A Chinese swimmer has made history again. Last week, Qin Haiyang,
Chinese swimming in men’s breaststroke events was hardly talked about
The legendary gymnast Oksana Chusovitina, aged 48, made
Chusovitina’s Olympic journey
In a sport known for its youthful
“Now I have made
3 . The walls of our house were supposed to be white. But I never remember them being white. At first, they were gray, then turning black. My father was a coal worker. He made charcoal (木炭) in our house. Have you ever seen charcoal being made? The little bags you buy in the store for barbeque come from somewhere, and honestly, it’s a very dirty business.
I remember one day I was bagging up the charcoal with my dad, and it was really cold and raining. All we had was the tiny roof over our heads. After a few hours, I got to go to school, where it was warm. My dad stayed out, working all day. If he didn’t sell that day, maybe we wouldn’t have enough to eat. I thought to myself: At some point, everything is going to change.
For this, I owe football everything. I started to play football early. I played so much football that every two months, my boots would break apart. When I was seven, I must have been pretty good, because I scored 64 goals for my neighborhood team. That year, my dad got a call from a coach saying they wanted me to play there. My dad asked, “Oh, it’s too far away. Nine kilometers. How will we get him there?” My mom said, “No, no, no! Don’t worry! I’ll take him!” And that is when Graciela was born.
Graciela was an old yellow bicycle that my mother would use to drive me to the training ground every day. It had a little basket in the front. Imagine this: A woman biking through town with a little boy on the back and a bag in the basket with his boots. Up hills. Down hills. Through the dangerous neighborhoods. In the rain. In the cold. In the dark. Graciela got us where we needed to go.
Nowadays, people see me on YouTube, watch the World Cup and witness how I won the competition, but they don’t know the journey. They don’t know about my living room walls turning from white to black. They don’t know about my father working under a little roof. They don’t know about my mother riding Graciela through the rain and the cold.
1. Why did the walls of the author’s house turn black?| A．His family wanted to change the look of their old house. |
| B．The black color could cover up his father’s dirty business. |
| C．The author often had indoor barbeques using charcoal. |
| D．There was a lot of coal dust produced from his father’s work. |
| A．Graciela was a yellow bicycle with a basket. |
| B．Graciela was named after the author’s mother. |
| C．Graciela was born when the author was nine. |
| D．Graciela was given to the author. |
| A．Determined. | B．Confident. | C．Ambitious. | D．Easy-going. |
| A．Time and tide wait for no man. |
| B．Happiness is a choice, not a result. |
| C．One who fears failure limits his activities. |
| D．There is always an unknown story behind every glory. |
4 . On Sunday, Tigst Assefa of Ethiopia shocked the running world by breaking the women’s world record for the marathon by over two minutes. Assefa finished the Berlin Marathon in just 2 hours, 11 minutes, and 53 seconds.
But Assefa’s record was far beyond what most people expected. After all, it was only her third time running a marathon.
“I wanted to break the marathon world record,” she said, “But I couldn’t imagine that it would result in a time under 2:12.”
When Assefa was younger, she started by running short races, called sprints. Then she became a middle-distance runner, running the 800 meters (half mile) race. Her best time in the 800 meters was 1 minute and 59 seconds.
Last March, she ran her first marathon. Then last September, she entered the Berlin Marathon. She won, and set a new women’s record for the course, finishing in 2:15:37.
This year, she ran almost four minutes faster than she did last year. In both races, Assefa ran faster in the second half of the race than she did in the first half.
Her time of 2:11:53 was over two minutes faster than the old women’s record (2:14:04), which was set in Chicago in 2019 by Brigid Kosgei of Kenya.
When she finished the race, Assefa kneeled down and kissed the pavement before raising her arms in victory.
Though Assefa made it look easy, she said winning the race “…was the result of hard work.” Assefa was coached by Gemedu Dedefo, who has helped train many Ethiopian star runners.
1. What is Assefa’s latest record for the marathon?| A．2:11:53. | B．2:14:04. | C．2:15:37. | D．1:59:00. |
| A．It is what she expected. | B．It is a piece of cake for her. |
| C．It is due to great effort. | D．It is because of her coach. |
| A．Talented. | B．Friendly. | C．Humorous. | D．Warm-hearted. |
| A．Dedefo Helps to Train Many Star Runners |
| B．Kosgei Holds the Women’s Marathon Record |
| C．Assefa Sets a Good Example to Other Runners |
| D．Assefa Breaks the Women’s Marathon Record |
5 . Coco Gauff won the U.S. Open women’s title in 2023. Gauff became only the third American teenager to win the national women’s title four years after she rose to fame in the sport by beating Venus Williams, one of her childhood idols, at the Wimbledon Championships when Gaff was just 15 years old.
