2 . 听下面一段独白，回答以下小题。

3 . 听下面一段较长对话，回答以下小题。

4 . One of the reasons why so many people listen to music during exercise is that it has a number of benefits. The research around the positive influences of music during exercise was reviewed in a paper in the February 2020 issue of Psychological Bulletin.

Probably the biggest influence of music on exercise, based on these findings, is that listening to music during exercise can make you feel better about what you have done. Experiments find that people feel more positive about the exercise when they have listened to music than when they have not. The impact of music didn’t depend on the intensity of the exercise, and the effect appeared for both trained and untrained athletes.

Music also seems to reduce people’s feeling of how much they are exerting themselves. That is, at the same level of intensity of activity, listening to music can make you feel like you are exerting less effort than you would feel without music. Some studies have also shown that when athletes are free to set their own exertion level, they are willing to exercise more intensely with music than without. For some people (particularly when they are early in their training), music helps them focus on the music rather than on pain.

Music also appears to have a small effect on performance overall. Athletes perform better both during exercise and while engaging in their sport when there is music. In the studies analyzed, fast music, with a tempo greater than 120 beats-per-minute, was more effective than slow music. Interestingly, it doesn’t seem to matter whether the athlete chooses the music or whether it is chosen by someone else. So, the playlists selected by the teachers of an exercise class you’re taking may work even if you don’t love all of the songs.

The one place where music doesn’t seem to have much of an impact is on physiological functioning. The heart rate of an athlete is not consistently affected by music.

5 . “Sorry, that’s incorrect.” Never had I thought that, with the simple word “substitute”, I would meet my Waterloo in a ______ competition. With the spotlight shining straight into my eyes, I could do nothing but walk off the stage, my mind was blank.

The spelling competition is ______ the most long-awaited event of the year for many students in our school. To have a wonderful stage debut (首次亮相), I devoted myself to learning English ______ for months. I ______ rather well in the first two rounds of the competition, making it to the final as ______ However, I found that I still had a long way to go. Therefore, I spared no effort trying to ______ as many words as possible before the big day.

Eventually, the day arrived. Seated onstage, holding my pen and paper   ______, I glanced breathlessly at the hundreds of eager-looking faces out there. With the clock ticking away, I felt my heart ______ wildly.

Watching the other contestants (选手) spelling out their words, I waited for my ______. Thankfully, my first word was an easy one. After another round of waiting, it was time for my second word. “Contestant No. 43, your word is ‘substitute’.” So ______ !

I wrote down the first four letters on my ______. “S-U-B-S-I-T-U-T-E, substitute,” I said confidently. But sadly, I didn’t realize the misspelling until the judge said, “ ______.”

Making such a ______ in the competition, I did gain a deeper understanding of the ______ : He who laughs last, laughs best. This experience has taught me that overconfidence might ______ our downfall. Only when we stay humble can we “laugh last and best”.

6 . On my 70^th birthday, in September 2019, I decided to participate in 70 different sports before I turned 71. The motivation? Simply to have some fun. Athleticism, after all, does not end at some arbitrary (任意的) age.

Shortly after my 70^th birthday, I took a crack at paddle-boarding. Family members were greatly entertained, watching me first try to get on the board, then stand on the board and finally fall into the water before trying all over again. Lesson learnt: Perseverance pays off. Eventually I stood, I balanced and I paddled. An early success.

Winter sports brought their own challenges. A pick-up game of hockey resulted in the odd collision. The quality of play was hardly inspirational, but it was certainly fun. Then came the attempt to teach myself the basics of figure skating. It left me falling flat on the ice, my elbow and knee aching. I refused to give up. If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again, which I called self-discipline.

However, the outbreak of COVID-19 shut down most of my city, which became a setback to my 70-at-70 goal. By then I had tried nearly 35 sports. Individual sports would have to be the order of the day: Running, jumping, walking. For track, I built my own high jump and hurdles. Athletics does not have to be complicated.

There were some health advantages, too, to all the exercise I was getting. Each activity triggered endorphins that brought an immediate high. Over the longer term came the realisation that dreams are important, regardless of how far-fetched or unrealistic they might seem. As youngsters we dream of playing in the big leagues or participating in the Olympics. As we age, our hopes and dreams change, but one should never let them disappear. We need something to look forward to; what’s better than to wake up each morning knowing there is a game to play?

7 . My teammates cheered.

Long before Camcorders (便携式摄像机) tapes, our coach would have every game _______, have it developed overnight and ready for Monday`s _______. Dressed only in football pants and our smelling T-shirts, we listened to Coach’s _______ of the previous game, his voice was barely heard over the noise of the projector.

He rarely _______ out good plays, but was quick to find _______. One afternoon, he _______ me. The quarterback was my least favorite play — I was supposed to pull from my right tackle position and trap the linebacker on the left side of the line. Coach knew I was too _______ for that play. Why did he _______ a play he knew I couldn’t do?

In the film room, Coach _______ the play up five or six times, “Wilson, you’ve got to get the lead (铅) out of your pants. If you`re going to remain as our strong-side tackle position, you’re going to have to __________ these moves.” He really let me __________ it! Finally, he __________ pressing the reverse button (回放键) and let the play finish.

During the game, though it looked like I wouldn’t make the block, I __________ down, dashed __________ the defender and took him out of the game. Our striker ran through the hole and make a __________ goal.

I wasn’t a good football player. The truth is, I was __________ to be on the team. I had size and __________, but was too slow to be effective. Coach was __________ in assuming I wouldn’t make that block, __________ I didn’t. But this time I did. Not because of ability, but because of __________ and determination. As Coach used to say, “Wilson, you’ve got to give it 110% if you’re going to be a starter on my team.”

He was right then, and is right now. Thanks, Coach.

9 . Fourteen-year-old Harini Logan won the Scripps National Spelling Bee last Thursday, defeating 12-year-old Vikram Raju in a tiebreaker. It’s the first time that the contest has ever been decided by a tie-breaking round of spelling.

A spelling bee is a contest where players take turns spelling words. Though the bee is mainly about spelling, it also focuses on the meaning of the words. During parts of the contest, students were asked to choose the correct meaning of a word.

That caused trouble for Harini. She was asked about the meaning of the word “pullulation”. She said the word described the nesting of birds. The contest organizers had expected the answer to be the “swarming of bees”. Harini was removed from the contest. But soon she was back in- the judges double-checked and learned that Harini’s definition was also correct. One by one, the other students spelled a word wrong and got out. Finally, only Harini and Vikram were left.

To make ties much less likely, a “spell-off” was added to the contest in recent years. In the spell-off, Vikram and Harini each took turns trying to spell the words they were asked, but both made blunders. At one point, Harini could have won by spelling the word “drimys” (a kind of plant) correctly. But she missed it.

That put the two into a super tie-breaking event, where they were each given 90 seconds to correctly spell as many words as they could. The New York Times reports that the two spelled so quickly that the judges needed to review the video to see who had won. In 90 seconds, Vikram had spelled 15 words correctly, Harini had 21 correct spellings, making her the new winner.

This was Harini’s fourth at the Bee and it’s the first time she’s made it to the finals. Describing her win, she said, “This is just such a dream!”