1 . Last Sunday, the famous Champs-Elysees street in Paris was turned into a giant outdoor classroom for a special spelling event called “The Big Dictation”. The event was a chance for people who love words to show off their listening and spelling skills in an unusual setting.

The Big Dictation of Champs-Elysees was organized by a writer named Rachid Santaki. He came up with the idea of large groups of people taking part in dictations back in 2013. Over 50,000 people asked to join the special spelling event on the Champs-Elysees, which turned one of Paris’s busiest streets into a classroom, with cars replaced by desks. In the end, around 5,000 people, aged 10 to 90, were chosen to take part.

Just like in school, a large “blackboard” was set up for the event near a famous building, the Arc de Triomphe. Several famous people were there to play the part of the teacher, and read the dictation texts out loud. After the dictation is read, the text on the screen lets people check their work.

Not everyone found it easy. Ten-year-old Samson thought the dictation was too quick and he couldn’t finish. Another young student agreed. “It was impossible!” he said. “The dictation was for adults.”

Even adults found it challenging, reporting that it caused stress and worry. One retired woman was pleased that she had only made two mistakes.

Marc-Antoine Jamet is in charge of the Champs-Elysees Committee, who brought the event to the famous street. He said the event wasn’t just about getting all the words right but also about bringing people together.

Another goal of The Big Dictation was to break the record for the largest dictation event ever. The previous record was set in 2018 at France’s national stadium, Stade de France, with 1,473 people taking part. That event was also run by Mr. Santaki.

1. How many people were chosen to take part in The Big Dictation last Sunday?

A．Around 1, 500.

B．Around 2,000.

C．Around 5,000.

D．Over 50,000.

2. What does Samson think of The Big Dictation?

A．Easy.

B．Exciting.

C．Boring.

D．Challenging.

3. What is a goal of The Big Dictation?

A．To break the record for the dictation event.

B．To introduce a famous street to the world.

C．To reduce the learning pressure of students.

D．To remember the founder of the competition.

4. What is the best title for the text?

A．The Famous Scenic Spots of France

B．A Spelling Event Took Place on a Paris Street

C．The French Love for Spelling Competitions

D．An Outdoor Classroom Unique to the British

2 . 阅读下面短文，在空白处填入1个适当的单词或括号内单词的正确形式。

A new competition has been added to the calendar of world sports events—the Balloon World Cup. We are all familiar     1     the “sport” of keeping balloon up. Most of us have joined in the decades—old pastime of     2     (keep) a balloon up in the air without letting it touch the floor. Spanish soccer star Gerard Pique loved this so much     3     he developed it into an international event. The first Balloon World Cup     4     (hold) in Spain on Thursday. Peru's Francesco de la Cruz was the very first man     5    (win) world champion. He defeated Germany's Jan Spiess in the final with a 6-2 victory.

Mr. Pique got his     6     (inspire) for the tournament from Tik Tok videos that went popular. He loved watching clips of the game     7     (play) by an American family during the COVID-19 lockdown. It then developed from the family's living room into a “Keep-Up Balloon League”. Pique then made the game global. The contests took place on an 8m x 8m court,       8     contained living room furniture as     9     (obstacle). Teams from 32 countries participated. Pique said, “It's something     10     (total) different. Sometimes you have to get out of your comfort zone and try new things.” There are hopes that it could become an Olympics event.

3 . The Olympics and COVID-19 were never going to coexist. The basic rule when it comes to controlling an infectious disease is to limit the contact people have with one another. Yet the very essence of the two weeks of competition, which begin on July 23 in Tokyo, is to invite the world to meet, greet and engage in friendly — and often socially not so distant — contests.

An estimated 70,000 athletes, coaches, staff, officials and media will be marching in Tokyo from July to August for the Olympics — at a time when infections in the city are rising again. On July 8, the government declared a fourth COVID-19 state of emergency in Tokyo, which will extend through the end of the Games.

New cases of COVID-19 emerging from any of the Olympic visitors could not only disrupt(扰乱) the Games but also forever fade this year’s Olympics as an exercise in a global pandemic that has claimed the lives of 4 million people.

Olympic organizers are working desperately to prevent that from happening. After consulting with infectious-disease experts, Tokyo 2020 officials have created guidelines for everyone who will be traveling to Japan for the Olympics. Many of the measures are familiar: frequent testing, mask orders and social-distancing procedures.

The strategy is also realistic. While it might not be possible to prevent the virus from entering secretly the Olympic community, the countermeasures are meant to contain it as much as possible. Infections will happen. The challenge lies in minimizing the risk of those infections and the impact they might have—on not just the Games but also the Japanese public and, ultimately, the world at large when Olympic delegations return home.

1. What is the basic principle of controlling an epidemic?

A．To prevent people from communicating with each other.

B．To keep people from participating in activities.

C．To stop people from chatting online.

D．To limit the contact people have with each other.

2. What does the underlined word “that” refer to?

A．The possible threat brought by new cases of COVID-19.

B．The spreading of virus caused by new cases of COVID-19.

C．The treatment of new cases of COVID-19.

D．The decrease of new cases of COVID-19.

3. Which word best describes the author’s attitude to the measures for Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games?

A．Skeptical.	B．Objective.
C．Conservative.	D．Negative.

4. From which is the text probably taken?

A．A news magazine.	B．A biology textbook.
C．A research paper.	D．A travel brochure.