When Gauff was barely school age she held a tennis racket (球拍) and told her parents that she wanted to be the best player in the world. By the time Gauff was seven, she was training with a tennis professional two hours a day, several days a week. Her father suggested that the family move from Atlanta to Delray Beach, Florida, home to some of the best tennis training camps in the world. At 13, Gauff was the youngest U.S. Open junior girls finalist in history; at 14, she became one of the youngest winners of the French Open junior girls tournament.
The win against Venus Williams in the first round of Wimbledon was a bit of a dreamy moment for both players. Gauff was 15; Williams was 39. Gauff beat Williams in straight sets in a stunning upset. When the competitors met at the net for the traditional handshake, Gauff tried to make the moment special. “I was just telling her thank you for everything she’s done for the sport,” Gauff said at the time.
Despite her age, Gauff demonstrated skills that both set her apart and made her worthy of being mentioned with other tennis genius, including Tracy Austin, Jennifer Capriati, and Andrea Jaeger. Yet her professional career has not been without its setbacks. Since beating Williams in the first round at Wimbledon, she has found herself knocked out in the first round at the 2022 Australian Open and at Wimbledon in 2023. Still, Gauff has shown consistent improvement in her game on the world stage.
1. Why did Gauff’s family move to Delray Beach?| A．For comfortable life. | B．For stronger competitors. |
| C．For better training. | D．For further education. |
| A．By saying thanks. | B．By exchanging rackets. |
| C．By overcoming upset. | D．By asking for instructions. |
| A．Friendly and outgoing. | B．Selfless and determined. |
| C．Caring and competitive. | D．Hardworking and talented. |
| A．Friendship. | B．Sport. | C．Health. | D．Culture. |
How deep can a person dive underwater without any
Freediving is gaining
This year, the 35-year-old Xu
Hailing from East China’s Anhui province, Xu changed from swimming to freediving in 2014. “I was able to enter the three-dimensional world from a two-dimensional space. That is
7 . Snowboarding genius Su Yiming made a name for himself by winning China’s first Olympic gold in the sport on Tuesday. By cleanly stomping back-to-back 1800 tricks, the teenager landed the biggest prize so far in his young career—gold in the men’s Big Air at the Beijing Winter Olympics. The notable achievement realized a childhood dream to reach the peak of the sport, which he began to learn at the age of 4.
Now with two shinning medals hung around his neck, the 17-year-old described his superb Olympic debut ( 首秀) as an unbelievable experience that has made all his sacrifices worthwhile. “This feels so surreal that I’ve finally accomplished what I’ve dreamed of since I was little,” said an emotional Su.
Over the past four years, Su has combined his talent with hard work to produce one of the swiftest rises to prominence the sport has ever seen. When the Shougang Big Air venue hosted its first international event, Su was an unknown qualifier, who didn’t even make the final runs. Just over two years later, Su is the name on everyone’s lips at the venue’s Olympic debut—drawing the whole nation’s attention to the sport he loves.
“The biggest motivation (动力) for me is my love for snowboarding,” Su said, when asked about the secret to his success. “In snowboarding, I feel like I can show my own style and creativity. Every time I ride my board, it’s always a joyful moment. I hope through my experience, I can inspire more young people to get interested in the sport.”
Su, a former child actor who featured in action movies, said the Olympic gold will encourage him to seek for more breakthroughs—even beyond his athletic career. “I enjoy snowboarding just as much as I enjoy acting,” said Su, who turns 18 on Friday. “I think I still have a lot of possibilities to explore in my future career either in snowboarding or in acting. But now I just want to enjoy the moment and celebrate it as the best possible birthday gift.”
1. What does the underlined word “landed” in Paragraph 1 mean?| A．Arrived. | B．Gained. | C．Created. | D．Dreamed. |
| A．His acting experience. | B．His talent and hard work. |
| C．His being fond of snowboarding. | D．His life dream of achieving success. |
| A．Talented and thoughtful. | B．Lovely and famous. |
| C．Creative and kind-hearted. | D．Hard-working and devoted. |
| A．Upset. | B．Hopeful. | C．Anxious. | D．Satisfied. |
When Michael Jordan’s feet left the ground, time seemed to stand still. The player who became known as “Air Jordan” changed basketball with his graceful moves and
9 . South Africa’s Natalie Du Toit reached her personal goal of participating in the 2008 Beijing Olympics, carving her place in history as the third amputee (截肢者) to qualify for the Olympics. This talented swimmer finished in 16th place in the woman’s 10-kilometre open water race, which took competitors about two hours to complete.
