After the Summer Olympics are over, when all the athletes have gone home and the television audience has switched off, another group of athletes and fans will arrive at the host city, and another competition will begin. These are the Paralympics, the games for athletes with a disability. But in Beijing in 2008, for the first time, one of the greatest Paralympics athletes did not take part.
She is a British athlete by the name of Tanni Grey-Thormpson. Born with spine hifida (脊椎裂) which left her paralysed from the waist. Tanni used a wheelchair from the age of 7. at first, she did not like sports, apart from horse-riding, which gave her a sense of freedom. But in her teens, she started taking sports more seriously. She tried swimming, basketball and tennis. Eventually she found she began to love athletics, and never looked back.
Indeed, Tanni’s athletic career took off . In 1984, when she was 15, she pulled off a surprise victory in the 100metres at the Junior National Wheelchair Games.
In 1988, Tanni went to her first Paralympic Games in Seoul. She won bronze in the 400 metres. Even greater success followed at the 1992 Barcelonn. Paralympics. Tanni won gold in the 100, 200, 400 and 800 metres relay, setting two world records in the process. In the same year she achieved the first of her six London Wheelchair Marathon victories.
Tanni’s success had been part motivation(动机), part preparation, “The training I do that enables me to be a good sprinter(短跑运动员) enables me to be good at a marathon too. I train 50 weeks of the year and that keeps me prepared for whatever distance I want to see…. I am still competing at a very high level, but as I get older, things get harder and I want to retire before I fall apart.”
Indeed Tanni retired finally after the Visa Paralympic World Cup in 2007. Her wish is to coach young athletes for Beijing 2008 Olympic Games.
In spite of ups and downs, she never takes her fate lying down. In her splendid life, she has won an amazing eleven gold medals, four silvers and one bronze in series of Paralympics- a top level athletic career covering two decades. She has won the London Wheelchair Marathon six times, more than any other competitor, and she has set over thirty world records.
What advice does she have for young athletes? “Work hard at your studies, and then train, train and train again.”Which of the following sports did Tanni like before thirteen?
| A．Basketball | B．Swimming. | C．Tennis. | D．Horse-riding. |
When did Tanni win her first Olympic gold medal?
| A．In 1984. | B．In 1988. | C．In 1992. | D．In 2007. |
The underlined word “that” in the 5th paragraph refers to _______.
| A．fifty weeks’ training |
| B．being a good sprinter |
| C．training almost every day |
| D．part motivation and part preparation |
What can we learn from Tanni’s success?
| A．Union is strength. | B．Never too late to learn. |
| C．Well begun is half done. | D．No pains, no gains. |
To honor the best books for young adults and children, TIME has created this list of classics: Best Young-Adult and Children’s Books.
The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian
Sherman Alexie’s coming-of-age novel shows family and traditions through young Arnold Spirit, torn between his life in an Indian community and his largely white high school. The specifics are sharply drawn, but this novel, with its themes of self-discovery, speaks to young readers everywhere.
Harry Potter
What more can be said about J. K. Rowling’s unique series? How about this: seven years after the final book was published, readers young and old still go crazy at the slightest rumor of a new Potter story.
The Book Thief
For many young readers, Markus Zusak’s novel provides their first in-depth reflection of the Holocaust(大屠杀). Although terror surrounds Liesel, a young German girl, so too does evidence of friendship, love and charity — recovering lights in the darkness.
A Wrinkle in Time
Madeleine L’Engle’s super-realist adventure has provided generations of children with their first-ever exciting experiences, as Meg travels across the fifth dimension(维度) in search of her father. But the science fiction also has a message: Meg learns independence and bravery in the process.
Charlotte’s Web
Readers are still drawn to the simplicity and beauty of spider Charlotte’s devotion to her pig friend Wilbur. Though family farms may be less common than they were in 1952, E. B. White’s novel remains timeless for its lasting reflection on the power of friendship and of good writing.
Holes
Louis Sachar’s story of a family curse(诅咒), fancy sports shoes and poisonous lizards moves forward and backward through time, telling of how Stanley Yelnats IV ended up in a prison camp. It’s an introduction to a complex story, filled with fun, warmth and a truly memorable criminal.
Matilda
With apologies to the lovable Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, this may be Roald Dahl’s most inspiring book for young people. Poor Matilda feels troubled and ignored by her family — a sense that many preteens share. They don’t share her supernatural powers, but that’s the lasting appeal of this escapist fun.
The Outsiders
Published when author S. E. Hinton was just 18, this coming-of-age novel offers evidence that even the youngest writer can provide valuable wisdom. Her striking look at Ponyboy and gang life in the 1960s has continued to have a powerful effect for decades on readers of all kinds, whether they identify more with the Greasers or the Socs.
The Phantom Tollbooth
In a humorous, sharp fairy tale(童话故事) that shows language and mathematics through a story of adventure in the Kingdom of Wisdom, Jules Feiffer’s unusual drawings do as much as Norton Juster’s plain language combined with complex ideas to carry readers through Digitopolis and the Mountains of Ignorance.
