1 . At the Winter Olympic Games in Sochi, Russia, halfway in the women’s slalom (障碍滑雪) race, 18-year-old Mikaela Shiffrin took a commanding lead over the greatest women’s slalom skiers in the world. On her final run, she burst from the start house at a breakneck speed, snaking around the poles in crazy rhythm.
Skiing has always been a significant part of Mikaela’s life. Her mom raced and coached skiing and her dad ski raced all through college. The Shiffrins taught Mikaela and her brother, Taylor, to ski at a very young age. At the age of two and a half, Mikaela made her first ski run on plastic skis. From ages 8 to 11, she worked hard, practicing hundreds of training runs on small hills repeatedly to develop the correct techniques of slalom skiing.
When Mikaela was 11, she attended the Burke Mountain Academy, a Vermont boarding school for skiers. She took classes, studied, and practiced her skiing crazily. According to Kirk Dwyer, Burke Mountain Academy headmaster, “It was the degree of Mikaela’s effort to be the best that distinguished her from others. Her commitment to conditioning, having proper sleep, eating correctly, doing the drills, and watching video was unusual for an 11 to 13-year-old. Mikaela practiced more than anyone and believed in herself then and now.”
By the time she was 17, she had already won her first World Cup race.
Working hard is a full-time job for Mikaela. Even her off-season is work time. In the summer, when Mikaela is off the ski slopes and in the gym, her daily training consists of six to seven hours of weight lifting, swimming, and biking to improve her core strength and flexibility. She does all of this so that she can dash down slopes at speeds topping 50 miles per hour while cutting back and forth around gates with astonishing precision.
“If you have passion for your targets, whatever they are,” she says, “the sky is the limit. Give it your all!”
1. What can we learn from paragraph 2?| A．Mikaela came from a skiing family. |
| B．Mikaela’s mother taught her to ski first. |
| C．Mikaela trained harder than her brother. |
| D．Mikaela’s father coached skiing in colleges. |
| A．To stress Mikaela was a crazy teenager. |
| B．To show Mikaela’s distinct personality. |
| C．To praise the good students in his school. |
| D．To highlight Mikaela’s great devotion to training. |
| A．Talented and wise. | B．Creative and determined. |
| C．Flexible and brave. | D．Determined and self-disciplined. |
| A．Practice makes perfect. |
| B．Not to advance is to go back. |
| C．He who laughs last laughs best. |
| D．Actions speak louder than words. |
It was at the 2012 1SU World Figure Skating Championships that I first saw Japanese figure skater Hanyu Yuzuru. He was competing in free skating with a piece of music from Romeo and Juliet. I was
Yuzuru has been
Yuzuru has always trained hard despite the suffering from asthma (哮喘). He bravely
3 . Olympian weight-lifter Thodoris Iakovidis shocked the public that he cannot continue with the multiple financial difficulties he faces.
“
Iakovidis’ statement shocked ordinary Greeks first of all. They launched a campaign on Twitter and Instagram to increase his followers and also attract sponsors.
Speaking to Open TV on Sunday, Iakovidis said thanking his new supporters: “The problem is not to fix my thing.
Stressing that he will continue if the conditions change, he added, “But I do not think it’s moral to continue with sponsors for another three years. Many others have to go through the same difficulties as now. I want the state mechanism to help all the athletes.”
| A．I’m sorry for my failure. |
| B．Real actions are a necessity. |
| C．There are so many other Thodoris. |
| D．He announced that he would end his career. |
| E．Dozens of companies are sponsoring the event. |
| F．Overnight his followers rose from 3, 000 to 120, 000. |
| G．I’m not crying because I did not have a good performance. |
4 . In the ever-changing world of women’s artistic gymnastics, there has been a gymnast for more than three decades: Oksana Chusovitina.
The 48-year-old had said with certainty that her final competition would be the Tokyo 2020 Games. With no fans in the stands to honor her legendary career (职业生涯) , judges, coaches and other athletes did their best to give her a party worthy of all she’d given the sport. After she thanked them through tears in her eyes, she told media that was her swansong.
However, just a few months after the Tokyo Olympics, Chusovitina said that she would return to training, dreaming of one final medal at a major competition —the Asian Games—for Uzbekistan. “I just can’t finish my career without a medal for my motherland,” she said on her Instagram story.
