Don’t Take the Fun Out of Youth Sports

When I joined a private football league a few years ago, the sport meant everything to me. My coach(教练) said that I had lots of potential(潜力), and I became captain of my ___36___. That was before all the fun was taken out of ___37___.

At first, everyone on the team got ___38___ playing time. Then the team moved up to the top division after winning all its games, and the ___39___ started. Some parents, who had paid the coach extra so their daughters could have ___40___one-on-one training, got angry when she didn’t give them more playing time in our ___41___. The coach was replaced.

The new coach, however, took all the fun out of the game. All we did during practice was ___42___. I always wished to God that it would rain so we would not have the ___43___. Of course, all teams run drills; they are ___44___. But we ran so much that, afterwards, we had trouble ___45___. Younger people shouldn’t be doing exercises ___46___ for 18-year-olds.

I was very thin ___47___ I started football, but as a member of this team I wouldn’t eat much, because I was afraid of being too ___48___ to run. I feared making mistakes, and the added pressure caused me to make more than my usual ___49___.

Is all this pressure necessary? I ___50___ up leaving the football team. Four other girls did the same, and two of them stopped playing football completely. That’s ___51___, because they had so much potential. They were just burned-out with all the pressure they ___52___ from the coach or their parents.

I continued playing football at school and ___53___ my love for it. I joined a private team coached by my school coach. When I started playing ___54___ him, he told me I needed to relax because I looked nervous. After I ___55___ down, I played better. When you enjoy something, it’s a lot easier to do it well.

36. A. class     B. club    C. team   D. board

37. A. playing B. living  C. learning     D. working

38. A. great    B. equal  C. right   D. extra

39. A. business       B. struggle      C. attempt      D. pressure

40. A. free      B. private       C. good   D. basic

41. A. matches       B. courses       C. lessons       D. programs

42. A. jump    B. play    C. run     D. shoot

43. A. duty     B. meeting      C. operation    D. training

44. A. necessary     B. boring C. scientific    D. practical

45. A. speaking      B. moving      C. sleeping     D. breathing

46. A. used     B. intended     C. made  D. described

47. A. till       B. since   C. before D. because

48. A. full      B. tired   C. lazy    D. big

49. A. size      B. share   C. space  D. state

50. A. gave     B. kept    C. ended  D. picked

51. A. sad       B. shameful    C. silly    D. serious

52. A. received       B. suffered     C. brought      D. felt

53. A. reconsidered B. rediscovered      C. reformed    D. replaced

54. A. at  B. by      C. for      D. around

55. A. fell       B. stepped      C. slowed       D. calmed

Americans love dogs, all types of dogs: small dogs, big dogs, lapdogs (供玩赏的小狗). Each year, people spend billions of dollars on their four-legged pals, making sure the lovable dogs have enough food to eat and lots of toys to play with.

Dogs love people, too. They lick their faces, protect their homes. Where did these four-legged companions come from? Some scientists believe that they have found the answer.

Scientists have long known that dogs evolved from(演化) wolves. Exactly when the transformation from wolf to dog actually took place, however, remains a mystery.

Some said dogs evolved as a separate species 135,000 years ago in two parts of the world. One group of dogs developed in Europe and Asia from Asian wolves. The other group evolved in North, Central, and South America from American wolves.

Now researchers say those theories are wrong. New studies suggest that domesticated dogs first appeared 15,000 years ago in eastern Asia. Scientists also say that every modern dog descended from approximately five female Asian wolves, the mother of all modern dogs.

Scientists suspect dogs first set paws in North America by following settlers across a land bridge that once linked northern Asia and North America.

1.According to recent studies, all modern dogs came from female wolves in ______.

A.Asia

B.Africa

C.Europe

D.South America

2.From this story, we can conclude that _______.

A.dogs are scientists’ best friends

B.dogs are more like wolves than they are like any other animal

C.most dogs are from Africa

D.scientists have no idea how dogs evolved

3.The underlined word “domesticated” means “_______”.

A.tamed

B.indoor

C.intelligent

D.friendly

4.The best title for this story might be ______.

A.Why Cats Don’t Like Dogs

B.Barking up the Wrong Tree

C.Love Me, Love My Dog

D.Going from Wolf to Dog

 

I started winning competitions. We still had very little money -- my father had to borrow $5,000 to pay for a trip to the International Young Pianists Competition in Ettlingen, Germany, in 1994, when I was 12. I realized later how much pressure he was under. Tears streamed down his face when it was announced that I'd won -- earning enough money to pay back our loan.

It was soo n clear I couldn't stay in China forever. To become a world-class musician, I had to play on the world's big stages. So in 1997, my father and I moved again, this time to Philadelphia, so I could attend The Curtis Institute of Music. Finally our money worries were easing. The school paid for an apartment and even lent me a Steinway(斯坦威钢琴).At night, I would sneak into the living room just to touch the keys.

Now that I was in America, I spent two years practicing, and by 1999 I had worked hard enough for fortune to take over. The Chicago Symphony orchestra heard me play and liked me, but orchestra schedules were set far in advance. I thought I might join them in a few years.

The next morning, I got a call. The great pianist Andre Watts, who was to play the "Gala Benefit Evening" at Chicago's Ravinia Festival, had become ill. I was asked to replace him. That performance was, for me, the moment. After violinist Isaac Stern introduced me, I played Tchaikovsky's Piano Concerto No. 1. My father's mouth hung open throughout the entire song.

I played until 3:30 a.m. I felt something happening. Sure enough, it was a great success. Still, my father kept telling me, "You'd better practice!" But living in America with me was beginning to relax him. In Beijing I'd been fat -- he made sure I ate -- and he'd been skinny. Now I was getting thin. He wasn't.

My father and I had often practiced a piece called "Horses," a fun version for piano and erhu. One night in Carnegie Hall, after I played Chopin and Liszt, I brought Dad out on the stage, and we played our duet(二重奏). People went crazy -- they loved it. My father couldn't sleep for days. He was too happy to sleep.

There have been lots of concerts in Carnegie Hall, but for me playing there was especially sweet when I remember the cold days in Beijing. Together, my father and I worked to reach the lucky place where fortune spots you, and lets you shine.

 

1.In the first paragraph his father cried when it was announced that he'd won mainly because__________.

A.his father was excited that his son succeeded at last.

B.his father was under too much pressure.

C.they could pay back the loan with the prize.

D.his father was proud of him.

2. Tell the order of the events.

a. He and his father moved to Philadelphia.

b. He was asked to replace the great pianist Andre Watts.

c. He and his father played “Horses” together.

d.The Chicago Symphony orchestra heard his performance.

e. The Curtis Institute of Music lent him a Steinway

A. a, e, c, b, d       B. b, e, a, d, c       C. d, a, e, b, c       D. a, e, d, b, c

3. Which of the following statements agrees with the author?

A. The writer’s father had been very fat before they went to America.

B. The writer thought he would be one of them soon when he knew the Chicago Symphony orchestra heard him play and liked him.

C. The Curtis Institute of Music finally eased their money worries.

D. One can achieve his dream if he is lucky enough.

4. The underlined word there in the last paragraph refers to_________.

A. America     B. Beijing.   C. Carnegie Hall  D. All the places he went to. 

5. What is the best title of the passage?

A. I Took Off!                          B. When Fortune Spots Me.

C. No Pain, No Gain.                    D. My father and I

 

 

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