1 . The Price of a Dream
I grew up poor. We had little money, but plenty of love and attention. I understood that no matter how poor a person was, they could still afford a dream. My dream was athletics.
By the time I was sixteen, I was good at baseball and football. My high school coach was Ollie Jarvis. He not only believed in me, but taught me the difference between having a dream and showing conviction (信念).
One summer a friend recommended me for a summer job. This meant a chance for money in my pocket — cash for dates with girls, certainly, money for a new bike and new clothes, and the start of savings for a house for my mother.
Then I realized I would have to give up summer baseball to handle the work schedule, and that meant I would have to tell Coach Jarvis I wouldn’t be playing. I was afraid of this, but my mother said, “If you make your bed, you have to lie in it.”
When I told Coach Jarvis, he was as mad as I expected him to be. “Your playing days are limited. You can’t afford to waste them,” he said.
I stood before him with my head hanging, trying to think of the words that would explain to him why I dream of buying my mom a house.
“How much are you going to make at this job, son?” he demanded.
“Three point twenty-five an hour,” I replied.
“Well,” he asked, “is $3. 25 an hour the price of a dream?”
That question exposed the difference between wanting something right now and having a goal. I devoted myself to sports that summer, and within the year I was drafted by the Pittsburgh Pirates to play rookie-league ball, and offered a $20, 000 contract. I signed with the Denver Broncos in 1984 for $1.7 million, and bought my mother my dream house.
1. Why was the writer grateful to Coach Jarvis?A.Because Coach Jarvis made him set a goal. |
B.Because Coach Jarvis supplied him with new clothes. |
C.Because Coach Jarvis gave him financial support. |
D.Because Coach Jarvis helped him show conviction. |
A.Balance summer baseball and the work schedule. |
B.Refuse the job offer for summer baseball. |
C.Give up summer baseball for the job. |
D.Ask his coach Jarvis for advice. |
A.You must eat the bitter fruit of your own making. |
B.Believe in yourself, but above all be patient. |
C.You must rely on yourself first, then others. |
D.A good beginning makes a good ending. |
A.He failed to buy his mother a house. |
B.He succeeded as a sportsman. |
C.He became a successful businessman. |
D.He made some money in the summer job. |
2 . “Barefoot Mike” gets a lot of attention when he shows up at the beginning of a race. He loves to run and has been running since he was a kid. He loves to and often competes in 10K races. But That’s not the reason he gets so much attention. People notice him because when he runs, “Barefoot Mike” runs barefoot.
Running barefoot has become a huge trend in the world of running. “I didn’t set out to be a trend setter,” laughed “Barefoot Mike”, otherwise known as Mike Whitaker. “I’ve always been a runner, but until a few years ago, I always wore shoes. Then one day I was running after a rainstorm. I stepped off into the grass to avoid a puddle (水坑) on the sidewalk, and accidentally stepped into a huge muddy puddle that had been hidden in the grass. I tried to keep running, but the wet and dirty shoe made it really hard. I figured the best solution was to just get rid of the shoes.”
Mike took off his shoes and dropped them into the nearest trash can. “Then I started running. At first I went really slowly because I was watching out for rocks or other things that could hurt my feet, but there really weren’t any problems.” He started going faster. “It felt so good!” Mike said. “My knee, which always ached, didn’t ache. My foot was able to spread out so I had better balance. And my feet didn’t feel all hot and sweaty. It was awesome!”
“There are actually potential health benefits to running barefoot” said Dr. Nancy Bower, a podiatrist (足科医师).
A recent study agrees. A team of researchers recently videotaped several people running—first wearing shoes and then barefoot. In almost every case, when wearing shoes, the runners tended to land on the heel of their foot, which they call “heel-striking.” Many runners have impact injuries such as knee pain. Heel-striking may be the cause of these injuries or may make an existing injury worse. When running barefoot, the runners tended to land on the middle part of the foot. The force is spread out throughout the foot. The ankle, shin (胫部), knee and hip don’t get the shock of a hard landing with every step.
