一．Reading comprehension:
1.Because the Sydney-to-Melbourne race is 875 kilometers long and it is a harsh test of endurance for the world’s top athletes.
2.Cliff Young was a toothless 61-year-old farmer; he was wearing rubber boots, and was much older than the other runners.
3.Other athletes neither believed it nor treated Cliff Young with respect.
4.Because Cliff Young didn’t run properly. He had the strangest running style and appeared to shuffle.
5. When people found that Cliff Young ran through the entire night without sleeping and when it seemed to them that he intended to keep running until he reached the finish line or fell ill or was injured.
6. When he was running, Cliff Young imagined he was gathering his sleep and trying to outrun a storm.
7. Cliff Young gave all the prize money to five other runners. He didn’t keep a single cent for himself.
8. Cliff Young is a brilliant example showing that ordinary people also have the inherent quality to achieve great results.
3 Words in use:
1.annual 2.contract 3.distinction 4.substantial 5.furnished 6. amateur 7. assemble 8. react 9. Apparent 10. magnificent
4 Word building:
bore fascinate amusing
explosion assumption evolution compensation contribute elementary revolutionary
5 Word building:
1.assumption 2.fascinated 3.explosion 4.elementary 5. Compensation 6.evolution 7. amusing
8. bore 9. contribute 10. revolutionary
6 Banked cloze:
1 K 2 D 3 C 4 B 5 H 6 O 7 F 8 M 9 A 10 G
7 Expressions in use:
1 passed away 2 left behind 3 give away
4 had no intention of 5 Up to
6 regardless of
7 might (just) as well 8 fall ill
9 in attendance 10 to this day
10. Translation:
有关古代奥林匹克运动会的最早文字记载可追溯至公元前776年。古代奥运会每4年举办一次，在8月6日与9月19日之间的一个纪念宙斯的宗教节日期间举行。第一届现代奥运会于1896年在希腊雅典举办。奥运会的标志有5个大小相同的套环组成，代表着五大洲的联合和来自世界各地运动员的大聚会。奥运会真正腾飞、成为一项国际体育盛会是在1924年之后，即第八届奥运会在巴黎举办之后。这一年，来自44个国家约3,000名运动员同场竞技，并且第一次在奥运会上增加了闭幕式这一仪式。同年，冬季奥运会首次亮相，比赛项目包括花样滑冰、冰球、雪橇和冬季两项运动。80年后，2004年夏季奥运会在相隔一个多世纪后再次在雅典举办，来自201个国家的近11,000名运动员展开竞技，创下了参赛国家数量之最。
11. Translation:
Tai Chi is a kind of martial arts, and a fitness exercise as well. It has a long history in China. With slow and gentle movements, Tai Chi is suitable for people of any age, sex, or body type to practice. It can be used to provide self-defense as well as build the body. Therefore, it has become very popular among Chinese people. uring its development, Tai Chi borrowed and absorbed desirable elements from traditional Chinese philosophy, medicine, and martial arts, and it has developed into a sport with unique features. As a unique sport in China, Tai Chi is also gaining increasing popularity among many friends.