1 . It is never easy to be a world champion,     1    . The Chinese Ping-Pong Team is no exception. When they train,     2    . If a member starts to get tired and becomes defensive,     3    . The additional activity is usually what he dislikes most and tries to skip all the time. There are times when they are injured,     4    . Somehow the funny part they feel is that in a lot of world games their competitors are not from other countries but are actually their teammates. But what really sets the Chinese team apart is     5    .

A．he will probably be given more training to improve his mental intensity

B．and it is especially difficult for a team to be in the lead for a long time

C．their honour and determination to uphold the tradition of keeping their country’s team in the lead.

D．the coach pushes them to extremes and limits

E．that they are willing to do that extra little bit that might take them to the top

F．and they will be treated and have some time off but they will come back

G．Being a professional Ping-Pong player is no different

2 . On August 23, 2008, three Chinese flags were raised at the Peking University Gymnasium. People clapped and cheered for Ma Lin, Wang Hao and Wang Liqin, the Chinese athletes who had just won gold, silver and bronze medals at the Beijing Olympics for the men’s singles table tennis. Just like the women’s singles event the day before, China had ruled the medals podium (领奖台). But podium domination (主导) soon became a thing of the past. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) in 2010 limited each team to two athletes per singles event for the upcoming London Olympics, down from the previous three, after changing qualification rules to involve more countries and widen support for the sports.

“To be honest, the standards of the National Games (全国运动会) are higher than those of the Olympics,” said Chen Meng, the Olympic gold medallist in Tokyo for women’s singles and team table tennis. Hou Zhihui, Olympic gold medallist in weightlifting, finished her National Games lift with a total weight of 214 kg, one more than her world record. “It’s difficult. Could only win National Games by doing better than the world record. It’s harder than the Olympics. Could this be the secret of Chinese weightlifting?”, Hou wrote on Weibo after the event.

The Chinese Table Tennis Association said it disagreed with the new rule but accepted it “with regret” in the best interests of the sport. That made the 2008 three Chinese flags at the Olympics a forever history.

“Each province is developing its sports programme at the same time and has produced high-quality athletes. That’s why the National Games are more competitive than the Olympics,” Chung, a sports professor of Hong Kong Baptist University said. The IOC wants each country to be well represented and to prevent any single one from dominating the medal podium, he said. “One of the Olympic values is participation. When you have more than 200 nations and let athletes compete purely based on their skills, then many of them won’t have the chance to compete at all.”

1. What’s the reason for the IOC introducing the new Olympic attending rules?

A．To involve more countries to compete in the game.

B．To reduce China’s opportunities to gain gold medals.

C．To cultivate more high-quality athletes around the world.

D．To make the athletes practice harder to compete for the championship.

2. What do we know from Chen Meng and Hou Zhihui’s words?

A．World record is easy for them to break.

B．Many nations have no opportunities to gain medals.

C．Internal competition is greater than the world-class game.

D．They have great complaints about the new Olympics rules.

3. Why is winning National Games more difficult than winning the Olympics for Chinese athletes?

A．China has a large population of athletes.

B．Athletes from other countries are less skillful than China’s.

C．Athletes around the country are trained in well-developed programs.

D．The National Games have more strict rules than Olympics Games do.

4. What’s the best title for the news?

A．The podium domination by China	B．Unfair Olympics new rules for China
C．Every nation can get equal chances to compete	D．Three Chinese national flags — a forever history

3 . Below is a brief description of the process involved in selecting the Nobel Laureates in Chemistry.

September-October-     1     The Nobel Committee sends out confidential forms to around 3,000 people-selected professors at universities around the world, Nobel Laureates in Physics and Chemistry, and members of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, among others.

February-     2     The completed nomination forms must reach the Nobel Committee no later than 31 January of the following year. The Committee screens the nominations and selects the preliminary candidates. About 250-350 scientists are nominated as several nominators often submit the same name.

June-August-Writing of the report. The Nobel Committee puts together a report with recommendations to be submitted to the Academy.     3    

September-Committee submits recommendations. The Nobel Committee submits its report with recommendations on the final candidates to the members of the Academy.     4    

October-Nobel Laureates are chosen. In early October, the Academy selects the Nobel Laureates in Chemistry through a majority vote.     5     The names of the Nobel Laureates are then announced.

December-The Nobel Prize Award Ceremony takes place on 10 December in Stockholm.

A．Nomination forms are sent out.

B．Deadline for submission of nominations.

C．The decision is final and without appeal.

D．Consultation with experts.

E．Nobel Laureates receive their Prize.

F．The report is signed by all members of the Committee.

