2 . What are the speakers talking about?

7 . My 11-year-old daughter, Elizabeth, does not like swim meets. She gets horribly   ______ because she is afraid that she will let everyone down. She started to talk about ______ swimming, which broke my heart because she loves swimming.                                

Recently, Elizabeth’s team ______ a T-shirt relay, which works like this: one person puts on a T-shirt and a pair of ______ and swims 50 meters. The person takes off the clothes and the other members, ______ put them on and swim another 50 meters until everyone on the team has completed a lap.

I told Elizabeth I really wanted her to go. She ______ back angrily but finally agreed.                                             

When the day arrived, Elizabeth was ______ to swim the anchor leg (最后一棒). By the last leg, Elizabeth’s team had built up a ______ lead. Then it was Elizabeth’s turn.

______ the halfway mark, she was still in the lead. Then somebody noticed that one of Elizabeth’s socks had ______ and was floating in the pool. “She has to get that sock on before the end of the race,” a swimming ______ told Elizabeth’s team, “or you will be ______.”

Everybody on her team started shouting, but she couldn’t hear them. ______, a girl in Lane Two was ______ on Elizabeth. Just then, a girl on my daughter’s team jumped in the pool, ______ the sock, swam after Elizabeth and put the sock on Elizabeth.

The sock finally on, Elizabeth swam with all her ______ for the last 15 meters and won! There followed much ______. And, for a few minutes, Elizabeth was the heroine.

On the ride home, she relieved her moment of glory ______. She told me that if the T-shirt relay were an Olympic event, her team would win the gold medal. I told her that in my ______ opinion, she was ______ right.

9 . I opened the hotel curtains to find dark rainy streets. After training in nearly 100-degree weather in St. Louis, I wasn't _______ a rainy 55-degree day. However, it didn't _______because it was marathon day.

My group _______with ponchos (雨披) on. I took off the poncho around Mile 9 as the rain seemed less _______.

I was still energized at Mile 13, and supporters were still _______ us on. Not too long after Mile 20, I was feeling some _______ in my legs. I never stopped though. I just put my head up and _______ going. As Mile 22 passed, I _______ and I began to cry, but kept on moving. The view alongside was _______ and it kept my mind busy.

At the end of Mile 25, my body was beat. As I saw that finish line in the wind, I put all my__________into running for it. The__________said my name and made some careless Irish remarks that I can't remember, and I__________the line in total tiredness. Some staff__________me my marathon medal, bottled water, and helped me keep warm.

Traveling for my first marathon will be__________remembered. I could not have done this without the__________of my family, friends, Coach Rich, my teammates and my sister, who gave me the strength to__________. As Norman D. Vaughan, the surviving member of the Byrd Antarctic Expedition said, “Dream big and be __________ to fail. ”

Yours

Li Hua