The ancient Olympic Games     1     (begin) the year 776 BC and died out around the year 393. Then only Greek men     2     (allow ) to participate. The modern Olympics were first held     3     1896. A Frenchman     4     (name) Pierre de Coubertin brought the Olympics back to life. The motto of the Olympics is “Faster, Higher, Stronger.”

Many remarkable Olympians have appeared, such as the boxer Cassius Clay from the USA     5     demonstrated great talent and personality and a former track and field athlete, Jessica Ennis-ill, from the UK who tells us how hard work and devotion can lead     6     sporting excellence.

China has played     7     important role in the Olympics. In 2008, China hosted the Olympic Games for the first time and it ranked first     8     the medal table. Furthermore, Beijing won the     9     (elect) to host the 2022 Winter Olympics.

The Olympic Games bring joy and excitement to people     10     the world.

When it comes to volleyball, we can’t help     1    (think) of Lang Ping. Lang Ping used to be a     2    (fame) player. Now she is also known     3     a coach. Led by her, Chinese women volleyball team won the world championship in 2019,     4     made the whole nation excited.

Lang Ping was born in Tianjin in 1960. Lang began playing volleyball as a teenager and     5    (eventual) joined the national team in 1978. Her height made     6     possible for her to play volleyball well. With time going by, Lang Ping played better and better. Lang Ping and her teammates played so well that they won champions several     7    (time) in the 1980s.

After she     8    (retire) in 1986, Lang Ping coached volleyball in Italy and America. In 1995, she returned to China to work as a coach. She was     9     busy with her work to take care of her family. In 2016 Chinese women volleyball team won a gold medal at the Olympics in Brazil. Because of the victory, Lang Ping became the first person in the volleyball     10    (win) an Olympic gold medal as both a player and a coach. And, Lang Ping and her team won another world championship in 2019 for our motherland.

As an outstanding American gymnast (体操运动员), Simone Biles has won more medals     1     any other gymnast in American history. Although Biles has made great achievements in sports, she had never received     2     college education before. But it has changed. Biles is a college student now.

Biles had planned to go to the University of California Los Angeles,     3     she could go into a classroom and listen to lessons in a traditional way, but her busy life made it nearly impossible     4     (study) full-time at a university. So she     5     (decide) to take some classes at the University of the People, an online university, which     6     (set) up by Shai Reshef, an Israeli-born businessman. It offers degree programs of different levels. Now Biles is working hard to get her first degree, and she is     7     (satisfy) with the online education though she hasn't had a traditional school experience since she went to high school. She was home-schooled during her high school years to save time for her gymnastic     8     (train) .

The school's nontraditional methods are     9     (particular) fit for Biles, and her hard-working spirit     10     (shape) her gymnastic career will help her in her studies as well.

Stephen Curry, the son of the famous basketball star Dell Curry, is also a well-known NBA basketball player in the world. He spent his childhood years     1     (practise) basketball on the     2     (mud) basketball court. However, the poor conditions helped     3     (he) develop his own playing style. He also learnt to be     4     (create) and flexible as a player. Nonetheless, for many people, it seemed unlikely that Stephen would be     5     great basketball player, because he was too short, too thin and too weak     6     follow in his father’s     7     (footstep). Despite this, Stephen never gave up, and ended up     8     (play) college ball at Davidson College, not too far from where he lived.     9     (select) for the NBA in2009, he became a member of the NBA’s Golden State Warriors. In 2015, he led the Warriors to their first championship since 1975. Stephen achieved his dream through self-belief, hard work, perseverance     10    some help from an old hoop. He has proved that anything is possible as long as you try your best to do it.

On August 5, 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, Quan Hongchan perfomed two dives that received perfect scores by all seven judges on     1     way to winning the gold medal in the women’s 10-meterplat-form final.

Quan from a small village in South China’s Guangdong Province,     2     finally won the 10-meter platform title in the women’s 10-meter platform diving, became the second-youngest Chinese gold     3     (medal) in the event at the Olympics after Fu Mingxia took home the top prize in 1992 at just 13 years old. Quan, who scored a total of 466.20, also     4     (break) the previous record in the event. Two of Quan’s five dives in the five-round     5     (compete) earned 10s across the board, and another one of her dives received six 10s and one 9.5. But since the rules of diving called for the two     6     (high) and two lowest scores to be abandoned to arrive at the final score, it was     7     (effective) a third perfect dive.

Quan entered the sport in 2014, later     8     (join) a club in China’s Guangdong Province. The reason why Quan chose to become     9     athlete was heartbreaking---she wanted to win prizes as early as possible     10     (help) her seriously ill mother.

Kobe Bryant is one of the greatest players in the history of the basketball game,     1    life is a legend. In 2008, Kobe Bryant    2    (name) Most Valuable Player and carried his team the Lakers to the NBA Finals, where they lost to the Boston Celtics.     3    , his team won the titles   in the following two years. In 2015, he made an announcement    4     he would retire at the end of the season. After retirement he soon    5    (seek) the best in other fields. His film Dear Basketball led to the unexpected sight of Bryant    6    (accept) an Oscar award.

On January 26, 2020, Bryant’s helicopter crashed in the Los Angeles suburb. Nine people     7     board, including Bryant and his daughter Gigi died. “We are completely devastated by the sudden     8     (lose) of my adoring husband and my loving,     9     (thought) and sweet Gigi.” His wife Vanessa said. “There aren’t enough words to describe our pain right now. I take comfort in knowing that Kobe and Gigi both knew that    10     were so deeply loved. We were so incredibly blessed to have them in our lives. I wish they were here with us forever.”