1 . I was given the book Running on Faith written by Jason Lester as a birthday gift last month. After I started reading, I really couldn’t keep my eyes off it. It is always inspiring to read a story of someone who has gone through obstacles to reach his goals.
Jason Lester is a disabled extreme athlete. When he was twelve years old, a fast car ran a red light and hit him. Then he was sent into the hospital with twenty broken bones and a seriously injured arm. Jason had always wanted to become a famous baseball player, but at that time that dream was gone.
However, Jason loved sports and he still wanted to be a good athlete. He began running and taking part in duathlons(铁人两项比赛) in high school. Years later in 2004, he decided to start training for the Ironman, and has competed in many extreme races since then. In 2008, Jason became the first disabled athlete to complete the Ultraman (320 miles of biking, swimming and running), and it led him to an ESPY Award for Best Male Athlete with a Disability in 2009.
If you are in a bad situation and don’t know what to do now, Running on Faith is a good book for you. If you love running and want to reach some race goals, this book is good for you, too. Anyway, this book is worth reading for everyone who loves reading and wants to turn dreams into reality.
1. What does the underlined word "obstacles" in Paragraph 1 mean?| A．Difficulties. | B．Worries. |
| C．Arrangements. | D．Experiences. |
| A．He ran a red light and got injured. |
| B．He was seriously hurt in the accident. |
| C．He decided to play baseball after the accident. |
| D．He lost the courage to be an extreme athlete. |
| A．To show how dreams can come true. |
| B．To explore the way to be a good athlete. |
| C．To recommend reading Running on Faith. |
| D．To explain why Running on Faith is popular. |
| A．Always prepare for the rainy day. |
| B．Mental strength is the key to success. |
| C．A thousand-mile journey begins with the first step. |
| D．Good habits formed at youth make all the difference. |
2 . Figure skating(花样滑冰)
Figure skating got its name from the designs, or “figures” that are made on the ice by skating.
Special figures were a part of figure skating in the late 19th century and the early 20th century. Very complicated(复杂的) and beautiful patterns invented by the skater were drawn on the ice with the skaters blades (冰刀).Some designs that were created included rosettes (花结), stars and crosses.
Figures were the most important part of the original Olympic figure skating events.
In the mid-1930s, Olympic Champion Sonja Henie, increased the popularity of figure skating.
How has figure skating changed since it first started thousands of years ago, and why?
Ice skating began about 4,000 years ago in Finland. The first skates were made of flattened bone that was tied to the bottom of the feet. In the 13th century, the Dutch invented steel blades with edges(刃). In the Netherlands, all classes of people skated.
Today, ice skating can actually be done year-round since there are indoor ice arenas all over the world.
| A．People of all ages participate in ice skating. |
| B．Each special figure was really a work of art. |
| C．However, it was regarded as rude by the British royal family. |
| D．Figure skating was quite popular even before the first Olympics. |
| E．However, they were not fun for the audience to watch or understand. |
| F．Ice skating was a way for people to travel over frozen waters in the winter months. |
| G．She introduced the idea of white figure skates and short skating skirts. |
3 . In every Summer Olympics since 1952, with two exceptions, the host country has won not only more golds but also more medals than it did in the previous summer games.
Japan, who hosted this year’s games, won far more medals than it got from the previous Summer Olympics in Rio in 2016. Brazil more than doubled its golds in 2016. In the 2008 games in Beijing, China harvested 37 more than it took home in 2004. Only Finland, in 1952, and the United States, in 1996, saw their medal counts drop at home.
Why?
The biggest plus to competing at home is the positive energy from a supportive crowd, according to athletes. Briana Scurry, a former goal keeper for the US women’s national soccer team, said playing in the US during the 1996 Summer Olympics helped her team beat China to win gold that year. “We had 76,000 people at the final in Athens, Georgia, all cheering for us, while China had a much smaller cheering audience,” she said.
