1 . Chris Turnbull, 39, finished the touching 3,856 km run on September 16, in the Sydney suburb of Manly, becoming the quickest runner from Perth to Sydney. He _________ the current record holder Achim Heukemes, who completed the distance in 43 days in 2005. To _________ the new world record, he was wholeheartedly _________ to preparing himself.

Mr Turnbull had a(n) _________ for running at a young age. He ran his first half marathon at 9 and since then he had been _________ at plenty of ultra marathons at different times in his life.

Mr Turnbull had run every single day from his beachside home in the Sydney suburb of Clontarf to his _________ on work days. The daily cross country run _________ him to see the sights of Australia, meet amazing people and most importantly, _________ himself physically and mentally.

With his 40th birthday _________ next year, to see what was his physical and mental limit, he wanted to __________ himself to the new record.

To make it in record time, Mr Turnbull was running between 100 km and 105 km daily.He had to __________ huge trucks rushing past him on major highways, blisters(水泡), aching muscles, and being __________ of sleeping well due to the pain his body was feeling

Mr Turnbull’s wife, along with their two kids, had been tracking his __________   on a map from their home as he made his way across the continent. They were __________ waiting there at the finish line in Manly for Mr Turnbull’s falling into their arms for a loving post- run __________.

2 . The Olympic spirit is about a lot more than winning medals and setting records. Just look at the story of _________ Eric.

The boy from Equatorial Guinea found his_________ for swimming shortly after high school._________ he found it difficult to get a swimming pool to learn swimming. Eventually, he_________ a 13-meter hotel pool that he could only use three hours a week. On days he could not practice in the pool, he_________ in rivers. After about eight months of swimming, he_________ the chance to compete in the 2000 Summer Olympics.

On the 100m freestyle, Eric was in the first_________ along with the other two strong swimmers. Both swimmers were_________ to carry on competition for starting too early,_________ Eric as the only man in his race. Not only were the eyes of the 17,000__________ at the scene entirely on him, but the billions__________ the Games that day, from all over the world.

When he heard the crowd shouting, encouraging him to ‘Go, go, go.   he gathered all his__________ to finish the race with a time of 1:52.72,the slowest__________ time in Olympic history. But the fans did not care,__________ him as if he had broken the world record.

Although he is not outstanding in performance, he has made__________ for his motherland and has left an everlasting chapter(篇章)in the swimming field.

3 . I have always wondered how far I could push myself. What are my ________ limits?

Our bodies, of course, set ________ for each of us. Even with newer running shoes and better ________ , there will always be limits to how fast people can ________ or how much weight they can lift. Also, although we can get ourselves in ________ shape, some of us are just genetically more suited to strength and ________ . But, more importantly, it’s a person’s ________ that determines how far he or she can go.

So, how could I best test myself?

John Collins was living in Hawaii when he ________   this question. One night, he was listening to a few friends argue about whether runners or swimmers were in better shape. He ________ the argument by turning it into an idea for a competition. Each ________ would swim3. 9 kilometers, bike 180 kilometers and then run 42 kilometers. The first one to ________ would be given the title Ironman!

I decided to take the advice. Preparing for the Ironman race started with food. I started ________ five to seven times a day to give myself more energy as I ________ .

Swimming, cycling and running began to ________ a large part of each day for me. In between, there were workouts in the gym.

Finally, the day arrived. Seventeen hours after starting, I arrived at the finish line. I ________ wasn’t the first, but I had challenged myself and felt like a winner!

6 . “The popularity of baduanjin among young people is increasing, _________ since people spent so much time at home during COVID-19,” says 28-year-old Li Jianlin, who works as a fitness content _________ for Keep, one of the most popular apps for sports lovers in China, and it _________ online fitness programs.

“Many young people go to the gym, or workout regularly. _________, a phased (阶段性的) and slow approach to recovering exercise after COVID-19 is the best way to _________ pre-COVID-19 fitness levels. So baduanjin, which uses breathing and concentration skills to improve body and mind, through eight well-designed results, has won the hearts of the young during _________,” says Li.

Li, who graduated from the Capital University of Physical Education and Sports with a _________ in aerobics (有氧运动) in 2018, has _________ baduanjin exercise programs for the platform’s users, which were _________ earlier this year. Available in three different levels, the programs have received __________ feedback from users.

“Seventy percent are young people, under the age of 30. The programs give detailed __________ and demonstrate the movements from different angles (角度),” says Li.

Keep’s baduanjin programs have been __________ more than 5.41 million times, and about 36,000 users have added them to their __________. “Since it also involves meditation (冥想) and __________ exercises, it’s also regarded as a way for young people to relax and deal with __________,” he adds.

8 . I had been skiing since childhood. I’d _________ fallen, I’d never crashed into anything, and I’d _________ mostly to the “blue” trails — the ones for intermediate (中级水平的) skiers. Therefore, for my first day on the mountain, I decided to _________ a blue run, one I had done many times before.

When I reached the top of the blue trails — only chairlift (缆椅), though, something in the atmosphere _________. Why was it so cold? Were the blue trails always this sharp? The rhythm of the chairlift started to sound less _________.

It _________ that simply having skied “many times before” didn’t mean I was getting better at it. There’s a large body of _________ showing that practice—or even just doing — doesn’t make us any better at the activity, so it is with skiing. The joy of getting better sometimes comes along with the _________ of getting worse.

One afternoon, I took a chairlift with a retired ski _________ named Bob. When I told him I was struggling, he __________ to watch me take an easy slope and assessed what I was doing wrong.

Bob __________ me that the learning process looks a lot like backsliding (倒退). When babies first learn to walk, they progress from __________ imitation. Sometimes it seems that we’re losing ground, but we’re actually __________ a new skill. An __________ attempt is often a sign that you’re learning.

“You’re skiing better already!” he shouted at me.

“Thank you!” I yelled back.

Then I skied a few more feet and __________.

9 . One day, on my way to a fried chicken shop, I noticed many people warming up at the starting line. Runners of all ages, ________ and sizes, were preparing for the 5-kilometer running. I ________ everyone looked glad and proud there, high-fives happening everywhere, accompanied by friendly encouragement and wishes. I ________ what caused such enthusiasm. The idea of running for any reason ________ running towards an ice-cream truck had never been appealing to me.

As the runners took their places at, the starting line, I heard ________ cheers from the the bleachers (看台). I decided to stay and watch the whole race. The officials ________ for the start and all the runners rushed forward. They ran with ________   initially, but halfway, some runners looked tired, and one girl appeared ________ exhausted. I guessed she would   ________ in no time. Just then, a man in the bleachers shouted to the girl, “Come on, Tiffany! You can do it!” Hearing the words, Tiffany gave a ________ smile to the man and continued running. Soon some other runners who were slowing down also received ________ from people in the bleachers. No one seemed to drop out.

Finally, Tiffany managed to arrive at the finishing line breathlessly. ________ she wasn’t the winner, but the was pleased to finish the whole race. She raised her ________ in the air happily. Some other runners arrived one by one, and they _______ each other. Inspired, I began trying to avoid fast food and doing exercise after that day, which changed me a lot. Now I become healthier and more ________.