1 . Lionel Messi, one of the greatest football players of all time, was born on June 24th, 1987, in Rosario, Argentina. From a young age, Messi showed a remarkable talent for football, and his passion for the game led him to join a local club at the age of just six.
Growing up in a working-class family, Messi faced many challenges. He suffered from a disease related to growth at a young age, and his parents could not afford the expensive treatment required. However, Messi’s talent on the field did not go unnoticed, and he was eventually offered a tryout with FC Barcelona. Messi impressed the Barcelona coaches with his exceptional skills, and they offered him a place at the club’s youth academy at the age of 13. He quickly rose through the ranks and made his first-team debut (首次亮相) in 2004 at the age of 17, becoming the youngest player to ever play for Barcelona.
Over the years, Messi has established himself as one of the best players in the world. He is known for his incredible dribbling (带球) skills, his ability to create space and his incredible speed. Messi has won a large number of awards over the course of his career, including the Ballon d’Or (an award given to the best football player in the world) seven times. In addition to his individual achievements, Messi has also enjoyed great success with FC Barcelona. He has won many domestic and international titles with the club. Messi has also been an important part of the Argentina national team, helping them reach the final of the 2014 World Cup and winning the Copa America in 2021.
Off the field, Messi is known for his charitable work. He has donated millions of dollars to charitable causes. In 2020, Messi and his foundation donated €1 million to hospitals in Catalonia to help fight the COVID-19 pandemic.
Lionel Messi’s story is an inspiration to young football players around the world, and his charitable work off the field is a testament to his character and generosity.
1. What challenge was Messi faced with on the way to success?| A．No family support. | B．Poor physical condition. |
| C．No exceptional talents. | D．The lack of good coaches. |
| A．Modest. | B．Cooperative. | C．Caring. | D．Ambitious. |
| A．Lifestyle. | B．News. | C．People. | D．Entertainment. |
| A．Lionel Messi: A Superstar off the Court |
| B．Lionel Messi: A Hero Changing the World |
| C．Lionel Messi: The Return of a Football Star |
| D．Lionel Messi: The Rise of a Football Legend |
At nine years of age, she took
Years
3 . Of all the stories of Olympic medalists, the most touching one is that of weight-lifting champion Oscar Figueroa.
During his athletic
In the 2004 Olympic games, Figueroa made his first
In spite of all, he’d already
No matter how hard he felt, he never gave up, serving as a
| A．work | B．job | C．career | D．story |
| A．compete | B．win | C．join | D．call |
| A．excitement | B．disappointment | C．shame | D．happiness |
| A．promise | B．appearance | C．decision | D．plan |
| A．down | B．up | C．back | D．forward |
| A．Unbelievably | B．Thankfully | C．Hopefully | D．Unfortunately |
| A．tested | B．shaken | C．injured | D．caught |
| A．spent | B．cost | C．took | D．lost |
| A．experienced | B．expected | C．prepared | D．checked |
| A．imagine | B．refuse | C．give | D．claim |
| A．put up | B．took off | C．took on | D．set aside |
| A．retire | B．benefit | C．graduate | D．suffer |
| A．special | B．powerful | C．fresh | D．different |
| A．last | B．best | C．first | D．latest |
| A．training | B．learning | C．lifting | D．playing |
4 . Simone Biles was a bright, bouncy little girl. She couldn’t sit still, and her favorite place was the trampoline (蹦床) in her grandparents’, backyard, where she jumped and twisted (扭动) in the air for hours.
Simone was born in 1997. When she was 6 years old, her day-care group went on a field trip to a gym. Simone loved watching the gymnasts train and perform. She couldn’t just watch them, though-she had to try their moves. She was so good that one of the coaches sent a letter home with her, inviting Simone to take gymnastics (体操) classes.
Simone loved the classes, and she was excellent at climbing, swinging and jumping. She had a lot to learn, though. Most of the gymnasts in her class had started lessons when they began to learn to walk. At 6, Simone was the oldest child in her class. But that would change quickly.
Several times a year, the gym held exhibitions to demonstrate the gymnasts’ skills. At one of these, young gymnasts had to climb 10 feet up a rope, using just their arms and holding their legs straight in front of them. Simone was so strong that she climbed 20 feet into the air.