Another factor(因素)that can hurt athletes from other countries is travel. International competitions often require long flights across multiple time zones, which can impact(影响)their sleep. Foreign athletes may also be unaccustomed to the food and training equipment available at the competition. Even the weather may throw off a competitor used to a different climate.
The host countries have additional benefits to help their athletes succeed. Competitors from host countries have to meet lower qualification(资格)standards than their foreign competitors. That may contribute to the phenomenon of host countries sending much bigger teams to their Olympics than the previous summer games when they competed abroad.
Japan got yet another benefit this year thanks to a new policy adopted by the International Olympic Committee(IOC)in 2016, which allows the host countries to add several new sporting events to their games. It meant that baseball, softball, karate, skateboarding, sports climbing and surfing-all popular sports in Japan-were Olympic events in Tokyo. And Japanese athletes have already medaled in four of the five sports.
1. Which host country got fewer medals than it did in the previous Summer Olympics?| A．Japan. | B．China. | C．Brazil. | D．The US. |
| A．Bigger supportive crowds. | B．Having shorter flights and better sleep. |
| C．Lower qualification standards. | D．Being more used to the food and climate. |
| A．The newly added sports are popular all over the world. |
| B．Host countries may unfairly benefit from the new rule. |
| C．Host countries can select any sport for the competition. |
| D．The new rule adds an additional variety to the competition. |
| A．To explain the Olympics new rules. | B．To show the problems of IOC’s policy. |
| C．To review the host countries’ performances. | D．To analyze the benefits for the host countries. |
4 . Syria’s 12-year-old table tennis athlete Hend Zaza will come to China for professional training, China Central Television (CCTV) said in a report on Tuesday. The young athlete just finished her first trip to the Olympic Games after losing a match in Tokyo. On hearing that Syria’s 12-year-old table tennis athlete Hend Zaza wishes to come to China for training, the Chinese Olympic Committee immediately invited her, helping to fulfill her wishes, she will arrive in September.
“I’m looking forward to training abroad. I want to make progress and take the championship one day,” Zaza told CCTV. “I want to reach the same level as the Chinese team does, and I’m looking forward to having the same training as the Chinese team.”
On July 24, the young Zaza lost her match to Chinese-Austrian athlete Liu Jia 4-0. The night before her match, she was a lag bearer of Syria at the opening ceremony. A late night, plus the lingering six-hour jet lag, meant that she barely slept — not great preparation against Liu, who is making her sixth Olympic appearance.
“I was hoping for a winning match and for better play, but it’s a tough opponent so it’s a good lesson for me, especially with the first Olympics,” Zaza said. “I will work on it to get a better result next time, hopefully.”
Still, with her long hair bouncing as she did around the table, Zaza showed ability that impressed her seasoned opponent. “I had to remind myself not to underestimate her,” Liu said. She called Zaza “a great talent” with good rhythm and instincts who simply needed more experience.
In 2011, complaints about high unemployment and corruption led to severe violence inside Syria. As the violence rapidly escalated (升级), the country descended into a civil war that still rages today. Zaza said as long as she can remember she found it difficult to go to school or play outside, let alone train for her chosen sport. At 12 years and 204 days, Zaza became the youngest table tennis player ever to compete in the Olympics.
Zaza has previously told media that Chinese world champion table tennis athlete Ding Ning is her idol and she hoped that she could play with Ding Ning one day. Ding once posted on Weibo in 2020 that she was looking forward to meeting Zaza in China soon.
With a desire for world peace, Zaza said that participating in the Olympics is not her final goal. She hopes that the small white ball in her hands can deliver a message of peace. She also hopes that Syria will stop the war as soon as possible, and every child will be able to chase their dreams freely.
