1 . Many contemporary amateur athletes would have broken world records if they had taken part in the first Olympic Games. Since then, records have fallen in track and field year after year as athletic performances have continually improved.
Some experts predict a ceiling for many events such as 9.5 seconds for the 100 metres. However, past predictions have nearly always been proved wrong.
When we talk about breaking records, we come across the issue of performance-enhancing drugs. These drugs are originally developed to help people with illnesses, but in the wrong hands, they create supreme athletes making them faster and stronger than is normal for human beings. Taking these drugs is known as “doping”.
The sports world does not tolerate doping as it is a fundamental form of cheating. Ben Johnson would still be the 100 metres world record holder if he had not been caught taking drugs in the 1988 Olympics. Other records remain doubtful, like Florence Griffith’s 100 metres record back in 1988. Did she take drugs?
Unfortunately, it is not easy to catch athletes using illegal drugs. It is compulsory for winners to be tested but other participants are only tested at random.
However, doping is not the only thing we need to worry about. Unless we are careful, “gene-therapy” will be the next big threat. For medical purposes, scientists have already found ways to build muscle and increase strength by changing people’s genes. Gene-therapy is very controversial and many people oppose further research into it. If gene-therapy were used now, it would be almost impossible to find out. In the future, athletes who have their genes changed might be able to do the 100 metres dash in just 8 seconds. However, if a generation of sports stars with enhanced genes were created, it would contradict the whole spirit of sport.
The Olympic spirit-the spirit of competition which emphasizes taking part rather than winning-has been violated by the desire to succeed at all costs. In today’s world, winners are celebrated and treated as heroes, but if doping and gene-therapy continue to affect the outcomes of major sporting events, the word “hero” will have lost all meaning.
1. What has happened to track and field since the first Olympics?| A．More supreme athletes have appeared. |
| B．Athletic performances have been recorded. |
| C．More athletes have risked breaking the law. |
| D．Past predictions have always proved wrong. |
| A．To explain different forms of cheating at that time. |
| B．To emphasize their roles in the athletic performances. |
| C．To clarify how super athletes influence world records. |
| D．To show how drugs affected world records in the 1980s. |
| A．For enhanced genes. | B．For health purpose. |
| C．For medical research. | D．For improving performances. |
| A．100 Meters in 8 Seconds? | B．To Change Genes Or Not? |
| C．Doping-A Huge Problem? | D．Gene-therapy-A New Threat? |
2 . China came in second place overall after losing to the USA 83 -61 in the FIBA Women’s Basketball World Cup final on Saturday in Sydney, Australia. It was like history repeated itself because 28 years ago, in 1994, China finished the World Championship with silver medals in Australia as well. On the way to the top stage, they defeated traditional women’s basketball powerhouses including France and Australia.
Actually, the road to the success was quite tough. On the one hand, Chinese top scorer Li Meng, who suffered from a fever, was absent from the final. Earlier in the group stage, China lost to the United States 77 -63, when Li scored 21 points, more than anyone else on the court. On the other hand, the aggressiveness of competitors produced 13 steals for USA and forced 19 turnovers out of China. Moreover, there was always a defender following Han Xu closely to stand in the passing route between Han and her teammates. It was very difficult for the Chinese guard to pass the ball out against such defense, not to mention to feed Han for an open shot.
Faced with challenges, girls didn’t give up. They worked together to compete against the “powerhouse”. Li Yueru led China with 19 points and 12 rebounds, which made Li the first double-double in a World Cup final since 2013. Meanwhile, Chinese player Wu Tongtong scored 13 points before being helped off the court with a leg injury.
“We tried our best to win today. Though we didn’t make it, we feel that we showed our best and hope to get better results in the future, ”Li told Xinhua.
Saturday’s loss was not the best result for China, but it could be a good lesson for their players, head coach Zheng Wei and every other involved with Chinese basketball development to learn so they can do better in the future.
1. What is the main purpose of Paragraph 2?| A．To introduce the challenges they faced. |
| B．To introduce how to overcome difficulties. |
| C．To tell readers how to play basketball. |
| D．To state how to develop the strategy for the basketball competition. |
| A．She scored 21 points in the final. |
| B．She became the first double-double in1 a World Cup final since 2013. |
| C．She was absent from the final because of the fever. |
| D．She was the biggest fan of shooting 3-pointers. |
| A．Patience is the mother of good luck. |
| B．Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm. |
| C．Continuous efforts - not strength or intelligence - is the key to unlocking our potential. |
| D．Success is not measured by the position you reach in life but the difficulties you overcome. |
| A．An advertisement. | B．A news report. |
| C．A magazine. | D．A sports brochure. |
3 . The most eye-catching performance from the final weekend of the U.S. Olympic Track and Field Trials didn’t break a world record or send a teenager to Tokyo. But Lindsay Flach still became the shining star. Lindsay Flach competed in the heptathlon(七项全能) 18 weeks pregnant and showed off a growing belly. Though she finished a distant last among the 15 women who made it through all seven events of the heptathlon, her participation this past weekend was a victory in itself.
The 2020 season was supposed to be Flach’s last chance to compete in the heptathlon, the sport that developed into her enthusiasm over the past decade. She intended to grasp a chance on the U.S. Olympic team one final time before marrying her longtime boyfriend and starting a family together.
In early 2020, Flach quit her job, temporarily left her soon-to-be-husband behind and moved nearly 250 miles south to train with her new coach at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley. She intended to remain there through the 2020 U.S. Olympic Trials. Then the pandemic(疫情) struck three months into her training.
When the spread of COVID-19 forced the postponement(延迟) of the Tokyo Games and cast doubt on whether they would ever happen, Flach, 31, decided she could no longer put her life on hold. In March, Flach began struggling to hit marks that had previously been routine to her. She took a pregnancy test that came back positive, a result that made her doubt whether her Olympic hopeful.
The pregnancy weakened Flach’s strength and energy but not her desire to say goodbye to track and field on her own terms. While Flach’s final score was less than half her personal best, she’s trying not to focus on that aspect, nor on the fact that she never qualified for an Olympics in her career. She’s excited for what’s to come in her life, excited she was able to participate in a third Olympic Trials and excited that she showed how strong would-be mothers can be.
1. When did Flach begin to love the heptatblon?| A．At the age of 18. | B．At the age of 21. |
| C．At the age of 30. | D．At the age of 31. |
| A．Determined. | B．Ambitious. |
| C．Unfortunate. | D．Organized. |
| A．She was expecting a new life. |
| B．She won the third Olympic Trials. |
| C．She could marry her loved boyfriend finally. |
| D．She was chosen to take part in the Olympic Games. |
| A．Teens. | B．Sports. |
| C．Economy. | D．Advertisement. |
