1 . Sirine Jahangir has been singing, writing and performing music since she was a little girl. She lost all her vision in one eye by the time she turned 5, so now the teen uses her gift “as away to—not escape, but to help me through.” Not only did her passion get her through some difficult times, but when she was 14 it also brought her to the “Britain’s Got Talent” stage, where she impressed everyone with her performance.
Sirine has a rare condition that left her completely blind by the times she was 10 years old. While her parents and doctors have tried to find treatments for her, there isn’t much they can do. So her parents focused on helping her adjust to her new life, which was when her dad said she was first introduced to music “I remember one day, we were driving in the car. This is about when she was getting to the stage where she couldn’t look out the window anymore to see things, and I didn’t know what to do. I just put the music on really loud. She started singing in the car, and she was so happy. And then she just found happiness every time I put it on,” her father said.
It didn’t take long for them to realize Sirine has tremendous talent. When she appeared on “Britain’s Got Talent”, she told everyone just how much her passion means to her. “I guess music i s my vision,” she said. “That’s just what I live by, and music is my thing.” Then she headed over to the piano, where she played the piano and sang beautifully enough to bring the audience to tears! Unsurprisingly to everyone but Sirine, all four judges voted her into the next round of the competition!
Afterward, she said, “I can’t even say it’s a dream come true, because I didn’t even dream of it at any point... I never thought that would be realistic in my life.”
1. What did the “Britain’s Got Talent” stage mean to Sirine?A.This stage had earned her both fame and fortune. |
B.This stage was away for her to escape reality. |
C.She had a stage accident, resulting in blindness. |
D.She demonstrated her excellent musical talent on the stage. |
A.By talking to her about music topics. |
B.By playing music to her while driving. |
C.By asking famous singers for identification. |
D.By discovering the lyrics and songs she wrote. |
A.Everyone was moved by Sirine’s live performance. |
B.Sirine won the championship of the British Got Talent Show. |
C.Sirine advanced onstage by selling her tragic experiences. |
D.Sirine’s performance received votes from everyone present. |
A.Every road leads to Rome. |
B.Never give up until you succeed. |
C.Music inspires a new life for a person. |
D.There will always be a rainbow after storms. |
2 . A woman who lost one leg to cancer is seeking to break a world record by completing 102 marathon-length runs in 102 days.
Jacky Hunt Broersma, who lost the bottom half of her left leg to a rare form of cancer in 2001, set her goal in mid-January. And every day since then, she has been running the distance of a marathon. “Part of my body was gone. For me the most difficult problem was accepting my disability, ”she told the reporter.
Until five years ago, she was not very active. But then she looked into running and decided to give it a try. The sport ended up being quite costly. Currently, the carbon fiber blade she uses, which is designed specifically for running, costs about $10,000. “Running really changed my life, ”she said. “It helped me accept myself as a person with disability. It gave me a sense of freedom. I fell in love with the process of pushing my body further just to see what I could do.”
However, she has faced both physical and mental difficulties during her record-breaking attempt. On one recent day, Hunt Broersma felt breakdown at 24 kilometers and began to cry. In that moment, she felt like her planned goal might not happen at all. By dividing it into little goals, she finally picked herself up and carried on.
Hunt Broersma’s main support team is her husband and their two young children. She is posting her progress online and has also got a large social media following.
As she nears the end of her goal, Hunt Broersma is hoping to inspire a single thought in others: You’re stronger than you think and you’re capable of so much more.
1. What was Hunt Broersma’s biggest challenge?A.Surviving cancer. | B.Keeping a world record. |
C.Living with disability. | D.Participating in a marathon. |
A.She spent much money on running. | B.Running helped her overcome the disease. |
C.Running gave her freedom from her housework. | D.She was enthusiastic about running. |
A.She didn’t break the record. | B.Her family didn’t understand her. |
C.She lost the chance to take part in the marathon. | D.She felt hopeless about her goal. |
A.Lost time is never found again. | B.Where there is a will, there is a way. |
C.More haste, less speed. | D.It’s never too late to mend. |
3 . Skiing has always been a big part of Mikaela Shiffrin’s life. Her dad ski raced all through college and her mom raced and coached skiing. The Shiffrins taught Mikaela and her brother, Taylor, to ski at a very young age. At two and a half years old, Mikaela made her first ski run down her driveway on plastic skis.
