1 . There are many weird sports that are present around the world. From each region of the world, along with the very popular common sports, there are also those really popular but very weird kinds of sports.

This is indeed a very strange kind of sport that tests your stamina (耐力). You will learn how to be agile (灵活的) while competing against a horse. This game originated in the Welsh town of Llanwrtyd Wells. This sport really has to do with strength. You will require great agility and strength in order to take part in this. Marathon human contestants are put to compete against those mounted people. This is how the marathon testing takes place.

This is a sports event that was first introduced in Finland. This is all about a male competitor racing with a female in a certain way. There would be many obstructions and blocks on the way which would definitely bring you challenges. The person to win would have to finish the race without losing his female partner in the course of overcoming the obstacles even for once. This race takes place really fast and the obstacles are set that way.

This is yet another weird sport that welcomes you to use your toes. This is quite the same kind of sport that you used to play as a child which involved toe wrestling. This has now been turned into a major sport that even has a World Toe Wrestling Competition. It first originated in a pub of Derbyshire.

The locals took this sport with great enjoyment and then made this so popular that it soon had its own championship. The individuals who participate have only got to use their feet and then this is tougher than it may sound.

This is a kind of game where even the spectators (观众) get splashed with mud but in fact that is quite the fun. The very annual Summer Redneck Games in East Dublin bring about this game and bring about some of the greatest hubcap-discus throws with it. This is also a great sport to show the strength and dexterity of your feet.

Good afternoon, students and teachers. As a member of the International Olympic Committee, I am     1    (delight) to have been invited to your school to talk to you about the history and     2    (significant) of the Olympic Games. I’ll share some     3    (interest) facts and stories with you, and then we’ll have time for questions?

Do you know when the ancient Olympic Games began? It was in the year 776 BC. They     4    (hold) at Olympia in Greece every four years, for almost 12     5    (century), until AD 394.

Some of the sports from the ancient Olympics are still seen today, such as the long jump, wresting and running. At the ancient Olympics by tradition the athletes were all men and they had to compete     6    (wear) no clothes. Single women were allowed to take part in their own competition, at a separate festival in honour of Hera, the wife of the Greek god Zeus. Today, both male and female athletes from around the world can take part, no matter what nation they come     7    .

The contemporary Olympics were first held in 1896, in Athens. It was a Frenchman, Pierre de coubortin,    8     brought the Olympics back to life. He dreamed that the Olympics would make     9     possible for people of all countries to live side by side in peace. Now people all over the world are helping to realize this dream. Among them are many well-known athletes.

Did you know that perhaps the most famous boxer of all time first came to public attention during the 1960 Rome Olympics? He won the gold medal for the USA, under his birth name Cassius Clay. Afterwards, this young man went on to win the World Heavyweight Boxing Championship in 1964 and later changed his name to     10     one we all know, Muhammad Ali. He returned to the Olympic Games in Atlanta in 1996 to light the Olympic flame at the opening ceremony.

4 . All over the world people enjoy sports. Sports help to keep people healthy and happy, and to live longer. Many people like to watch others play games. They buy tickets or turn on their TVs to watch the games. Often they get very excited when “their” player or team wins.

Some sports are so interesting that people everywhere go in for them. Football, for example, has spread around the world. Swimming is popular in all countries near the sea or in those with many rivers. What fun it is to jump into a pool or lake, whether in China, Egypt or Italy! And think of people in cold countries. Think how many people love to skate or ski in Japan, Norway or Canada. Some sports or games go back thousands of years, like running or jumping. Chinese wushu, for example, has a very long history. But basketball and volleyball are rather new. They are about one hundred years old. People are inventing new sports or games all the time. Water－skiing is one of the newest in the family of sports.

People from different countries often become good friends after a game together. Sports help them to understand each other. One learns to fight hard but fight fair, to win without pride and to lose with grace．

5 . I come from a family that loves sports. My father coaches Little League baseball. My mother swims nearly every weekend. My brother is on his high-school basketball team, and I am the best hitter on my middle-school volleyball team. All of us have benefited(受益）from sports. One of the most common ways for kids to take part in sports is to join a team. Joining a sports team should be a school requirement.

Playing sports is good for both the body and mind. Everyone knows that exercise helps people stay fit. For example, swimming helps your heart work better and it also helps build muscle strength(肌肉力量）. In addition, school athletes(运动员） often have a healthy diet. I eat a lot of fruit and vegetables and avoid fatty foods because I must stay in great condition.

Being on a team allows students to enjoy a healthier social life. They often make more friends and can be some of the most popular kids in school. Since joining the basketball team, my brother has made friends with a lot of his tea mates and has showed more interest in spending time with them.

Kids who take part in school teams sometimes earn college scholarships(奖学金）. My brother's friend, Justin, played football in high school. His family did not have money to send him to college. However, a college invited him to play on its team. The college is paying for him to go to school. Joining a team turned out to be one of the best decisions he had ever made. Now he studies at a great college and plays on its football team Not every school athlete gets a college scholarship, but joining a school team-makes it possible.