Swimming at an Olympic Games event has always been a goal for Natalie. She narrowly missed qualifying for the Sydney Olympics in 2000 and was determined to qualify for the 2004 Athens Olympics, but in 2001, due to a traffic accident, Natalie had her left leg terribly injured and amputated at the knee. Many may have seen this as the end of her Olympic dreams, but three months after losing her leg, this strong-minded young woman was back in the pool doing what she loved best—swimming.
Natalie admitted that it has been a long road which has taken an incredible amount of determination and hard work. She was rightfully proud of her achievement and felt that she deserved her place at the Olympics, which had nothing to do with whether she is disabled or not.
It was the first year that the 10-kilometr e open water marathon had been included in the Olympic Games and Natalie chose to train with this race as her goal. She felt that she was more suited to this long-distance open water race because there is less emphasis on the start and there are no rolling turns to deal with, both of which may have put her at a disadvantage. The open water event may have levelled the playing field a little for Natalie, but she was nevertheless up against some intense competition and gave an impressive performance.
Natalie was thrilled to have had the opportunity to compete in an able-bodied race at the Beijing Olympics but admitted that having set a personal goal to place in the top five, she was a little disappointed in her performance which saw her finish 1 minute 22.2 seconds behind Russian gold medalist, Larisa Ilchenko.
Although in demand as a motivational speaker, Natalie does not consider herself a campaigner for athletes with physical disabilities. She has her personal dreams and perseveres in achieving her personal goals—and she encourages and inspires others to do the same.
1. Which is true about Natalie’s achievement?| A．She placed 16th in a swimming event at the Beijing Olympics. |
| B．She spent two hours completing the 10-kilometre open water race. |
| C．She took part in both the Sydney Olympics and the Athens Olympics. |
| D．She was the third disabled athlete to qualify for an Olympic swimming event. |
| A．Natalie felt delighted to qualify for the Olympics as a disabled swimmer. |
| B．Natalie’s disability was an important reason why she could qualify for the Olympics. |
| C．Natalie thought it was more difficult for a disabled athlete to attend the Olympics. |
| D．Natalie earned her place at the Olympics because she persevered in working for it. |
| A．It was a good way for her to improve skills. |
| B．It was less likely to put her at a disadvantage. |
| C．It took less effort for her to prepare for the event. |
| D．It was the first time the event was included in the Olympics. |
| A．How Natalie got through the pain of losing her leg. |
| B．How Natalie’s story has motivated disabled people. |
| C．How Natalie has pursued her personal goals despite her disability |
| D．How disabled athletes can take part in able-bodied Olympic events. |
10 . Fourteen-year-old Quan Hongchan has struck gold for China in the Tokyo Olympics. Starting the competition as a dark horse on the national team, she’s made history in the 10-meter women’s diving platform event. She secured her name in the history books.
Quan was born in the city of Zhanjiang in south China’s Guangdong Province, and started diving at the age of seven. In 2018, she joined the Guangdong Diving Team, spending three years there before breaking into the national team at the end of 2020. He Weiyi is a diving coach at the Guangdong Provincial Sports Team. Quan Hongchan was under his tutelage in this diving hall for three years. Up on the 10-meter platform, coach He said this is where Quan showed her talents, exceeding expectations despite her young age.
“It looks high up here, but believe it or not, in just three years’ time, Quan could manage some very difficult sets of movements. She was even able to do some standard men’s movements. Her development was much quicker than most athletes. I’d say she’s got outstanding talent.” But He said talent alone doesn’t achieve success. For Quan, hard work has been the most important. “Quan practices harder than other athletes around her age. She’s the most engaged. She kept asking me whether her positions and flights are OK, whether she did well. She’d get unhappy if I couldn’t answer her at once. Her spirit is a desire for perfection.”
As for her big win at the Olympics, he said there were challenges along the way. “In fact, there’s a set of positions she didn’t feel comfortable doing. But I think athletes are all trained to have a calm state of mind and self-confidence. I think her stable mood really helped her to pull it off perfectly. And it helped her win gold.” He said she’s only 14 and that the Olympic medal is a solid foundation. But he hopes Quan can take full advantage of her physical skills, and continue on the road of progress.
1. What can we know about Quan Hongchan according to the first paragraph?| A．Her achievement was beyond some people’s expectation. |
| B．Making a name in the history books was her initial target. |
| C．She had intended to be a dark horse before the competition. |
| D．The history of diving event appealed to Quan Hongchan a lot. |
| A．control | B．treatment | C．tuition | D．construction |
| A．Her perfect position. | B．Her physical skills. | C．Her young age. | D．Her calm state. |
| A．To demonstrate diving is difficult. |
| B．To claim Quan Hongchan is a talent. |
| C．To prove Quan’s success comes from her hard work. |
| D．To show Quan Hongchan has perfect physical skills. |
