat for an ideal workout is just as important as knowing when to eat. |
| G．A person doing a 30-minute session a day may not have a problem with fasted workouts. |
