“I challenge you to a hundred-meter race,” my opponent, Julius, declared. He had beaten me countless times during practice, but I wanted to prove him wrong for a change. “That’ll wipe the smile off his face!” I thought, even as fear started to pour in my stomach. He was well-known around the school for being the fastest runner on the track-and-field team, while I tailed behind in second place- a respectable position, but not yet good enough to surpass (超过) him. Nevertheless, I shook his hand and said, “Challenge accepted!” However, negative thoughts flooded my mind. Would I be able to win? After all, Julius’ speed of light would guarantee a sure win!
Soon, all my friends and the teachers had gathered around to watch the challenge. “Oh no, I will lose and be embarrassed in front of the whole school!” I spoke in a low voice. Nevertheless, I turned my worried expression into a determined smile. To keep myself from sinking into self-doubt, I did some stretches and jumping jacks to warm up my body.
Finally, the crucial moment arrived. The referee(裁判)fired the starting gun and we took off like a shot. Adrenaline(肾上腺素) rocketed through my body as I launched myself forward. True to my expectations, Julius caught up with me easily and was in the lead! “No way will I lose! Victory, here I come!” I motivated myself as anger coursed through my body. As the race progressed, my eyes locked onto Julius, his athletic form effortlessly moving ahead. His quick steps and strong focus showcased his impressive skills. Yet, I refused to let doubt consume me. A fierce fire burnt within, fueled by a mix of unwillingness to admit defeat and anger. How dare he assume he was unbeatable? With every step, my determination solidified(变坚定), and my resolve to surpass him strengthened.
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“Faster!” I screamed and in that instant, I felt like Superman.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________“Yi Rou! Yi Rou! Yi Rou!” The whole school was cheering my name!
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________When I was in Primary Five, I was in the basketball school team. Every month we would have a basketball match against another school’s basketball team. In spite of all the cheers we received from our classmates and the amount of training we had, we had never won a single match before. That was due to our lack of teamwork and cooperation.
During one of our training sessions, our school team was divided into two to have a match against each other. The inter-school competition was coming up and none of us wanted to miss our chance of getting that gold trophy(奖品). “Three, two, one, start!” our basketball coach, Coach Leong, shouted. John, who was in my team, managed to grab the ball that Coach Leong threw in the air. Since John grabbed the ball, he refused to let anyone, not even his teammates, take it.
“Pass the ball to me, John!” I shouted. I was in a good position to shoot the ball into the hoop(篮筺). To my shock, John made a rude face at me. I made an attempt to grab the ball from him. When I got my hands on the ball, it became a tug-of-war(激烈竞争) between John and me. Coach Leong shook his head and exploded like an active volcano. “Children! Is this the type of behavior that I should be seeing? The match is in two weeks! Do you even know the importance of teamwork?” Coach Leong gave us a disappointed look. It seemed as if he had some sad news to tell us.
I was right.
Coach Leong explained that he would be retiring after the match. “I hope you can show me your teamwork and cooperate with one another in this match before I retire.” I choked on my tears. My heart sank. We were giving Coach Leong such a tough time, when all he wanted was for us to show teamwork in the match. After that day, my teammates and I were determined to do our best and work as a team.
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Para. 1
On the day of the match, we stood face-to-face with our opponents, the team from River Primary School.
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Para. 2
John did a perfect overhead throw and I caught the ball in mid-air.
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From the day Tony was born, Jeff refused to let his son’s disabilities hold him back. Tony has cerebral palsy (脑瘫), making it difficult for him to walk. Determined to show Tony that he could pursue his dream of being an athlete, when he was 15 years old, Jeff signed him up with Team Triumph, an organization that helps kids with disabilities engage in endurance sports.
