1 . George Headley would have been a dentist in the USA rather than one of the greatest cricketers (板球运动员) if he had got his papers from Panama on time. The Indian legend was born in Colón, Panama and a period of unemployment in Jamaica caused him to begin the process of seeking a career elsewhere.
The delay, however, gave Headley time to make his first-class debut (首次亮相) for Jamaica against the visiting Lord Tennyson’s XI from England. These were his scores in the three first-class games in the series: 16, 40, and 71. The rest, as they say, is history. Yet, consider what might have occurred if his documents had arrived on time and he had migrated to America. There would have been a missing chapter in cricket.
Headley’s ta le brings to the fore the role that happenstance (偶然情况) plays in life. In the song A Different Comer, George Michael lamented (哀叹) that a romantic union went wrong and suggested that it might have been better if circumstances had worked to prevent their first meeting: “Take me back in time; maybe I can forget. Turn a different corner and we never would have met.”
Our lives are the result of much planning and deliberate action. But they are the result of chance as well. “The harder I practice, the luckier I get” is a quote normally used by sportsmen to discount the occurrence or consequence of luck. Athletes like to think that whatever success they’ve had is only down to them. To admit otherwise is to devalue the skills and efforts.
The changes in luck are a large part of why we watch sports. It fosters uncertainty, which, in turn. enhances interest in the process and the result. On any given day, the underdog can be at the champion. Whenever that occurs, luck is likely to have played some significant part, and sport is better for it.
1. What decision did George Headley make before getting his papers?| A．To complete his official documents in Panama. | B．To sharpen his cricket skills in Jamaica. |
| C．To get a degree in medicine in the USA. | D．To work as a dentist in the USA. |
| A．It affected his debut performance. | B．It became a turning point in his life. |
| C．It benefited the England cricket team. | D．It led to a missing chapter in cricket. |
| A．To stress the importance of chance. |
| B．To explain the necessity of planning ahead. |
| C．To show the significance of the first impressions. |
| D．To illustrate a love-hate relationship with friends. |
| A．Practice makes perfect. | B．Little people can make a big difference. |
| C．Efforts and chances are equally important. | D．Nothing is impossible to a willing heart. |
推选人物：李宁。
推选理由：
1.多次获得中国、世界最佳运动员，多次获得各种荣誉称号；一共获得了14个世界冠军，106枚国内外体操比赛金牌；独创多个体操动作并以其名字命名。
2.创办“李宁品牌”系列运动服装，非常热心公益事业。
注意:
1. 词数：80左右。
2. 不要逐条翻译以上内容，可适当增加细节。
3. 邮件的开头和结尾已给出，不计入总词数。
参考词汇：体操gymnastic；公益事业public service
Dear editor,
I am delighted to learn that you are holding an activity to choose “Outstanding Sportsperson”.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Yours,
Li Hua
3 . Growing up in Joilet, Illinois, in the 1930s, George Mikan often felt everyone was staring at him. Tall and awkward (笨拙的), with thick glasses, he tried to hide by lowering himself when walking and sitting. But someday, everyone would know his name, The Tall Kid. By age 16, Mikan made the high school basketball team. Now 6 feet 8 inches tall and broad-shouldered, his specialty was guarding the basket and blocking shots.
At 6 feet 10 in a sport then dominated(主导) by much smaller men, George Mikan was the model for the dominating tall players of later decades. Towering over most of his competitors, he was one of the most effective scorers of his day, averaging 22.6 points over a professional career that lasted nine seasons. How dominant was Mikan? In his nine seasons, his teams won seven titles and in 1950 he was selected the greatest player of the half-century.
One of the legendary stories about Mikan concerns a game played on Dec. 13, 1949, between the Lakers and the New York Knicks. The grand screen over Madison Square Garden read: “Geo. Mikan vs. Knicks”. When Mikan walked into the locker room before the game, he found his teammates sitting around in their street clothes. One of them greeted Mikan by saying, “They’re advertising you're playing against the Knicks, so go play them. We’ll wait here.”
Mikan was so dominant that the NBA made two big rule changes during his career. They tried to make it more difficult for him to score by expanding the width of the key from 6 feet to 12 feet and they started the 24-second clock after a game in 1950, when the Fort Wayne Pistons decided that the only way they could win was to hold onto the ball and not let the Lakers have it. They ended up winning, 19-18, in the lowest-scoring game in NBA history.
Mikan was in the first class elected to the basketball Hall of Fame in 1959. “Frankly, without George Mikan, the Los Angeles Lakers would not be the organisation we are today,” Lakers owner Jerry Buss said. Magic Johnson also paid tribute to Mikan: “He started the championships. You’ve got to start with Mikan first before you name any Laker. He paved the way for all of us who came after him.”
