1 . Famous tennis coach Nick Bollettieri considered tennis star Roger Federer the greatest player of all time, saying he is “in a class of his own”. The Swiss maestro (大师) won his record eighth Wimbledon title this month, defeating Croatian Marin Cilic in the final, and going to the entire tournament without dropping a single set.

The 36-year-old now has 19 Grand Slam titles, the most in history for a male tennis player. Bollettieri, who has coached some of the most successful tennis players ever including Andre Agassi and Jim Corurier, believes Federer stands out from the rest due to all the efforts he makes on and off the court. “When you get to know the greatest player of all time, I believe you will join with many commentators in saying Roger is standing in a class of his own,” Bollettien told Saturday Sport. “He is magnificent in expecting what to do. He has improved his backhand and also he is hitting the ball much earlier, and he is one of, if not the best placement server (发球员) in the game.”

His management team headed by Tony Godsick takes care of his mind and body, time with his family, time with his foundation and time with rest. He also respects the game and his opponents (对手). Despite his impressive record, Federer has struggled against the other top players of this generation, including Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic. Along with Andy Murray, they are known as tennis “big four”, and Federer has a combined 50-57 record against the other three during his career.

However, Bollettieri doesn’t think that will have any impact on Federer’s greatness if he keeps on playing the way he is at his age. Bollettieri said, “Age is only a number. It is how you feel inside you. I believe a lot of people today can do a lot better if their mindset is to say I will get better every day and never use the word “retirement”. When you worry about losing, it is more difficult to win.”

1. What does Bollettieri mean by saying he is “in a class of his own”?

A．Roger is a tennis player second to none.	B．Roger is a particular favorite of his.
C．Roger is proud and prefers being alone.	D．Roger has difficulty getting along with others.

2. What can we know about Roger from the passage?

A．He is in full charge of his life and career.

B．Hard work is a major factor in his success.

C．Deep respect develops between him and Tony.

D．His greatest achievement is made in his thirties.

3. What does the underlined word “that” in the last paragraph refer to?

A．Roger’s increased age.	B．Roger’s positive attitude.
C．Roger’s impressive record.	D．Roger’s losing to other famous players.

4. What does Bollettieri want to stress in the last paragraph?

A．Failure is nothing to fear.	B．Everyone needs to look forward.
C．Being positive is very important.	D．One is never too old to learn.

2 . Johan Clarey tends not to be in much of a rush when it comes to anything other than speeding down a hill on skis. Add Olympic success to the list of things he’s waited for.

The Frenchman, who turned 41 in January, became the oldest man to win an Olympic medal in Alpine skiing in history when he claimed a silver behind Beat Feuz of Switzerland in the downhill at the Beijing Olympic Winter Games, breaking Bode Miller’s record by five years.

“Everything came late in my life. Since I was a young boy, that’s what my mother said,” Clarey said. “I take extra time to do everything — walking, speaking and everything. Apparently, my career started quite the same.”

This was Clarey’s fourth Olympics and realistically his last chance of being on the podium (领奖台) at the Olympics. “I took a lot of risks. I knew I had only one chance left in my career to get a medal in the Olympics,” he said. “And when I was going down, I knew I made a good run, but you never know in downhill skiing. Sometimes you’re fast, but sometimes you’re not. You never know why. But today was fast.” This was only Clarey’s second medal at a major championship; he also took home a silver in the super-G at the 2019 world championships.

And this big moment almost didn’t happen: Clarey had considered retirement. He said he’s been having doubts about whether to continue competing for six years. The Frenchman said, “At 35, I said to myself, You have to do one year by one year.” That, he says now, was “a good choice”, because he has the medal to prove it. Clarey is still not quite ready to quit. He will turn his attention back to the World Cup circuit.

1. What do we know about Clarey as a boy?

A．He was gifted in snow sports.	B．He preferred skiing to other sports.
C．He got an early start on his future career.	D．He seemed to mature later than his peers.

2. What was Clarey’s achievement at the Beijing Olympic Winter Games?

A．He won the championship in Alpine skiing.

B．He competed in Alpine skiing for the first time.

C．He won his first Olympic medal in Alpine skiing.

