1 . At 81 years old, Jeanne Daprano is still pushing her body to the limit. She’s still running competitive races, breaking world records and taking on new challenges.“The thing I’m learning about aging is that it’s inevitable,” Daprano said.“I’m not going to escape it. There are two ways to go:You can either press on or give up.”

Daprano grew up in Iowa. Then, she moved to California. As a primary school teacher, she began running in order to keep up with her student.“I was known as a running teacher,” she said.“I had my students do fitness before we studied in the morning and then throughout the day.”Then she began running competitively with 5K and 10K road races before moving to the track. She is now the world record holder in the women’s 75-year-old age group 400 meters and 800 meters. “When I get to the final fi nish line, I want this body to be worn out. I’m not doing this to live to be 100. I’m doing this to be the best I can be today.”

After moving to Atlanta about a decade ago, Daprano met fitness trainer David Buer. Ever since, she’s been coming to his gym, where he tailors workouts for Daprano’s specifc needs.“When she came to me, she was pushing 70 years old,”Buer said.“I’ve worked with other individuals of Jeanne’s age, but she came to me with different goals. She had a unique drive and passion—not just a passion for fitness or athletics but for life in general.”

Last February, Daprano took on a new challenge: her first indoor rowing competition. In classic fashion, she broke the world record in the 80-to-84 age group, rowing 2,000 meters in 9:23:7. For those hoping to either start getting in shape or stay in shape for a long time, she offers this advice: Listen to your body. What are you passionate about? How are you going to keep physically fit and mentally fit? Start where you are. Don’t look ahead or compare yourself to somebody else.

1. What does the underlined word“inevitable” in Paragraph 1 probably mean?

A．Invisible.

B．Abnormal.

C．Impossible.

D．Unavoidable.

2. Daprano started her life as a runner when ________.

A．working at a primary school	B．taking fitness training classes
C．volunteering in a 5K road race	D．moving to Atlanta

3. What might be Buer’s first impression of Daprano?

A．She was a qualified teacher.	B．She was an unusual woman.
C．She was too old to run a race.	D．She was hard to get along with.

4. What does Daprano suggest we do?

A．Run right now.	B．Live and learn.
C．Follow your heart.	D．Be a good listener.

2 . Born in California and representing the United States before switching to China, teenager Gu Ailing decided to represent China in the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics.

The 17-year-old is a freeskier and Grade-A student with an American father and Chinese mother. She grew up and still lives in the United States, but in June 2019 she made the “quite difficult” decision to compete for China. She wrote on Instagram that she was “proud of my heritage and equally proud of my American upbringing”.

As for the decision to compete on behalf of China, she said it is “a valuable opportunity to help inspire millions of young people in China where my mom was born.”

Gu graduated from a San Francisco high school in 2020. It is reported that she scored 1,580 points out of a maximum 1,600 in the SAT, and has been offered a place at Stanford.

Gu started learning to ski at the age of 3, competed in national competitions at 9 and won her first World Cup event at 15. She won two gold medals and a silver at the 2020 Youth Olympic Games in Lausanne, Switzerland. On Jan, 30th, 2021, Gu made her debut at the X Games in Aspen, Colorado and won two golds and a bronze. In the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, she achieved great success—two golds and a silver.

“My goal is to win Olympic gold,” she said before the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics.

“It’s the top achievement. And that would be rewarding for all the work that I’ve done to achieve greatness in the sport.” Her efforts finally paid off.

1. What do we know about Gu Ailing?

A．She grew up in China.	B．She is an average student.
C．She will graduate from a high school.	D．She decided to compete for China.

2. Which of the following words can best describe Gu Ailing?

A．Helpful and knowledgeable.	B．Modest and hard-working.
C．Clever and ambitious.	D．Creative and confident.

3. What’s the main idea of paragraph 5?

A．Gu Ailing had great achievements as a freeskier.

B．Gu Ailing began training when she was young.

C．Gu Ailing learned to do snow sports in China.

D．Gu Ailing won her first World Cup event at 15.

4. What’s the best title of the text?

A．Gu Ailing-An American Freeskier

B．Gu Ailing-A Stanford Graduate

C．Gu Ailing-A Talented Chinese Freeskier

D．Gu Ailing-A World Cup Champion

3 . 阅读下面短文，在空白处填入1个适当的单词或括号内单词的正确形式。

It might be surprising to know that ice-skating has appeared in the ancient times. Believe it or not, it     1    (be) once a warriors’ (战士的) art with ice skates. The sport was then called bingxi, and it was practiced because Manchu men needed to master the skill of moving 350 kilometers in a single day     2    (reach) their enemies.

When the Manchu men moved from the north to the capital city of Beijing     3     came to power in the Qing Dynasty, ice-skating became     4     traditional sport. Every winter, there were 200 proficient ice-skaters     5    (select) to perform on the frozen royal lake.

Ice-skaters during those times wore knee pads, and they secured their shoes with leather. Their shoes     6    (equip) with single iron blades (刀片) for speed, and double blades for security. There were also     7    (compete) for figure skating, ice acrobatics (杂技), and speed skating     8     were held for the benefit of the royal family.

China being one of the oldest and longest     9    (last) civilizations in the history of the world, the ancient Chinese were also involved     10     different sports. And most of their popular sports are still being played up to the present time.