1. How did Mikan react to his height before reaching 16.| A．Feeling proud. | B．Showing it off. |
| C．Taking its advantage. | D．Feeling ashamed. |
| A．He made a successful scorer as a towering man. |
| B．He required the NBA to change its rules for his good. |
| C．He alone ever played against the Knicks for the Lakers. |
| D．He entered the basketball Hall of Fame in 1950. |
| A．Inefficient. | B．Steady. | C．Adjustable. | D．Perfect. |
4 . He is a lesson to every boy who ever picked up a basketball and dreamed that it would change his life.
The lights were never brighter and the crowds were never bigger for a home-grown sports hero than they were a quarter-century ago for Ray Hall. But his athletic achievements, as impressive as they are, are to my mind not what is most admirable about the man. Known as “Sugar Ray” in his teens, Hall was rated among the country’s top 25 high school basketball players. An inner-city kid from a solid family, Hall took on the challenge of lifting Canisius College—still recovering from its failure—back to respectability, rejecting more favourable offers. His status brought more pressure than any 18-year-old should have to handle. However, I watched him mature into the player who led Canisius back to daylight.
After college Hall played professionally in Italy and Greece for over 10 years until a car accident at 32 ended his basketball career. The news that he would never play again shocked Hall but unlike so many others he was ready for life after basketball. When I met Hall—still fit at 46—for lunch Monday, he wore a cut-sharp gray suit, designer tie and blazing white shirt that screamed Success. “That was always the question—when the cheers end, where do you go? Who do you turn to?” he said. “It starts and ends with that person in the mirror.”
Hall got the concept of academics—first from his parents. He graduated from Canisius a semester early. “No matter how good an athlete you are, you are just one injury away from losing it all,” he said. “But if you take care of things academically, you are prepared until you leave this Earth.”
For the past 14 years, he has been in a computer sales job at Ingram Micro. He married his college sweetheart. They have three kids and a nice house in the suburbs. He figured out early what others learn too late: Athletics is part of a journey, not the destination. Congratulations, Ray, you made it. In more ways than one.
1. According to the writer, which of the following best describes Ray’s success?| A．Unlike other athletes, he was academically superior. |
| B．He defeated his injury and returned to the playground. |
| C．He enjoys a successful job and a happy family. |
| D．He has gained impressive athletic achievements. |
a. He was rated among the best high school basketball players.
b. He was in a car accident.
c. He graduated from Canisius College.
d. He started his computer sales job.
e. He gave up his athletic career.
| A．a, c, b, e, d | B．a, c, e, b, d |
| C．c, a, b, d, e | D．c, a, e, b, d |
| A．Ray was from an academic family. |
| B．Ray was very mature in his teens. |
| C．Ray was once desperate facing the cruel reality. |
| D．Athletics was not Ray’s final goal in life. |
| A．To describe the difficulties of being a professional athlete. |
| B．To explain the importance of choosing the right college. |
| C．To emphasise the need for a good education. |
| D．To warn against playing professional basketball. |
As an athlete, Mike had been practicing hard. He preferred
Once two players crashed
Mike likes many kinds of sports, such as jogging, cycling and boxing. He is in good shape, for he always keeps a
6 . It has taken several tennis matches for Emma Raducanu to transform herself from completely unknown to a global superstar. This was just Raducanu’s second grand slam(大满贯) appearance and no woman in the Open era had ever won in so few attempts. At 18, she is the youngest grand slam champion since Maria Sharapova in 2004.
“A star is born,” tennis legend Martina Navratilova said. “Emma Raducanu makes history and she is just getting started.”
The Queen led the congratulations to Emma Raducanu after the 18-year-old got the US Open title with a stunning victory in New York. “I send my congratulations to you on your success,” the Queen said. “It is a remarkable achievement at such a young age, and is testament (见证) to your hard work and dedication. I have no doubt your outstanding performance, and that of your opponent Leylah Fernandez, will inspire the next generation of tennis players.”
Hours after Raducanu had won the championship, she found time to send a message to her fans in China in fluent Mandarin. “Hi, everyone,” she said in the video posting. “I want to say thank you to you guys and I hope you could enjoy my tennis. I’m thrilled to win. Love you all.” Raducanu’s mother Renee- full name Dong Meizhai-grew up in Shenyang, a city in north-east China. Overnight, the number of Raducanu’s followers on Instagram more than doubled to 1.3 million.
Raducanu was born in Canada before moving to the UK at the age of two. Her father lan, who works in finance, is Romanian but had moved to Toronto where he met Renee. Raducanu is an only child, educated at Newstead Wood School, a grammar school in nearby Orpington, where former pupils include the world champion sprinter Dina Asher-Smith. The school has “churned out a lot of good athletes”, said Raducanu on Sunday, praising the institution for giving her the “flexibility” to study and play tennis.
