1 . Hangzhou Asian Games are defined as a great success. For 16 days over 12,000 athletes from 45 countries and regions across Asia competed over 480 events, broke 13 world records and shared unforgettable moments in Hangzhou. It is worth mentioning that in this 19th edition of Asian Games break-dancing and e-sports made their debuts as official medal sports.
In Asia, e-sport games are more popular than traditional sport, making it the leading region for e-sports and, within Asia, China is undoubtedly the region leader as well as the largest e-sports market in the world, accounting for “34% of global industry income in that category, Asia combined takes 53%”, says Niko Partners in their market research reported by MIT Technology Review.
Within China, e-sports are run like any popular sport and have been for a long time: there are regional clubs, each with its home stadium; competitions featuring different levels of talent make it possible for the industry to evaluate the players (and also for the players to make a living); and in recent years, star players have even been marketed like celebrities, attracting crazy fan groups.
For the first time in history, the Asian Games included e-sports as medal-earning event, with over 20 countries competing in seven e-sport games making it the “highest-stakes mobile game match that’s ever been played” according to MIT Technology Review: “Of all the competitions taking place, e-sports is the only one in which arena(竞技场) tickets were sold on a lottery(抽签) basis because of skyrocketing demand. There were over 5 million lottery buyers for all the e-sports events; each had a 0.5% chance of getting a ticket.”
The reason for such popularity has been identified in the drive of the major Chinese tech companies promoting the rise of mobile gaming in China and making the e-sports more accessible to people who don’t have computers or consoles(游戏机). The popularity of e-sports is particularly intense among young people, for this reason brands like Disney or Nintendo are recruiting companies like Tencent to make their mobile games.
1. Where is this text probably taken from?| A．textbook. | B．A travel journal. | C．A science fiction. | D．A sports magazine. |
| A．Because e-sports is so popular. | B．Because the venue is not spacious. |
| C．Because it can add fun to e-sports. | D．Because it can help promote e-sports. |
| A．People’s intense interest in digitalization. |
| B．The large young population of the country. |
| C．People’s easy access to mobile games. |
| D．The government’s promotion of the sport. |
| A．The Origin of E-sports |
| B．The First Appearance of E-sports in Asian Games |
| C．The Development of E-sports |
| D．D. The Popularity of E-sports in Asia |
2 . Skateboarding made its Olympic debut (首次亮相) at the Tokyo Olympics. Born in California in the 1950s, skateboarding is considered more of a lifestyle than a sport. Skateboarding doesn’t quite fit into any traditional sports box. But its presence at the Tokyo Olympics brought a great sense of playfulness and individuality to the sport world’s biggest stage.
Skateboarding presents so many more options than people typically have in sports. In this way, skateboarding is nearly impossible to define. But ask a skater at any level what skating means to them, and you’ll get a similar answer: What attracted them to the sport was freedom and creativity, not competition or being the best.
Every skateboarder has their own unique style. There are no rules in skateboarding no standards, no fixed structure—even at the Olympics. According to Mimi Knoop, professional skateboarder and head coach for the US Olympic skateboard team, judges score the athletes based on trick progression, difficulty level and originality.
“We don’t have points for certain tricks because we want to stay away from that to keep it a little more creative,” Knoop said
If you watched the Olympics, the way the skateboarders interacted (互动) with each other was often quite different from other athletes. Competitors at some events, like gymnastics or swimming, typically kept a certain distance from their competitors. But skateboarders were enjoying each other’s company and lifting each other up.
Sports agent Yulin Olliver said, “Skateboarding as a sport and lifestyle is self-sufficient (自立的). There’s no need for coaches, teams or organized competitions. Those things exist in skateboarding, of course, but not out of necessity. As long as there are individuals who skateboard and find joy in doing so, the culture of skateboarding will remain strong.”
“It’s almost like the Olympics needed skateboarding.” Olliver said, “not the other way around.”
1. What may the culture of skateboarding be based on?| A．Joy and individuality. | B．The purpose of winning. |
| C．Interaction and teamwork. | D．The demand for a new lifestyle |
| A．By presenting professional skills. |
| B．By staying away from certain tricks |
| C．By performing difficult original tricks. |
| D．By focusing on the whole effect instead of details. |
| A．Cooperate with their competitors. |
| B．Absorb every detail of their competitors. |
| C．Pay attention to their competitors’ coaches. |
| D．Keep a certain distance from their competitors. |
| A．Team spirit. | B．Great interest. |
| C．Professional coaching. | D．An outgoing personality. |
3 . Training for a marathon can be a marathon itself. Here are tips on preparing for the big day. Learn how to be prepared for the race and how to treat your body after that long run.
● How should you prepare before the marathon?