1. Why does Mike receive a lot of attention while running?A.Because he runs very fast. | B.Because he loses his shoes. |
C.Because he wears no shoes. | D.Because he wears strange clothes. |
A.He liked running barefoot. |
B.He was advised to run barefoot. |
C.His shoe became very uncomfortable. |
D.His dream of becoming famous motivated him. |
A.was very tired | B.was badly hurt |
C.gave up running | D.felt unexpectedly great |
A.is bad for one’s health |
B.is caused by existing injuries |
C.happens when one runs barefoot |
D.can be avoided by wearing sports shoes |
A.How to choose shoes. | B.Why people need shoes. |
C.Useful tips on running barefoot. | D.The advantages of running barefoot. |
3 . Have you ever wondered how your favorite NBA team received its famous name? All NBA teams have an interesting story or a history behind their names. Some of the names reflected the city’s culture or history, others came from previous owners and many were selected through “Name the Team” contests.
For teams like the Los Angeles Lakers and the Utah Jazz, the names were not always a reflection of the city. Even though Los Angeles has no lakes, the Lakers name has been a city treasure for almost 40 years. Before going to Los Angeles, the team originated in Minneapolis, Minnesota. In1947, team officials changed the name to the Lakers to reflect the Minnesota State’s nickname, “Land of 10,000 Lakes”. The team name went unchanged after moving to Los Angeles in1960.
Because the Utah’s team originated in New Orleans, Louisiana, it was called the Jazz. In 1974, New Orleans club officials chose the name to represent the city for its reputation as the “Jazz Capital of the World”. The name stayed with the team even after they found a new home in Salt Lake City, Utah in 1979.
The original owner of the Chicago Bulls, Richard Klein, named the team the Bulls. He picked the name because a fighting bull is relentless and never quits. Klein, who founded the club in 1966, believed these qualities were necessary for a championship team and hoped his Chicago athletes would live up to the team name. The Bulls, the winner of the six NBA championships, has definitely followed the belief.
In 1967, the Indiana Pacers selected their team name in a different way from most other teams. Their decision was based on what they wanted to achieve in the NBA. Team officials chose the Pacers name because the organization wanted to set the “pace” in professional basketball.
1. Which can be the best title for this passage?A.The Long History of NBA Teams |
B.Interesting Stories about NBA teams |
C.Excellent Qualities of NBA Team Officials |
D.Stories Behind the Names of NBA Teams |
A.The name was selected from a “Name the Team” contest. |
B.The name shows that Los Angeles is a city with various lakes. |
C.It was named after a city treasure, which had a long history. |
D.The team got this name in another state, which had a lot of lakes. |
A.New Orleans. | B.Salt Lake City. |
C.Los Angeles. | D.Minneapolis. |
A.He had guessed the success of the team. |
B.People in Chicago used to like watching bullfighting. |
C.He wished the team to have the qualities of fighting bulls. |
D.Chicago was then a city famous for fighting bulls. |
4 . Five tips for safe running
We all know that exercise is good for our health. But some kinds of exercise may be better than others. Running, for example, may help to protect against heart disease and other health problems.
Running is good exercise, but it can be hard on the body.
Take it easy. Do not run too much, too soon or too fast. Most people get running injuries (受伤) when they push themselves too bad. The body needs time to get used to increase in distance or speed.
Listen to your body. Most running injuries do not come unexpectedly (意外地).
They may include body aches, sore muscles (肌肉) and pain that does not go away.
Take good notes. Take time after each run to write down what you did and how you felt. Look for patterns, things that happen over again. These notes will help you find the best exercise for you.
Cross train. As we said earlier, running is hard on your body. So physical fitness experts suggest some form of cross training to improve muscle balance and to help you stay injury free. They say, besides running, swimming, yoga, and riding a bicycle are good exercises.
