Short and shy, Ben Saunders was the last kid in his class picked for any sports team. "Football, tennis Cricket — anything with a round ball, I was useless." he says now with a laugh. But back then he was the object of jokes in school gym classes in England’s rural Devonshire.
It was a mountain bike he received for his 15th birthday that changed him. At first the teen went biking alone in a nearby forest. Then he began to cycle along with a runner friend. Gradually, Saunders set his mind building up his body, increasing his speed, strength and endurance. At age 18, he ran his first marathon.
The following year, he met John Ridgway, who became famous in the 1960s for rowing an open boat across the Atlantic Ocean. Saunders was hired as an instructor at Ridgway’s school of Adventure in Scotland, where he learned about the older man’s cold-water exploits (成就). Intrigued, Saunders read all he could about Arctic explorers and North Pole expeditions, then decided that this would be his future. Journeys to the Pole aren’t the usual holidays for British country boys, and many people dismissed his dream as fantasy. "John Ridgway was one of the few who didn’t say, ’You are completely crazy,’" Saunders says.
In 2001, after becoming a skilled skier, Saunders started his first long-distance expedition toward the North Pole. He suffered frostbite, had a closer encounter (遭遇) with a polar bear and pushed his body to the limit.
Saunders has since become the youngest person to ski alone to the North Pole, and he’s skied more of the Arctic by himself than any other Briton. His old playmates would not believe the transformation.
This October, Saunders, 27, heads south to explore from the coast of Antarctica to the South Pole and back, an 1800-mile journey that has never been completed on skis.
【小题1】The turning point in Saunders’ life came when ________.

A.he started to play ball games
B.he got a mountain bike at age 15
C.he ran his first marathon at age 18
D.he started to receive Ridgway’s training
【小题2】We can learn from the text that Ridgway ________.
A.dismissed Saunders’ dream as fantasy
B.built up his body together with Saunders
C.hired Saunders for his cold-water experience
D.won his fame for his voyage across the Atlantic
【小题3】What do we know about Saunders?
A.He once worked at a school in Scotland.
B.He followed Ridgway to explore the North Pole.
C.He was chosen for the school sports team as a kid.
D.He was the first Briton to ski alone to the North Pole.
【小题4】The underlined word "Intrigued" in the third paragraph probably means ________.
A.ExcitedB.ConvincedC.DelightedD.Fascinated
【小题5】It can be inferred that Saunders’ journey to the North Pole ________.
A.was accompanied by his old playmates
B.set a record in the North Pole expedition
C.was supported by other Arctic explorers
D.made him well-known in the 1960s

根据短文内容.回答下列问题。
More and more young people from China begin to celebrate ( 庆祝 ) Father’ s Day. They send fathers presents, or invite them for a nice dinner. But do you know how Father’s Day started?
While Mrs Dodd, from America, was listening to a talk about Mother’ s Day in a church in 1909, she had an idea of having Father’s Day to honor(纪念) her father, William Smart. Mr Smart used to be a soldier. His wife died when she gave birth to her sixth child. Mr Smart had to raise his six children alone. They lived a hard life. After Mrs Dodd grew up, she wanted to thank her father for what he had done for them. She wrote a letter to a church and asked for the third Sunday in June to be Father’ s Day. The church agreed with her.
The first Father’ s Day was celebrated on June 19th, 1910 in Washington. Children made special desserts, and did other things to make their fathers happy. In 1924, President(总统) Calvin Coolidge supported the idea of a national Father’ s Day. People all over the country began to celebrate Father’s Day. Finally, in 1966, President Lyndon Johnson made the third Sunday in June Father’s Day.
This year, Father’s Day was on June 17th. What did you do for your father?
【小题1】What do the young people usually do to celebrate Father’ s Day in China?
                                                             
【小题2】Was Mrs Dodd’ s life hard when she was young?
                                                             
【小题3】Why did Mrs Dodd warn to have Father’ s Day?
                                                             
【小题4】Did Mrs Dodd write a letter to a church or to the president?
                                                             
【小题5】When was Father’s Day celebrated for the first time in America?
                                                             

I grew up in a small town. When I was in the third grade, I was chosen to be the        in the school play. My mother helped me practice my lines for weeks. But once I stepped onto the stage, I was too nervous to        the words. Finally, my teacher asked me to         the role to a storyteller. I didn’t tell my mother        had happened when I went home for lunch that day. She knew that I was        from my look. She asked if I wanted to go for a walk in the yard.

      It was a lovely         day and the grass was turning green. We could see a lot of yellow dandelions(蒲公英)in the grass. I watched my mother walking towards a dandelion and         it up by its roots(根茎). “From now on, we’ll have only roses in this garden.” she said. “But I like dandelions,” I said. “All        are beautiful —— even dandelions!”

“Yes, every flower gives pleasure in its own way. And that is true of       too. Not everyone can be a princess. You will be a beautiful storyteller,” my mother said, reminding me of how much I        to read stories to her. “The storyteller’s part is just as       as the part of a princess.”

The big day         came. A few minutes before the play, my teacher handed me a      . I looked at it and thought of our        talk. It made me        .

After the play, I took the flower home, and kept it in our family dictionary.

1.A. king                  B. snowman             C. princess               D. witch

2.A. forget              B. remember                   C. find              D. write

3.A. act                    B. play                       C. change                D. take

4.A. which              B. what                       C. that               D. this

5.A. energetic        B. unhappy              C. excited      D. dishonest

6.A. spring              B. summer                   C. autumn                  D. winter

7.A. putting             B. pulling                      C. setting                   D. looking

8.A. seasons           B. rainbows              C. flowers      D. scenes

9.A. animals            B. plants                       C. people                   D. food

10.A. hated             B. loved                             C. tried                     D. planned

11.A. interesting    B. common              C. important           D. cheerful

12.A. suddenly       B. finally                       C. usually                   D. slowly

13.A. rose               B. dandelion                  C. present                 D. hairclip

14.A. breakfast time B. lunchtime                      C. suppertime         D. teatime

15.A. imaginative   B. generous              C. confident             D. humorous

 

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