At 9, Simone learned why she couldn’t sit still: She had ADHD(多动症). Her brain moved fast and her body did too, which made it hard for her to concentrate in school. “The challenges we face help us become who we are, ” Simone wrote. “My challenge is also my superpower: ADHD. ” Simone’s superpower would help make her one of the most brilliant gymnasts ever seen.
At age 16, she won two gold medals at the Artistic Gymnastics World Championships, including the all-around. She has now won 25 world medals, 19 of them gold. That’s the most in world gymnastics history. So outstanding is she that several signature moves have been named after Simone.
1. What does the underlined word “bouncy” in paragraph 1 mean?| A．Confident. | B．Active. | C．Curious. | D．Gifted. |
| A．Simone liked to show off. |
| B．Simone didn’t need to learn more. |
| C．How excellently Simone performed. |
| D．Why Simone fell behind her classmates. |
| A．Simone’s superpower. |
| B．Simone’s signature moves. |
| C．Simone’s great achievements. |
| D．Simone’s experience in competitions. |
| A．Practice makes perfect. |
| B．Interest is the best teacher. |
| C．Talent is the key to success. |
| D．Challenges can be superpower. |
5 . Jessica Long, from Baltimore, Maryland, USA is a champion by all definitions of the word. She is one of the world’s most decorated swimmers. Jessica was the youngest athlete to win a Paralympics (残奥会) medal. But her path to becoming a champion has been anything but easy.
Jessica was born in Irkutsk, Russia with a severe and rare disease — fibular hemimelia (腓侧半肢畸形). This means that part of her leg bones was missing or abnormal. Because of that, her young mother placed her in a Russian orphanage (孤儿院), fearing she could not care for Jessica.
Fortunately, she was adopted by an American family when she was 13 months old. She required 25 different surgeries to help her leg condition. But unfortunately, both of her legs had to be removed when she was just 18 months old. Jessica learned to walk with artificial legs. As a child, she took to sports including gymnastics, cheerleading, ice skating, biking and rock climbing.
She began swimming at her grandparents’ house when she was 6. She started competitive swimming about 4 years later. She did really well in swimming. Shortly after she started competing, Jessica was selected as Maryland’s Female Swimmer of the Year with a Disability. Even though Jessica was annoyed with her physical limitations, she was encouraged to enter her first Paralympic Games in Athens, Greece. She won three gold medals in swimming at 12! But she did not rest on her success.
Jessica has gone on to win 23 medals for Team USA at the Paralympics! While she began her career out of anger and annoyance, she now has a positive force on a mission to inspire the next generation of Paralympians! Her attitude and growth have been keys to her success. Jessica always believed she could do anything. As she says, “The only disability in life is a negative attitude.”
1. What happened to Jessica when she was a baby?| A．She was abandoned in the wild. | B．She had 25 operations on her leg. |
| C．She had her legs cut because of a disease. | D．She was adopted by a Russian family. |
| A．At the age of 4. | B．At the age of 6. |
| C．At the age of 10. | D．At the age of 12. |
| A．She was the youngest athlete in US history. |
| B．She has set a good example to Paralympians. |
| C．She has won 23 gold medals in Paralympics. |
| D．She took part in several sports in Paralympics. |
| A．Difficult the first time, easy the second. |
| B．Never hit a man when he is down. |
| C．A common danger causes common action. |
| D．Nothing is impossible to a determined heart. |
6 . American gymnast Simone Biles flies through the air as though she was made for it. She has won more World Championship gold medals than any other female gymnast in history. She is also the first women gymnast to win three World all-around titles in a row. A complicated flip (翻转动作) she introduced in the 2013 World Championships is one of four skills that are named after her, and some consider her the greatest of all time.
Athletes are under pressure, and a small mistake can result in serious injury. At the Summer Olympic Games in Tokyo, Biles experienced something gymnast call “the twisties,” which is when a gymnast has no idea where his or her body is in the air. Instead of putting herself and her team at risk, Biles gave up the competition. However, she worked out in a private gym and was able to compete in the last-scheduled individual event: the balance beam, winning the bronze medal.