A.Get good running shoes. |
B.Here are five ideas to reduce the risk of injury. |
C.Muscles and joints (关节) need time to recover. |
D.Running may also help you live longer |
E.These exercises are easier on the body. |
F.Usually, there are warning signs. |
G.As advertisements for the running shoe Nike say, “just do it.” |
Exercise is something
6 . My dad, Greg Newman, had wanted to be a race car driver, but things didn’t work out for him. So I guess having a son who could become a race car driver was the next best thing. Don’t get me wrong — Dad didn’t push me into racing. In fact, when I was about 10 years old, my dad was afraid that driving a car wasn’t my dream. So he took the racing away from me. I wasn’t very happy with that decision. It wasn’t long before Dad realized that racing was what I loved.
At four, Dad bought me my first Quarter Midget (袖珍赛车) and that’s really where it started for us. Back then, Dad coached me. He would stick out (伸出) his foot in the path of the race car, and then tell me to exactly hit his foot. By repeating this again and again, Dad believed that I would be faster and sharper on the race track.
Dad worked really long hours at his car repair business to make money so that I could race each weekend. I can remember that every night before he turned off the lights in the garage, Dad would tell me: “Don’t forget to kiss your race car good night.” He was trying to teach me that if I show respect, it’s returned. He wanted me to show thankfulness and respect for my race car and for all the hard work that we and many others had put into the dream.
My dad, my mom and my sister gave up a lot of things to help me race. For us, there was no better moment than winning the 50th running of the Daytona 500 in 2018. That evening in February 2018, I knew I had gotten a good push. I could hear the excitement. My father couldn’t speak a word, and when he got to Victory Lane (车道), he nearly knocked me over and gave me such a big hug.
1. Why did Greg Newman stop his son to race when his son was 10 years old?A.Because he thought racing was dangerous. |
B.Because he worried that his son didn’t like racing. |
C.Because he didn’t want his son to fail like he did. |
D.Because he couldn’t afford the money. |
A.training his son to race |
B.working hard to make money |
C.buying his son a mini racing car |
D.changing his job as a race car driver |
A.To improve his son’s skill. | B.To help his son to be braver. |
C.To have fun with his son. | D.To make his son more careful. |
A.get help from his family |
B.treat the race car as his son |
C.feel grateful that he could follow his dream |
D.develop a close relationship with his race car |
A.disappointed | B.surprised | C.sad | D.excited |
7 . Physical education, or PE, isn’t required for all high school students. In some schools, it isn’t offered for some different reasons. But should high school students have physical education? The answer is certainly “yes”.
Today many people don’t do sports. But as is known to all. doing sports is very important for an adult. Teaching teens the importance of a healthy lifestyle and making fitness plans now can help teens put exercise in the first place as an adult.
High school isn’t that easy. Many students are under a lot of stress. Stress can be harmful to a student’s studies and life. Doing sports can help them deal with stress better, helping them live a happier life at school.
The American Heart Association says that 10 million kids and teens suffer from obesity (肥胖). Teens should get 60 minutes of physical activity per day to control their weight and to help their bones get stronger. The increase in activities that don’t get teens to move around, such as computer games, means many teens don’t get their required exercise. PE classes act as a public health measure (措施) to encourage physical activities and help teens have healthy weights.
Not doing sports increases teens’ hazard of developing many diseases. An active lifestyle offers a good way of protection from these health problems. As much as 75 percent of health-care spending goes toward treating medical conditions that can be prevented by lifestyle changes, according to the American College of Sports Medicine.
According to the President’s Council on Fitness, Sports and Nutrition (PCFSN), students who performed five hours of physical activities each week improved their academic (学业的) performance. Students from programs with no physical activity, who used the extra time for classroom study, did not perform better on tests than those who gave up some study time in support of physical education.