Mikaela loved skiing. From ages 8 to 11, she did hundreds of training runs on small hills to learn the skills of slalom skiing (障碍滑雪). When Mikaela was 11, she began to learn at the Burke Mountain Academy, a Vermont boarding school for skiers. She took classes, studied, and practiced her skiing. According to Burke Mountain Academy headmaster Kirk Dwyer, “What separated Mikaela from others was the degree of her commitment (投入) to be the best. Mikaela practiced more than anyone and believed in herself then and now.” At age 14, Mikaela began her international career when she raced in the world championships for 13- and 14-year-olds. And she won!
By the time she was 17, she had already won her first World Cup race. “Living away from home four and five months at a time can be difficult,” Mikaela says. “But it can also be exciting. I’m getting to see the world.” When Mikaela began ski racing in Europe, her mother, Eileen, stayed with her. She worked as her high-school teacher while they were on the road. “She has always been a super-hard worker,” says Eileen.
For Mikaela, working hard is a full-time job. Even her off-season is work time. “If you want something, just try your best,” she says. At the 2014 Winter Olympic Games in Sochi, Russia, 18-year-old Mikaela Shiffrin became the youngest slalom skier ever to win an Olympic gold medal.
1. According to the text, Mikaela _______.A.learned to ski by herself | B.was born into a skiing family |
C.first skied when she was 3 years old | D.got to know slalom skiing at the age of 14 |
A.Mikaela was cleverer than the other kids |
B.Mikaela was too young to learn skiing |
C.Mikaela was a hard-working girl |
D.Mikaela was a slow learner |
A.Her mother. | B.Her father. |
C.Kirk Dwyer. | D.Taylor Shiffrin. |
A.The 2014 Winter Olympic Games |
B.The Burke Mountain Academy |
C.An introduction to slalom skiing |
D.A young skier’s fight for success |
4 . As an engineer, building things was Liang Kaiyu’s hobby in his spare time. When he saw that a foreign engineer had developed an autonomous e-bike, he decided to build one himself. But when testing his self-built automatic electric motor in January 2020, an explosion occurred, and he lost his left leg below the knee. About two months after the accident, he got his prosthetic limb (假肢).
On short-video platforms, Liang saw many people with physical challenges who live no differently from other people. They ride bicycles, dance and even ski, using their prosthetic limbs. Inspired by them, Liang started to post videos about his daily life to inspire more people. Since then, he has used his engineering skills to make his prosthetic limb more comfortable and powerful than a real leg.
He tried to upgrade his high-tech prosthesis, including fitting a shock absorber and putting in a charger port. One of the latest upgrades is the addition of colored LED lights to his running blade. The LED lights can be connected via Bluetooth to a smartphone and change color as they react to music. Through design, modeling and manufacturing, he made a device that can connect the socket (承窝) of the leg with the prosthetic knee. With the small device, he can take the leg off in one second. Moreover, to better learn about the structure and system of the prosthetics, he took apart some secondhand prosthetic limbs that were made in China and abroad, which cost him a lot of money.
“These high-tech prosthetics are comfortable and safer to wear. They can boost confidence with every step. But the only thing is that the cost is unaffordable for most families,” Liang says. He adds that due to the small group of consumers, there are few companies in China investing in the research and development of such prosthetics. To advance functional performance and help amputees (截肢人士) maintain or regain their freedom of movement, Liang has provided his experience and suggestions for several prosthetics companies.
“If there is a good opportunity, I want to make high-tech prosthetics accessible and affordable to more amputees in China,” Liang says.
1. What happened to Liang in January 2020?A.He fell off an autonomous e-bike. | B.He got injured in an accidental explosion. |
C.He suffered from serious knee pain. | D.He lost his left leg in a motor race. |
A.A kind of LED light that has been designed to do a particular job. |
B.A Bluetooth that has been designed to do a particular job. |
C.A piece of equipment that has been designed to do a particular job |
D.A smartphone that has been designed to do a particular job. |
A.They give users limited freedom of movement. | B.They take much time to produce. |
C.They are quite heavy for amputees to wear. | D.They are too expensive. |
A.Creative and helpful. | B.Humorous and patient. |
C.Generous and cautious. | D.Honest and courageous. |