D．He was the first Frenchmen to medal in Alpine skiing.

3. What does Clarey now think of his decision at age 35?

A．It was rewarding.

B．It was too costly.

C．It was a joke.

D．It was a coincidence.

4. What can we learn from Clarey’s story?

A．Actions speak louder than words.	B．Ups and downs make one strong.
C．The early bird catches the worm.	D．Determination is the key to success.

3 . Benjamin Alexander, a 38-year-old man from Northampton shire, became the first athlete to represent Jamaica in an alpine skiing event (高山滑雪) at the Winter Olympics.

But his story started in 2015. When he saw friends did the sport so skillfully, he was in awe and decided to take a ski lesson.” That first time, I fell 27 times on the way down the hill. I think a lot of people would have given up at that point.” “But I kind of just took that as the baseline. If I can aim for falling less than 27 times on the next hill, then I am progressing.”

However, it wasn’t until two years later that Benjamin considered seriously competing in the sport. “In 2018, I went to the Winter Olympics as a spectator,” he said. “I noticed that there were only three athletes representing Jamaica. I found that very strange since my mother country is a powerhouse full of athletes in the summer game. So coming into 2019, I just had a plan to say, ‘Let’s see if this crazy idea of going to the Olympics is even possible. Let’s just go and ski for a little while and see what happens.’” he said.

Alexander has no full-time coach. He built a support network that included Stokes and the US skier Gordon Gray, who called Alexander’s technique “terrible” but thought his lack of fear would give him an advantage in competition. A strategic approach and fearless technique have led the engineering graduate and former DJ not only to make sporting history but find success as a black athlete in a historically white sport. Alexander bills himself as a “reinvention expert” and has used skills learned in his other careers to develop his pursuit of skiing success. “I’ve been to 67 countries. I’ve spent a lot of my life on the road.” he said. “I’ve always loved to travel and a big part of my previous role as a DJ was getting myself out there, marketing myself in the right way, figuring out ways to get into venues, clubs and festivals that I wanted to perform at.”

1. What made Benjamin decide to compete in Olympics?

A．His love for his motherland.	B．His friends’ encouragement.
C．His desire to change his life.	D．His enthusiasm for alpine skiing.

2. What is the last paragraph mainly about?

A．The challenges Benjamin met.	B．The advantages Benjamin has.
C．The way of Benjamin’s training.	D．The reason behind Benjamin’s success.

3. What can we learn from Benjamin Alexander?

A．Better late than never.	B．Failure is the mother of success.
C．Never judge a book by its cover.	D．Nothing is impossible to a willing heart.

4. In which column will you read this passage on the Internet?

A．Entertainment.

B．Health.

C．Sports.

D．Culture.

4 . Lauren Price has come a long way from a taxi driver to an Olympic champion. She pursued her Olympic dream all the way to winning the middleweight gold medal at the Tokyo Games.

“When I look back now, I have to pinch (掐) myself at times, because I still think it’s mad that I won the Olympics,” Price told the media.

Raised by her grandparents, she was always encouraged to play sports. “They’ve always backed me. If it wasn’t for them, I wouldn’t have achieved anything,” Price said. Her grandma used to say to her, “Reach for the moon and if you fall short, you’ll land on the stars.”

She began with football. But Price was also a high standard kickboxer and was then talent-scouted by a taekwondo coach before she switched to boxing.

“For me the big turning point was as a child being inspired by Kelly Holmes. I remember watching her on TV and I was like, “Oh My God, I want to go to the Olympics,” Price recalled. “I had that dream over the years. I just worked hard. I believe if you put the effort in, you’ll get to where you want to be.”

When Price was breaking into the Welsh boxing team, funding was extremely limited. So she worked as a driver fora taxi company when she was still a teenager. “I was training Monday to Thursday and then I was taxi driving Friday and Saturday nights. I’d start work at five pm and I’d finish at four in the morning, picking up all the drunken passengers,” she remembered. That was a different kind of education. “It’s quite funny now when I look back,” Price smiled.

Ultimately, she excelled as a boxer. Price won every major gold medal going, despite the difficulties of competing against bigger opponents outside of her weight class.

