1 . My First Marathon

A month before my first marathon, one of my ankles was injured and this meant not running for two weeks, leaving me only two weeks to train. Yet, I was determined to go ahead.

I remember back to my 7th year in school. In my first P.E. class, the teacher required us to run laps and then hit a softball. I didn’t do either well. He later informed me that I was “not athletic”.

The idea that I was “not athletic” stuck with me for years. When I started running in my 30s，I realized running was a battle against myself, not about competition or whether or not I was athletic. It was all about the battle against my own body and mind. A test of wills!

The night before my marathon, I dreamt that I couldn’t even find the finish line. I woke up sweating and nervous, but ready to prove something to myself.

Shortly after crossing the start line, my shoe laces(鞋带) became untied. So I stopped to readjust. Not the start I wanted! At mile 3, I passed a sign: “GO FOR IT, RUNNERS!” By mile 17, I became out of breath and the once injured ankle hurt badly. Despite the pain, I stayed the course walking a bit and then running again. By mile 21, I was starving！As I got close to mile 23, I could see my wife waving a sign. She is my biggest fan. She never minded the alarm clock sounding at 4 a.m. or questioned my expenses on running. I was one of the final runners to finish. But I finished! And I got a medal. In fact, I got the same medal as the one that the guy who came in first place had.

Determined to be myself and free of worldly labels(世俗标签), I can now call myself a “marathon winner”.

1. Why did the author mention the P.E. class in his 7th year?

A．To appreciate the support of his teacher.	B．To show he was not talented in sports.
C．To amuse the readers with a funny story.	D．To share a precious memory.

2. How was the author’s first marathon?

A．He walked to the end.	B．He quit halfway.
C．He got the first place.	D．He made it.

3. What does the story mainly tell us?

A．A man owes his success to his family support.	B．Failure is the mother of success.
C．A true winner is one with a great effort of will.	D．Well begun is half done.

2 . 阅读下面的短文，根据所给情节进行续写，使之构成一个完整的故事。

Practice after practice, he eagerly gave everything he had to football. But being half the size of the other boys, he got absolutely nowhere. At all the games, this hopeful athlete sat on the bench and hardly ever played.

This teenager lived alone with his father and the two of them had a very special relationship. Even though the son was always on the bench, his father was always in the stands cheering. He never missed a game. This young man was still the smallest of the class when he entered high school. But his father continued to encourage him but also made it very clear that he did not have to play football if he didn't want to.

But the young man loved football and decided to continue. He was determined to try his best at every practice, and perhaps he'd get to play when he became a senior. All through high school he never missed a practice nor a game but remained a bench-warmer all four years. His faithful father was always in the stands, always with words of encouragement for him. When the young man went to college, he decided to try out for the football team as a “walk-on”(跑龙套).Everyone was sure he could never make the cut(比赛资格), but he did.

The news that he had survived the cut made him so excited that he rushed to the nearest phone and called his father. His father shared his excitement and was sent season tickets for all the college games. This persistent young athlete never missed practice during his four years at college, but he never got to play in a game.

It was the end of his senior football season, and as he ran onto the practice field shortly before the final game, the coach met him with a telegram. The young man read the telegram and he became deathly silent. Swallowing hard, he mumbled to the coach, “My father died this morning. Is it all right if I miss practice today?”The coach put his arm gently around his shoulder and said, “Take the rest of the week off, son, and don't even plan to come back to the game on Saturday.”

注意：
1．所续写短文的词数应为150左右；
2．应使用5个以上短文文中标有下划线的关键词语；
3．续写部分分为两段，每段的开头语已为你写好；
4．续写完成后，请用下划线标出你所使用的关键词语。
Paragraph1：

Saturday arrived, and the game was not going well.

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Paragraph2:

Finally, after the team left, the coach noticed the young man sitting quietly in the corner alone. __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

3 . Sixteen brave runners recently gathered in the Russian village of Oymyakon, also known as the world’s pole of cold, to compete in the coldest official race in history.