Your last long run should take place about three weeks prior to the marathon. It takes that long for the muscle damage caused by training to go. Adding one more long run could have minimal gain, if any, and may cause an athlete to suffer from “dead legs” during the event.
Like you reduce your work to restore your muscles, focus on sleep the week prior to the race. Your body will appreciate it. Even if nervousness stops you from getting sleep the night before the race, the extra sleep you got during this week will make up for this.
Be sure you have on hand your water and food sources for the race. Drink lots of water during the week before the race. This optimizes your hydration (补水) before you hit the start line. Eat a diet rich in complex carbohydrates, such as breads, rice, pasta and potatoes. This helps maximize your energy stores. Don’t experiment with new foods this week. Carbohydrate loading (碳水循环) is not a simple process. Try it some other time, perhaps before other long runs.
● What should you do after the race?
No matter what the results are, be proud of yourself. You can learn from every race. Some tips for your post-marathon:
Drink. Even though you drank during the race, you will still be a little dehydrated.
Keep moving. Do lower intensity exercises, such as walking for 60 minutes after the race. This will ease a lot of the post-race muscle pain. Stretch gently. But don’t plan on running during the week after the race. Walking, swimming or cycling at an easy pace will work well.
Do allow your body to recover. An extreme athletic event like a marathon is incredibly stressful on the body. The body needs the rest; otherwise, problems such as injuries, fatigue, decreases in performance and immune suppression can result.
1. According to the text, which preparation for a marathon is recommended?| A．Add one more long run before the race. |
| B．Sleep as long as you like. |
| C．Keep hydrated. |
| D．Try new food. |
| A．Walking. | B．Wrestling. | C．Swimming. | D．Cycling. |
| A．Sports. | B．Business. | C．Entertainment. | D．Arts. |
4 . Hangzhou, China—a stunning opening ceremony laden with Hangzhou characteristics amazed the world on Saturday, as President Xi Jinping declared the 19th Asian Games open.
With the city’s profound history, culture and its modern image presented in an eye-catching and high-tech fashion, the opening show helped to express the host’s warm hospitality and its wish to unite the world through sports. Following an opening performance depicting the autumn equinox (秋分), one of China’s 24 solar terms that celebrates the harvest season, over 50,000 spectators burst into cheers as Xi announced the opening of the Hangzhou Games, making the Zhejiang provincial capital the third Chinese city to host the continental sporting gala, following Beijing in 1990 and Guangzhou in 2010.
Wang Hao, president of the 19th Asian Games Hangzhou Organizing Committee, said Hangzhou is honored to play host to such a grand event, which started on September 23rd. Raja Randhir Singh, the acting president of the Olympic Council of Asia, showed appreciation for the Chinese host’s meticulous (细心的) organization in his speech. “You have done a fantastic job in preparing for the Asian Games. The one-year postponement due to the pandemic was unprecedented in OCA history, but your diligence and determination will bear fruit over the next 16 days and you will be rewarded with the most magnificent and successful Asian Games ever,” said Singh.
Supported by new technologies, the Hangzhou ceremony boasted many historic firsts. For the first time in China, organizers switched from a traditional fireworks show to a virtual display, projected (放映) onto a giant curtain screen the size of nine IMAX screens.
To adhere to the principle of delivering the greenest possible Games, zero-emission methanol was used to fuel all of the torches and the main cauldron. For the finale, hundreds of millions of virtual sparks, each representing a participant of the online torch relay, formed the shape of a human torchbearer, who ran into the stadium to light the main cauldron together with the physical relay’s final bearer — Zhejiang native and Olympic champion swimmer, Wang Shun.
1. Why was the autumn equinox depicted at the beginning of the Hangzhou Asian Games Opening Ceremony?| A．Because Hangzhou wants to show its warm hospitality. |
| B．Because Hangzhou wishes to unite the world through sports. |
| C．Because Hangzhou highlights the history of China. |
| D．Because Hangzhou wishes participants a good harvest in the game. |
| A．It is the fourth time that China has hosted the Asian Games. |
| B．The Asian Games was supposed to be held in 2022. |
| C．Wang Hao sang high praise for the organization of the game. |
| D．Raja Randhir Singh was responsible for the organization of the game. |
| A．By fueling all torches and the main cauldron with coal. |
| B．By displaying virtual fireworks and demonstrating the history of the city. |
| C．By employing zero-emission methanol and installing a giant curtain screen. |
| D．By representing a participant of the online torch relay |
| A．Technology and Tradition Combine for the Hangzhou Opening Gala |
| B．History Goes Down in the Hangzhou Opening Gala |
| C．Meticulous Organization is Praised by the World |
| D．Best Wishes are Conveyed in the Hangzhou Opening Gala |
5 . While the teams of the FIFA World Cup 2022 in Qatar competed in the fields, it was worth noting that it was not only soccer that caught the world’s attention, but also the video assistant referee (VAR) technology. Like it or dislike it, the VAR is a part of football games today.
