1 . NPR’s Student Podcast (播客) Challenge is back — for a fifth year! This year’s competition will open for entries on January 6, 2023 and close on April 28.

As in past years, our judges will choose winners in two categories: grades five through eight and grades nine through twelve. Entries must be submitted by an educator or a student leader who’s 18 years old or older. Another important rule is that the maximum length of your podcast is within eight minutes, and longer entries will be disqualified.

Our judges will use the following criteria to narrow down and choose the winners:

Information and structure, 40 percent

Does the podcast tell a good story or teach us something new and important? Is it structured in a way that keeps listeners engaged? Can we easily follow the story you’re telling or the information you’re explaining? Have you spent time cutting out unnecessary information to make sure the main ideas come through clearly?

Personality and creativity, 40 percent

Does it have personality, or does it sound like you’re reading from a script (脚本)? Does it make us laugh or cry or leave us deep in thought?

Production, 20 percent

We’re not judging you on how fancy your equipment is and we don’t expect you to be an expert on recording and editing sound, but we hope you’ll try.

Some podcasts may use a narration (讲述) format. Others may be more of an interview format. If you use sound apart from interviews and narration, make sure it is clear and smooth.

1. What is the deadline for handing in your podcast?

A．January 6.

B．February 18.

C．March 26.

D．April 28.

2. Who are qualified to submit the podcast to the competition?

A．All monitors.

B．Any student.

C．Teachers.

D．Parents.

3. What is a requirement for the entries?

A．They should be more than eight minutes.	B．They must be well structured and edited.
C．They have to adopt an interview format.	D．They must be produced with special sound effects.

2 . What is the best soccer club in the world? The International Federation of Football History & Statistics (IFFHS) has named FC Barcelona the best world club of the decade (2011-2020). The Spanish club also topped the rankings(排名) for this century's first decade (2001-2010).

The ranking is determined by rating (打分) results from each of a club's matches. During the past 10 years, Barcelona won 22 trophies, including two Champions Leagues(欧洲冠军杯) and two UEFA Super Cups(欧洲超级杯), earning a score of 2,877 points. Its rival (对手) Real Madrid earned 2,782 points, while FC Bayern München ended up with 2,594 points.

The club obviously won based on its success. But what is it that truly makes a soccer club great? For one thing, the club has its own style, which is also one of the reasons it has been so successful. Instead of relying on physical strength, Barcelona players use more technical skills, especially when it comes to passing. This style works well on the field and is very entertaining(有观赏性的) to watch as well.

This style is used by some of the world's best players. Many clubs have great players, but “Barcelona is able to bring them together in a way that fans love”, said the sports website Bleacher Report. The club once had superstars like Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez, and Neymar who played together like a “goal-scoring machine”.

Although the club has the spending power to buy big stars, they often prefer to use players from their youth team. These young players are very loyal to Barcelona. Messi is one player who has risen up through the ranks of the Barcelona academy(青训营).

When Barcelona fans cheer on their team at their home stadium, Camp Nou, they often hold signs saying “Més que un club”, which means“More than a club”. This seems to have been proven true during the past decades.

1. What title did FC Barcelona win recently?

A．The UEFA Super Cup.	B．The Champions League.
C．The biggest rival club from 2001 to 2010	D．The best world club of the past 10 years.

2. What is Paragraph 2 about?

A．How many matches the club has won.	B．Why the club was ranked as the best.
C．How each match the club won was rated.	D．Who the club will compete with.

3. Which is Barcelona' secret to becoming so successful?

A．It trains its players to win with physical strength.

B．It spends large sums of money buying star players.

C．It often uses loyal players from its own youth team.

D．It plays most of its matches at its home stadium.

4. What is the story about?

A．How to manage a football club.	B．Great football clubs around the world.
C．What fans like best about FC Barcelona.	D．What makes Barcelona a great football club.