1. Which event did Price compete in at the Tokyo Olympics?

A．Football.

B．Kickboxing.

C．Taekwondo.

D．Boxing.

2. Who inspired Price to go to the Olympics?

A．Her grandmother.

B．An athlete.

C．A coach.

D．A passenger.

3. Which of the following contributed most to Price’s success?

A．Determination.

B．Luck.

C．Education.

D．Talent.

4. In which section of a newspaper can we find the text?

A．Entertainment.

B．Opinion.

C．Sports.

D．Destinations.

5 . It was Canada’s first World Cup match in 36 years. This was the moment when 22-year-old Alphonso Davies found out that he took part in one of the biggest sporting ________ in the world.

Undoubtedly, Davies is a Canada’s ________ —not just a world-class player, but a massive marketing and social media presence and one of the faces of the successful United States, Mexico and Canada World Cup 2026 bid.

Davies was born in a refugee camp in Ghana. “But when I was 5, Canada ________ us in, and the boys on the football team made me ________.”

Davies was only 11 when Marco Bossio first saw him ________. Bossio ________ soccer at a junior high school. Scouting(物色) for new players, he said Davies would ________ immediately. He had this amazing talent and ________ that were just off the charts. The way he would move around the field and his ability to ________ the ball were just excellent at that age.

He said, “My goal is to play, to reach ________ level and probably play with some of the top athletes.” And he was as good as his word. At just 15, he ________ a contract with Major League Soccer’s Vancouver Whitecaps. Then in 2017, he became a Canadian citizen, which meant he could play for Canada’s national ________ . Two years later, he joined one of the biggest clubs in the world, Bayern Munich in Germany.

Davies’ success at the sport and his team’s World Cup appearance have made an ________ on others. After making the roster (名单，花名册) for the World Cup team, Davies tweeted, “A kid born in a refugee camp wasn’t supposed to ________ it, but here we are going to the World Cup! Don’t let anyone tell you that your dreams are ________.”

1.

A．accidents

B．adventures

C．events

D．experiences

2.

A．star

B．player

C．assistant

D．pioneer

3.

A．declined

B．approved

C．rejected

D．welcomed

4.

A．fall into despair

B．feel at home

C．jump with joy

D．burst into tears

5.

A．play

B．sing

C．paint

D．perform

6.

A．kicked

B．judged

C．conducted

D．coached

7.

A．break out

B．stand out

C．cheer up

D．show up

8.

A．understanding

B．personality

C．skill

D．knowledge

9.

A．control

B．throw

C．practice

D．roll

10.

A．responsible

B．educational

C．amateur

D．professional

11.

A．offered

B．combined

C．signed

D．accepted

12.

A．organization

B．team

C．institute

D．appointment

13.

A．impression

B．attempt

C．attack

D．investigation

14.

A．provide

B．obtain

C．hold

D．make

15.

A．convincing

B．unrealistic

C．ambitious

D．different

7 . 阅读下面短文，在空白处填入适当的单词或括号内单词的正确形式。

At the age of 21, Chris Nikic became the first person with Down syndrome to complete the Ironman triathlon, which consisted of a 2.4-mile swim, a 112-mile bike ride and a 26.2-mile run. The very thought would be enough     1    (put) off those in the greatest physical condition. However, by completing    2    challenge in 14 minutes under the official cut-off time, this sporting hero set a Guinness World Record.

This    3    (impress) accomplishment was made possible thanks to the loving guidance of Nikic’s father, Nik. While     4    (raise) Nikic, Nik was worried about his son’s inactive lifestyle, thus giving him the task of becoming 1%     5    (fit) every day. And the first step    6     (achieve) with a single push-up.

Now, three years later, Nikic has gathered much    7    (strong) and determination to really push his body to the limits. Considering those with Down syndrome have to fight varying physical and learning disabilities, Nikic’s accomplishment is another example of    8    people with this condition overcome barriers and achieve success. The key for him is resilience.

Nikic isn’t stopping there. He has set new goals for 2021, including the plan to participate    9    the special Olympics in Orlando, Florida in 2022. Undoubtedly, with his family, friends and followers by his side, Nikic     10    (continue) to set new records.