Oymyakon is the coldest permanently inhabited place on Earth, with temperatures constantly dropping to under -50 degrees Celsius in winter time. This place is so cold that a person’s unprotected face can suffer frostbite(冻伤) in a matter of second. Oymyakon can barely be called livable, let alone suitable for a marathon, and yet at the beginning of this year, 16 runners gathered here to take part in a series of extreme races.

On January 5, the brave runners — aged 21 to 71 and very well-trained — competed in bone-chilling marathons for 5, 10, 20, 30 and 42 kilometers across the frozen taiga(泰加森林) of central Yakutia. At the start of the run, the air temperature was an almost unbearable -52 degrees Celsius, and by the time the first and only runner reached the 39km mark, it had increased to -48 degrees Celsius.

“We could see entire amazement in the eyes of tourists who traveled here from Australia, Taiwan, Japan and India to watch the world’s coldest race,” runner Sargylana Neustroyeva told The Siberian Times. “This was our first try at organizing the extremely cold marathon. Next year we are definitely doing another race, and all athletes from around the world are welcome!”

“We wanted to make running in -45⁰C and colder more popular, and to show that athletes can adapt to extremely low temperatures” champion runner Yegor Abramov added.

The world’s coldest race was organized by Alexander Krylov, head of Turuu Tour agency. He plans to do it again next year, hopefully with more brave runners able to endure the extreme winter temperatures of Oymyakon.

1. What can we learn about Oymyakon?

A．It’s a Russian village with people living there normally.

B．It’s a Russian village often for runners to try cold marathon.

C．There are no plants growing around the village.

D．Many tourists from around the world come here to spend winter.

2. Why did the sixteen runners hold the coldest race?

A．To make a new record for the running races.

B．To challenge their body limit in the cold climate.

C．To make running in low temperature popular.

D．To help promote the tourism in Oymyakon.

3. What would be the best title for the passage?

A．The World Pole of Cold	B．Sixteen Brave Runners
C．An Icy Journey	D．The World’s Coldest Race

4 . Recently, as I watched my son Nathan play basketball for his school team, I was feeling sorry for myself and for him. His team was facing adversity(困境) on the court, trailing for three quarters of the game. As for me, I had just been dismissed from my job.

As I watched what my son was experiencing, I recalled the events earlier in the day—packing up everything in a box and saying goodbye to my colleagues. During the drive home, I kept telling myself that I will find work again—I am confident in my experience and abilities, but self-doubt was still sticking its foot in the door.

The game entered the fourth quarter with Nathan’s team still trailing. I saw the determination on his back to not only tie the game, but then go ahead by three points. Then, a player from the other team made an unbelievable shot to tie the game up again. With a tie game and seconds on the clock, Nathan found himself with the ball and with skill and confidence, he made the basket with a defender hanging all over him. The other player was called for a foul(犯规).

As Nathan stood preparing for a shot that would put his team up by three points, I saw the focus and determination on his face, with no room for self-doubt. After he made the free throw, his team managed to stop the other team from scoring, winning the game and moving on to the finals.

As I sat there, my heart bursting with pride, it dawned on me. I had taught him perseverance(毅力) in the face of adversity, and he had just taught me the same lesson. That brief moment of self-doubt and feeling sorry for myself was blown away by the actions of my son on the basketball court. He will play in the finals, but it doesn’t matter if he wins or loses. At this moment, we both won.

1. We can learn from the text that ________.

A．I lost my job for lack of experience and abilities.

B．Nathans team won a narrow victory in the basketball game.

C．I was proud of Nathan because he won the game in the finals.

D．Nathan had never doubted himself whenever he was in trouble.

2. The underlined word “trailing” in the first paragraph probably means ________.

A．losing	B．falling behind
C．being defeated	D．winning

3. What can we infer from the last paragraph?

A．My son would win in the finals and I would find a job soon.