“It gave me a new perspective on life, Tony said. He even dreamed of walking marathon one day. From then on, Tony became addicted to racing, and Jeff also wanted to be a part of it. Though Jeff had been a minor league baseball player, endurance (耐力) sports were new to him. He made up his mind to achieve Tony’s dream and started doing things he never dreamed about. He began waking up at 4 a. m. So he could run in the silent street while pushing Tony in a special wheelchair called a racing chair. Every morning, he drove himself to run increasingly longer distances. Soon, he and Tony were entering 5K races, then on to Iron-man triathlons.
Finishing the Iron-man competition in under 16 hours would be another dream for Jeff and Tony. The big day came. The race began with a 2.4-mile swim in the river. Jeff helped Tony into a kayak (皮船). With one end of a rope tied to a belt around his back and the other end to the kayak, Jeff eased himself into the water. Swimming while dragging another person is quite tough. The pair completed the swim in 90 minutes, and then it was on to the next leg; a 112-mile bicycle ride. Their custom-built bike had an additional seat in the back for Tony that faced backward.
After completing the demanding bike part in roughly nine hours, they set their sights on the final leg of the race-a 26.2-mile marathon with Jeff pushing Tony in the racing chair. They’d been competing for 10 hours, with only 6 hours left for the race. The first 7 miles went smoothly.
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2.请按如下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。
But at mile 19, Jeff began to worry they were going too slow.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Jeff handed Tony his rolling walker (助行器).
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Dave had loved basketball for as long as he could remember and he had never had a day without playing it. At primary school and junior high school he joined basketball clubs, attended training programs and watched basketball games, from which he learned the moves of the star players, wishing to play in a professional team like them and shine on the court.
Now as a senior high school student, however, his dream of becoming a professional player was dimming (变暗) because he was only of average height. He had to give up the hope of joining the school team. The guys on the school team were all tall boys who played matches and won honors for the school. They were like heroes. Dave watched them play and cheered them but he knew he would never be one of them.
Dave felt it a pity not to be tall enough, but this didn’t stop him from pouring his passion into basketball. He just played for the love of the sport. He played in the school gym with other boys or by himself every day, even during holidays and weekends, when it was open for two hours in the morning. He enjoyed every minute on the court making every effort to play better.
It was one Saturday morning. Dave was playing in the gym by himself, as all the other boys were busy with other weekend affairs. Then he noticed a tall boy approaching. It was Lankas. Everybody knows him as captain of the school basketball team. “Hi, Lankas,” Dave greeted him. “My name is Dave.” “Hi, Dave,” Lankas replied as he got closer. “Nice to see you here. Do you need an opponent to play against?” Dave was shocked, frozen right there, unable to believe his ears but somehow, he answered, “Why not?”
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So, a game of two players began.
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The next Saturday, when Dave was playing in the gym, Lankas appeared shouting, “Dave, I have good news for you.”
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Sports Day was getting close in the school. All the children were very excited and were practicing for the big race. John, one of the fast runners of the school, was confident that he would win for he was not doing anything at all. “You have to work hard to come first in the race John. You are not practicing at all,” said John’s mother.
“Mom, you know how fast I am! Why should I waste my time running? Only I will win; no one else will win!”said John. “John, you may be right but talent (天赋) without hard work is not good at all. This laziness of yours will cost you greatly,” his mother warned him. John just laughed. He was so confident that he would win the trophy (奖杯) as no one else in his class was as fast as he was!.
Tim, a classmate of John, was also participating (参加) in the running race. He was not a fast runner. However, he practiced till late at night and had developed great endurance (持久力) to run the race.
There were a few days left for the Sports Day but John did not practice at all. On the other hand, Tim practiced day and night.
The Sports Day was almost around the corner but John was confident that no one could beat him and had not practiced at all. But Tim with his hard work had become a very great runner.
At last, the Sports Day arrived. All the students showed up on the ground to cheer their favorites. The coach blew the whistle (口哨) and everyone began to run toward the finishing line. It was so exciting. John and Tim left all the racers far behind. Both of them were neck to neck.