The Giver
Lois Lowry’s tale of self-discovery in society has a memorable central character, Jonas, and an unforgettable message — that pain and harm have an important place in individual lives and in society, and to forget them is to lose what makes us human.Which of the following shares the same theme with The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian?
| A．A Wrinkle in Time | B．The Giver |
| C．The Book Thief | D．Harry Potter |
According to the passage, The Phantom Tollbooth ______.
| A．contains a lot of fancy pictures |
| B．talks only about maths problems |
| C．describes a journey in complex language |
| D．sets its background in the Kingdom of Freedom |
It can be learned from the passage that ______.
| A．Charlotte fell in love with Wilbur |
| B．Matilda was well cared for in her family |
| C．Stanley Yelnats IV got punished |
| D．S. E. Hinton was best at telling fairy tales |
What is the main purpose of the passage?
| A．To advertise for some booksellers. |
| B．To introduce some famous writers. |
| C．To admire some classics for kids and young adults. |
| D．To recommend some great works of TIME magazine. |
While other countries debate whether to fix wind turbines(涡轮机) offshore or in distant areas, Denmark is building them right in its capital. Three windmills(风车) were recently introduced in a Copenhagen neighbourhood, and the city plans to add another 97.
“We’ve made a very ambitious commitment to make Copenhagen CO2-neutral by 2025,” Frank Jensen, the mayor, says. “But going green isn’t only a good thing. It’s a must.” The city’s carbon-neutral plan, passed two years ago, will make Copenhagen the world’s first zero-carbon capital.
With wind power making up 33% of Denmark’s energy supply, the country already features plenty of wind turbines. Indeed, among the first sights greeting airborne visitors during the landing at Copenhagen’s Kastrup airport is a chain of sea-based wind towers. By 2020, the windswept country plans to get 50% of its energy from wind power.
Now turbines are moving into the city and these ones will cost less than half the price of those sea-based. Having the energy production closer makes it cheaper, and land-based turbines are the cheapest possible source of energy available today. Fixing them also makes the locals more aware of their energy consumption.
Though considerably less attractive than it was in ancient times, the windmill is enjoying popularity in the 21st century. “Windmills are a symbol of the new and clean Copenhagen,” says resident Susanne Sayers. Meanwhile, fellow Copenhagen citizen Maria Andersen worries about the noise, explaining that she wouldn’t want a wind turbine in her neighbourhood. While Copenhagen citizens approve of the windmills, they’re less willing to live close to one. The answer, the city has decided, is to sell turbine shares.
Each share represents 1,000 kW hours/year, with the profit tax-free. With a typical Copenhagen household consuming 3,500 kW hours/year, a family buying four shares effectively owns its own renewable energy supply. To date, 500 residents have bought 2,500 shares. Involving the local population was a smart move. “There are a lot of things you can do close to people if it’s not too big and if there’s a model where locals feel involved and get to share in the profit. Knowing that you, or your neighbours, own a technology creates a very different atmosphere than if a multinational owned it,” says Vad Mathiesen.
Going green? Yes. Accepted by the population? Yes. Going with centuries-old city architecture? Hardly.
Certainly, the three turbines don’t exactly blight the 18th-century city centre, as they are in a neighbourhood 3 km away. According to the mayor’s office, none of the remaining 97 turbines will rise in architecturally sensitive areas. But Sascha Haselmayer, CEO of city creation group Citymart, warns, “With Denmark being a world-leading producer of windmills, there is a risk that the answer to every energy question is windmills.”
“We’ve destroyed mountains and lakes in order to support our lifestyle,” notes Irena Bauman, an architect and professor at Sheffield University. “Wind turbines are a sign that we’re learning to live with nature. I hope we’ll have them all over the world,” she says. “They may be unpleasant to some, but better-looking ones will come. It’s just that we don’t have time to wait for them!”Denmark has decided to build windmills in its capital mainly to ______.
| A．make windmills its cultural symbol |
| B．advocate an environmentally-friendly lifestyle |
| C．take advantage of its limited wind power |
| D．greet tourists coming to Copenhagen by plane |
How has the city of Copenhagen persuaded its people to accept the windmills around their homes?
| A．By promising them that all their income is free of tax. |
| B．By designing less noisy windmills to ease their worries. |
| C．By convincing them that land-based turbines are much cheaper. |
| D．By offering them the chance to get the profit the windmills bring. |
The underlined word “blight” (Paragraph 8) is closest in meaning to ______.
| A．spoil | B．improve | C．pollute | D．occupy |
Sascha Haselmayer’s attitude to building windmills can best be described as ______.
| A．disapproving | B．unconcerned | C．cautious | D．enthusiastic |
Which of the following words would Irena Bauman most probably agree with?
| A．“It benefits us more to fit wind turbines in cities than in mountain areas or by lakes.” |
| B．“We should sell more wind turbines to other countries to make us one of the richest.” |
| C．“We should devote more time to developing the wind turbines that go with the city.” |
| D．“It’s not what wind turbines look like but how we live that really matters at present.” |
Different countries have different customs. When you travel to another country, please follow their customs, just as the saying goes, “.”