G．The report is discussed at two meetings of the Chemistry Section of the Academy.

4 . My family first moved to Colorado 22 years ago. Los Angeles was too expensive and it was difficult to find well-paying jobs and affordable housing. Colorado became our next dream place. Settling into a small town in the Front Range, my parents found hard jobs.

Growing up in this small town, I remember my parents working hard to get past the language barrier. My mom, especially, tried her best to ensure she knew all that she needed to know about like my parent-teacher meetings and extracurricular (课外的) activities. One of those extracurricular activities that I signed up for was football. At that age, football was cool and all, but I was more into playing Pokémon and other video games. Football didn’t draw me in.

Big football tournaments (联赛) would come around like the World Cup, the Copa América and the Gold Cup, and the Mexican National Team would play in these tournaments. I would sit there in our living room and unmindfully watch the games while my parents would go crazy with enthusiasm ( 热情). I would sit there and play my game. My dad would look over and tell me that I should be paying attention carefully to the game and that I should care more about whether Mexico would win the match than my video games.

Both of my parents’ workspaces were crowded (占满的) with other workers. My mom worked with people from all over Latin America. Everyone’s topic of choice at work would always turn to how their national football team was doing. It was a way to show pride in the countries where they had grown up.

I grew up loving football more and more. The more I learned about my Mexican roots (根), the more I tried to find ways to express pride in them in the United States.
1. Why did the author’s family move to Colorado?

A．To make a better life.

B．To attend more activities.

C．To follow their football dream.

D．To receive a better education.

2. How did the author feel about football at first?

A．It was amazing.	B．It was important.
C．It was uninteresting.	D．It was difficult.

3. What would the author’s father do when watching football games?

A．Remind the author to watch them carefully.

B．Play video games with the author.

C．Learn English in their living room.

D．Guess who would be the winner.

4. The author’s mom and her workmates talked about football in order to _________.

A．build a closer friendship

B．express their homesickness

C．share a common topic

D．show their pride in their motherlands

5 .

A great rivalry (对抗) can make a hockey (曲棍球) game exciting. But it’s even better when both sides share the same goal. Students of Boston College (B.C.) and Boston University (B.U.) held a game for a good cause. Former members of the schools’ hockey teams faced off in the 4th Annual Commonwealth Avenue Charity Classic. It took place at B．U.’s Walter Brown Arena. Every year, the competition raises money for Compassionate Care ALS, the Pete Frates Home Health Initiative and the Travis Roy Foundation. This year’s event brought in a record­breaking $78,432.

Frates is fighting ALS, a disease that affects the brain. A former B.C. baseball team leader, he was diagnosed (诊断) with ALS in 2012, when he was only 27. Frates and his family have since raised hundreds of millions of dollars for ALS research, most famously with the Ice Bucket Challenge, which began in 2014.

“Pete likes social media (媒体) very much, so he wanted his voice, his face, everything that was happening to him to be recorded to help more people,” said John Frates, Pete’s father.

The B.C. and B.U. students enjoy coming together for the event. “This is just the best of the hockey world,” said former B.U. hockey player Travis Roy. “Both schools have a lot of great hockey players. Their skills are impressive, and the fact that they come out here to support good causes is a big deal.”

After a heated battle (较量), the B.U. Terriers won. Afterwards, former B.U. star Charlie McAvoy summed up the feeling of friendliness on the ice. “We all come together,” said McAvoy, who now plays for the Boston Bruins, “and we’re able to put aside the rivalry for great causes.”

B.U.’s Danny O’Regan, who now plays for the Buffalo Sabres, added, “You work hard on the ice and off the ice, and good things will happen.”

1. What was special about the hockey game at B.U.’s Walter Brown Arena?

A．It was a quarterly event.

B．It was held by different charities.

C．It attracted many universities in the country.

D．It invited former members of the schools’ teams to join.

2. What happened to Frates when he was 27?

A．He was helped by a charity.

B．He was chosen as the team leader.

C．He was found to be seriously ill.

D．He was asked to work in a social media company.

3. What can we learn from Travis Roy’s words?

A．Hockey is a very popular game.

B．B.U. has the best hockey players.

C．Hockey games should get more attention.

D．Both schools’ hockey players are warm­hearted.

4. What did Charlie McAvoy think of the game?

A．It was too competitive.

B．It connected the players with a good cause.

C．It helped schools find many gifted players.

D．It encouraged students to work hard for their dreams.

6 . Tell us your story on“China and me, Five years from Now”

About the contest (赛事)

As China is well on its way to achieving its 14th Five-Year Plan goals, the country is more open than ever and more attractive to every member of the society. Wouldn't it be wonderful to get your memorable moments in China through your lens (镜头) or put them into words?