Chusovitina first competed in the 1992 Olympics as part of the Unified Team and won a team gold medal there. Though she represented (代表) Uzbekistan in the 1996, 2000 and 2004 Olympics, her second Olympic medal came some 16 years later in the 2008 Olympics. Chusovitina, then representing her third nation, Germany, where better medical treatment was provided for her sick son, got the silver medal.
And now, her story continues. The historic eight-time Olympian has started her ninth trip to the 2024 Paris Olympics. At the first two World Cup stops of the season she won bronze medals. “Thank you all so much for the support,” she wrote on Instagram. “First start, first medal.”
“More to come,” added the gymnast, whose motto is “I’d rather try today than regret tomorrow”.
1. What does the underlined word “swansong” mean in paragraph 2?| A．A popular song. | B．A great honor. |
| C．The last performance. | D．The wonderful career. |
| A．Personal glory. | B．National pride. |
| C．Economic situation. | D．International pressure. |
| A．To win more medals. | B．To receive better education. |
| C．To get medical treatment for her son. | D．To learn skills from the national team. |
| A．Determined. | B．Generous. | C．Creative. | D．Curious. |
For Chinese swimmer Qian Hongyan, competing at the 4th Asian Para Games (亚残运会) is more about testing her limits. More
In 2007, she began training in swimming. It
Coach Zhang Honghu has seen Qian’s growth from a shy girl into an excellent athlete. “I hope she will keep pushing her limits and have a great life in the years
Every time Oksana Chusovitina competes in a gymnastics event, she arrests the spotlight. The Hangzhou Asian Games proved no
After completing her vault (跳马), Chusovitina blew a kiss to the audience,
“I am not very satisfied with my performance tonight,” she added. Chusovitina has
When her son was diagnosed with leukemia (白血病) in 2002, Chusovitina adopted German
“The
Organized by Beijing Normal University, an important forum (论坛) on the spirit of the Chinese women’s volleyball team
Giving nice speeches,
Cheng Jianping, the Party chief of Beijing Normal University, said in his speech that women’s volleyball has influenced people
8 . Lionel Messi, who shone at the Qarta World Cup, is a well-known name even to those with no interest in sports. Even though he is shorter than most of his teammates, he rises above his opponents with adept skills and a legendary ability to score goals for his team.
Lionel Andres Messi was born on June 24, 1987, in the warm city of Rosario, Argentina. He was the third child in a tight-knit (亲密的) hard-working family who loved football. Naturally, young Leo developed a passion (热爱) for football himself.
At four years old, Leo joined the Grandoli local club, where he was coached by his father. When he was eight, Leo joined the talented Newell Old Boys. Football soon became as important as the air he breathed. Messi practiced day in and day out, skipping outings with his friends to train at home before a game. The sport made him quite happy and motivated and he began to dream of becoming a professional footballer.
But as he grew older, his height remained the same. His concerned parents eventually took their 11-year-old son to a doctor, who broke the news that the boy suffered from a growth hormone deficiency (生长激素缺乏). This meant he was physically unable to grow unless he received special treatment, which would last three years and cost $1, 500 per month.
Stories of a 13-year-old boy who had similar talents to legendary Argentinian footballer Diego Maradona had reached the ears of FC Barcelona’s technical director, Carles Rexach. Intrigued, he sent an offer to the Messi family. If he passed, the club would cover his medical bills, but on the condition that Messi moved to Spain. So, in September 2000, Leo and his family uprooted their lives and flew across the Atlantic to Barcelona.
Coach Carles was so impressed that he offered Leo a contract on the only thing he had at hand-a paper napkin. Leo signed it, opening the door to the life he had always dreamed of.
1. What is the function of the first paragraph?| A．To introduce the topic. | B．To attract readers. |
| C．To advertise the World Cup. | D．To share an experience. |
| A．He wanted to satisfy his father. |
| B．He had a great love for football. |
| C．He was good at playing football. |
| D．He wanted to prove his ability. |
| A．Generous and confident. | B．Friendly and energetic. |
| C．Kind and responsible. | D．Hardworking and talented. |
| A．He was shorter than others when he was born. |
| B．He got support from his family to go after his dream. |
| C．Maradona once lent a helping hand to Messi. |
| D．Coach Charles believed Messi could be the next superstar. |
