1 . When Muhammad Ali was 12 years old, someone stole his bicycle. It was a shiny new bike. Ali was very __________ and told a policeman he wanted to use his __________ to kill the thief. The officer __________ him to back up those “fighting words” by learning how to box.

During the next 25 years, Ali had a burning __________ to become one of the best boxers of the 20th century. He won a gold __________ at the Olympic Games. He went on to earn the title of world heavyweight boxing champion three __________ times. __________ his fights became major events watched by millions of people around the world.

Young Ali quickly made his mark in the __________ ring (拳击场). Instead of being a(n) __________, he turned professional after winning a gold medal in the Olympic Games in 1960. Four years later, he __________ Sonny Liston to __________ his first world heavyweight champion title.

In 1974, Ali __________ the world heavyweight title again by __________ George Foreman. Then he met Joe Frazier in the Philippines, to do __________ for the third time. It was __________, but Ali won that fight. Ali __________ his heavyweight title six more times before he __________ to Leon Spinks in February 1978. But Ali beat his __________ and got back the title seven months later.

Ali __________ in 1981 with a record of fifty-six wins and five losses. In 2005 he was __________ the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

2 . Last Sunday, our school held an ice hockey (冰球) game. I was so proud when my team ________ the game. It made me feel like I could do ________. Only three years ago, I was________ of walking or skating on the ice. To deal with this problem, I decided to ________a skating club. I really envied (嫉妒) the other club members, who were so ________and confident on the ice. But my teacher was good at teaching and before I knew it, I was able to ________. He then advised me to try ice hockey. I ________ it and was soon practising ________ my local team almost every evening. We are now training for national games________  hope to be winners one day, but my final________is to be an ice hockey teacher and help people learn to play this game.

3 . Thousands of runners gather for the annual Marathon. The largest holiday race in California_______ folks of all ages, sizes, shapes, and _______. The gun goes off and runners push for position. I just _______ at the new day and feel righteous for having gotten up and down to the event.

Before long, my _______ turns to depression as the seven-year-old passes me by. Elvis has already _______ the turn way before me and I fall behind a woman. The sense of _______ heats up and so does my _______. I forget that I already run many miles and have 4.2 miles left to _______. The runners around me set my pace.

Suddenly, as I make the turn, I am _______ by an overwhelming sight. A young man with one leg ________ in the sun is going at a lazy pace. The metal leg is ________ to his thigh. He is unaware of anyone who passes him. He is running his own ________ at his own pace.

I slow down and take his lesson. I finish despite the ________ in my knee. Far behind the 7-year-old. It doesn’t matter. It is my race, at my pace.

How many times do we let others ________ the pace, ________ our own goals, our abilities? How many times do we judge our success or our failure by what others have done?

4 . The Differences Between the World Cup and the Olympic Soccer

You don’t have to be a soccer expert to know that the World Cup is the sport’s biggest international event. That’s right—it’s even bigger of a deal than participating in the Olympics. While most other sports see the Olympic games as the grandest stage, soccer holds its World Cup to a much higher _________. You may feel surprised but this is exactly the truth. In fact, the two events are set apart by a fair share of _________

The calendar year

Many of the sports that have their own Olympic events have _________that revolve around when the Games would be, so when it comes time to compete, the athletes are available. This isn’t the case for some of the bigger sports, _________, and soccer is one of them. When the World Cup qualifiers(预选赛) _________with the Olympics, even though there is a FIFA contingent(国际足联团队)that organizes soccer at the Summer Games, FIFA may not encourage its _________players to compete at the Olympics.

Countries participating

The World Cup hosted 32 national teams in Russia in the 2018 tournament.(This is also what allows the World Cup to host so many games over the span of a month. ) _________, the Olympics only hosts about half of that, with 16 men’s teams and 12 women’s teams participating in 2016Summer Games in Rio de Janiero, Brazil.

_________requirement

You can’t put all the _________on FIFA for players not participating in the Olympics when the Games also put restrictions on who can play at the event. Each team participating in the Olympics can only have three players over 23 on their roster(参赛名单), which has led to the Games being mockingly referred to as a U-23 tournament. The World Cup, __________, doesn’t have such a limit.

Because of the age limit, many think the level of skill displayed at the Olympics isn’t a good __________of what the world’s best soccer players are capable of. Keep in mind that FIFA is part of the organizing committee for soccer at the Olympics. So it always has the final __________in whether the best players in the world can participate. As the New York Times summarized in 2008, FIFA’s message to the Olympics is clear: Soccer is one sport in which you will never be allowed to __________an event with the best in the world.

Fans

Part of the World Cup’s appeal is that it runs over the course of the __________, and viewers who don’t watch certain teams on a regular basis can become more familiar with the competition. The Summer Games __________the games—again, made up of fewer teams—onto a much shorter schedule with less time for fanfare.

5 . On Oct. 11, hundreds of runners competed in a cross-country race in Minnesota. Melanie Bailey should have _________ the course earlier than she did. Her _________ came because she was carrying a _________ across the finish line.

As reported by a local newspaper, Bailey was more than two-thirds of the way through her _________ when a runner in front of her began crying in pain. She _________ to help her fellow runner, Danielle Lenoue. Bailey took her arm to see if she could walk forward with _________. She couldn’t. Bailey then _________ to let Lenoue climb onto her back and carried her all the way to the finish line, then another 300 feet to where Lenoue could get _________ attention.

Once there, Lenoue was _________ and later taken to a hospital, where she learned that she had serious injuries in one of her knees. She would have struggled with extreme __________ to make it to that aid checkpoint without Bailey’s help.

As for Bailey, she is more __________ about why her act is considered a big __________. “She was just crying. I couldn’t __________ her,” Bailey told the reporter. “I feel like I was just doing the right thing.”

Although the two young women were strangers before the __________, they’ve since become friends. Neither won the race, but the __________ of human kindness won the day.

6 . Marcus is a handsome and athletic kid. He plays tennis and _________ the state tournament every year. Marcus’s neighbor, Conrad, is also _________ to compete, but he has rheumatoid arthritis (类风湿性关节炎). Although it pains him just to walk, he _________ painful days at school walking to the sports field. He loves watching his school compete so he doesn’t _________ a game.

Marcus has known Conrad since primary school. They’ve always been _________. He sees Conrad in pain and his _________ at not being able to play sports. So, every day alter school, Marcus _________ his classmates to go to Conrad’s for a moment of discussion about the game competition. The discussion is as _________ as a real high school game, which makes Conrad forget the hurt.

Finally, the doctors found a new _________ to reduce the pain. Conrad walks without much pain, and then begins running, but he still has to learn the __________ of running. After a childhood of walking carefully and taking __________ steps, Conrad has to train his walking like a kid again and stay in shape. He pushes himself every day，building his lungs and doing leg lifts repeatedly for his leg __________. He knows what pain feels like, but running for Conrad is no longer __________.

To Conrad’s delight, he gets a chance to join the cross country team. Conrad doesn’t win, not once, but Marcus is there, __________ for him who always finishes in the middle of the competitors, breathing in wind and waving his hands __________.