B．I had once taught my son face to face that we should never give up.

C．It was my encouragement and help that made my son win the game.

D．I would become more confident about my future after this experience.

4. What is the best title for the text?

A．An Inspiring Game	B．A Moment of Self-doubt
C．Lesson from My Son	D．An Unforgettable Experience

5 . 阅读下面短文，根据其内容写一篇60词左右的内容概要。

Every year, and more parents complain to their children’s schools about PE. They believe that their children shouldn’t have to participate in physical activity if they don’t want to. Supporters of PE, however, believe that it is a necessary element of all-round schooling and our society’s well-being. They insist PE in schools remains one of the few places by which the youth can be forced to participate in aerobic exercise.

Firstly, they believe that participation in sport promotes health. In fact physical education is a springboard for involvement in sport and physical activities throughout life. Government is, or should be, concerned with the health of its citizens. Encouraging physical activity in the young through compulsory PE fights child overweight and contributes to forming lifelong habits of exercise. This doesn’t have to be through traditional team sports; increasingly schools are able to offer exercise in the form of swimming, gymnastics, dance, etc.

Besides, physical education help to develop character and the mutual respect required to succeed in an adult environment. Playing team sports builds character and encourages students to work with others, as they would be expected to do in most business or sporting environments. Sport teaches children how to win and lose with good grace and builds a strong school spirit through competition with other institutions. It is often the experience of playing on a team together that builds the strongest friendships at school, which endure for years afterwards.

Finally, the pursuit for national sporting achievement begins in school. If schools don’t have compulsory PE, it is much harder to pick out, develop and equip athletes to represent the country on a wider stage. However, it’s much easier to find suitable individuals with a full sports program in every school.

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6 . It’s very common these days for people to take some sort of regular exercise each week. But if you’ve never done it before, what’s the best way to go about it?     1     He or she will create a personalized plan for you based on your aims.

However, each hourly session can be steep considering you have to pay both the personal trainer and membership of the gym, too. So what’s left? Well, if you have the courage to do it, you can make your own plan. It’s relatively easy to do if you have the know-how.     2    

First, keep your fitness goal in mind. Are you looking to slim down or increase your abilities? Whatever it is, make sure the things you choose to do are achieving that goal. Next, do your research.     3     Watch as many of these as possible, but make sure to be a little critical of them — everyone has a different physique and what works for one may not work for another. Finally, keep your feet on the ground.     4     It takes at least three months to see any realistic body changes. And don’t be overzealous(过度热衷的) — never work in pain   — a good workout is difficult and challenging, but never painful. Pain means you are damaging yourself.

If nothing else, focus on calisthenics (健身操).     5     Do as many of one exercise as you can without stopping, and then try and repeat that number twice more — make sure you sweat, and don’t forget to rest for a minute in between each activity!

A．Be patient with yourself and set realistic goals.

B．But before you do, here are some basic pointers.

C．Well, many people make use of a personal trainer.

D．They just don’t want to design their own workout plan.

E．These days, social media is full of fitness videos and advice.

F．Find a way to make each exercise more difficult as you get in shape.

G．These are the basic body movements which everyone can do anywhere.

7 . It has become one of the most moving pictures of the 2017 London Marathon： Matthew Rees stopping 300 metres short of the finish line to help DavidWyeth， a stranger on the verge of collapse， finish the race． "I was just about to sprint （冲刺） to the finish when I saw David，" Rees tells me． "His legs were completely jelly-like and he collapsed （崩溃） in front of me． So I decided to forget my race． He had come so far and after 26 miles of running I wanted him to make the finish．"

Rees， who was running his third marathon as part of the Swansea Harriers club， was having a hard race himself． "Earlier on， I suddenly experienced some leg problems and was in a lot of pain，" he said． " I nearly dropped out but I decided I wanted to get to the finish line． When I saw David， he was clearly having the same thought． It felt like fate that we were meant to cross together．" What did he say to him？ " I was trying to cheer him on and keep him calm． I just kept on saying：‘ You will finish． I won't leave your side． We'll get to that finish line．'"