We would be so happy to hear your voice in this contest. Please feel free to share your memories and impressions with us by article or photo.

First prize: 10 winners HUAWEI MatePad

Second prize: 20 winners                              iFLYTEK Transpen

Third prize: 30 winners Bluetooth Sports Neckband

Online and offline

Works will be submitted ( 提交) for the contest online, while an offline award ceremony will be held. Also, China Daily website will set up special areas for collecting and displaying works.

Award ceremony

An award ceremony and online forum will be held in July in Beijing.

The rules

Articles and photos

Word count: Between 500 and 1000 English words.

Photo format: JPG or NPG

Photos should reflect the theme of the article, including but not limited to photos of people or landscapes. You can upload no more than 10 photos, each within 5MB. Every photo has a description of no more than 200 English words.

1. If you get the first prize, you can get

A．iFLYTEK Transpen	B．HUAWEI MatePad
C．Bluetooth Sports Neckband	D．Articles and photos

2. How can you share your works according to the rules?

A．In the form of photos and articles.	B．In the form of online forum.
C．In the form of holding a ceremony.	D．In the form of advertisement.

3. How many photos can you offer at most?

A．500.

B．200.

C．10.

D．5.

4. What is the purpose of the contest?

A．To give people awards.	B．To make the country more open.
C．To achieve the 14th Five-Year Plan of China.	D．To share the beautiful moments of China.

7 . This is really a very fast game, the fastest I have seen so far this year. Both sides are fighting for the ball all the time. The crowd is loving every minute of it. They are shouting at the top of their voices.

Willis has the ball now. This is only his third game for Scotland, but he’s playing so well that it won’t be his last, I’m quite sure.

Willis passes the ball to Cotton. Cotton kicks it over the heads of the waiting Frenchmen, towards the goalmouth , but he’s too far away. Dupond picks it up easily, and throws it to Patou, out on the left.

France and Scotland still have one goal each, and there are only two minutes left of the game. But during that time, anything can happen. Patou kicks the ball across to Crozat. It’s. a beautiful kick, but Steven jumps and just stops the ball with the side of his head. But Meunier is there, he passes to Crozat, and Crozat, without waiting a second, puts the ball into the back of the goal. It takes everybody by surprise. I’ve never seen a goal like it.

1. What does the underlined word “it” in Paragraph 1 refer to?

A．The ball.

B．The game.

C．The crowd.

D．The voice.

2. Who kicks the ball into the goal at last?

A．Willis

B．Patou

C．Crozat

D．Steven

3. What can we know from the passage?

A．France plays against Scotland.	B．Meunier’s goal is a surprise.
C．The score is three to one.	D．It is the last game for Cotton.

4. What would be the best title for this passage?

A．Willis’ Third Game	B．The Waiting Frenchmen
C．Stop the ball!	D．A Surprising Goal

8 . Female figure skaters aren’t really expected to be able to do triple axels(三周半跳). Especially not older ones---in the Olympics, that means older than 20. Mirai Nagasu did both, nailing the jump in competition at 24 during the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea. She was the first American woman to land a triple axel in the Olympic Games-and only the third woman to do it.

Nagasu’s been pursuing her own path since she was just 5. “My parents used to take me golfing(打高尔夫球)every day because that was the career they wanted me to have,” she wrote. “They took me ice skating one day because we couldn’t go golfing due to the rain, and after that, I kept asking to be taken to go skating.” Her ambition paid off eventually, beginning with a host of Four Continents and ISU World Junior Championship medals and ending with two World Championship and two Olympic appearances each.

Unlike other popular athletes who’ve traded childhood for training, Nagasu had to attend public school by day and help her parents in their restaurant by night. “They really taught me to work for what I want,” she said. That lesson was put to the test in 2014, when despite taking third place at the U. S. Figure Skating Championships, Nagasu was passed over for the Olympic team in favor of fourth-place finisher Ashley Wagner. Some athletes might have taken off their skates for good at that point. Instead, Nagasu got a new coach and learned the triple axel. After two years under his instruction, she displayed her new skill in the U. S. National Championships. By the time she tried it on Olympic ice in 2018, she’d perfected it. Nagasu performed the difficult three-and-a-half jump, helping her team win a bronze medal(铜牌) in the end.

1. Which of the following statements about Mirai Nagasu is TRUE?

A．She disliked ice skating at a young age.

B．She was well-known as a golfer in America.

C．She succeeded in the 2018 Olympics for her triple axel.

D．She was the first woman who successfully did a triple axel.