Although some people may not like the idea of forcing students to join a school team, its many benefits such as keeping kids heal thy, new friendships, and possible scholarships cannot be denied(否认）.

7 . People think children should play sports. Sports are fun, and children keep healthy while playing with others. However, playing sports can have _______ effects on children. It may produce feelings of poor self-respect or aggressive behavior in some children. According to research on kids and sports, 40,000,000 kids play sports in the US. Of these, 18,000,000 say they have been _______ at or called names while playing sports. This leaves many children with a bad _______ of sports. They think sports are just too aggressive.

Many researchers believe adults, especially parents and coaches, are the main _______ of too much aggression in children's sports. They believe children _______ aggressive adult behavior. This behavior is then further strengthened through both positive and negative feedback. Parents and coaches are powerful teachers because children usually look up to them. Often these adults behave aggressively themselves, sending children the message that _______ is everything. Many parents go to children's sporting events and shout _______ at other players or cheer when their child behaves _______. As well, children are even taught that hurting other players is _______ or are pushed to continue playing even when they are injured. __________, the media makes violence seem exciting. Children watch adult sports games and see violent behavior replayed over and over on television.

As a society, we really need to __________ this problem and do something about it. Parents and coaches in particular should act as better examples for children. They also need to teach children better __________. They should not just cheer when children win or act aggressively. They should teach children to __________ themselves whether they win or not. __________, children should not be allowed to continue to play when they are injured. If adults allow children to play when injured, this gives the message that health is not as __________ as winning.

8 . When the Chinese government first sent students to America in the late 19^th century, it could not decide whether their goal should be to acquire specific technical knowledge or to _______ new ways of thinking. More than a century later, a third of a million Chinese students are enrolled at American schools and universities. Yet folks back home remain _______ about what an American degree means.

Attending an American university is a good career move. It is also _______ as a soft option for well-off kids, scared of the gaokao, China’s brutal university-entrance exams. Yet many bright Chinese youngsters explain the appeal of an American education in a remarkably _______ fashion. One place to hear such dreams is an English-language debating tournament in the central city of Wuhan. It follows a(n) _______ popular at high schools across America, known as “Public Forum Debate”.

At first sight, the event bears the stamp of _______. It uses the classrooms at a bilingual private boarding school in Wuhan with its own golf course and an ice-hockey team coached by imported Russians. But the debate is not for big-city _______. It is run by the National High School Debate League of China, which _______ contests in dozens of Chinese cities each year. This one has _______ pupils, aged 13-18, from nine cities. Many will never study overseas.

The proposition is: “Countries should give ________ to climate-change adaptation over alleviation.” An early round is won by a pair of 17-year-old girls who attend the international section of a state-run high school in Shenyang. In confident, rapid-fire English the duo argue that climate change should be treated with realism. The pair also had speeches arguing the opposite ready, in case the coin-toss had gone ________.

Unlike America, where debating clubs are ________ by shouty, self-assured boys, most contestants in the Chinese league are girls. Of its 20 highest-ranked debaters, 16 are female. In a society that is still ________-centered, the chance to argue forcefully and be applauded for it has a rare appeal, suggests Liam Mather, the league’s executive director. The winners in Wuhan are Joyce Yi and Erica Chen, from a state school in the southern boomtown of Shenzhen. Their swaggering first-round performance leaves two ________ boys open-mouthed like fish. Ms Chen initially ________ debating in English because “I’m kind of an argumentative person.” Then she realized the subtle effects of having to research both sides of an argument. Chinese education emphasizes one correct answer to a question, she says.

I'm pleased to tell you that an international marathon will take place in our city.

Yours，

Li Hua

The wife-carrying World Championship has been celebrated in a small town in central Finland since 1992. In 1992, the people of the town decided to restart some long-forgotten traditions.     1     He was said to only accept men as members of his gang who proved their worth in challenges. At that time, it was also a common practice to steal women from neighboring villages.

    2     A large number of competitors, people, and journalists from Finland to Canada attend the Wife-carrying World Championship every year.

    3     The Wife-carrying World Championship is held on a 253.3 meters long official track. The track has two dry obstacles and a water obstacle, about a meter deep. The wife to be carried may be your own, or your neighbor’s. The minimum weight of the wife to be carried is 49 kg. If she is less than 49kg, the wife will be given a heavy bag to carry. Each time a competitor drops his wife, that couple will be fined 15 seconds.    4    

Alongside with the Wife-carrying World Championship, there is also a team competition. The distance is the same but three men in the team carry the wife in turns. At the exchange point the carrier has to drink official “wife-carrying drink.” Then he may continue the race.

    5    

While the Wife-carrying World Championship is being held, there are bands playing music, a wife carrying dance and other forms of entertainment.”