But it is hard to look beyond Raducanu’s parents for the inspiration and drive that has launched her into the sporting career. She has repeatedly attributed her tenacity to her mother.
1. Why did Emma Raducanu become a superstar overnight?| A．Because she broke the world record for tennis matches. |
| B．Because she put the video posting of her winning the game on the Internet. |
| C．Because she got her second grand slam appearance just in a few attempts. |
| D．Because she beat the tennis legend Martina Navratilova. |
| A．cultivated | B．stirred | C．eliminated | D．found |
| A．Raducanu is the youngest grand slam champion in the world. |
| B．Raducanu’s parents are Romanians. |
| C．Newstead Wood School offered students many courses on arts. |
| D．Raducanu’s parents both have great influences on her achievements. |
| A．diligence | B．dedication | C．determination | D．humour |
Once considered as one of the best and strictest referees (裁判) in the NBA, Javie is now working at a church in America.
Despite coming from a diligent family, sports were in Javie’s blood too. It was sports that really inspired him as a young boy. His father had a career as a football back referee for the football league,
In Javie’s
As his years in the NBA
1. What is the woman doing?
| A．Conducting an interview. |
| B．Hosting a ceremony. |
| C．Holding a press conference. |
| A．Nervous. | B．Excited. | C．Anxious. |
| A．He concentrated on the game. |
| B．He listened to the music. |
| C．He relied on audiences’ encouragement. |
| A．Watching TV series. | B．Performing as an actor. | C．Traveling around the world. |
| A. rebounds B. smoothly C. qualified D. court E. performance F. closely G. playing H. incredible I. legendary J. crushed K. willing |
A Giant on and off the Court
At first glance, it’s easy to see why Yao Ming made it to the NBA — he’s 7 feet 6 inches. But there have been a few 7 ft 6 in centres in the past and how many of them were 8-time All-Star and 5-time All-NBA? The answer is — none.
This
Before Yao played for the Houston Rockets in the NBA, he had been a player for Shanghai Sharks in the CBA (the Chinese Basketball Association). His contribution to the sport and the spirit of sportsmanship has gone beyond the
Yao was elected to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in April 2016. The other legendary players who were elected along with him include Allen Iverson and Shaquille 0’Neal. However, Yao became
With Yao playing for the NBA, not only did his fans from China begin to follow the American version of their CBA, but Asian Americans were also inspired to follow the sport more
His overwhelming presence and
Yao’s
10 . Pele
Pele was born in Brazil in 1940. Like many other Brazilian kids, Pele loved football and often played the game in the streets. He also went to school and did odd jobs to help bring in money for the family. However, what he loved best was to play football in the streets or practise kicking the ball with his father(also a great football player).
Pele gained the attention of some coaches, first in the neighbourhood contests and later as he led his team to win the junior league tournament two years in a row. At the age of fourteen, Pele started to play for one of the first professional football teams in Brazil. As Pele became more experienced as a player, the game of football grew. By 1950, football had become the most popular game everywhere in the world, except for North America. What had begun as a British sport became the favourite sport of people all around the world. Football became a truly international sport.
Pele was in the Brazilian team in the World Cup matches of 1958. Before 1958, the Brazilian team had failed in the finals three times in a row. Some blamed the failure on the referee’s unfair decisions, which, however, was not the case. Actually, the Brazilians, though gifted, had no discipline. In the 1958 finals against Sweden, Pele kicked the winning goal, and he returned home a hero.
However, he never forgot his poor fellow men. Pele owned dozens of apartment houses, in which he often allowed poor families to live without paying rent. He bought his mother the home he had promised her when he signed his first professional contract. But the most exciting moment of all was in 1969, when Pele scored his thousandth goal. As football fans stormed onto the field and reporters begged for a speech, all he said was, “Remember the poor children.”
Today, Pele is one of the most famous athletes in the world. He retired in 1975. However, soon after that, he decided to play for three years with the New York team. He could not resist the challenge of trying to make football popular in the United States, one of the few countries in the world where football had not become the national sport. In 1977, Pele retired for good at the age of thirty-seven.
1. What can we infer from the first two paragraphs?| A．Pele was born to a well-off family in which his father was a great football star. |
| B．The junior league tournament in Brazil is especially intended for talented football lovers. |
| C．In 1954, Pele started his professional career, which contributed to the development of football. |
| D．Around 1950, football was more popular than basketball in the world. |
| A．the Brazilian players were talented players |
| B．the Brazilian players failed to cooperate well |
| C．Pele didn’t score many goals in the game |
| D．the referee discriminated against Brazilians |
| A．Pele’s family background. | B．Pele’s great talent for soccer. |
| C．Pele’s enthusiasm for football. | D．Pele’s charity organization. |