Very often people who travel to the United States forget to tip （付小费）. It is usual to tip porters who help carry your bags, taxi drivers and waiters. Waiters expect to get a 15% tip on the cost of your meal. Taxi drivers expect about the same amount.
In England, make sure to stand in line even if there are only two of you. It’s important to respect lines there. It’s a good idea to talk about the weather. It’s a favourite subject of conversation with the British.
In Spain, it’s a good idea to have a light meal in the afternoon if someone invites you for dinner. People have dinner very late, and restaurants do not generally open until after 9 pm.
In Arab countries, men kiss one another on the cheek（脸颊）. Your host may welcome you with a kiss on both cheeks. It is polite for you to do the same.
In Japan, people usually give personal or business cards to each other when they meet for the first time. When a person gives you a card, don’t put it into your pocket right away. The person expects you to read it.
Don’t forget to be careful of your body language to express something in a conversation. A kind of body language that is used in one culture may be impolite in another.The missing sentences in the first paragraph should be “.”
| A．Love me, love my dog. |
| B．He who laughs last laughs best. |
| C．When in Rome, do as the Romans do. |
| D．Where there is a will, there is a way. |
When you travel to the USA, you don’t need to tip _________.
| A．porters | B．waiters |
| C．actors | D．taxi drivers |
The underline work “porters” in the passage means _________.
| A．搬运工 | B．清洁工 | C．接线员 | D．售票员 |
Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage?
| A．In Spain, people usually have dinner very early. |
| B．In England, it’s not polite to talk about the weather. |
| C．In Arab countries, men kiss one another on the cheek. |
| D．In Japan you should not read the business card as soon as you get it. |
What’s the best title of the passage?
| A．How to tip. |
| B．Body Language. |
| C．When to Have Dinner. |
| D．Advice to International Travellers. |
London used to be “foggy”（有雾的） for the same reason that cities like Beijing or Chongqing are “foggy” today. The “fog” was in fact smog（烟雾）, a mixture of smoke and fog．In other words, it was made by air pollution. In London, some of this pollution came from factories, but much of it came from the coal（煤）that people burnt in their houses to keep warm during the winter. By the 1950s, London’s smog problem had become so bad that the government decided to do something to clean the air. A new law was made and nobody could burn coal in any British city. Within a few years, the air became much cleaner. There were no more “pea-soupers”.
Many Chinese cities now face the same sort of problem with air pollution that London faced 40 or 50 years ago. However, this problem is more difficult for Chinese cities to solve. One reason is that more of the pollution comes from the factories, rather than from coal burnt in people’s houses. If these factories were closed, this would harm the economy and lots of people would lose their jobs. Another reason is that changing from coal to cleaner fuel（燃料）, like gas, is quite expensive.
However, the air in many Chinese cities is becoming cleaner and cleaner, as the government and people pay more and more attention to cutting down pollution. As a result, there are fewer “pea-soupers” in Beijing than there used to be.What was the main reason for air pollution in London?
A．There was too much smoke in the sky．
B．There were too many factories in the city．
C．People burnt too much coal in the houses．How did the air in London become much cleaner?
A．There was not so much fog in the winter later．
B．A law was made to keep people from burning coal in their houses．
C．Many factories in the city were closed．What does the underlined work “pea-soupers” refer to?
A．Smog.B．Smoke.C．Gas.The problem of air pollution is more difficult for Chinese cities to solve because of _____reasons
A．one B．twoC．threeWhich sentence is Not true?
A．Using coal is much more expensive than using gas.
B．Factories made much more pollution in China.
C．The reasons of air pollution in London and Beijing are different.
No Car Day was first started by 34 cities in France on September 22, 1998．It was started to protect the environment. By now, more than 1,000 cities around the world have had a No Car Day.
The first No Car Day in China was in Chengdu in 2001．Other cities, including Taipai, Shanghai and Wuhan, also support the day.
In Beijing, more and more people are joining the campaign（运动）. It asks drivers to leave their cars at home for one day each month and walk or ride a bike to work. It also calls on Beijingers not to use cars on June 5 （World Environment Day）. The slogan for the day is, “If we drive for one less day, we can have one more nice day.”
So far, more than 200,000 drivers have shown their support. “We can’t control the weather, but we can choose not to drive,” said Wu Zonghua, a car club chairman. Beijing is trying to have 238 blue sky days this year. In the first quarter of 2012, Beijing only had 52 blue sky days. This was 11 days less than the number for the same period the year before. Much of the dust（灰尘） comes from the desert, but cars cause most of the air pollution. We must do more for No Car Day.The first No Car Day fell on _______.
A．February 2ndB．June 5thC．September 22nd_______ was the first city to have No Car Day in China.
A．BeijingB．ChengduC．ShanghaiWhat does the underlined word “slogan” in Paragraph 3 mean?
A．目的B．原因 C．口号How many blue sky days did Beijing have in the first quarter of 2011?
A．63．B．52．C．41．Which of the following statements is True?
A．China is the first country to start No Car Day.
B．Much of the dust in the air comes from cars.
C．No Car Day has been supported by over 1,000 cities around the world so far.