2. What is the second paragraph mainly talking about?

A．Nagasu’s creativity and ambition.	B．Nagasu’s family background.
C．Nagasu’s education at home.	D．Nagasu’s road to success.

3. What happened to Mirai Nagasu in 2014?

A．She had to quit training out of economic reason.

B．She dropped out of school to help her parents in the restaurant.

C．She failed to be involved in the Olympics for some reason beyond expectation.

D．She was defeated by Ashley Wagner at the U. S. Figure Skating Championships.

4. What lesson can we learn from Mirai Nagasu’s story?

A．Interest is the best teacher.	B．Poor children are in charge early.
C．Misfortune may be an actual blessing.	D．Success comes from constant effort.

9 . Villains love a monologue

Every superhero needs a good (or should we say bad) supervillain(超级大反派). Invent a supervillain. In pictures and/ or words, describing their final punishment. Who are they? What’s their plan? Even if your character tends to be long-winded, keep your writing to 100 words or fewer.

Competition rules:

1. Your competition entry must be your very own original work; ideas and words should not be copied.

2.Be sure to include your name, age, and full address on your entry.

3.Only one entry per person, please.

4.If you want your work returned, enclose (随信附上） a self-addressed,stamped envelope.

5.All entries must be signed by a parent or legal guardian, saying that this is your own work and giving permission to publish. For more information about our compliance with(遵守). Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act,visit our page at cricketmedia.com/privacy.

6.Your entry must be received by July 31,2021. We will publish winning entries in the August 2021 issue of Muse.

7.Send entries to Muse Contest,70E.Lake St,Suite 800,Chicago,IL 60601 or by email to muse@cricketmedia.com. If entering a digital photo,please send it at 300dpi.

1. What is the competition about?

A．Inventing a stamp.

B．Writing a supervillain story.

C．Designing a superhero model.

D．Photographing a natural scene.

2. What should competitors do to have their works returned?

A．Sign their entries themselves.

B．Send digital photos bigger than 300dpi.

C．Send their works to cricketmedia.com/privacy.

D．Attach a self-addressed, stamped envelope to their works.

3. Which of the following should competitors’ works follow?

A．They should be sent to Muse in August 2021.

B．They should be allowed to be published.

C．They should be longer than 100 words.

D．They should be in a digital form.

10 . I love outings to the ballpark. My ears perk (竖起) up at the whack of a precisely hit ball, my nose enjoys the scent of hot dogs, and my heart jumps at the possibility of winning it all. But a few years ago I discovered the best way to watch a baseball game might be not to watch at all.

This discovery arose the year I got married. The first apartment my husband and I rented could charitably be called “charming”, although “diminutive” better describes it. But to young newlyweds, the 41-square-metre apartment felt sublime. The best thing about the apartment, in my opinion, was its location a quarter-mile from baseball’s oldest stadium, Boston’s Fenway Park.

The only problem? My husband was not a Red Sox fan. I hadn’t anticipated this stumbling block. He was an avid sports fan, and he’d only just moved to Boston. Surely a love of the hometown team would seep into his heart as naturally as fish take to water.

My hopes faded as the season began. A Seattle Mariners hat remained firmly planted on his head. Matching Red Sox T-shirts earned a veto.

As newlywed disagreements go, this one wasn’t horrible. Plenty of couples flourish with dueling team loyalties. But a worry nagged: If he couldn’t root for the Red Sox, would he ever truly make Boston home?

As a student, when the magic in the air that season permeated (传播) the girls’ boarding school I attended outside Boston, we begged our house directors to let us stay up past curfew to watch the games on TV, and when they at first refused, we listened on radios in our rooms and gleefully burst into the halls to cheer.

So when my husband said he’d never be a Red Sox fan, my heart clenched. But one delightful spring day our teeny apartment came to my rescue. As we sat at our dining room table, we heard a roar swell to a crescendo. This was the first indication that we could hear the stadium crowds from our home.

1. What do we learn about the author from Paragraph 1?

A．She has a good appetite.

B．She used to be a very energetic player.

C．She is very alert to smell.

D．She is a baseball fan.

2. Which of the following best explains “diminutive” underlined in Paragraph 2?

A．Very smart.

B．Very small.

C．Extremely broken.

D．Extremely old.

3. How did the author deal with their disagreements?

A．She tolerated them.

B．She ignored them.

C．She argued with her husband frequently.

D．She attended school for baseball games.

4. How does the author satisfy her desire to enjoy baseball games?

A．Watching games with her husband at home.

B．Listening to the games from the neighboring stadium.

C．Communicating with her husband while dining.

D．Listening to the games on radios at home.