1. According to Paragraph 2, what does physical education in high school mean?A.Making teens attach importance to ęxercise later. |
B.Removing the stress faced by teens at school. |
C.Getting teens to encourage adults to exercise. |
D.Helping teens learn to make good plans |
A.Happiness. | B.Risk. | C.Safety. | D.Sadness. |
A.means making students choose between sports and studies |
B.helps students make good use of all their time |
C.means students adjust to their studies better |
D.helps students do better in their studies |
A.Why high school students should receive physical education. |
B.Why some schools consider physical education important. |
C.How schools can help students love doing sports. |
D.How high school students can live a better life. |
According to a review of evidence in a medical journal, runners live three years
While running
The best exercise is one that you enjoy and will do. But otherwise... it's probably running .To avoid knee pain, you can run on soft surfaces, do exercises to
9 . Don’t Take the Fun Out of Youth Sports
When I joined a private football league a few years ago, the sport meant everything to me.
My coach said that I had lots of potential, and I became captain of my
I
A.class | B.club | C.team | D.board |
A.playing | B.living | C.learning | D.working |
A.great | B.equal | C.right | D.extra |
A.business | B.struggle | C.attempt | D.pressure |
A.free | B.private | C.good | D.basic |
A.matches | B.courses | C.lessons | D.programs |
A.replaced | B.criticized | C.changed | D.challenged |
A.jump | B.play | C.run | D.shoot |
A.duty | B.meeting | C.operation | D.training |
A.necessary | B.boring | C.scientific | D.practical |
A.speaking | B.moving | C.sleeping | D.breathing |
A.used | B.intended | C.made | D.described |
A.till | B.since | C.before | D.because |
A.full | B.tired | C.lazy | D.big |
A.size | B.share | C.space | D.state |
A.gave | B.kept | C.ended | D.picked |
A.sad | B.shameful | C.silly | D.serious |
A.reconsidered | B.rediscovered | C.reformed | D.replaced |
A.quit | B.improve | C.relax | D.inspire |
A.fell | B.stepped | C.slowed | D.calmed |
10 . My track and field coach, Mr. Jones, had decided to get the team to take part in the 4×100m race. It would be the first time that we were running in such a race. We needed to work as a team to improve our speed. The most critical moment was the passing of the baton (接力棒) at the right time to the next runner.
Mr. Jones had chosen me to start the race. The next runner would be Susan. In the beginning, whenever we practiced passing the baton, something would go terribly wrong. I would either be going too slowly or she would be taking off too late. We needed to perfect it. At the same time, I had to make sure that I would not go beyond the yellow line.
Finally it was the day of the race. We were confident that the gold medal would be ours. Each of us had improved in our running speed. Our passing of the baton had been perfected during the practices.
My reactions were exact and accurate as I started running. Everything felt the way it should be as I sprinted towards Susan. I held the baton in my sweaty palms, promising myself not to let it go. My long legs moved me as fast as I could go round the corner. As I came closer to my final steps, my heart was beating faster than usual. The cheering by the spectators (观众) got into me and I became nervous. “What if we lose?” I thought to myself. It was then that I saw Susan in the far distance.
I held out the baton and continued running quickly towards Susan. Susan yelled “Slow down, slow down!” However, it was too late. The official held up the red flag. It was then that I realized that I had gone beyond the yellow line.
1. What does the underlined word “it” in the second paragraph refer to?A.Going too slowly. | B.Taking off too late. |
C.Passing the baton. | D.Going beyond the yellow line. |
A.They worked as a team and were supported by the spectators. |
B.They gained an advantage of a stable state of mind in the race. |
C.They had learned how to avoid breaking the rules in the race. |
D.They had perfected the running speed and the passing of the baton. |
A.She ran too fast throughout the race. | B.She lost his focus in the race. |
C.Her start skill needed improving. | D.She was not well-trained in running. |
A.Proud. | B.Grateful. | C.Disappointed. | D.Excited. |