1. Why did the Chinese Olympic Committee invite Zaza to China?| A．To help Zaza accomplish her dream. |
| B．To improve Chinese team’s pingpong techniques. |
| C．To show that China is a greater country than hers. |
| D．To spark her love for pingpong. |
a. Lack of confidence b. Jet lag c. Not enough sleep d. Competitive rival (对手)
| A．abc | B．acd | C．bcd | D．abcd |
| A．Ambitious but lazy. | B．Dishonest but grateful. |
| C．Honorable and humorous. | D．Competent and respectable. |
| A．Syrian Table Tennis Player Invited to China |
| B．Zaza’s Wish for Peace |
| C．Table Tennis Diplomacy (外交) |
| D．A Harmonious World Connected by Table Tennis |
5 . The modern Olympics, which appeared in ancient Greece as many as 3,000 years ago, have become the world’s most important sporting competition. From the 8th century B. C. to the 4th century A. D., the the ancient Olympics were held every four years in Olympia in honor of the god Zeus. The first modern Olympics took place in 1896 in Athens, and featured 280 participants from 13 nations, competing in 43 events. Since 1994, the Summer and Winter Olympic Games have been held separately every two years. The 2020 Summer Olympics, delayed one year because of the COVID-19, was held in Japan in 2021.
The ancient Olympics were held every four years between August 6 and September 19 during a festival honoring Zeus. The Games were named for their location (位置) at Olympia, a place near the western coast in southern Greece. Their influence was so great that ancient historians began to measure time by the Olympic Games held every four years.
After the Roman Empire conquered (征服) Greece in the mid-2nd century B.C., the Games continued, but their standards and quality dropped. For example from 67 A. D., the Emperor Nero entered an Olympic horse race, announcing himself the winner even after he fell off his horse during the event. In 393 A. D., Emperor Theodosius Ⅰ ended the ancient Olympic tradition.
It was another 1,500 years before the Games rose again, largely thanks to the efforts of Baron Pierre de Coubertin (1863-1937) of France. Working hard at the development of physical education, the young man became inspired by the idea of creating a modern Olympic Games after visiting the ancient Olympic building. In November 1892, at a meeting of the Union des Sports Athlétiques in Paris, Coubertin suggested the idea of making the Olympics an international athletic competition held every four years. Two years later, he got the approval (批准) he needed to found the International Olympic Committee ( IOC ), which would become the governing body of the modern Olympic Games.
1. What do we know about the modern Olympics?| A．The modern Olympics became famous in the 18th century. |
| B．The first Winter Olympics was held in 1994. |
| C．The first modern Olympics dates back to 1896. |
| D．The latest Winter Olympics will delay for two years. |
| A．Every year. | B．Every other year. |
| C．Every three years. | D．Every four years. |
| A．In 393 A. D. | B．In 67 A. D. |
| C．In the mid-2nd century B. C. | D．About 1,500 years ago. |
| A．The ancient Olympics |
| B．The modern Olympics |
| C．The Olympics developed through years |
| D．The Olympics are popular in modern time |
6 . There's more evidence that what's good for your heart is good for your head. A new study shows that people who run, swim or do other moderate intensity （中等强度）exercise have brains that look, on average, 10 years younger than the brains of couch potatoes.
“Our study showed that for older people, getting moderate intensity exercise may be protective, helping them keep their brains work better," said Dr. Clinton Wright of the University of Miami, who led the study. But it's not necessarily easy. Walking, golf, bowling and yoga don't count, and people need to start before they begin showing memory loss, Wright' s team reported in the journal Neurology.
The study of nearly 900 people who exercise regularly showed that 90 percent fell into the low-intensity group. These people are part of a larger group taking part in a bigger study called Northern Manhattan Study. They were asked how long and how often they exercised during the past two weeks. Five years later, they were tested for memory and thinking skills and got a brain MRI. Seven years after that, they took the memory and thinking tests again. The 10 percent who said they took part in moderate intensity exercise scored better on the tests. These included running, climbing, swimming, riding bicycles and so on.
