1 . Once upon a time, when you first attended a youth sporting event, your parents probably weren't expecting you to become a professional athlete.They signed up for a basketball, football or swimming course for you in the hope that you might learn lessons about winning gentlemanly, losing with dignity(尊严)and insisting on it when things get hard. Yes, playing games is good exercise, but it is the life lessons that matter most.

For many of us, instead of looking to improve our minds and spirits, we began judging progress only by the size of our muscles or the numbers on a weighing machine. The thought that athletic competition is about greater life lessons and the building of character has been further undermined(削弱)by headlines about professional athletes.

“And yet there's still strong evidence that sports strongly improve certain personal qualities,” says Angela Lumpkin, Professor of the Department of Health, Sport and Exercise Sciences at the University of Kansas. And that's true for athletes of any age.Amateur sports(业余体育运动)provide a safe place for competition. They also provide a practice ground for managing stress.

The advantages of taking part in a sport can seep(渗透)into your professional life, too. In basketball, for example, “Getting everyone to play the right role on the court is the key to success,” says Alan Arlt, the founder of the Life Time Fitness basketball program Ultimate Hoops. “That is certainly useful in the business world, where everyone understands their own role in the organization.” “In athletic events, you go through good and bad times often in the period of two hours,” says former NBA head coach Flip Saunders. “Do you have the calm manner to settle yourself down, or do you totally lose it and get thrown out of the game which hurts both you and your team？All of that on­court experience has a real effect on how you deal with real­life situations.”

1. What would parents expect when their children joined in sports?

A．To win as many games as possible.

B．To improve their health.

C．To make more friends.

D．To get through difficulties.

2. What can we learn from Paragraph 2?

A．People play sports to build their character.

B．People still hold the idea that sports can keep us fit.

C．People keep playing sports to improve minds and spirits.

D．People pay more attention to the news of professional athletes.

3. Amateur sports are mentioned in Paragraph 3 in order to        .

A．support Lumpkin's idea

B．introduce the next topic

C．show another piece of evidence

D．show the main idea of the paragraph

4. According to the last paragraph, the sports experience has a real effect on        .

A．how to succeed in the future

B．how to keep calm in certain situations

C．how to deal with real­life situations

D．how to understand the role on the court

2 . Along with soccer, basketball is a global sport. As you read this. young people somewhere in the world are happily passing, dribbling(运球) and shooting. It’s enormous fun and a joyful way to spend time with others.

Basketball is a game for everyone. Unlike golf or tennis. it doesn't require great wealth or a lot of space to play. After all, not many people have a golf course-sized backyard. and tennis equipment is expensive. Basketball, by contrast, just needs a wall with a hoop and a ball.

So after its invention by Canadian-American physical educator James Naismith in 1891, the sport took off within US citizens, who quickly became attracted to the game because it suited their circumstances. Today, 127 years later, basketball remains one of the most popular sports in the US, and the National Basketball Association (NBA)has an increasing appeal for fans around the world.

The success of basketball as global phenomenon is undoubtedly related to the way African-Americans play the game.” The basketball court reflected some of the major cultural shifts in America, such as from forbidding African-Americans to play basketball to allowing them to play in the NBA, "the LIVESTRONG website noted.

From the 1950s onwards, segregation rules, which had prohibited African-Americans from playing basketball in NBA games, were no longer used in the US. In 1950, when Earl Lloyd started to play for the Washington Capitols, things began to change. Since then, most of the greats of the game have been African-Americans, like Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, Kobe Bryant and LeBron James.

It's not difficult to see that there's a strong link between political liberation and basketball. Something of this is expressed in a quote from the US author John Edgar Wideman. He makes a connection between basketball and hope:" When it's' played the way it's supposed to be played. basketball happens in the air; flying, floating, raised above the floor, letting the oppressed(受压制的) people of this earth imagine themselves in their dreams.”

1. What advantage does basketball have over golf or tennis, according to the author?

A．It can be played everywhere.

B．It doesn't cost much.

C．It doesn't require too much skill.

D．It interests almost everyone.

2. What can we learn about basketball from Paragraph 3?

A．The sport was created by a PE teacher.

B．The sport was not popular with people at first.

C．Its rules have been changed a lot to suit new circumstances.

D．The NBA. with a history of 127 Years. attracts people worldwide

3. The main purpose of Paragraph 5 is to             .

A．explain the origin and rules of NBA games in the 1950s

B．prove the popularity of basketball among African-Americans

C．stress the success African-Americans in basketball

D．show how racial integration took place in basketball

4. What do John Edgar Wideman's words mean?

A．Basketball is sometimes a useful tool for politicians.

B．American people usually have a basketball dream.

C．Basketball stands for the freedom and hopes of people.

D．Political oppression is a serious problem in the US.

3 . Have you promised that your are going to get healthier? Maybe you want to lose weight, get stronger and have more energy. Maybe you are under the doctor’s orders to eat right and take exercise more.    1    But with so many choices, it can be hard to get started. So here are healthy tips that you can follow.

Eat right. Healthy eating is harder than before. Now many supermarkets or restaurants are packed with unhealthy choices that cause weight gain and weaken energy. Over time, making poor food choices can cause illness.     2    . Eat natural and organic foods as often as possible. Cut out the junk food.

Keep healthy.     3    . So take exercise at once. Once you get started, you will be more likely to stick to it. Reduce stress. In the US, 77% of people often experience physical stress.     4    You can manage stress by taking exercise, getting enough rest and cleaning bad relationships from your life.

    5    . Sure, some people are naturally happier than others. But there are things you can consciously do to be happier. And guess what they are all free. So if you want to be happier, there are a few things to do, for example, express thanks, help others ,or how to meditate.

A．Sleep well.

B．Choose happiness.

C．Well, those all sound great.

D．But you don’t have to be concerned about it

E．That is not a group you want to be a part of.

F．So tell someone you love how you feel about them.

G．People who often take exercise are generally happier and healthier than people who don’t.

4 . You may think that sailing is a difficult sport, but it is really not hard to learn it. You do not need to be strong. But you need to be quick. And you need to understand a few basic rules about the wind.
First, you must ask yourself, “Where is the wind coming from? Is it coming from ahead or behind or from the side?” You must think about this all the time on the boat. The wind direction tells you what to do with the sail.
Let’s start with the wind blowing from the behind. This means the wind and the boat are going in the same direction. Then you must always keep the sail outside the boat. It should be at a 90° angle (角度) to the boat. Then it will catch the wind best.
If the wind is blowing from the side, it is blowing across the boat. In this case, you must keep the sail half way outside the boat. It should be at a 45° angle to the boat. It needs to be out far enough to catch the wind, but it shouldn’t flap (摆动). It shouldn’t look like on a flagpole. If it is flapping, it is probably out too far, and the boat will slow down.
Sailing into the wind is not possible. If you try, the sail will flap and the boat will stop. You may want to go in that direction. It is possible, but you can’t go in a straight line. You must go first in one direction and then in another. This is called tacking. When you are tacking, you must always keep the sail inside the boat.
1. What should you consider first while sailing?

A．Sailors’ strength.	B．Wave levels.
C．Wind directions.	D．Size of sails.

2. What does the word “It” underlined in Paragraph 4 refer to?

A．The boat.

B．The wind.

C．The sail.

D．The angle.

3. What do you have to do when sailing against the wind?

A．Move in a straight line.	B．Allow the sail to flap.
C．Lower the sail.	D．Tack the boat.

4. Where can you probably find the text?

A．In a popular magazine.	B．In a tourist guidebook.
C．In a physics textbook.	D．In an official report.