Gao Tingyu thrilled the home crowd by becoming the first Chinese man to claim an Olympic gold medal in speed skating,     1    (win) the 500 meters on Saturday.

“Gao has conducted     2    excitingly fast and excellent performance at the Speed Skating Oval. And the March of the Volunteers will be played again inside the stadium.” said the message from the General Administration of Sport shortly     3    the competition. This was also the fourth gold medal for Team China at the Beijing Olympic Winter Games     4     the first Olympic gold in the country’s speed skating history.

In 2018, the     5    (high) potential Gao already got a bronze medal at Pyeongchang Olympics in South Korea, as he said after the win in Pyeongchang: “I feel like that my capacity has reached the point     6     I can compete for Olympic medals. As long as I’m in a stable state of mind, I think for me the opponent is only     7     (I).”

Ever since he     8    (admit) into China’s speed skating team in 2015, Gao has won championships in    9    (compete) that were held home and abroad. He has suffered from severe back injuries and had an eight-month break before competing in the China Speed Skating Championship in 2021.

Gao was also the    10    (nation) flag bearer at the opening ceremony of Beijing 2022 on February 4.

During his life, Dr. James Naismith worked as a doctor, taught P. E. and wrote several books.    1    he never thought it very important, Dr. Naismith is today best known for one thing---he was the    2    (invent) of basketball.

    3    (bear)in Canada in 1861, he first worked at a special sports school in the USA.

One day the school principal told James he was having a problem with the students. Because of heavy snow, the students could not go outside. He told James that they needed a sport that the boys could play indoors and gave him two weeks to think of something.

It was    4    the very last day that James came up with his idea. The “birth of basketball” is said to be on December 21, 1891,    5     two teams from the school played the     6    (one) game. It was quite different from the basketball games of today. It had nine players on each team, and footballs    7    (use) instead of basketballs. Soon after, the game changed to five players on each side,    8     (play) special “basketballs” on the court.

    9    (unfortunate), Dr. Naismith did not live to see basketball become the worldwide game as it is today. However, in 1936, just three years before his death, basketball became     10    Olympic sport at the games in Berlin.

Thousands of fans lined up in the middle of the night to get a glimpse of the Argentina soccer team that won the 2022 World Cup finals ahead of    1    is scheduled to be a day of celebrations in Buenos Aires.

Members of the team,     2    (lead) by captain Lionel Messi, were all smiles as they stepped down from the plane in Ezeiza. They were welcomed by rock band La Mosca singing Muchachos,     3    song that was written by a fan to the tune of an old song by the band. The    4    (fresh) crowned champions of the world boarded an open-top bus and some of them could    5    (see) singing the words to Muchachos.

The bus moved at a snail’s pace as fans surrounded the bus on a highway, eager    6    a glimpse of the players. The players slept at a hotel for a few hours before    7    (board) a bus later on Tuesday to head to the Obelisk, the landmark of Buenos Aires after the team won the country’s third World Cup, and    8    (it) first since 1986.

The World Cup and the success has brought much-needed good news for a country where almost four-in-10 people live in    9    (poor) because of economic depression for years.

President Fernandez said, “Let the happiness that    10    (unite) Argentina with so many countries in the world serve as an example: Our societies need unity and peace.”

“Living Legends of Sports” are athletes who are     1     (master) in their sports and also set good examples for others, like Lang Ping and Michael Jordan.

Lang Ping, who is a former Chinese volleyball player, is now the coach of the Chinese national women’s volleyball team. She brought honour and glory to her country both as a player and as a coach,     2     (win) the love from fans at home and abroad. At the 2015 World Cup, Chinese women’s team met many difficulties. The team that Lang Ping built was falling apart because of     3     (lose) two important players.     4     (face) with such a big challenge, she didn’t lose heart. She believed that her players had the     5     (determine) and talent to win by working together as a team. They did make     6    .

Michael Jordan is one of the most famous basketball players in the world. He played so well     7     people called him “Air Jordan”. Not only were his skills     8     (impress), but also the mental strength he showed     9     (be) unique. He says the secret to success is learning from failures. Failure taught him to practise harder and never give     10    . He started the Boys and Girls Club in Chicago in 1996, and he has been helping young people since.

Living Legends

Whether as a player     1    as a coach, Lang Ping brought glory and won medals for China,     2    (make) her honoured by fans.     3    (face) with challenges, she never lost heart. Even though she lost two of her most important     4    (player), she led her team     5    world championship and then to Olympic gold of 2016. Air Jordan’s skills were     6    (impress), but     7    mental strength that he showed made him unique. The secret to his success is learning from failures.     8    was losing games that taught him to practise     9    (hard) and never to give up. The Boys and Girls Club which he started in Chicago     10    (help) young people since 1996.