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Suddenly, John went ahead of Tim.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________John’s mother came up to Tim and praised him for his hard work.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________My 11-year-old daughter, Elizabeth, started to talk about quitting swimming, which broke my heart because she loves swimming. So when the swim season began, I cut a deal with her. She would practice three times a week and try really hard. I wouldn't make her compete in the swim meets. Elizabeth does not like swim meets. She gets horribly nervous but not because she wants to win. She doesn't care if she wins.
Recently, Elizabeth's team announced a special swim night： Members 11 and older would swim a timed 50 meters relay. It wasn't exactly a meet, because it would involve only team members. That was my view. Elizabeth argued that it absolutely was a meet because there would be races. I told Elizabeth I really wanted her to go. She fought back angrily but finally agreed.
When the day of the special swim night arrived Elizabeth was nervous. She was the youngest person and shorter by at least a foot than most of the other kids. She panicked when it was time for the T-shirt relay. The relay works like this： One person from each relay team puts on a T-shirt, a pair of socks» and a swim cap； swims 50 meters; and gets out of the pool. She takes off the clothes and puts them on the next person, who then swims 50 meters. This continues until everyone on the team has completed a lap.
Then it was Elizabeth's turn to swim. She seemed to swim faster in the T-shirt and socks than she did when she wasn't wearing them. Approaching the halfway mark, Elizabeth was in the lead. Suddenly, somebody noticed that one of Elizabeth's socks had fallen off and was floating （漂）in the pool. "She has to get that sock on before the end of the race," a swimming official told Elizabeth's team, “or you will be disqualified.”
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Everybody on her team started screaming “Elizabeth! Get the sock!”
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________On the ride home, she shared her moment of winning again and again.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________After watching my son Todd run in an annual race. I made my usual comment. “Todd I could walk faster than those women run.” Todd laughed as he knew I wasn't a runner. “Listen, Mom. I want you to show by your actions. How about you running with me next year at this race?” Without thinking, I quickly agreed to this challenge.
But when it was almost time for this race to occur, Todd wasn't going to be running. He was sent to Africa as a soldier for three years. A few of his friends knew this challenge I had agreed to with Todd. They started to encourage me to run the race. I hadn't trained or anything. Quite frankly, I had almost forgotten I said I would do it.
I decided I should keep my promise to Todd and run the race. The first thing I did was go out and buy some running clothes. I might as well look good was my thought. even though I hadn't trained at all.
The day of the race came. I was not well prepared, but I started. It wasn't long before some guy on the roadside started to talking next to me. I wasn't in the talking mood. However, this guy was very talkative. He kept making remark on how tired he was, and I must be tired too. The race was over, and this guy's wife won! I was just happy to finish and keep my promise to Todd.
I came home, and my neighbor asked about the race. I told him what had happened and how this guy would not shut up his negative talk. My neighbor laughed and set me straight," Kay. don't you know what this guy was doing? He thought you were the competition by the way you were dressed. He wanted his wife to win "Oh really!”
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1. 续写词数应为 150左右；
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This guy's attitude built a fire in me for the next race!
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The race began on a cold day and I saw this guy and his wife.
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A couple of years ago, I volunteered to be a finish-line “hugger” at the Kentucky Special Olympics held in Richmond.
The day of the event dawned dull, wet and gray. Even though it started to rain and a cold wind blew, most of the participants were so excited that they didn’t seem to notice the weather at all.
My job was to stand at the end of a lane on the track and hug the person in that lane when he or she crossed the finish line. It seemed to me that many of the participants completed their races just so they could get that finish “hug”. As the arms of the hugger closed around them, their faces lit up with pure joy, whether they came in first or dead last.
While we huggers stood around, we talked. I was told that most of the participants had been training for the races all year. I also noticed that, the Special Olympic participants weren’t here just to win. They didn’t talk negatively about the people they were racing against. In fact, they hugged and wished each other luck before they started, and hugged again when it was over, whether they had won or not.
