1 . MacArthur’s love for sailing started when she was just 4 years old, when she first got the opportunity to have a try on a boat. “It kind of _____ me that this boat had everything we needed to take us anywhere in the world. And as a child, that opened up everything and made me feel the greatest sense of _____,” she explained.

This experience _____ a passion within MacArthur that she wanted to sail around the world. Growing up in the countryside, she had no idea how to _____ it. However, she knew that was what she wanted to do at some stage. So she acquired knowledge and _____ for years to seek her dream in sailing. Having merely potatoes and beans every day for eight years, she _____ could afford the right equipment. By reaching such _____ goals and asking technical questions about _____ MacArthur felt as though she was getting _____ to her ambition.

“The impossible could be possible and _____ high is not necessarily such a crazy thing to do,” she said. And it seemed that MacArthur’s _____ to become a navigator went beyond her expectations. At the age of 28, she started to _____ media attention after winning the second place in the Vendee Globe, a single-handed non-stop yacht (帆船) race that goes around the world.

Four years later, MacArthur chose to sail for 71 days and 14 hours, _____ more than 40,000 miles. This led to her setting a new record. _____ this record has since been surpassed, MacArthur is still considered as Britain’s most successful offshore racer.

So when you know where you’re going, you can actually get there — even if it seems _____ !

Thanks to the efforts made by former world martial art (武术) champion Chen Sitan and his wife Lin Xu, the ancient Chinese martial art tai chi has     1     (increasing) become a form of life for many New Yorkers.

Chen started learning martial art     2     the age of six. By the time he retired from his athletic career, he     3     (win) 32 gold medals in Chinese and international competitions. Having coached athletes in sports teams for years,     4     Chens went to the US in 2003 with the hope that they could bring Chinese culture for     5     (many) people around the world through tai chi.

The couple started teaching children tai chi in school and later     6     (establish) Sitan Tai Chi and Martial Arts. The school’s class schedule now includes various forms of tai chi, health qigong, and different levels of martial arts.

Lin said people from different age group came to     7     (she) classes for different purposes. “Young kids want to improve     8     (fit) and learn Chinese culture, adults take chances to relieve stress     9     (bring) by work, and retired people practise it to prevent health problems. To all of them, tai chi is the best choice, isn’t     10    ?” she said.

During his life, Dr. James Naismith worked as a doctor, taught P. E. and wrote several books.     1     he never thought it very important, Dr. Naismith is today best known for one thing—he was one of the     2     (master) of basketball.

    3     (bear) in Canada in 1861, he first worked at a special sports school in the USA.

One day the school principal told James he was having a problem with the students. Because of heavy snow, the students could not go outside. He told James that they needed a sport that the boys could play indoors and gave him two weeks to think of something.

It was     4     the very last day that James came up with his idea. The “birth of basketball” is said to be on December 21, 1891,     5     two teams from the school played the     6     (sweat) game. It was quite different from the basketball games of today. It had nine players on each team, and footballs     7     (design) for students instead of basketballs. Soon after, the game changed to five players on each side,     8     (challenge) each other on the court.

    9     (extreme) to our sadness, Dr. Naismith did not live to see basketball become the worldwide game as it is today. However, in 1936, just three years before his death, basketball became     10     Olympic sport at the games in Berlin.

5 . On Aug 7, Xu Shixiao and her partner, Sun Mengya, won gold in the first women’s canoe (划艇) double 500 m event at the Tokyo Games. It was also the first Olympic gold medal for China in the event.

Yet Xu’s journey to the Olympics was bumpy — she faced lots of difficulties.

In 2013, the news that women’s canoeing was still not an Olympic event dealt her a heavy blow. At that time, Xu’s coach suggested her either changing to another sport or retiring (退役).

It was impossible for her to change the sport at age 21. Xu gave up her career and found her first job as a saleswoman. The next year, she was promoted (晋升) as a human resources manager.

When Xu went to work as usual in a company in Nanchang, Jiangxi province, five years ago, she was surprised to get a call from her former coach, asking about her willingness to return to canoeing and compete in the Tokyo Olympic Games. Xu quickly made her decision.

“I quit my job, told my family about it and went back to training three days later. There was not much time left for me to prepare for the Olympics, “Xu recalls.” I never thought that one day I could go back to the sport. Now that I have started again, I will do my best.”

To catch the opportunity to go back to canoeing on the international level, Xu started her training —“as cruel as hell”. She began her daily exercises early morning and ended at 10: 30 p. m. Every day, she would set several detailed goals for her training. “Only when I reached all my daily goals, I would go ashore,” Xu says.

The more than two months of grueling (艰辛的) training finally paid off. Xu won two gold medals at the 13th National Games in two women’s canoe events, which meant she would be part of the national team to compete in the Tokyo Olympics.

When Michael Jordan’s feet left the ground, time seemed to     1     still. The player who became known as “Air Jordan” changed basketball with his     2       moves and jumps. Jordan’s skills were     3    , but the mental     4     that he showed made him     5    .