When I was a kid, my parents were busy working so they enrolled (登记) me in the Spartak Tennis Club in Moscow. Every day after school my parents would take me to Spartak and I would be there until maybe nine o'clock. All we did was play tennis, eat, do homework, have fun and hang out. It was basically my second family.
In that second family was a woman who was like a mother to me, my first coach, Larissa. I still refer to her as my second mother. She taught me everything I know about how to play tennis, but she’s also a wonderful person. She’s kind and patient, which is not what you expect from one of the top tennis coaches in Russia.
Her program when I was little was based on tricking us into doing our exercises. She would put a candy under the cones (锥形物), and we would try to hit the targets with balls, you got to have an ice cream.
Of course we worked hard and I didn’t let her down.
My second-ever tournament was the Moscow Championships, and I won. Afterwards Larissa came up to me and said, “Congratulations, Enjoy today because tomorrow it’s back to work.” She was always telling us to celebrate and have fun with any particular achievement but to always remember there is something more you can do, something more you can achieve.
Now every time I go back to Russia I go to Spartak to see Larissa. We look at all the pictures from all the birthday parties and tournament and celebrations. It is really cool to have someone like her in my life. Larissa is still coaching, but we don’t talk much about tennis any more. We just talk.
1. Why did the author go to Spartak every day? (no more than 15 words)2. What does the author think of his coach? (no more than 10 words)
3. What’s Paragraph 3 mainly about? (no more than 10 words)
4. What does the underlined phrase “let her down” in Paragraph 4 mean? (no more than 5 words)
5. What can you learn from Larissa? (no more than 25 words)
1. On which days is the sports centre closed?
| A．Mondays. | B．Saturdays. | C．Sundays. |
| A．From one to three. | B．From three to five. | C．From four to six. |
| A．Tennis. | B．Football. | C．Basketball. |
3 . A cancer survivor has become the first woman to complete an exhausting “Sea to Summit” triathlon（三项全能运动） which saw her swim, cycle, and run over 330 miles in just five days. Andrea Mason was overjoyed when she crossed the finish line early Wednesday morning.
The race was set in the French Alps. Setting off at 6:15am on Friday, 39-year-old Mason battled through severe pain, and hallucinations(幻觉)，but she pushed on --managing to complete the race in an impressive four days, 23 hours, and 41 minutes. Andrea had been diagnosed with cancer and needed life-saving surgery. Following a successful operation, she is now hoping to raise awareness of women’s health. In the past year，Andrea set up her own charity, Lady Talk Matters, in order to improve surrounding female’s health.
Andrea, from Blackpool in Lancashire, England, said，“I am so happy all went according to plan as there were so many things that could have gone wrong. I wanted to do it in five days， and I did，but it was very tough. I had some low moments, particularly when I couldn’t sleep in my limited rest periods, and when I couldn’t keep any food down as I was running. For sure I had some doubts along the way as I was exploring the unknown with such a huge run, particularly as large parts of it were in the dark. It was bigger than I imagined, the impact on my body was huge. But every time I felt like giving up，I thought about all the women out there in pain or who still hadn’t been diagnosed. That is why I put myself through this.”
Andrea had to swim 23 miles around Lake Annecy, cycle 205 miles with 30,000 feet of vertical climbing around Mont Blanc, and run 105 miles with 4,000 feet of vertical climbing around The Ultra-Trail du Mont Blanc. You could say Andrea’s actually spent a lifetime training for an event like this. She completed her first three-mile race “powered by chocolate bars＂ when she was just four.
1. What brought Andrea Mason so much joy？| A．She joined a race | B．She defeated cancer. |
| C．She finished a marathon in five days. | D．She finished a triathlon lately. |
| A．To help the poor women. | B．To promote women’s health. |
| C．To focus on women’s life. | D．To raise the status of women. |
| A．When she couldn’t eat. | B．When she couldn’t sleep. |
| C．When she was running at night. | D．When she met too many difficulties. |
| A．Her strong willpower. | B．Her family’s support. |
| C．Thinking of other women who might have cancer. | D．Thinking of other women who had more pain. |
| A．Andrea liked sports very much. | B．Andrea faced huge challenges. |
| C．As a little girl, Andrea won many races. | D．Andrea’s success lied in long-term effort. |