When she was young, Biles was raised by her grandfather Ron, and was introduced to gymnastics at the age of 6 on a school field trip to a gym. She saw some gymnasts practicing, began copying their moves and insisted that her parents send her for gymnastics lessons. A coach at the gym also recognized her talent and sent a letter home asking her parents to send her for lessons.
Throughout her career, Biles has kept her passion for the sport, which can be seen clearly in the huge smile she often wears while competing. But she also wants people to know the importance of putting mental health first and not ignoring how stress can influence them.
In Biles’ 2016 memoir (回忆录), titled Courage to Soar, the book tells in her words “how my faith and my family made my wildest dreams come true. And how embracing a dream can give you courage to soar.” Biles’ ability to perform at the highest level has inspired new generations of athletes, but her willingness to be honest about her struggles inspires everyone.
1. What does paragraph 1 mainly tell us about Biles?| A．Her high spirit. | B．Her wide fame. |
| C．Her great achievements. | D．Her wonderful skills. |
| A．She was seriously injured. | B．She had a hard time. |
| C．She got a gold medal. | D．She put her team at risk. |
| A．She has got the most gold medals in history. |
| B．Four skills were named after her in 2013. |
| C．She showed her talent for gymnastics at an early age. |
| D．Her grandfather insisted that she take gymnastics lessons. |
| A．Strong-willed and talented. | B．Confident and warm-hearted. |
| C．Determined and generous. | D．Hard-working and curious. |
7 . Eric Moussambani is the first swimmer from Equatorial Guinea to compete in the Olympics. He found his passion for swimming shortly after high school. At the time, he didn’t know how to swim, but he knew it was a sport he wanted to pursue.
Unfortunately, there were no standard swimming pools in his country. Eventually, he found a hotel pool where he could only swim three hours a week. When he couldn’t use the pool, he trained in rivers and the sea, with the local fishermen guiding him on how to use his legs and arms.
After about eight months of swimming, Eric gained entry into the 2000 Summer Olympics through a program designed to encourage sports development in developing countries.
In Sydney, Eric saw an Olympic-size swimming pool for the first time. It was so big that Eric said he was so frightened to compete in it. In preparing for his event, Eric trained at the same time as the US team and took the opportunity to study their techniques closely. A South African coach gave him a pair of competition trunks (泳裤) and some goggles (护目镜), which were what he needed badly.
On September 19, 2000, Eric stepped out for the men’s 100m freestyle competition. With his two fellow competitors stopped from taking part for making false starts, Eric suddenly found himself racing on his own. “I swam the first 50m really well,” said Eric after the competition. “I focused all my energy on telling myself to keep going.” After turning for the second length, however, Eric began to pay for spending so much energy on the first. As his legs stiffened (变僵硬), he felt he was going nowhere. “It was then that I heard the crowd shouting, encouraging me to ‘Go, go, go’. It gave me the strength to make it to the end.”
Eric finished the race with a time of 1:52.72, the slowest recorded time in Olympic history. But the audience did not care. They cheered him as if he had broken the world record. To this day, Eric is still an Olympic hero.
1. What is true about Eric before he participated in the Sydney Olympics?| A．He had nobody to teach him how to swim. |
| B．He had never trained in a standard swimming pool. |
| C．He developed his love for swimming from his childhood. |
| D．He entered the Olympics by beating all the other competitors. |
| A．Eric had made full preparations for his event. |
| B．The US team offered to teach Eric some techniques. |
| C．Eric was eager to compete in the Olympic swimming pool. |
| D．Eric didn’t even have proper equipment for the competition. |
| A．Inspiring. | B．Competitive. | C．Successful. | D．Meaningless. |
| A．His outstanding talent for swimming. |
| B．His strong willpower to reach his goal. |
| C．His record-breaking performance at the Olympics. |
| D．His great achievements in the world’s sports development. |
8 . Heroes tend to come from youngsters. Here are four of the youngest Olympic champions in the world so far.
Fu Mingxia — 13 years and 345 days
Chinese female diver Fu Mingxia won a gold medal at the 1992 Olympic Games in Barcelona, Spain, when she was just 13 years and 345 days old. She dominated (占据) the sport throughout the 1990s with her performance of extremely difficult dives. Her last Olympic gold medal came during the 2000 Sydney Olympics in Australia.