Many football fans question whether the system made the game better or if it added an unnecessary layer of complexity to the beautiful game as a number of debatable decisions were made involving the VAR — it slows down the game; the offside law sometimes becomes rigid. The introduction of the VAR means top-level football games are now easily affected by stoppages and delays with the on-field referee often waiting for decisions to be made by those in offices often far away from the stadiums.
Actually, the use of video match officials in football was included in the 2018/2019 edition of the Laws of the Game and was already used at the 2018 FIFA World Cup. Since then, the system has been applied in over 100 competitions worldwide.
Despite criticisms, FIFA considered the first use of the VAR to be a triumph, with referee committee head Pierluigi Collina claiming that 99.3 percent of “match-changing” decisions were called correctly at the World Cup—“very, very close to perfection”. Without the VAR, referees called 95 percent of the incidents correctly.
Not only football, sports tech to support a referee’s decision-making is widely adopted by other major sports in professional and Olympic games to assist referees to make the correct decisions. Tennis employs the Hawk-Eye Live system on competition courts, and the NBA has long used instant replay and other high-tech aids to make sure players are shooting within the time given by the shot clock in order for the referees to make the right call.
We should admit that sports tech is still not perfect in the field of sports events. People’s feelings are not towards those technologies themselves, but the current shortcomings of the application of the technology. However, fairness and consistency should not be a zero-sum option. Efforts should be made to further improve efficiency and reduce disturbance to beautiful games.
1. Why do many football fans question the VAR technology?| A．It sometimes becomes rigid. |
| B．It makes competitions unappealing. |
| C．It is easily affected by on-field referees. |
| D．It leads to many arguable decisions. |
| A．Beginning. | B．Success. |
| C．Symbol. | D．Tendency. |
| A．To prove the diversity of sports tech. |
| B．To introduce the benefits of sports tech. |
| C．To show sports tech’s wide application. |
| D．To explain the development of sports tech. |
| A．Opposed. | B．Objective. |
| C．Favorable. | D．Doubtful. |
6 . It is never easy to play for a bigger team. However, some athletes made it to top competition. Below are their tips for success.
·
·Slow your pace and be patient. After just one year at the University of Kentucky, forward Karl-Anthony Towns signed with a state team, playing center now. “As a newcomer, things are going a million miles per hour. I had to slow down and learn to be patient.
·Stay calm about playing time. At Clemson University, Kyle Fisher was named Player of the Year. He now plays for a national club. “The difficult part is finding my role on a new, different team. In college, I started every game, every year.
·To adjust, keep working to improve. At the University of Notre Dame, guard Jewell Loyd was faster and taller than other players. Then she played for the WNBA and was voted an All-Star in 2018 and 2019. “Every night, we play against top-fight competition. It’s more fast-paced; the players are bigger and longer, so you have to adjust.
| A．There are still areas I need to improve. |
| B．Learn from the team’s experienced players. |
| C．Remember those who once played against you. |
| D．People around were not as friendly as expected. |
| E．But here I have to earn my way into a starting role. |
| F．That meant a lot to me because relationships are what really matter. |
| G．There is nothing wrong with not understanding something on the first try. |
7 . Figure skating(花样滑冰)
Figure skating got its name from the designs, or “figures” that are made on the ice by skating.
Special figures were a part of figure skating in the late 19th century and the early 20th century. Very complicated(复杂的) and beautiful patterns invented by the skater were drawn on the ice with the skaters blades (冰刀).Some designs that were created included rosettes (花结), stars and crosses.
Figures were the most important part of the original Olympic figure skating events.
In the mid-1930s, Olympic Champion Sonja Henie, increased the popularity of figure skating.
How has figure skating changed since it first started thousands of years ago, and why?
Ice skating began about 4,000 years ago in Finland. The first skates were made of flattened bone that was tied to the bottom of the feet. In the 13th century, the Dutch invented steel blades with edges(刃). In the Netherlands, all classes of people skated.
Today, ice skating can actually be done year-round since there are indoor ice arenas all over the world.
| A．People of all ages participate in ice skating. |
| B．Each special figure was really a work of art. |
| C．However, it was regarded as rude by the British royal family. |
| D．Figure skating was quite popular even before the first Olympics. |
| E．However, they were not fun for the audience to watch or understand. |
| F．Ice skating was a way for people to travel over frozen waters in the winter months. |
| G．She introduced the idea of white figure skates and short skating skirts. |
