1. When did Beckham start his professional career?
| A．At age 13. | B．At age 19. | C．At age 17. |
| A．Beckham got married. |
| B．Beckham met Victoria Adams. |
| C．Beckham was a finalist for Player of the Year. |
| A．Her singing career. |
| B．Her modeling career. |
| C．Her fashion designs. |
2 . 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. |
3 . Ma Long, born in Anshan, Liaoning, the “home of table tennis”, was sent by his father to practise table tennis when he was 5 years old, and he went to Shenyang at the age of 11. At 15, Ma Long joined the national team. Although he was the least talkative boy of the players, his perseverance (坚持不懈) was as great as his overall strength in table tennis. In 2006, at 18, Ma Long, together with his teammates, won a team world championship.
His daily routine was a two-point line between the dormitory and the training hall, and he was the first to arrive and the last to leave on a daily basis. He had been doing so for ten years. His coach Liu Guoliang once said, “I went to the table tennis hall on a Sunday morning for an unannounced inspection (突击检查) to see how many players were training on Sunday. Only one person in the men’s first team was there. A genius (天才) is not your fear, but your fear is that a genius works harder than you do.” Such a genius is Ma Long.
However, after joining the team for nearly a decade, he suffered various types of failure. At that time, Zhang Jike, another top player, returned to the national team. From then on, Zhang was so invincible that he achieved the personal Grand Slam (大满贯) within only 445 days. Seeing Zhang’s achievements, Ma Long, at the lowest point, had the idea of retiring. But he was unwilling to just “disappear”.
Then came the Suzhou 2015 World Championship, Ma Long crowned his career, winning the singles champion.
1. What can we know about Ma Long in Paragraph 1?| A．He was an outgoing and sociable person. |
| B．He won the first world single championship at 18. |
| C．He started to practise at 5 without his parents. |
| D．He stood out for his determination and professional skills. |
| A．Years of training saw his loneliness. |
| B．He was tired and under inspection every day. |
| C．Hardship and fears beat him. |
| D．The road to fame was never smooth but rather tough. |
| A．Unbelievable. | B．Matchless. | C．Selfless. | D．Unbearable. |
| A．Ma Long: Pain Is Worthy of a Champion |
| B．Ma Long: Victory Is Worthy of Focus of Attention |
| C．Ma Long: Glory Will Fade Away |
| D．Ma Long: Chance Prefers the Genius |
4 . Coco Gauff used to visit the Grand Slam tournament (大满贯锦标赛) as a kid to see her idols Serena and Venus Williams. Now she is a champion there herself. On Sept 9, the 19-year-old from the US won her first major women’s singles title at the 2023 US Open (美国网球公开赛).
After an average start, Gauff surged to a 2-6, 6-3, 6-2 victory over her bigger, stronger opponent, Aryna Sabalenka, from Belarus, who became the new world No.1 the day after the tournament ended.
Unlike the Williams sisters, who have obvious force and power, Gauff is small and slim. But she moves fast on the tennis court. Forbes magazine said, “She is the quickest and perhaps already the best returner of impossible shots in tennis history.”
Even though Sabalenka is a very powerful hitter, it felt like she had to finish each point four or five times, as Gauff’s defense was so perfect, noted The Telegraph. This ended up frustrating Sabalenka and caused her to make 46 unforced errors.
Gauff thus became the first American teenager to win the US Open since Serena Williams, then 17, in 1999. When asked about “taking the torch” from the 23-time Grand Slam winner and the similarity between their tennis careers, Gauff told ESPN, “Serena is Serena. She’s the greatest of all time... I’d hope to do half of what she did. But I’m not going to compare myself to her. She’s some one that I look up to.”
Now, Gauff’s big win has left tennis fans wondering: When’s her next Grand Slam? That’s no easy task. Two of the past four US Open women’s champions were teenagers at the time, Canada’s Bianca Andreescu in 2019 and the UK’s Emma Raducanu in 2021, and neither has come close to repeating their success yet. But one thing about Gauff is certain — that at just 19 years old, the sky’s the limit.
