1 . As a short-distance track and field runner at high school and college, I often found myself wondering which of the eight or sometimes nine lanes (跑道) on the track was the fastest. It was conventional wisdom that the middle lanes — lanes three through six — were the best.

This idea, in a way, is baked into the rules of track and field. In events with multiple heats — from the college level all the way to the Olympics — the people who run faster times in earlier heats are assigned to middle lanes in later heats. In other words, the fastest runners are rewarded with what are, supposedly, better lane assignment (分配).

Using 20 years of track and field data from the International Association of Athletics Federations, I found that the long-held beliefs about lane advantages are not supported by the data. And in fact, for the 200-meter sprint (冲刺), the evidence suggests that lanes often regarded as the least desirable are actually the fastest.

In most races, the fastest runners are assigned to the middle lanes according to the competition rules. Not surprisingly, the fastest runners — who are in the middle lanes — often win. Are these racers winning because those lanes are the fastest or because those runners tend to be the fastest?

Next time you're watching any of the shorter track and field events in the Olympics, listen and see if anyone repeats the old adage that the middle lanes are the fastest. The data shows this isn't true, so if someone in the outside lanes takes a surprise gold, you'll know it is not because of their lane assignment, but because they were a slow qualifier (入围者).

1. What was the traditional belief in the track and field lanes?

A．All lanes were the same.

B．The inner lanes were the best.

C．The middle lanes were the best.

D．The outside lanes were the best.

2. How did the author get his finding?

A．By referring to long term data.

B．By using other research results.

C．By watching the latest sprinters' competition.

D．By experimenting which lane was the fastest.

3. What does the underlined word “adage” probably mean in paragraph 5?

A．Saying.	B．Style.
C．Package.	D．Stage.

4. Which of the following does the author approve of?

A．Losing racers tend to be in the slowest lane.

B．Winning racers tend to be in the fastest lane.

C．Winning racers often run fastest.

D．Racers win because their lanes are the fastest.