“We found that those with moderate intensity activity had higher scores and slower decline than inactive people when comparing the results," the study team wrote.
Many studies have shown that exercise may not prevent Alzheimer's disease but may delay it. The findings fit in with a study that found two years of exercising, eating healthier food and brain training can promote people's memory function.
1. What's true about the study?| A．Most people surveyed took low-intensity exercise. |
| B．Only 900 people took part in the bigger study. |
| C．High-intensity exercise is better. |
| D．Ten people scored best on the tests. |
| A．By observing people exercise. | B．By using examples. |
| C．By making a comparison. | D．By doing a brain MRI. |
| A．Exercise will definitely strengthen people's memory. |
| B．Alzheimer's disease may be held back by moderate intensity exercise. |
| C．Exercise can put off the beginning of memory decline. |
| D．The findings fit in with the study of healthy food. |
| A．How to keep health. |
| B．Ways to make your brain work better. |
| C．To exercise or not. |
| D．Moderate intensity exercises keeps your brain younger. |
7 . Until quarantine (隔离期) ends, we are left picturing what sport we might do: working out at the gym, playing on a competitive sports team, swimming, biking, or rock climbing. However, we don’t often think of martial arts as possible activities; instead, we rule it out because we think it’s dangerous, uncommon, and even, impossible. Martial arts aren’t considered a sport, right?
Well, here’s some good news: you’re wrong! Martial arts aren’t much more common than people think, and you can start learning at any age. Practicing martial arts is a great way to keep in shape, both physically and mentally. They’re much less boring and much less arduous sport than they’re usually described as in movies, so do not worry that they need a lot of effort.
Martial arts generally require you to focus on the position and movement of every one of your legs and arms, sometimes even your breathing too. Think about it: when you leave the gym, your mental state has improved and you are much calmer. This is because you’ve only paid attention to one activity. It is a great way to clear your head. And practicing it can help you learn to stay more focused, which is the greatest advantage of martial arts training.
Martial arts also improve your coordination (协调性), and greatly improve your posture (姿势). I have personally seen students go from slouching (没精打采) to walking tall with their shoulders back in just a couple of months.
There are many styles and countless kinds of martial arts. Whichever one you like better, know that all of them are good choices.
1. What can we know about martial arts from the first two paragraphs?| A．They often have people hurt. | B．They are difficult to practice. |
| C．People have a wrong view on it. | D．People practice them more often. |
| A．Interesting. | B．Difficult. | C．Friendly. | D．Exciting. |
| A．Adjusting the breath. | B．Enjoying one’s free time. |
| C．Correcting the movement. | D．Keeping one’s attention. |
| A．They are not sports. | B．They attracted many teenagers. |
| C．They are beneficial and helpful. | D．They were invented to protect others. |
8 . A new study has found that braving the cold maybe a good way to help burn off some fat.
The research was carried out by scientists at Canada’s Laurentian University and focused on high-intensity interval training(HIIT). This format has grown in popularity of late due to the fat-burning benefits it brings, and the team set out to explore how temperature might influence its effects.
The study involved 11 overweight adults who took part in two HIIT sessions a week apart. One of these was carried out in a “thermoneutral” environment with temperatures of around 70 °F(21℃),and the other at a cold 32 °F(0℃). The sessions consisted of 10 separate cycling race at 90 percent effort lasting one minute, followed by 90-second “recovery” periods of cycling at30 percent intensity.
After each session, the participants cooled down by gently cycling or walking, ate a nutrition bar before going to sleep and enjoyed a high-fat breakfast the morning after. During these sessions, the scientists monitored skin temperature, core body temperature, heart rate and the amount of oxygen. Blood samples were also drawn to help calculate fat burning rates following the breakfast the next day.
“The present study found that high-intensity exercise in the cold increased lipid oxidation (脂质氧化) by 358 percent in comparison to high-intensity exercise in a thermoneutral environment,”the team writes.
