1 . Watching a young, 21-year-old Jordan Spieth win the US Masters today, I could not help but think of the great qualities he displayed to win the most famous golf event on the calendar against the greatest players in the world.
Jordan Spieth has learned to keep himself in check. There is a great proverb: “A fool shares all his or her feelings while a wise man keeps them in check.” As I watched Spieth playing, I noticed a constant calm around him. Whether he hit the shot he wanted or not, he was the same and kept his emotions steady (稳定的) and strong. He never blamed the crowd, clubs or wind.
He knows which club he is going to drive with on every hole; he knows which side of the fairway (高尔夫球道) to land and exactly where he wants to be standing on every green when he is putting; he has played it through his minds for months. He is the person who makes things happen by planning in advance. Winning is not a fluke (侥幸击中); it’s a by-product of months and years of planning. Nothing happens by chance.
If there is an event that every golfer dreams of winning, it’s the US Masters. So, how would Spieth have felt in 2014 getting so close to winning but coming second? As good as second was, he only wanted to be first. The difference between great shots and poor shots at the Masters is only inches. In that 2014 final round, Spieth was standing on the 8th hole with a 2-shot lead, but through a number of small misses he lost it and never recovered it. However, he never stops learning. As a great person once said, “While you’re green, you’re growing; when you’re brown, you’re dying.” He stays green. He is always reading, learning, and he understands that the greatest teacher of all is failure.
1. Which description is suitable for Jordan Spieth?| A．He can control himself properly. | B．He likes to share his feelings. |
| C．He is a man of great knowledge. | D．He usually uses sayings when speaking. |
| A．He always has a game plan and sticks to it. |
| B．He never does anything until it really happens. |
| C．He usually decides on a club to join in advance. |
| D．He can’t bear losing the chance of winning a game. |
| A．Inspired. | B．Satisfied. |
| C．Doubtful. | D．Curious. |
| A．Feelings of losing the US Masters. | B．Sports qualities of Jordan Spieth. |
| C．Basic skills of winning a golf game. | D．Golfers’ dreams of joining the Masters. |
2 . There are many ways to travel within a city. We can walk, cycle, or take a bus. But no matter which way we travel, we have to stick to the route(线路) the city planners laid down for us.
Parkour practitioners (跑酷爱好者), however, see the city in a completely different way. To them, there are no fixed routes. There are no walls and no stairs—since they jump, climb, roll and crawl to move across, through, over and under anything that they find in their path. The city is their playground.
The International Gymnastics Federation (FIG) has noticed that this activity is drawing more and more people to it—there are 100,000 people taking part in parkour today in the UK alone, according to the Guardian—and how it is helpful for people to be much stronger: It trains coordination(协调性) and balance. So the organization is thinking about recognizing parkour as a new sport and adding it to the Olympics by 2024.
But parkour practitioners themselves don’t seem to be happy with the idea. They see parkour as “a lifestyle”, wrote the website NextSportStar. “It’s a competition against the conditions rather than just a sport.”
Indeed, many do parkour just to “escape the daily routine(事务) and experience the city in different ways”, wrote reporter Oli Mould on The Conversation. They see parkour as a way to express themselves through relaxing moves and creative routes while freeing themselves from the pressure.
It’s great that the FIG wants to develop new sport and stay close to a new cultural form. But it would be greater if they knew that not everything in life is a competition.
1. How do the parkour practitioners do parkour?| A．They move on as they wish. | B．They choose the routes the city planners laid down. |
| C．They run faster than others. | D．They stick to certain routes. |
| A．It’s a special way of life. | B．It draws their attention. |
| C．It’s good for people to keep healthy. | D．It needs some rules and instructions. |
| A．It is more formal than other sports. | B．It helps people to be creative. |
| C．It’s worth adding to the sporting event. | D．It calls on people to work as a team. |
| A．A new sports competition | B．Parkour practitioners |
| C．Training in a different way | D．Making the city their own |