Nishiya Momyi — 13 years and 330 days
The just-finished Tokyo Olympics saw a few record-breaking feats in the skateboarding event. Japan’s Nishiya Momiji became the first ever women’s Olympic skateboarding champion. The athlete is merely 13 years and 330 days old, which makes her one of the youngest individual gold medal winners in the history of the Olympics.
KlausZerta — 13 years and 283 days
KlausZerta was only 13 years and 283 days old when he won a gold medal in the coxed pairs (双人舵手) event at the 1960 Olympics in Rome, Italy. Moreover, he is the youngest male athlete to win a gold medal in the history of the Summer Olympics.
MarjorieGestring — 13 years and 268 days
MarjorieGestring of America is the youngest individual Olympic gold medalist. She was only 13 years and 268 days old when she won the gold medal at the 1936 Berlin Olympic Games, She would have won more gold medals if not for the 1940’s World War II.
1. Where did Fu Mingxia get her final championship?| A．In Spain. | B．In Australia. | C．In Japan. | D．In Germany. |
| A．She won her first gold medal in her country. |
| B．She broke a few skating records. |
| C．She went through a hard time. |
| D．She won 4 gold medals. |
| A．Fu Mingxia. | B．Nishiya Momiji. | C．KlausZerta. | D．MarjorieGestring. |
9 . Thomas Panek has completed 20 marathons, however, he made history on Sunday at the New York City Half Marathon.
While visually impaired（视觉障碍）runners usually use human guides, Mr Panek became the first person to complete the race supported by guide dogs. A trio of Labradors - Westley, Waffle and Gus - each accompanied (陪伴) him for a third of the race. The team finished in two hours and 21 minutes.
Mr Panek, who lost his sight in his early 20s, showed that while he appreciated the support of human volunteers, he missed the feeling of independence. In 2015, Mr Panek established the Running Guides programme which trains dogs to support runners.
When selecting his companions for the race, Mr Panek chose siblings Waffle and Westley to join Gus, who is his full-time guide dog. “The relationship is really important. You can’t just pick up the harness (挽带) and go for a run with these dogs,” Mr Panek said. “You’re training with a team no matter what kind of athlete you are, and you want to spend time together in that training camp.”
Each dogs sets its own pace — Westley runs an eight minute mile, while his sister Waffle can cover the same distance in six minutes—and helps Mr Panek avoid obstacles such as kerbs（路缘）and cones (锥体). Each dog wears a special harness and set of running boots, to protect their paws.
Gus was chosen to run the final leg of the race and cross the finish line with Mr Panek. He retired from his duties as a guide dog at the end of the race.
According to Mr Panek, guide dogs give visually impaired people the freedom to “do whatever it is a sighted person does, and sometimes, even run a little faster than them”.
1. In which way did Thomas Panek make history?| A．He set a new record of time in running the half marathon. |
| B．He is the first blind person who take part in the marathon. |
| C．He finished the competition with help of human volunteers. |
| D．He is the first blind person finishing half marathon with guide dogs. |
| A．He stopped running after he lost sight. |
| B．He enjoyed running with human volunteers. |
| C．He is the founder of the Running Guides programme. |
| D．He got the gold medal at the New York City Half Marathon. |
| A．They didn’t get training before the race. |
| B．Westley runs faster than Waffle. |
| C．Gus is Panek’s full-time guide dog. |
| D．Westley retired after the race. |
| A．an essay | B．a news report | C．a biography | D．a review |
10 . Have you ever had a childhood hero? I mean a real person that changes the way you think, that influences you to be better at something?
Roger is a famous tennis player, in case you have been living under a rock these past fifteen years. He is considered the best tennis player in the history of the sport. And he is still strong. At the ripe old age of 37, he could have easily retired from the sport and lived a comfortable life he wanted.
You might not agree with me when I say tennis is one of the hardest sports in the world. But hear me out. Physically speaking, there are plenty of sports that are equally as challenging as tennis. Many also require mental strength.
| A．Let's put it this way. |
| B．Nothing beats going to a live tennis game. |
| C．Have you ever dreamed of becoming a hero? |
| D．Sports do good to physical and mental development. |
| E．But he has been pushing himself past his own limits. |
| F．However, few require a combination of the two in a match. |
| G．Roger Federer was my hero, is my hero, and will be my hero. |