The authors also note that the idea that cold temperatures help us burn more fat during exercise will need further investigation (调查), though the first-of-a-kind study does indicate it’s a possibility worth pursuing.
1. What is good for burning off fat according to the study?| A．Cold food. | B．Low temperature. |
| C．Hard workout. | D．Cycling race. |
| A．Introduction to the study. |
| B．Some data in the study. |
| C．The participants in the study. |
| D．The process of the study. |
| A．Further study needs to be done. |
| B．Doing exercise burns more fat. |
| C．The efforts of scientists are in vain. |
| D．The study result is unreasonable. |
| A．High-intensity Workouts Help Burn off Extra Calories |
| B．Cycling in the Cold Is a Great Way to Build upYour Body |
| C．Study Shows Fat-burning Potential of Exercising in the Cold |
| D．Researchers Have Found More Fat-burning Workouts |
9 . On Friday, June 20th, 29 dogs along with their owners came to Santa Rosa, California. They came there to take part in an unusual competition--- one that seeks out and honors the World's Ugliest Dog. Now in its 26th year, the competition is one of the biggest attractions at the annual Sonoma County Fair.
Among the leading competitors were Cupcake, who was adopted(收养)from a local dog rescue center in January, and Shorty, who would have been put to sleep if its owner, Jason, wasn't kind enough to pick it up. Also competing was 11-year-old veteran Grovie. Described by his owner as short and funny, the Chinese pug is a local resident who has taken part in this contest several times. Then there was the 2002 “World's Ugliest Dog” and “Ring of Champions” winner, Rascal. The 7lbs naturally hairless dog with very few teeth comes from an impressive background. His grandfather, Chi Chi, has held the Guinness World Record for winning the title “World's Ugliest Dog” seven times!
But all these impressively “ugly” dogs had no chance against Peanut. The two-year-old dog was badly burnt in a fire which caused him to lose his lips, most of his body hair and eyelids. Besides winning the title, $ 1,500 in cash and a large trophy (奖杯)the first-time winner also enjoyed an all — expenses — paid trip to New York City where he made scheduled appearances on Today Show and Jimmy Kimmel Show.
The competition is a great way to honor these dogs, many of whom get their unusual look because of human abuse(虐待). But most importantly, it shows the world that ugliness does not prevent dogs from becoming very loving pets.
1. Who could take part in the competition?| A．Dog owners having ugly dogs. | B．People willing to adopt dogs. |
| C．Dogs with unusual skills. | D．Dogs with ugly look. |
| A．Because he didn't want Shorty to be killed. |
| B．Because Shorty looked so cute and funny. |
| C．Because he wanted Shorty to take part in the competition. |
| D．Because no rescue center would like to adopt Shorty. |
| A．Rascal. | B．Peanut. | C．Cupcake. | D．Grovie. |
| A．To call on people not to kill ugly dogs. | B．To tell people ugly dogs are worth loving. |
| C．To show the way to deal with ugly dogs. | D．To honor unusual dogs and their owners. |
10 . Maintaining and Building Muscle
Staying healthy is very important, but eating well and getting active is only part of the story. Often, we forget how important it is to concentrate on building and maintaining our muscles.
With all these great reasons for strength training, there are also so many myths that stop women from doing it.
There are some easy ways to build muscle at home.
There are so many strength training exercises that are simple, easy to do at home, and great for your health. Why not give them a try? Just remember: the hardest part is getting started!
| A．Instead, they can try taking a bath o fall asleep. |
| B．People may fear it is a hard work to insist on strength training. |
| C．Of all the benefits, maybe the best part is your improved confidence. |
| D．Without leaving the comfort of your home, you are probably familiar with push-ups. |
| E．Building muscle strength does more than just help you lift heavier things and lose weight. |
| F．Women's common fear is that lifting weights will make them look too bulky. |
| G．There are also other simple ways to increase muscle strength. |