1. What do we know about Gauff’s performance in the game at the 2023 US Open?| A．She made 46 unforced errors. | B．She was leading from the start. |
| C．She defeated a stronger opponent. | D．She became world No.1 afterwards. |
| A．Her force and power. | B．Her speed and defense. |
| C．Her figure and height. | D．Her services and attacks. |
| A．Aryna Sabalenka. | B．Bianca Andreescu. | C．Coco Gauff. | D．Serena Williams. |
| A．It is hard for Gauff to push back her limits. |
| B．Gauff will consider switching to other sports. |
| C．Gauff has potential for greater future success. |
| D．Teenage sportsmen often fail to continue their success. |
“World record broken!” On Aug 12, 2022, 17-year-old Ma Jiajun from Jilin excitedly posted
He has set a new world record for “the most consecutive jump rope triples (连续三摇跳绳)” with 701 times. Ma is more than 180 centimeters tall, but he used to be short and thin in primary school.
“The training was much
After breaking the record, Ma
6 . During the Asian Games Hangzhou 2022 in 2023, one of the highlights is a 48-year-old Uzbekistan gymnast, Oksana Chusovitina (“Chuso” as she is affectionately known), who continues to compete despite numerous “retirements” .
Born in Bukhara, Uzbekistan in 1975, Chuso competed and won gold in her first Olympic Games at Barcelona 1992. After competing at the Atlanta 1996 Olympic Games, Chuso got married in 1997 and two years later, Alisher, her son, was born. Chuso’s first “retirement” was due after competing at the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games, by which time five world championship medals had been won including three golds. But in 2002, Alisher was diagnosed with leukemia (白血病). The family moved to Germany where better treatment was available and Chuso continued to train as a way to take a break from the stresses of her son’s health.
Chuso competed at Athens 2004, gained German citizenship in 2006 and won silver on vault (跳马) at Beijing 2008 for her adopted nation — Germany, aged 33, just months after Alisher received the all-clear. At London 2012, Chuso came fifth in the vault final. And finally, in 2013, after eight years in Germany, Chuso returned to the place she calls home, Uzbekistan. Chuso switched back to competing for her home nation at Rio 2016 and at Tokyo 2020, where she just qualified for vault, but unfortunately did not make the final. In 2022, Chuso won gold on vault at the Doha World Cup on 5 March, the second of four of the 2022 FIG Artistic Gymnastics Apparatus World Cup series.
The 48-year-old gymnast’s motto is, “I’d rather try today than regret tomorrow”. “I’m an ordinary person,” Chuso says. “I have my feelings, hardships and sometimes I’m even in a bad mood. Nothing phenomenal (非凡的) about me, just stuck in sports a little longer. If you want to achieve something, there is always a way.”
1. In which year was Chuso’s son born?| A．1997. | B．1999. | C．2000. | D．2008. |
| A．To hold German citizenship. | B．To get better treatment for Alisher. |
| C．To seek better living conditions. | D．To receive more professional training. |
| A．Six. | B．Seven. | C．Eight. | D．Nine. |
| A．Active and energetic. | B．Outgoing and generous. |
| C．Ordinary and humorous. | D．Determined and positive. |
1. How did Sharapova tell the world she would leave her sporting world?
| A．Through a friend. | B．Through an interview. | C．Through a magazine. |
| A．Her physical condition. | B．Her business. | C．Her age. |
| A．In 2004. | B．In 2006. | C．In 2012. |
| A．She’s humorous. | B．She’s self-centered. | C．She’s hard-working. |
The legendary gymnast Oksana Chusovitina, aged 48, made
Chusovitina’s Olympic journey
In a sport known for its youthful
“Now I have made
Freestyle skier Gu Ailing, 18, is one of the superstars of the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympic Games.
Born to an American father and a Chinese mother, Gu decided
People say she is
Gu says she wants to encourage more girls in China to try skii ng and other extreme sports, many of which only
1. How long did Roger Federer’s professional career last?
| A．24 years. . | B．17 years. | C．20 years. |
| A．The pressure from his competitors. |
| B．The high expectation from his parents. |
| C．The unforgettable matches he played on court. |
| A．Because his belief and desire to win worked and helped. |
| B．Because he didn’t have enough rest before the match. |
| C．Because his family and team gave him a lot of support. |
| A．Talkative and inspiring. | B．Talented and determined. | C．Modest and humorous. |