What I remember most vividly from that day was the long-distance race. It was a long race by any standards: twelve laps around the track. There were only four participants, three boys and one girl. They were only a couple of laps into the race when the rain started up again. Standing in the rain, I began to feel miserable. My feet hurt. I was soaking wet. I was hungry. I was cold when the rain and wind came and hot when the sun came out. I thought irritably: This race is lasting entirely too long. Even though the three boys were nearly finished, the girl was at least four laps behind. I wondered why she kept going when there was obviously no way she could win.
注意：
1. 续写词数应为150左右；
2. 请按如下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。
Finally, the three boys finished but they didn’t leave right away.
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As she approached the finishing line, the girl was barely running.
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When I was four, my seven-year-old brother received a baseball mitt (手套) for his birth-day, which was also what I desperately wanted. But, back then, girls didn’t play sports; they played with dolls.
26 years later, I happened to see a notice in my local paper: “Women’s Slow-Pitch Soft-ball League opens soon. Anyone interested, sign up at the recreation center.” I cut it out and set it on the kitchen counter. Was it even possible to play baseball, a game I’d never actually played but had dreamed of playing in my entire life?
Looking at that notice on my counter, I thought of a thousand reasons I couldn’t play. But the idea of playing baseball stuck in my head and wouldn’t go away. Finally, I screwed up my courage and signed up. Days later, word came that I could begin practice in James Park on Monday night.
On Monday, heart pounding, I walked through the park filled with women of all high-school girls practicing at different diamonds. I waited a couple of minutes before approaching the coach, who seemed unhappy to see me. He had just put together top athletes for his team, and didn’t want some old lady messing things up. He looked me over, who had no mitt but wore an old T-shirt and gym shoes. However, I didn’t care.
That very first day was quite bitter. He had me run bases all night and never gave me a chance to bat or play the field, with the attempt to make me shrink from difficulty. But he had no idea how determined I was. I still showed up to play in the following Mondays, which clearly surprised him.
Finally, he gave in. During the last inning of the last game of the season, the coach told me to go to center field. I had to borrow a mitt from a member of our team and used it to catch an impossibly high ball, winning the game for us. Again, the coach looked surprised. It never hit him that I might be able to play.
注意：
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2．请按如下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。
After the game, I received an unexpected invitation from another coach.
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It turned out I didn’t let my coach down.
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An impossible peace
Once upon a time, on a piece of land there lived giants and dragons, who had been enemies for years on end. However, after years of bloody fights, they had learned a lot. They were no longer so foolish as to wage wars with terrible battles in which thousands died. Now, every year they held bowling matches instead. A giant competed against a dragon. Whoever lost would become the winner’s slave. If a dragon won, he could use the giant’s muscles for all that heavy lifting. If a giant won, he would have free flights and fire for the whole year.
That was how they prevented their deaths and yet with the match going round and round, they hated each other more and more. Every year the winners were so cruel to the losers, in revenge (报复) for the time they had lost. The losers would be at the mercy of the winners, giants tired from lifting loads while dragons worn out from constant flying and breathing fire. There came a time when what mattered most was not winning the bowling match, but not losing.
Yonk the Giant was the best bowler, and the most afraid. He had never lost. Many dragons had been his slaves and they were dying to see him lose so they could get their revenge. This was why Yonk was terrified of losing. Especially since last year’s match, when he missed his first ever strike, he had decided that something had to change.
The following year he won again. When he arrived home, his slave dragon feared the worst but Yonk did nothing bad to him, for he had a different idea in mind.
“This year you will not be my slave. We will go bowling and I will teach you all of my techniques and secrets. But you must promise me one thing: when you win your match next year, you will not be cruel to your giant. Do the same as I am doing with you.”
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The dragon gladly accepted.
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Much later Yonk lost his first bowling match but he was no longer afraid of losing.
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