Question

Many people thought 41-year-old Dara Torres couldn't complete in another Olympic games, but at the 2008 Olympic Games, she showed what persistence and experience can do for an athlete.

As a five-time Olympian and the oldest American 36 ever, Dara got three silver medals in   Beijing. Her victory was  37considering she had retired(退役) a second time after the 2000 Sydney Olympics. Not content with her past achievements, she would prove that  38  is only a number. At the Beijing Games, Dara raced against competitors more than 20 years 39 than her while competing in the 50 meter freestyle, 4×100 medley relay, and 4×100 freestyle relay, eventually  40  silver medals in all the three events.

Dara has 41  that she is far from a(n)  42  athlete since her first international race in 1981, While 43 the University of Florida, she earned a number of the NCAA All-American swimming awards. As the first US swimmer to  44  in four Olympic Games, Dara set three World records and won nine Olympic  45 , including four golds. Despite a seven-year break from  46  swimming, in the Sydney Olympic Games alone, Dara won two golds and two silvers, after  47  Dara decided to retire and start a  48 , but she dove right back into swimming. In the 2006 Masters Nationals, she amazingly 49 a new world record, just three weeks after her daughter’s 50. In August 2007, Dara won 51  National title and broke her own seven-year American Record in the 50 Freestyle. In July 2008, Dara  52  broke her record at the Olympic trials(选拔) in Omaha, where she  53  her spot on the Olympic team to compete in Beijing.

54  swimming, Dara is famous as a TV commentator(评论员) and a print model. She is the first athlete to  55  in the sports program in 1994. She is a feature reporter for Good Morning America, working on-air for ESPN and Fox News Channel.  

36. A. coach	B. swimmer	C. player	D. professional
37. A. outstanding	B. attractive	C. worthwhile	D. rewarding
38. A. fame	B. quality	C. age	D. success
39. A. senior	B. elder	C. junior	D. younger
40. A. achieving	B. winning	C. acquiring	D. accepting
41. A. predicted	B. exhibited	C. proven	D. represented
42. A. normal	B. usual	C. simple	D. average
43. A. attending	B. representing	C. graduating	D. studying
44. A.make	B. compete	C. engage	D. involve
45. A. awards	B. honors	C. medals	D. prizes
46. A. fierce	B. tough	C. extreme	D. competitive
47. A. which	B. this	C. that	D. what
48. A. company	B. career	C. family	D. marriage
49. A. broke	B. set	C. kept	D. made
50. A. return	B. graduation	C. death	D. birth
51. A. more	B. other	C. another	D. extra
52. A. once again	B. for once	C. in turn	D. in a row
53. A. ensured	B. seized	C. secured	D. grasped
54. A. Except for	B. Other than	C. But for	D. Apart from
55. A. survive	B. appear	C. broadcast	D. host

Answer 1

第五次参加奥运会的美国游泳健将戴拉?托雷斯是2008北京奥运会的最受瞩目的奥运巨星之一。41岁的戴拉?托雷斯在参加悉尼奥运会之后，就从美国游泳队退役。在复出后，她多次打破自己保持的游泳记录，并获得了参加北京奥运会的资格。在2008年的北京奥运会上，她与年轻的队友们合作，在4×100接力赛和400米自由接力赛中收获了两枚银牌。在个人50米自由泳赛中以0.01秒之差又获一枚银牌。在戴拉?托雷斯看来，年龄仅仅是一个数字而已，参加奥运会就能从中享受无穷的乐趣。

36. B. 下文多次谈到她参加游泳比赛，因此她是年龄最大的游泳运动员（swimmer）。

37. A. outstanding“突出的; 杰出的，为人瞩目的”。41岁的戴拉?托雷斯在2008年的北京奥运会获得三枚银牌的事迹为世人所关注。

38. C. 虽然她已经41岁，但是她的竞技状态绝佳，频频打破自己保持的世界记录，因此对她来说，年龄仅仅是一个数字而已。

39. D. 她要与比自己年轻20多岁的运动员进行比赛。

40. B. winning 表示“获得（金牌），赢得（比赛）”。

41. C. 戴拉用自己的比赛成绩证明了她绝非等闲之辈。prove“证明，证实”。

42. D. average与common和ordinary同义，表示“一般的，平凡的”。

43. A. While attending the University of Florida指在她上佛罗里达大学期间。attend表示“上（学），开（会）”。

44. B. compete in“参加”与take part in, participate in同义。

45. C. medals“奖牌”，下句的golds（金牌）为暗示。

46. D. competitive“竞争激烈的”。

47. A. after which 引导一个定语从句，which代替上句话的内容。

48. C. 下文中谈到她生孩子，因此这里是她退役后成了家。

49. B. set a new world record“创造新的世界记录”。

50. D. 句意为：在女儿出生后三周，她就开始参加比赛并且出人意料地创造新的世界记录。根据常情，女人刚刚产孩子后身体比较虚弱。因此她的突出成绩显得令人吃惊。

51. C. another表示“又一个，另一个”与 one more同义。

52. A. once again“又一次，再一次”。

53. C. secure“获得，得到，弄到手”。

54. D. Apart from“除……之外（还有）”表示附加，下文显然是讲述戴拉?托雷斯在体育比赛之外的其它工作。

55. B. appear“出现”，指她出现在电台的体育节目中担任评论员。