On Sunday, April 23, almost 50,000 athletes took to the streets to compete in the 37th London Marathon. While few were able to get even close to Daniel Wanjiru’s 2:05:48 winning time, none were as slow as Tom Harrison,who crawled (爬) to the finish line, six days later, on April 30.
However, the Metropolitan Police Officer, who was dressed in a gorilla (大猩猩) suit, had a good reason for his slowness. He had completed the 26.2 miles on all fours to raise funds to help gorilla conservation efforts in Africa. The 41-year-old who spent 8—10 hours on his hands and knees, covered about 4.5 miles each day before crashing at a friend’s house for the night. To prevent his knees from blistering, he swapped between hands and knees into loping (大步走) along on hands and feet and took breaks every 100 to 200 meters. But the arduous crawl was well worth it.
Harrison, who crossed the finish line at 11:45 am, has raised over £37,000 ($47,800), far more than his original goal of £1,790 ($2,300), for the Gorilla Organization, whose efforts are mainly spent in Rwanda, Uganda, and Democratic Republic of the Congo. The much-needed funds will help train the communities near gorilla habitats to support themselves and make them rely less on selling wildlife meat for a living. The money will also help pay for ranger services to monitor excess hunting of the Great Apes. More importantly, Harrison hopes his six-day crawl will highlight the bad situation of the gorillas, whose numbers are decreasing at alarming rates, and encourage more people to help protect them.
While thrilled at the outcome, Harrison, Mr. Gorilla, is not done yet. He intends to continue his fundraising efforts at the annual Ride London cycling festival scheduled for the weekend of July 28-30, 2022.
8. Why did Tom Harrison crawl to the finish line?
A.To improve his physical and mental health. |
B.To collect money for the Gorilla Organization. |
C.To win the title of the slowest Marathon runner. |
D.To advertise policies for Metropolitan Police. |
9. What does the underlined word “arduous” mean in paragraph 2?
A.Tough. | B.Funny. |
C.Harmful. | D.Attractive. |
10. What is the general aim of the Gorilla Organization?
A.To help protect habitats for endangered gorillas. |
B.To protect gorillas in some African countries. |
C.To monitor and punish illegal hunting for gorillas. |
D.To make people aware of the bad situation of gorillas. |
11. Which word can best describe Tom Harrison?
A.Strong. | B.Hard-working. |
C.Caring. | D.Smart. |