Rees only started running two years ago． "I wanted to get a bit fitter，" he says， "and more importantly， it was for mental health reasons． I was suffering from anxiety and running really helps with that． It's changed my life．"

The video of the two men crossing the finish line arm in arm immediately was viewed widely， though Rees failed to finish under two hours， 50 minutes， his goal for the race． Rees， with his modesty（谦逊）， tells me that such acts of kindness happen frequently in the running community and it just so happened that his sportsmanship was caught on camera．

1. When Rees was about to complete the marathon， he found ______ ．

A．he had to give up the race

B．David would run in front of him

C．something was wrong with David

D．he had a leg problem

2. We can infer from the last paragraph that ______ ．

A．Rees was excited to be on camera

B．Rees became interested in running

C．Rees was sad because of his failure

D．Rees did not think much of what he did

3. What is the writer's main purpose of writing the text？ ______

A．To share a touching story in a Marathon．

B．To show the meaning of running a Marathon．

C．To explain how to become a good sportsman．

D．To describe the friendship between two runners．

8 . Why was Holly absent from swimming practice today?

A．She was ill.

B．She climbed a mountain.

C．She went biking with her family.

9 . 假设你是李华。你和美国笔友David经常有电子邮件往来，相互了解中美学生的学习、生 活情况。近期他来信向你了解你们学校学生的体育开展情况。请你用英语写一封电子邮件，内 容包括：
1.你们学校受学生欢迎的体育项目；
2.你所喜欢的体育项目。
注意：1.词数80左右；2.可以适当增加细节，以使行文连贯。
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10 . The human body is designed to move. But modern lifestyles and office jobs rarely give us the chance to move around. As we know, we’re sitting while we’re eating; we sit in the car and we sit while we watch TV. And many of us sit for many hours at work.

New research shows that sitting less than three hours a day might extend your life by two years. Peter Katzmarzyk, a scientist at the University of Louisiana in the southern United States, says that sitting is ubiquitous in our lives, meaning it is something we do all the time, everywhere.

However, Mr. Katzmarzyk says that does not mean you can sit for the rest of your waking hours. He also says you may exercise often, “We can’t throw away physical activity. It’s extremely important. We have 60 years of research showing us that.”

Mr. Katzmarzyk and his colleagues are part of a new generation of researchers studying how sitting all day affects length of life. “Studies that have assessed the relationship between sitting and mortality (死亡率) or television viewing and mortality are very rare. There’s only been a few of them, actually five or six now, in the last four or five years.” They found that cutting television time to less than two hours a day could add one point four years to life.

Luckily, change is already coming to some offices, especially in the design of desks. A “standing desk” lets people stand while they work. Another new design is called the “treadmill desk.” A treadmill is an exercise machine that lets you walk in one place. Even some U.S. schools are beginning to experiment with desks that are part bicycle to keep children moving. That’s one of the strategies that many companies are using now.

Mr. Katzmarzyk also says studying this problem has inspired his team to make a few changes in their own lives.

1. The underlined word “ubiquitous” is closest in meaning to ________．

A．dangerous	B．impressive
C．comfortable	D．common

2. Which view agrees with the opinion of Mr. Katzmarzyk?

A．Sitting long may help people live longer.

B．Exercise is important and don’t sit too long.

C．People are unaware of the harm of sitting too long.

D．Stopping watching TV is a necessary but hard task.

3. What does Mr. Katzmarzyk think of his study in Paragraph 4?

A．It’s been ignored by many scientists.	B．It’s a study that begins too late.
C．It’s an entirely new area of study.	D．It’s been a hot subject for scientists.

4. Why are the desks of all kinds designed for those who sit more?

A．To give them more comfort.	B．To improve their work efficiency.
C．To offer them the chance to exercise.	D．To seek pleasure while working.